Beatrice is a broodmother: a vampire responsible for nursing newly made fledglings through the first years of their unlife. She nests in an abandoned, isolated warren of office space beneath her patron's skyscraper, raising two fractious fledglings. But when she decides to take on a third fledgling, Beatrice finds herself strained by her own ravenous hunger - her body is changing too, transforming her into something even more monstrous. Desperate to master herself once more, Beatrice courts a mortal who might be able to unravel the secrets of her unnatural anatomy. But their connection threatens the secrecy of her vampiric coven and all the BEatrice holds dear to he runbeating heart.