Vladimir has discovered that he might be the Pravus, a sort of Vampire Messiah who will rule not only all Vampires, but humans as well. Vlad isn't sure he wants to be the Pravus, but his status has gotten him out of trouble in the past.
After his uncle Otis teaches him how to use his mental powers a bit, Otis must leave Vlad for his own protection. Vlad is sorry to see his uncle go, and he knows his guardian, Nelly, who has been his only family since his mother and father were killed, will be missing Otis also.
But Vlad has some other problems. First off all, his hunger and lust for blood is growing, and it's getting harder and harder to control. Second, Henry, his best friend, and also his drudge, or bonded slave, seems to be angry at him all the time, and seems to have abandoned Vlad for his cousin, Joss's company.
Vlad also has a girlfriend, Bethany, who is the best thing that has ever happened to him. But Vlad is nervous, not able to figure out why she likes him so much, and as much as he likes her, he can't confide in her the way he does in Henry.
Abandoned by Henry, Vlad finds some new friends to hang out with in a bunch of goths, and a kindred soul in one of them, named Snow. She seems to understand him in a way that Bethany can't, and even as he feels guilty for running around on Bethany, he can't drag himself away from Snow.
Add to that D'Ablo sniffing around Vlad's father's stuff, including his journal, looking to somehow transfer Vlad's Pravus status to himself, and a vampire slayer out for Vlad's blood, and there's no chance of Vlad having anything like a normal school year. But the question is, will he ever?
This series was originally for younger teens or perhaps older children, but just as with Harry Potter, as the series progresses, Vlad needs to deal with more and more adult issues. Whether he realizes it or not, he's growing up, and he will have to make choices about what he wants to do and be.
It was nice to see the other characters growing up as well, from Henry's assertion of independence, to the fact that Vlad is no longer entirely satisfied with bagged blood from the hospital that Nelly brings home for him. Vlad is perhaps starting to realize that he is like all the adult vampires, right down to his hunger.
It remains to be seen how that knowledge will change Vlad's conception of who and what he is. As it stands now, the end of this book presages changes in Vlad, and not for the better. From lying to strangers about who and what he is, to lying to those who love him, he may be doing so from good motives, but lying to the people who love you most is a bad position to find yourself in, and it doesn't look so good for Vlad in the future.
Can he resist being a tyrant if he becomes the Pravus? Vlad might be able to in the future, and he wants to but his prospects aren't looking that good at the moment. Things are getting complicated and confusing fo Vlad. But I still want to see what happens next. Recommended.
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