Synopsis for The Guardian Chronicles, Book One: Finding Grace by Michele Regan
Dr. Evan Whitman is a talented young emergency trauma physician in a busy Saint Louis, Missouri ER. Because of her secret gift, she has lived a solitary life, unable to become close to anyone. One winter night, her life is changed unexpectedly when a man carries an injured boy into the ER. As she fights to save the boy's life, she uses her talent for feeling the life energy in the boy to know he will live. This gift has allowed her to save countless lives, while stealing hers away from her.
The man who brought the boy, Nathan, to the ER perplexes her. He is the first person she has not felt any energy flow from. She finds this odd, because the only people she cannot 'feel' are dead. It turns out the boy was reported missing, and through the poignant reunion of parent and child, Evan sees something in the stranger that draws her to him.
Emil Drozdan is a long-time resident of the city, and has worked his entire life to protect the humans who live there. After fighting to save Nathan from the monster that had attacked him, Emil brought him to the emergency room. The redheaded doctor who took the injured boy from him was different from other humans. Her aura was pure and shined brighter than everyone else. Torn between wanting to fade into the night and figuring out what made her different, Emil found himself drawn into a human drama he worked hard to avoid.
He is different. He is a vampire. After being bitten in 1915, as a young doctor, he had committed his life to proving he did not have to turn into a mindless killer because of the curse. Through the century, Emil had developed a friendship with Jean Gault Tourneau, a gentleman vampire who shared his views on their existence. Tourneau was pivotal in bringing Emil into the elite ranks of the Guardians.
The Guardians are a select group of vampires who protect humans and supernatural creatures alike from those who would choose to wreak havoc in the territory. They are led in the region by the Brethren, and are located in downtown Saint Louis, hidden in a modified warehouse. Emil's job is to be hunter, judge, jury and executioner to those who are brought to the Council's attention.
Struggling to uphold the rules of vampire society, first to hide their existence from humans, second to kill or convert those that discover them, Emil allows himself to be drawn into Evan Whitman's world. He is alone now, as his close friend, Tourneau left him ten years earlier, in hopes of finding more to his existence. Emil had turned down Tourneau's advances, feeling betrayed by one he thought of as a brother or father.
Evan's usually boring life seems to take a turn for the chaotic after she saves Nathan Clark from his horrific injuries. After an accidental meeting with the stranger who brought the boy in, she if grateful when Emil comes to her rescue. An overzealous, predatory co-worker corners her in the locker room, and presses her for affection. Unable to deter Matt Thomas' advances, she tries to fight him off. Emil hears her struggle when he was looking for her in the Emergency Department, and drags Dr. Thomas away. This is her first glimpse of his dangerous identity.
Emil promises to help a shaken Evan home, and sits with her for hours, talking and enjoying her company. Through deduction, after seeing a picture in the hospital hallway labeled E. Drozdan, class of 1915, Evan figures out that Emil is a vampire. He is shocked when she is not horrified or scared of him. They work through his differences and her acceptance of him. He promises not to hurt her, and to protect her, finally convincing her to report the other doctor to her employer.
Evan reports Matt Thomas to Dr. Smith, her boss and mentor, which results in disciplinary action. While at the hospital, she checks in on Nathan Clark, to see how he is progressing. She is surprised how quickly he is healing, but otherwise pleased with his recovery. As she is leaving the hospital, she is confronted by an angry Matt Thomas, which sends her into a panic. She calls Emil and asks him to pick her up, as she does not have a car of her own.
Unused to being the center of conflict or drama in her life these days, Evan is dragged into memories of her troubled childhood, where her gift caused the dissolution of her family. She loses control of her cool calm façade she has evolved over the years, and reaches out to Emil for help, as he seems to be the first person in years that does not judge her when she confesses her gift.
Later that day, she is contacted because Nathan Clark is seizing. Emil believes he knows what is happening to the boy, and insists on returning to the hospital with her. Unfortunately, the boy dies. Evan is left to tell the parents their only child is gone. Emil's behavior at the hospital has her concerned and she confronts him about it. She learns Nathan is now a vampire. Shaken by the events of the last few days, Evan takes a couple weeks vacation, and spends them with Emil, getting away from her lonely life and the implications returning to work would mean. She was terrified Matt Thomas would find her.
After spending the weeks getting to know each other, Evan and Emil are admittedly drawn to each other, and plan to continue their friendship. Evan returns to work at the hospital, exhausting herself enough to sleep everyday, and Emil sets to work finding a rash of freshly created vampires called Newborns. There is something afoot in the city, and he is certain it has to do with Isaac Romley, a vampire who has his hand in the pocket of many of the Brethren, and gets away with murder repeatedly.
Five days apart seems like an eternity to both of them, not able to see each other or talk after their fairy tale two weeks together. On the last day apart, Emil has let Evan know he wants to take her out for a real 'human' date to the theater. She is excited and has determined she will tell Emil that she has feelings for him. Emil has determined he is not good enough for her, and planned to let her know that night that she needs to find a human man to be with. However, these things may never happen.
Evan returns home from a particularly hectic night shift and is attacked. Through blood hazed vision, she realizes her attacker it Matt Thomas. He proceeds to beat her and torture her for turning him in. In the end he plans to rape her.
