In the lawless streets of Van Hayden, where corruption runs deeper than the catacombs beneath, power is measured in blood-purple dragon blood. At the heart of it all sits Mayor Reginald Thorpe, a man desperate to cling to power as his city drowns in addiction and violence. When a deal with ruthless sorcerers and shady deals with the enigmatic Hayden vampire clan spirals out of control, he turns to the very criminals he once sought to tame-Popeye, the cunning pirate king, and his rival, Santa Claus, the feared gangster of the West End. Both men see the chaos as an opportunity, their bloody feud igniting over control of the dragon blood trade.
But in the shadows, another force moves. Tiny Little, once a fugitive, now a warrior reborn, has returned to Van Hayden with a singular purpose: to burn the empire of blood to the ground. Meanwhile, Dr. Ashford, a man of science trapped in a world of magic and monsters, seeks a way to break the curse of purple dragon blood before the city is lost forever. As alliances shift and betrayals unfold, Van Hayden stands on the brink of an all-out war-one where the lines between hunter and hunted blur, and the fate of the city will be written in blood.
Who will rise? Who will fall? And when the dust settles, will there be anything left of Van Hayden to rule?