Xander's old friend and powerful witch/spell-caster, Estella, is coming to grips with the truth of things: she's falling in love with a vampire.
While her feelings for Xander had always been intense, their reconnection nearly one year earlier has sparked something greater. But is it wise to pursue a romance with a creature that feeds on life to survive when she loathe violence and sobs at the very sight of blood? And how can she allow herself to fall head-over-heels for a man who, night after night, goes out with no certainty of return?
On this night, however, the self-resenting Crimson Shadow finds his way through her bedroom window once again, carrying the injuries (both physical and "spiritual") and needing her to enter his mind to work her magic at the source of his problems.