Rose and Lissa are like most teenage girls. They like boys, they like to shop at the mall, they hate school and they feel misunderstood. There's one big difference between them and the average teen - they are vampires who attend St. Vladimir's Academy, a prep school for the Moroi and Dhampir races. Lissa, the blonde princess is a member of the royal Moroi clan and Rose, the darker heroine is a Dhampir Guardian whose duty is to protect Lissa's life at all costs. In addition to gossip, jealousy, bullying, backstabbing, teen against and the sexual tensions that fill the halls of most high schools, the students of St. Vladimir's face potential threats from the Strigoi, a clan of vampires who seek to destroy the royal family. In an act of rebellion they run away from school, only to get forcibly caught by the schools guardians and brought back to face disciplinary action. As punishment for running away, Rose must attend intense extra - curricular training under the tutelage of her new mentor, the stoic, handsome twenty - something Dimitri. Her punishment becomes more challenging as she becomes increasingly attracted to Dmitri. While Rose's training is accelerating, Lissa is discovering how to be a royal without losing who she is on the inside, dealing with the "mean girls" and all the while facing deadly enemies set on destroying her and end her royal blood line.