Briar needs just two things: blood and vengeance. The first sustains her immortal life; the second gives it meaning.<P>First on her hit list is Gregor, the renegade vampire who schooled her in brutality, then betrayed and tortured her. To achieve her deadly ends, Briar joins the inscrutable Reaper and his misfit gang of vampires who are also hunting her old mentor.<P>But once she's destroyed Gregor, she'll be gone. The group means nothing to her. Not even Crisa?damaged, defenseless, a liability in every way?the childlike vamp with whom Briar shares a blood bond. Or Reaper. Though they shared one moment of pure passion, it's not as though Briar has feelings for him.<P>Because Briar needs no one. She needs only to satisfy her twin hungers?ones that may ultimately consume her.