'Immortals didn't die. Not like this. You cut an Immortal, they got up. You shot them, they got up. You burnt them, they got up. They always got up.'

A roof-top duel between sword-wielding combatants becomes the talk of Seacouver - but Duncan is perplexed when both bodies are found with their heads intact. No Quickening has taken place, and instead, the pair seemed to have burned to death. And who is Maria Rostov, the beautiful young Russian claiming that her life is in danger?