The World
Minneapolis. A city built on flour mills and frozen rivers, where vampires have been hiding in the Skyways for 160 years.
The Court
Karlie Ruben
The Bartender
A bartender in Minneapolis who reads people better than most and notices everything. She didn't ask for any of this. She's not running from it either.
Kai Thorne
The Regular
Orders whiskey he never touches. His hands are never cold. He watches her like she is the only person in the room. He wasn't supposed to fall in love. He did.
Julian Marsh
The Other One
Walks into a room and the room rearranges. Clinical, direct, dangerous in ways that have nothing to do with violence.
Margot Stevens
The Best Friend
Karlie's best friend. Loyal in ways that go beyond reason. Whatever happens to her, she's not leaving Karlie behind.
Alistair Vane
The Sovereign
Runs the court from a mansion on Summit Avenue. Speaks in euphemisms. Has not been surprised in a very long time.
Minneapolis
The Mill District
Karlie's neighborhood. Old flour mill ruins, limestone walls, tunnels running beneath the riverbank. The kind of place where history presses close and the dark has weight.
The Skyway System
Eleven miles of enclosed walkways connecting 80 city blocks. UV-filtered glass. Twenty-four-hour court access. Built by humans in the 1960s, shaped by vampires ever since.
The Alcove
North Loop cocktail bar. Copper bar top, pendant lights, regulars who don't know that the quiet man in the dark coat is older than the building.
Summit Avenue
St. Paul's grandest street. Old railroad money. Bare elms and mansions holding their breath. Alistair Vane's court sits behind walnut paneling and fourteen fireplaces that burn for aesthetics, not warmth.