Once, his name had been a whisper of terror in the dark. Over the centuries since he had taken up his post many thaumaturgi had forgotten that vampires were as real as other creatures of magic. By the time he took a walk into Oxford on one cold night, Sebastian had also grown apart from the world of ephemerals who had never accepted him for what he was. Even the scholars of magic and mythology who used his library during the long years of his guardianship were no more than passing faces – though there was something different about the four new readers this year. He didn’t realise how quickly the threat to the Whittard’s inner secret was growing and how badly he was going to need the help of Sam’s very unusual pack to avert it… or that the cost of doing so would be the loss of something far more valuable.