I'd read the first book in the series; this is the 8th, and ugh! If you've read the others leading up to this, you may love it, but it does NOT work as a stand alone, even having read the first book, just prior.

The lead romance is was about Jaelyn, a vampire assassin( called a Hunter), and her prey, Ariyal, a Sylvermyst (that's a kind of fairy), but there are other couples, and a twin baby in stasis they're trying to find - or is it a kidnapped werewolf who's also a prophet?

I did really like the way Jaelyn and Ariyal continually insulted each other: Leech! Fairy! And that did help me keep straight what kinds of beings *they* were.

There were also dead mages and werewolves and curs (??) and cur-mages and live mages and witches and imps and demons and gargoyles and probably a dozen more creatures. And a B storyline with Santiago (cannot remember what kind of being he was) and Nefri, who's a super-duper Vampire.

But beside the settings in London and Chicago and St. Louis, there was also a world behind the Veil, and Avalon, and... there was a King of the Vampires, who was Jaelyn's boss, except there was the Ruah, who was her boss, too, except he had to kowtow to the Oracles... I think at least 30-40 named characters. Too many, for my taste.