Ari watches her parents falling in love as she herself begins a secret relationship with Neil Cameron, an older man who happens to be the first vampire to run for the U.S. Presidency. Love, she learns, demands delicate negotiations between memory and desire.
Meanwhile, the vampire sects are at war—and war among vampires is fought not with weapons, but with minds. While Sanguinists advocate peaceful coexistence with humans and nonintervention in mortal affairs, Nebulists favor genetic modification and psychological control of the human population. Colonists treat mortals as crops, but they have allied with the Nebulists for this fight.
As the Nebulists begin to use cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, and other electronic forms of social networking to track and manipulate humans, Ari grows painfully aware that she is an object of great interest to them. And she finds herself playing a part in their plans, which have devastating implications for humans and ethical vampires alike.