Esmé Loredan
Age: 20
Background: Daughter of a respected but modest glass artisan. Raised among fire and craftsmanship, Esmé grew up defying the expectations of her time.
Appearance: Long, sleek copper-red hair, striking green eyes, graceful and expressive features. Natural beauty that stands out even among nobles.
Personality:
-Courageous and headstrong
-Intelligent, self-taught, curious about the world
-Honest to a fault, determined to speak the truth—even when it's dangerous
-Fiercely independent, with a deep sense of justice
Strengths:
-Perceptive and quick-thinking
-Immune to glamour (vampiric illusion)
-Exceptional aim with a small crossbow
Conflict: Struggles between duty to her people and a growing, dangerous attraction to Luca.
Luca di Rosso
Apparent Age: 25 (real age unknown)
Background: Noble heir of House di Rosso, a wealthy and influential Florentine family with hidden vampiric heritage.
Appearance: Tall, lithe, with deep black hair always neatly styled. Skin pale like marble. Eyes a dark crimson, nearly black unless struck by light.
Personality:
-Witty and dangerously charming
-Intelligent and manipulative, yet unexpectedly fair
-Teasing with those he trusts, distant with strangers
-Carries a deep loneliness beneath layers of pride and mystery
Abilities:
-Enhanced strength, speed, and senses
-Vampiric glamour and hypnosis
-Commands shadows—an ancestral trait
Flaws:
-Haunted by guilt and secrets from centuries past
-Occasionally cruel when emotionally cornered
Secret: He is a "thinblood"—a hybrid, born of a vampire and a human centuries ago. He walks in daylight, but the night still calls to him.
Conflict: Torn between his legacy of darkness and a desire to protect Esmé, even if it means losing her.
Summary:
Florence, 1493. As the Renaissance bathes Italy in light through masterpieces, inventions, and intellectual revolutions, a much older and darker war simmers in the cobbled streets and hidden palazzos.
Esmé Loredan, the daughter of a glass artisan, dreams of a life far beyond the one laid out for her. Beautiful, red-haired with emerald eyes, bold and sharp-witted, she draws attention—and trouble. When she publicly defies a powerful noble during a ceremony, she unknowingly steps into a world of danger.
That noble is Luca di Rosso, heir to one of Florence's oldest families. Mysterious, cunning, and irresistibly charming, Luca bends society's rules as easily as he plays with hearts. But he carries an ancient secret: he descends from a bloodline of vampires—guardians of a fragile pact between the living and the shadows.
When a string of brutal murders strikes the city, suspicion falls upon the "half-bloods," beings born of humans and vampires. Esmé finds herself entangled in the mystery, for she possesses a rare gift: the ability to see through the illusions cast by creatures of the night.
Forced to work with Luca to uncover the truth—and secrets buried in her own past—Esmé is drawn into a world of deception, danger… and desire. Their relationship, prickly at first, simmers into a slow-burning dance of forbidden looks, sharp words, and deepening trust.
One truth will surface—one that could change everything. And one of them will have to choose: love… or blood.