From nineteenth century Istanbul to modern-day Vancouver, five people emerge from a global tapestry into a shrouded world of vampires, shape-shifters and uber-humans. They come to know their individual destinies as they alter each others' fates--as well as that of humankind itself. CEZAR, an idealistic Romanian rebel who escapes execution in a Turkish prison by embracing the eternal life afforded him by one of the enduring children of the night. GEDREC, a rakish explorer and academic, who partners with Cezar in adventure, love and immortality. ELSPET, a brilliant student who joins heart and mind with the two men--and is compelled to fill an ancient prophesy with one of them. ADAM, a cavalier American physician and former Marine whose hyper-masculine confidence extends to everything but his sexuality. ROI, an introverted sculptor whose ancestry is a mystery--especially to himself--and is revealed only by the fact that his skin inexplicably burns in sunlight, or at any human's touch. These pivotal figures manifest in the three worlds of Shared Blood: the Vampire Nations of the Primes, promoting predatory mastery with dark, alluring rituals and sorcery; the Sympaths, seeking to join with humankind and and enrich its culture; and the Vanator, descendants of the ancient Neanderthals, brokering the peace between the vampires nations, protecting each other and their human cousins. As Roi and Adam discover what it means to become vampires--and to be joined in love--the Vanator's hold on the truce weakens, eroding under recriminations and treachery into universal war. The darkest secrets emerge and threaten to enslave humankind--or give it its next Golden Age.