Cloak & Dagger synopsis

When Ruby Rahman runs away from the (fictitious) Middle Eastern country of Inevia to the United States to avoid an arranged marriage, instead of achieving the freedom she seeks, she finds herself trapped instead—in a house full of vampires. This “family” of attractive young vampires, known as the Scotts, don’t want to suck her blood. In fact, they have been taking care of Ruby since the accident she was involved in leaving the airport from Las Vegas. But when she tries to leave their house,they inform her that they’re going to have to kill her, before their leaders kill them for the crime of exposing her to the truth of their existence. The worst part of all: Ruby finds out that one who has been charged with the responsibility of killing her isWilliam Scott, the most handsome vampire in the house, who has been sending her mixed messages since she arrived. Sheisn’t sure any more if running away from her father—and from a country where women are not respected—was such a smart idea.She might as well have stayed home and spent her life in a loveless marriage than be drained of her blood by a cold,heartless vampire like William.

Little does she know that William is madly love with her, and at the moment of truth, rather than killing her, will actually whisk her away to his private island to hide her from his family.Here Ruby has her first true taste of freedom, exploring this lushisland paradise and getting to know William better—though she still can’t reconcile her feelings of revulsion for him as avampire with her attraction to him as a person. Unfortunately, their sojourn on the island is cut short by a hurricane, at whichWilliam takes Ruby back to his family’s home and gives his family an ultimatum: they either let Ruby live, or they have to kill him along with her. Even though the Scotts are terrified of their leaders finding out that they have a human living in theirmidst, they decide to support William.

Meanwhile, Ruby has a secret of her own, which is the fact that she’s actually the princess of a faraway kingdom (though she was adopted at birth, and doesn’t in fact know much about her true origins). This secret doesn’t stay hidden long after the return of William’s ex-girlfriend Carolina, who has discovered Ruby’s true identity, and is determined to win William back by revealing Ruby’s subterfuge. Carolina exposes Ruby to the media, thinking this will force Ruby to return to her homeland, as Ruby is just seventeen, and still legally in her father’s charge.This leaves Ruby with no choice but to accept William’s offer of marriage, trading one arranged marriage for another, so to speak.

This arrangement gets complicated, though, when Ruby finds herself falling head over heels in love with William, who fears he won’t be able to restrain his desire to taste her blood if they become too intimate. William wants Ruby to become a vampire, so they can consummate their marriage and truly be together. But Ruby wants children, which isn’t a possibility if she becomes a vampire.

Caught between two worlds—Middle Eastern and Western, vampire and human—Ruby finds that there are aspects of her new life that both frightening and attractive. She fought hard to free herself from a culture where women’s opinions weren’t valued, and women’s bodies had to be covered at all times, but it seems that as soon as she’s won one battle, she’s facing another—this one, for her life. That’s because word of her marriage has reached the vampire leaders, and soon their council will decide her fate, as well as that of the Scotts.

But among the delegation from the council is Nikolas, avampire equally as handsome as the one she married, who makes it clear he intends to steal Ruby away from William. Ruby hates the tension between William and Nikolas, and is unnerved by the way Nikolas appears to be stalking her in the days leading up the council’s decision. But she’s relieved and surprised later when Nikolas exercises the mysterious influencehe seems to have over the council to save her from being condemned to death—at least for a period of three months, during which Ruby must make some major decisions.

Will Ruby relinquish her dream of motherhood, and become a vampire? And if so, will she choose William, or Nikolas? Or will Ruby hold her ground, and die as a human being?

As this high-stakes young adult novel—full of twists and turns, set in a glittering world of beautiful vampires—churns toward its fast-paced conclusion, readers will learn the answers to these questions and more, along with the secrets of Ruby’smysterious origins, which may just save her life.