Chapter Summaries

Carlisle and the Cullens explained Renesmee’s half-human, half-vampire nature and why they had mistaken Miaomiao for a hybrid. As they walked through the harbor, Carlisle revealed the vampires’ law against turning human children and the danger of immortal children.

• Carlisle told Miaomiao that Renesmee was Edward and Bella’s half-human, half-vampire daughter.
• Bella explained that she had conceived Renesmee while human and described her daughter’s mixed traits.
• Bella recounted her dangerous pregnancy, and Miaomiao praised her while Edward recalled nearly losing her.
• Carlisle explained that the Cullens had hoped Miaomiao might be a hybrid like Renesmee and could offer guidance and proof.
• Carlisle revealed that vampires were forbidden to turn human children because their minds would remain immature and their thirst for blood uncontrollable.
• Carlisle said immortal children would eventually kill everyone in sight.

Miaomiao explained that she was Merfolk, not a human-vampire hybrid, after the Cullen family discussed the Volturi’s ban on immortal children. She learned that Blüdhaven’s vampires followed Queen Mary rather than the Volturi, and the chapter ended with the Cullens warning her not to confront the murderous newborns alone.

• Carlisle and the Cullen family explained the Volturi’s law against immortal children and how they had once mistaken Renesmee for one.
• Miaomiao told the Cullens that she was Merfolk, and Edward and Alice revealed that they could neither read her mind nor see her future.
• Carlisle explained that Blüdhaven’s vampires answered to Queen Mary and generally stayed hidden under her restrictions.
• Miaomiao said that a recently turned vampire she had encountered had accomplices and might be connected to the killings.
• Miaomiao resolved to take out the vampires before they attracted human attention, while Esme urged caution and Carlisle suggested informing Queen Mary.

Miaomiao told Dick what she learned from the Cullen Family, while Dick shared his investigation into Marijé Brian and the growing unease inside Blüdhaven’s Police Station. Late that night, Melinda called Dick to ask how he would feel about sharing a room with a vampire.

• Miaomiao met the Cullen Family at the old port, learned about vampire factions and their customs, and exchanged contact information with them.
• Dick told Miaomiao that his search for Marijé Brian had yielded few leads and that Melinda had publicly denied any supernatural connection to the murders.
• Dick explained that officers at the Police Station increasingly suspected supernatural involvement despite the authorities’ efforts to suppress the truth.
• Melinda called Dick late at night, and after he joked about Hayley, she asked how he would feel about sharing a room with a vampire.

Dick agreed to accompany his sister Melinda to mediate a conflict between Blüdhaven’s vampire factions, while Miaomiao reluctantly stayed nearby as backup. Dick and Melinda entered a cemetery and found a brightly lit waffle shop that appeared to be a vampire front.

• Melinda asked Dick to accompany her to negotiations between Blüdhaven’s vampire factions, and Dick agreed.
• Miaomiao overheard them and insisted on coming, but Dick persuaded her to wait nearby and stay ready to help.
• Dick met Melinda, and they drove to a cemetery on the outskirts of Blüdhaven.
• Melinda led Dick through the cemetery, where they found a neon-lit waffle shop that Dick suspected was a front.

Melinda Grayson-Lin and Dick followed a vampire guide through a hidden stairway beneath a waffle shop to the underground vampire palace, where they arrived to meet Queen Mary. Their welcome turned hostile when two banquet attendants mocked the guide and threw her out.

• Melinda and Dick entered the waffle shop and met a vampire employee who worked for Mary.
• The vampire employee opened a refrigerator that concealed a long stone stairway and led Melinda and Dick underground.
• At the bottom, the vampire employee brought them through a heavy wooden door into a grand underground vampire palace.
• Melinda said she hoped to resolve matters peacefully, while Dick admired the palace's scale.
• Two vampire banquet attendants mocked the guide, and the male attendant threw her out through the banquet hall doors.

