For a thousand years, Kaderin the Cold Hearted has been the fiercest warrior of the Valkyrie clan. After her sisters' deaths in an ancient battle against the vampire Horde, guilt threatened to destroy Kaderin. But the blessing of a goddess took away that emotion -- and all others -- leaving Kaderin a perfect assassin. Now her life is an endless mission to eradicate all vampires -- one at a time.

When Kaderin receives news of a lone vamp terrorizing a remote mountain village, she gladly volunteers to travel to Russia for a quick kill. But when she arrives at the decrepit castle, the vampire is nothing she expects. Without the red eyes that signal blood frenzy, the vampire is lean and solemn. He asks for death, courteous as a knight -- and Kaderin can't do it. She looks into his weary face and realizes that feelings she hasn't experienced in a millennium are rushing back into her heart. Overcome, Kaderin allows the vampire to touch her -- and that leads to an explosive moment of passion that will change everything.

Sebastien Wroth is waiting for death, until a small blonde female enters his castle and reminds him of what it was like to be alive. He recognizes her instantly as his Bride, and when they come together, it's better and hotter than anything he could have imagined. But reality descends at once, and Kaderin is horrified at what they've just done. She leaves him calling her name, unable to follow her into the sunlight.

Kaderin hates herself and her newly remembered emotions, and she vows to forget Sebastien. She has to focus, because the moment she's waited 10 decades for is at hand. The Talisman's Hie, a mythical scavenger hunt judged by a goddess and undertaken by only the strongest and most brutal creatures of the Lore, is about to begin. Kaderin has won every Hie for the last thousand years, but this one is special. The final prize is a key that will open a portal into the past, allowing the winner to travel back in time. With this key, Kaderin will be able to go back to that battlefield and save her sisters. However, Sebastien is not so easily forgotten. He will travel to the ends of the earth to find his Bride, and he'll help her in her quest -- whether she wants him or not. Together, they pass through trials of ice and fire, and each step brings them closer to the fateful moment when Kaderin will have to choose between her family and the vampire whose touch brings her to life.

This second installment in Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series is a nonstop adventure. The Talisman's Hie, a supernatural version of The Amazing Race, keeps things moving at a punishing pace, and even Cole seems to have some trouble keeping up. However, the Hie is useful as an introduction into Cole's fascinating world, where magic and myth simmer just beneath the surface of ordinary mortal life. It's a well-imagined world, peopled with fantastic beings: witches and werewolves and basilisks -- oh, my!

As always, it's Cole's characters who truly drive the plot. Kaderin is sharp and funny, and Cole doesn't gloss over the gritty, cruel side of her personality. But it's Sebastien and his struggle to become someone whom Kaderin could love that gives the book its heart. A warrior scholar, Sebastien is not accomplished in the art of love. His experiences make it hard for him to believe himself worthy, and he understands all too well why Kaderin rejects him. But he's compelled to pursue her, even against his own wishes. He perseveres through pain and betrayal, and almost loses himself in the process. In the end, he finds that he always was the perfect match for Kaderin. An interesting, even exceptional hero -- his happy ending is a long time coming, but it's one of the more satisfying scenes in recent romance.