Soulless

The first book in the Parasol Protectorate series is set in an alternate Victorian London where vampires and werewolves are integrated into British society. Supernatural beings owe their existence to an excess of soul, and their affairs are regulated by the Bureau of Unnatural Registry (BUR), a division of the Crown's civil service. A rare few individuals called preternaturals are born entirely without a soul, giving them the ability to neutralize supernatural powers through physical contact.

Miss Alexia Tarabotti is one such preternatural: a twenty-six-year-old spinster of half-Italian descent who lives with her frivolous mother, Mrs. Loontwill; her mild stepfather, Squire Loontwill; and her two vapid half-sisters, Felicity and Evylin. At a ball hosted by the Duchess of Snodgrove, Alexia retreats to the library for tea and is attacked by an unfamiliar vampire. When the vampire touches her, his fangs vanish, a standard effect of her preternatural nature. In the ensuing struggle, Alexia accidentally drives a wooden hair stick through his heart with her weighted brass parasol, killing him.

Lord Conall Maccon, the Earl of Woolsey and Alpha of the local werewolf pack, arrives to investigate with his Beta (second-in-command), Professor Randolph Lyall. Maccon leads BUR's operations in London. Lyall examines the body and identifies the dead vampire as carrying the scent of the Westminster hive, the vampire household led by Countess Nadasdy. Yet the vampire was clearly starving, untrained, and had no hive affiliation, a troubling contradiction since only a hive queen can create new vampires. Maccon keeps Alexia's name out of the press but dismisses her desire to work for BUR, citing her gender and social standing. The two share a contentious rapport that masks mutual attraction.

Alexia receives a sealed invitation to visit the Westminster hive. Alarmed, she consults Lord Akeldama, a flamboyant rove vampire (one living independently outside any hive) and close friend, who warns her that the supernatural community suspects her of knowing more than she does about the mysterious new vampire. At BUR headquarters, Maccon reveals that the countess denies any connection to the dead vampire and warns Alexia that vampires have long viewed preternaturals as enemies. Alexia insists on going anyway. Meanwhile, Lyall travels to Canterbury, where he uncovers that all registered rove vampires and loner werewolves in the area have vanished.

Alexia sneaks out to visit the hive. Countess Nadasdy reveals that three new vampires have appeared in her territory in two weeks, none with any knowledge of vampire customs, and two died within days. As Alexia leaves, a French maid named Angelique begs her to tell BUR that rove vampires are disappearing as well. Outside, Alexia boards what she believes is her cab, but it has been switched. A shadowed man attacks her with chloroform while the driver, a terrifying figure with a smooth waxy face and the letters VIXI on his forehead, watches with blank eyes. Lord Maccon, who had followed her in wolf form, rescues her. Afterward, he unexpectedly kisses Alexia. Lyall interrupts with his report from Canterbury, and a clear pattern emerges: Supernatural loners are disappearing while new, untrained vampires appear.

Maccon stations guards on Alexia but confuses her by ignoring her at a dinner party the next evening. Lyall later explains that Maccon has been unconsciously following werewolf courtship protocol, the "Bitch's Dance," in which the Alpha male waits for the female to make the first move. At the same party, Alexia meets Mr. MacDougall, an American scientist in England to present a paper at the Hypocras Club on measuring the human soul. Maccon eventually apologizes, and their relationship deepens through a series of passionate encounters. When Alexia's mother catches them together, she demands marriage. Maccon agrees willingly, but Alexia refuses, insisting she will not marry without love. Meanwhile, someone breaks into BUR headquarters and steals files on rove vampires, loner werewolves, and Alexia's preternatural records. The wax-faced man attacks again, proving unnaturally resilient.

On full-moon night, with all werewolves locked in their cells for the change, Alexia visits Lord Akeldama. Attackers invade his home, and the wax-faced man enters with chloroform. Alexia touches the creature's skin, but nothing happens, confirming it is neither supernatural nor natural. Both she and Lord Akeldama are captured and taken to subterranean laboratories beneath the Hypocras Club. The shadowed man is revealed as Mr. Siemons, a scientist. Lord Akeldama explains that the wax-faced man is a homunculus simulacrum, an automaton powered by an internal engine and activated by the word VIXI (Latin: "I have lived") written in magnetized iron dust on its forehead. Removing the word will deactivate it. Fearing he will not survive, Lord Akeldama asks Alexia to promise that if they live, she will wake him before sunset so he can see the sun one last time, sustained by her preternatural touch.

Mr. MacDougall, touring the facility, inadvertently reveals Alexia's name to Siemons, who connects it to the stolen BUR files and realizes she is the preternatural they have been seeking. Siemons explains the club's mission: to study and exterminate supernatural beings. When Alexia refuses to cooperate, he orders her thrown into a cell with a werewolf in full-moon change to test her abilities, since the scientists have captured the entire Woolsey pack. The werewolf charges, but Alexia throws herself against it. Her preternatural touch forces the transformation: Fur recedes, bones reform, and Lord Maccon returns to human form.

Trapped together, Alexia and Maccon share information and plan their escape. When scientists return, Maccon attacks. In the chaos, Alexia is carried to the exsanguination chamber, where Lord Akeldama lies staked to a platform, connected to a machine that drains his blood and transfers it into a human subject to artificially create a new vampire. This process explains the mysterious appearances. Lord Maccon, in wolf form, smashes through the door and kills the scientists. Alexia partially wipes VIXI from the automaton's forehead, weakening it, and Lord Akeldama summons his last strength to wipe the remaining letters with a handkerchief, collapsing the construct into wax, blood, and clockwork. Siemons flees but is captured by Lord Akeldama's drones (his human companions and servants), who had deduced the club's activity from their intelligence work that evening.

BUR agents process the scene, and Siemons is arrested. The Hypocras Club is shut down, and subsequent investigations bring down associated scientists across London. Queen Victoria arrives at the Loontwill house to offer Alexia the position of muhjah, the preternatural advisor on the Shadow Council, which also includes a vampire potentate and a werewolf dewan. The muhjah serves as a tiebreaker and independent investigator for the Crown. Alexia learns that Maccon recommended her for the post months earlier, after he realized BUR could not officially employ her. She accepts.

Before the wedding, Alexia keeps her promise: She wakes Lord Akeldama during the day and leads him to his rooftop, where her touch keeps him human and safe from the sun. They watch the sunset together in silence. The wedding takes place at Westminster Abbey. After the ceremony, visiting werewolves perform a traditional tribute, bowing to Alexia and acknowledging her as their Alpha female. Lord Maccon and Alexia consummate their marriage in the carriage on the way to Woolsey Castle, beginning their union as they intend to continue it: passionately, argumentatively, and with thorough disregard for propriety.