It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a vampire without a soul must be in want of a wife…unless your ideal women wallows in the sunlight, can speak to houses, and is tangled in peril so great it might just destroy them both.

Paen Scott is a Dark One: a vampire without a soul. And his mother is about to lose hers too if Paen can’t repay a debt to a demon by finding a relic known as the Jilin God in five days.

Half-elf Samantha Cosse may have gotten kicked out of the Order of Diviners, but she’s still good at finding things, talking to houses, and powering up in sunlight…which Paen can’t tolerate at all. And while her delicious Dark One is the only man to set her elf senses tingling, chances for a happy future looks nonexistent.

Although Sam is convinced that she is Paen’s Beloved—the woman who can give him back his soul—fate doesn’t seem to want them together, throwing them into a dire situation that threatens more than just their loved ones. With a jealous monkey god trying to destroy Sam, will Paen realize his world would be bleak without the Sam in time to save them both…or will tragedy be the only way through to their happiness?