Emil, excited to see Evan, goes to her home early, in the hopes of catching her asleep, as watching her sleep had become something they both enjoyed. He, because he could spend time with her; she because he warded off her nightmares. When he arrives, he is instantly aware something is wrong, as he can smell her spilled blood. He enters her home and catches Matt Thomas in the act. He kills the man and tries to save Evan's life. He calls the one human he knows who might help and the runs off into the city to get vengeance.
Evan survives the attack and Emil decides that regardless of the fact she is human, he can never leave her again. He confesses his love to her and she to him. Her body is broken and bruised, leading to her pain and inability to care for herself. Emil promises to take care of her, even when her old flame sweeps in to her aide. She tells Reg Menard off, as he considers her talents shameful, and sends him on his way.
Emil takes Evan to his downtown apartment to help her recover. While she is there, the Brethren let him know of their awareness of his breach of protocol, letting a human know of the vampires' existence. They give him two choices: kill her, or change her. This goes against everything in Emil, as he feels cheated of his eternal soul by his attacker. Evan wants to be with Emil forever, and tells him she wants it, when he reveals his choices.
Emil decides to make Evan's conversion as painless as he can, and loves her through it, giving her pleasure over the pain to ease her into her new life. She drinks from him to hasten the change, and within twenty-four hours, she is reveling in her new life.
In the meantime, Emil has been informed his prodigal friend Tourneau is to return, and Nathan Clark needs a home. He calls on his friend to gather the boy vampire while he deals with Evan's change. He and Evan return to the farm home to find Tourneau has brought a couple of vampires with him, Rafael and Bong-Li. Nathan is angry at his lot and lets everyone know in true teenage fashion.
Through introductions, they find Evan's abilities have changed. She can now feel Emil, and can receive images from those she touches now. While Emil and Tourneau take Nathan out to hunt, Evan experiences more of the conversion, painful and frightening changes that leave her delirious. Emil returns to find her in Rafael's arms. He calls Rafael out, and they fight, sparking an intense period of battle over the next two days.
It turns out Rafael and Bong-Li are spies for a regime seeking to throw a coup on the Brethren, led by Isaac Romley and two of the Brethren. Emil and Tourneau are forced to fight their way out of a trap at the Enclave. In so doing, they kill Rafael and several traitors. Bong-Li is nowhere to be found, and as the two Guardians explore their ravaged headquarters, they find some of their peers, injured and weak, as well as a civilian vampire.
Strategically, they return to the farmhouse, worried about Evan and Nathan with Bong-Li on the loose. The stop at a secret hiding place and find two more of their comrades, waiting for a third. They determine it is likely she is also a traitor. Leaving the injured behind, they return to the farmhouse and engage in a battle against Romley and his newborn vampires.
Emil is shot with his special ammunition when Romley gets ahold of his gun. Evan's training is brought into use as she tries to help him heal from the severe damage silver ammunition caused inside him. She sits by him, waiting for him to awaken, and succeeds in bringing him to when she reveals that she is pregnant.
A pregnant female vampire is unheard of and they struggle to deal with the possibility Matt Thomas had succeeded in raping her. The issue at hand is that she feels a heartbeat, that the baby is human. Over the next several days, the milieu is changed drastically. It is determined that Emil is the next in line to lead the Guardians, and those he has with him swear their allegiance. Evan also learns that she can now speed healing and heals Emil faster, and then heals Hawk, who had his lower jaw completely severed.
Hawk knows about the possibility of a vampire/human child, learning about one that is still in existence some time ago; the offspring of an Ancient One. He turns out to be attracted to Tourneau, but has never confessed this kind of feeling before. He had a reputation for being a womanizer for decades. This does not seem to affect the group as a whole, and they are allowed to get to know each other.
Evan recalls seeing something on the news the day the others fought at the Enclave and she shares it with them. Romley had built a club, and it was to have its grand opening the following day. The group decides to do a reconnaissance mission to see who is in charge, as Aiden, another Guardian, killed Romley at the farmhouse.
They make plans and as a group attend the grand opening, leaving Evan, Nathan and Xavier at the apartment. Evan's pregnancy is progressing at an alarming rate, seeming to grow about three weeks of a human gestation per day. Xavier was one of the injured, and had not been healed by Evan, so he stayed behind to guard her. Nathan is proving to be an asset, even at his young age, with great knowledge of computers and guns.
Through a series of events, the climax at the club reveals the Ancient One himself is behind the coup, with designs on taking over the human population, one region at a time. His hybrid son is with him, and he ultimately goes against his father to help Emil and the others escape.
While the Guardians are at the club, Evan goes into labor. Xavier is unable to help her deliver the child. Jean Tourneau and Malachi, another Guardian, were compromised at the club and left early before the others were found out. When they arrive, Jean sends Malachi back to the club to get Emil, and he attends to the birth. Evan is able to show him what to do with her mind.
Arazel, the hybrid vampire/human is rescued and brought with the retreating Guardians and eventually is brought to Emil's home.
The story ends with the birth of a daughter, who is part human and part vampire, and turns out to be Emil's daughter. She is advanced and able to communicate with others early on. Nathan is taken with her, and promises to protect her. Arazel is intrigued with her as well, and sets the stage for a new story.