A past betrayal returns to haunt Simon Donovan, a frail and dying scholar of antiquities, when the woman he wronged summons him to come to her secluded northern home. To spare his father, Matthew Donovan, a struggling painter, undertakes the journey, not knowing that it will take him into the remote reaches of the wilderness and the darkest regions of his heart. In a fantastic mansion, Matthew meets the mysterious Sidonie Moreau, whose secrets run deeper than the ancient mountains that surround them. Simultaneously fascinated and disturbed by her, he tries to discover what she hides … and what she wants from him. Then in one night of terrible revelation, he learns the answer — nothing less than his life’s blood, yielded willingly. She promises that he will not be harmed, that he is free to do as he pleases, but every night she will ask for his blood and he must answer. Trapped by the vast wilderness around them, Matthew has no choice but to submit to her terms. Every day, he struggles to exorcise the nightmares that haunt him, giving them form and colour on his canvas. Every night, he must once again face his immortal captor. He vows that he will never surrender to her. But as the nights pass, he comes to realise that there are things more dangerous than her inhuman appearance and deadly need. There is the sorrow in her eyes, the strange curve of her smile, and her complex, compelling charm. There are the secrets submerged deep in his own heart. Soon he knows that the unthinkable is possible; that one night, tempted by desire and despair, he might say yes …
