Irina volunteers as the "willing village sacrifice" in a desperate ritual, the Wedding of the Dead, to appease a vampire terrorizing her village. Her goal is not to be a victim, but to use the ritual to reach the land of the dead and retrieve her beloved sister's soul. She marries the vampire, Stefan, and strikes a perilous deal: if he guides her safely there and back again, he can drink her blood. As they journey together through the afterlife—a terrifying world of monsters and walking corpses—Irina discovers that Stefan is not the cruel monster she assumed. |