Dick and Melinda entered the Underground Palace and met Pandora, who had impersonated Queen Mary to summon them. Pandora asked Dick to protect the Shadow Attendants and secretly tried to Enchant him into agreeing to kill Mary, but a cool sensation at his wrist broke her spell.

• A vampire attendant explained that the newly turned shop girl had been expelled because newborn vampires ranked below those allowed into the palace banquet hall.
• The attendant led Dick and Melinda to the palace entrance, where they found a woman in black on a throne and a long-haired male vampire beside her.
• The woman revealed herself as Pandora, vampire lord of Blüdhaven, and asked Dick to protect the Shadow Attendants from Mary and her Reformists.
• Pandora used Enchantment to urge Dick to kill Mary, but a cool sensation from his wrist snapped him out of it.

Dick was lured to a meeting with Pandora, who tried to recruit him into a vampire plot against Queen Mary. He discovered that Melinda had helped set the trap and found himself surrounded by vampires, unable to fight his sister.

• Pandora claimed Queen Mary was persecuting the Blood Clan and urged Dick to help remove her, but Dick refused to kill anyone and called for negotiation.
• Pandora and Long-Haired Man revealed their belief that vampires were superior to humans, and Pandora signaled the vampires surrounding the hall to close in.
• Dick realized the meeting was a trap and ran toward Melinda, but she remained beside two vampire attendants.
• Melinda admitted she had told Pandora the trap might lure Dick there and asked him to agree to Pandora's demands, apologizing for betraying him.
• Dick asked Melinda to let him go, but she said he would have to fight the vampires as they gathered around him.

Dick fought off Melinda’s vampire forces in the underground Sanctuary but was overwhelmed and captured. Unable to strike his sister, he was left in Pandora’s grasp as the ritual to turn him into a vampire began.

• Melinda revealed she had long been a vampire and trapped Dick in a banquet hall filled with vampires.
• Dick used broken torch stakes to kill several vampires, but their endless numbers and rapid healing wore him down.
• Dick worried that Miaomiao might come looking for him, then was overwhelmed and pinned beneath the vampires.
• Melinda told Dick she intended to turn him into a vampire and retrieve his ancestral soil afterward.
• Dick tried to threaten Melinda with a stake but could not hurt his sister, and Pandora bared her fangs to begin the transformation ritual.

Miaomiao stormed Pandora’s Sanctuary to stop her from transforming Dick, and another rescuer appeared just as Pandora threatened to bite him. The chapter ended with Pandora realizing that the two newcomers were vampires.

• As Pandora prepared to bite Dick, Miaomiao burst into the Sanctuary and demanded that Pandora let him go.
• Dick told Miaomiao that Pandora had not bitten him, easing Miaomiao’s fury.
• Pandora seized Dick again and prepared to bite him, believing Miaomiao could not overcome her forces alone.
• Miaomiao revealed that she had not come alone, and a fast-moving figure blocked Pandora’s claws and pulled Dick from her grasp.
• After the rescue, Pandora saw two unfamiliar vampires standing with Miaomiao and realized that another enemy had appeared.

Edward and Bella Cullen rescued Dick from Pandora, and the rest of the Cullen family arrived to support them. Pandora prepared to fight the intruders, while Dick’s teasing comment about Edward briefly diverted Miaomiao and the Cullens.

• Pandora’s psychokinesis failed to affect Edward, Bella, Miaomiao, or Dick, and she demanded to know who the strangers were.
• Edward introduced himself and Bella, returned the injured Dick to Miaomiao, and said they had come to prevent a catastrophe.
• Pandora accused the Cullens and Miaomiao of invading her territory and ruining her plan to turn Nightwing into a vampire, then ordered her followers to attack.
• Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, Carlisle, and Esme arrived, joining Edward and Bella as the Cullen family assembled around Miaomiao and Dick.
• Pandora threatened the intruders and prepared to fight, but Dick joked that Miaomiao was forbidden to date Edward, prompting awkward reactions from the Cullens.

