As young vampires, Larten Crepsley and his blood brother Wester travel widely, trying to experience fully the violent, hedonistic pleasures of the human world before committing to the vampire life.
When his brother is murdered at the factory where they both work as child laborers, young Larten Crepsley commits a horrific act and must live on the run until he meets a vampire named Seba Nile who offers him protection and training as a vampire's assistant.