Damon Blackwood turned aside the girl fate selected for him years ago. He said he was doing it to guard her, but he never explained why. Elena Gilbert is still not forgetting. She isn't forgiven. She has also not shared the child she reared alone—the one whose blood could determine the fate of the supernatural world—with anyone. Damon is once more in Los Angeles. Though it still burns, is it love, or a need for the blood that sings under Elena's skin? Damon and Elena have to face what they were and what they could still become as ancient rivals emerge, and their child is singled out. Since some people love never to die. They only return hungry.