Carlisle confronted Pandora in the Underground Palace, warning that the vampires and humans faced an unprecedented catastrophe. Meanwhile, Miaomiao tracked Dick to the cemetery but could not find his trail, and Alice warned her that Nightwing would die if he acted alone that night.

• Carlisle told Pandora that her group could not easily kill or control them and said they wanted to prevent a catastrophe threatening humans and vampires.
• Miaomiao grew uneasy while Dick was away, then followed the charm she had made for him to the cemetery.
• Miaomiao found the closed waffle shop, where Dick's presence vanished, and concluded that he was probably still inside the cemetery.
• Alice called Miaomiao and urgently warned her not to let Nightwing act alone because he would die.

Miaomiao fought her way through the Waffle Shop and learned that Dick was being held in Pandora’s Underground Palace. As the Cullen family raced to join her, she descended into the passage to rescue him.

• After Alice warned that Dick was in mortal danger, Miaomiao smashed through the Waffle Shop window and attacked its two vampire employees.
• Miaomiao incapacitated the male employee and tore off the female employee’s arm when she refused to reveal where Dick had gone.
• The female employee told Miaomiao that the entrance to the Underground Palace was behind the red refrigerator and opened the passage for her.
• Miaomiao rushed down the underground steps toward Pandora’s Sanctuary.
• Edward carried Bella toward the Waffle Shop while Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and Carlisle followed behind.

Miaomiao stormed Pandora’s Underground Palace to rescue Dick, and the Cullen family helped protect him from Pandora’s powers. Alice revealed that her visions showed a coming apocalyptic war between humans and vampires, leaving Pandora to confront the scale of the catastrophe they had come to prevent.

• Miaomiao smashed into the Underground Palace and fought through its vampire guards to reach Dick, whom Pandora was holding captive.
• Edward seized Dick from Pandora while Bella’s Mental Barrier blocked Pandora’s psychic attack, and the rest of the Cullen family arrived.
• Carlisle urged Pandora to avoid a tragedy and explained that the group had come to prevent a catastrophe.
• Alice introduced her gift of Future Sight and described how a vision had helped avert a devastating clash with Aro and the Volturi.
• Alice told Pandora that she foresaw an apocalyptic war engulfing humans and vampires across the world.

Alice’s vision showed Dick becoming a vampire, killing Pandora, and leading a war against humanity. Miaomiao confronted Pandora over the attempt to transform Dick, but Pandora refused to surrender, leaving the Underground Palace on the brink of battle.

• Alice revealed her vision of Nightwing killing Pandora, overthrowing the vampire monarchy, and leading vampires to conquer the human world.
• Pandora doubted the prophecy, while Carlisle urged her to stop the ritual and suggested Aro could verify Alice’s foresight.
• Miaomiao left Dick in Esme’s care and threatened to eliminate Pandora and her followers for harming her brother.
• Miaomiao’s uncontrolled power influenced Carlisle until Bella’s Mental Barrier brought him back to his senses.
• Carlisle made one final appeal, but Pandora declared that she would never surrender.

Miaomiao defeated Pandora and the Long-Haired Man, then prepared to punish the vampires who had attacked Dick. Dick embraced and reassured her, and she finally broke down, admitting she had been terrified she would arrive too late.

• Pandora and the Long-Haired Man attacked Miaomiao, but her shriek disrupted them and she killed them both in seconds.
• The surviving Shadow Attendants abandoned thoughts of revenge and submitted to Miaomiao.
• Miaomiao demanded that every vampire who had attacked Dick step forward and prepared to kill them all.
• Dick embraced Miaomiao and told her he was alive and safe.
• Miaomiao began crying and told Dick she had been scared she would arrive too late.

After Miaomiao rescued Dick, she sobbed in his arms while Melinda reflected on the cost of her transformation and her betrayal of him. Dick argued that Pandora alone was responsible for the disaster and tried to persuade Miaomiao that the remaining vampires were no threat.

