In "Parasites and Lovers", Jemma Lane altered the course of her life by accidentally releasing a vengeful vampire from a metal trunk. In "The Vampire and the Rose", her daughter, Rose, finds herself in a similar predicament, when the vampire, Paulus, returns to Longville. A surprising friendship develops, which takes a tragic turn when Frederick Dekker, a powerful and ruthless bloodsucker, kidnaps Rose. The thousand-year-old vampire applies seduction as a means to an end, but it backfires when his frozen heart melts under the heat of Rose's reluctant submission.