• Miaomiao clung to Dick and sobbed as he comforted her and apologized for frightening her.
• Melinda watched them with envy and recalled Pandora explaining that vampires kept their memories but lost most feelings except their deepest obsession.
• Melinda reflected on her ambition to become mayor of Blüdhaven and admitted that she had betrayed Dick by luring him into the Blood Clan's trap.
• Dick recovered enough to explain that Pandora's authority had compelled the low-ranking vampires to obey her orders.
• Miaomiao doubted that the remaining vampires were harmless and eyed them suspiciously.

Miaomiao hesitated to spare the surviving vampires, fearing they might threaten her family again, until they proposed that Dick’s sister Melinda lead the Shadow Attendants. Miaomiao accepted the idea, then realized Melinda had been turned into a vampire and suspected Dick had bitten her against her will.

• The surviving vampires knelt and begged Miaomiao to spare them, but she doubted their submission and feared future attacks on her family.
• Dick reassured Miaomiao that Pandora had been the one seeking a coup and asked her to let the remaining vampires go.
• A vampire argued that Melinda, whom Pandora had given the First Embrace, was the only eligible successor to lead the Shadow Attendants.
• The vampires pleaded for Melinda to succeed Pandora, and Miaomiao recognized her as Dick’s sister and agreed that it might be acceptable.
• Miaomiao realized Melinda had been turned into a vampire and, believing Dick had bitten her against her will, gathered blue-violet light at her fingertips.

Dick persuaded Miaomiao to spare the Shadow Attendants and let Melinda take control, judging it the safest way to protect Blüdhaven. Melinda became the new lord and imposed rules on the vampires, while Dick and Miaomiao left with the Cullen family, and Miaomiao asked Alice whether the future had changed.

• Dick explained that Melinda had chosen to become a vampire and argued that letting her lead the Shadow Attendants was the safest way to stabilize Blüdhaven.
• Miaomiao agreed to spare the kneeling vampires and asked Melinda whether she would become their lord.
• Melinda accepted the role, and the vampires submitted to her as she took the throne and forbade them from provoking conflicts, indiscriminately hunting humans, or defying her orders.
• Dick avoided speaking further with Melinda and left the Underground Palace with Miaomiao and the Cullen family.
• As they returned to the waffle shop beneath the night sky, Miaomiao asked Alice whether the future had changed.

Alice foresaw that the worst future had changed, and Nightwing would no longer turn the world into a vampire realm of eternal night. The Cullen family departed after warning that danger remained, and Miaomiao tended to Dick’s serious wounds at home.

• Alice saw that Nightwing’s worst possible future had shifted, and Miaomiao and Dick rejoiced that he would not become a vampire king who ruled an eternal night.
• Dick told Barbara that the vampire crisis in Blüdhaven was over and that he was safe, then promised to explain when he returned.
• Carlisle and the Cullen family said goodbye, warning Dick that Pandora’s death had removed the most direct cause of the apocalypse but had not erased all danger.
• Dick and Miaomiao drove home, where Hayley anxiously sniffed him and Miaomiao discovered his injuries were worse than they had appeared.

After Miaomiao treated Dick’s injuries, he told Barbara that Alice had foreseen a future in which he became a Vampire King and threatened the world, and Barbara urged him to inform Bruce. Dick then dreamed of reliving Pandora’s attack, but the battle continued to overwhelm him as he wondered why Miaomiao had not arrived.

• Miaomiao carefully cleaned and bandaged Dick’s wounds while he joked with her about crying and playing the hero.
• Dick told Barbara that Pandora had tried to turn him into a vampire, but Miaomiao and her vampire friends had killed Pandora and rescued him.
• Dick explained Alice’s prediction that he would become the Vampire King and wage war on the world if events followed their original course.
• Barbara said she would seal Blüdhaven’s vampire files and monitor supernatural signals, and insisted that Dick tell Bruce about the threat.
• Dick dreamed that Pandora again ordered the vampires to capture him, and he fought them with a wooden stake.
• The vampires eventually pinned Dick down as he grew exhausted and wondered why Miaomiao had not come to save him.