The Shadow Bride by Shelby Mahurin

Celie is upset; she was killed and brought back to life by the man she thought she loved, Michal. But now, she is a vampire—the thing that Michal is—but also promised he would never turn someone again. But now, Celie is with her friends and she is struggling with so many things. The main are her tentative relationship with her ex-fiancé Jean Luc, who doesn’t want to see her because of what she is. She also is struggling with her new need for blood. Coco and her other friends bring her back animal blood of all types, but she throws it up every time, and the craving is getting stronger and stronger. On top of all of that, she can now see the dead, and her sister Filippa keeps wreaking havoc on her life.

Celie’s witch friends decide they should do a séance to try and communicate with Filippa. It doesn’t work, but it does bring Michal into the mix. Celie refuses to talk to him and tells him to get out and not come back. He walks away and says that she will need him eventually, even just to help her figure out her new life.

Each day is a struggle for Celie. One night, she is sleepwalking, and when she wakes her fangs are out, and she has sunk them into her friends who are asleep and oblivious to what is happening. Celie decides that enough is enough—she needs to leave as to not harm anyone else. She goes to find Jean Luc but is a little sad to see that he has already found a new girl. Things start to get feisty, and Celie almost kills Jean Luc and his new girl. Luckily, Michal arrives and rips her away from them. He then tells Celie that she needs to feed on him. She feeds on him, but Jean Luc and his girl run away, very injured. Michal gets upset with Celie for pushing him away but tells her she doesn’t have a choice—she has to go back to his island and live there now that she is a vampire.

She boards a ship with Michal and some of his family, including his cousins Dimitri and Odessa. But one night, Fredrick, her brother, arrives. He has brought back Filippa from the dead, but she isn’t the same. As Celie is talking to her siblings, Death himself comes to talk to her. He kills Fredrick, takes Filippa, and calls Celie the Bride of Death. Death then leaves with a promise that he will be back. Celie doesn’t tell anyone about the visit, but Michal knows she is hiding something. Michal also uses the time on the boat to convince Celie that she needs to feed. Still upset with him, she decides to ask literally anyone else on the ship, but they all decline, saying it wouldn’t be right because Michal... and no one ever finishes their sentences. And before Celie can fully investigate, stowaways are found on the ship: her friend Lou (who is upset that Celie left her), and Celie’s mother. Celie’s mother goes on a rampage, specifically at Michal for taking her daughter improperly. Michal agrees, just to appease her mother.

Upon arrival to the castle, they are told to go to Celie’s room. Odessa is really adamant about making sure that Celie does not leave her room. But thanks to Lou, they decide to go out anyway. They sneak over to Michal’s side of the castle, where they find a giant maelstrom that is apparently making everyone sick—it actually makes Lou very sick to be that close to it. Luckily, Dimitri shows up and takes the two away. But not fast enough, as they run right into the party they were not supposed to go to. Dimitri and Lou use magic and themselves to hide Celie. What they see, though, is not pretty. A revenant has been dressed up to look like Celie and they are taunting the creature. Celie wants to fix it, but luckily Michal shows up to take care of it instead. He makes a big fuss about it and says he’ll kill whoever it was that started it. Odessa, his own cousin, then takes it on herself to start a coup. She tells Michal that he has grown weak, that he doesn’t care about his people, and only cares about his little human-turned-vampire. She then reaches into his heart and rips it out, killing him.

Once the party has dissipated, Celie runs to Michal, devastated. She wants him back and can’t believe Odessa—a friend she believed in—would do this to her own family. She then realizes that she might be able to put the heart back to save him, and it works. Michal looks a bit surprised to see Celie but tells her it was all part of a plan, that Odessa was supposed to do that, but it wouldn’t really kill him. But he does need to get to a different part of his kingdom to get healed. Celie offers her blood, but he won’t take it, saying she is only doing it because she was scared that he was dead.

They decide to continue with Michal’s plan since he technically abdicated. They leave to go talk to a witch that Michal is related to. She reveals herself as a Bride of Death as well, then she also talks about some revenants. After their visit, Celie starts to question Michal. He reveals something about an eternal bond—something the two of them have started because they have fed from each other. The bond will continue to solidify until they are bonded. Celie doesn’t want it and tells him that, says she will feed from anyone else—but then she ends up kissing him. They share a quick intimate moment, but he won’t let her go any further, not wanting her to regret anything.

As the two continue their journey, Michal tells Celie that she should sleep, which is when she reveals that she hasn’t slept in over a week. Any time she tries she just can’t turn her mind off. So he teaches her how to fall asleep again, walking her through it, and she falls right asleep. But her dream is taken over by Filippa. Her sister has been waiting for her so she can take her to Death. It’s at this point that Celie realizes her sister doesn’t want to come back from being a revenant—she is happy with her life with Death. But Death has all sorts of secrets and plans to share. First, he needs Celie’s blood to help bring someone back to life. When her blood doesn’t work, he gets angry and wants her to figure out how to help. He threatens her own mother’s death. Death also reveals that he was the one who turned Michal—when he was a kid he made a deal with Death. He isn’t the only one—Dimitri has also made a deal with Death in order to save his life.

When Celie wakes from her nightmare, Michal is there. They talk it through and go straight to Dimitri to confront him. He acknowledges that he did make a deal with Death and doesn’t regret it, as it saved his life, and Dimitri didn’t give any big information to him. Celie then says she thinks that Death told her this so there would be a rift between the family. But they need to try to keep it together. They regroup and make a new plan—Death needs to be taken care of.

At one point during their planning, there is an attack. Death himself arrives and tries to claim them. Filippa is also there, and her mother sees her for what she truly is. Dimitri also ends up dying during the fight. After the fight, Celie and Michal separate from the recovering group. They finally share an intimate moment, and their bond is even more in place. After their night together, they then go to the group, where Jean Luc and some others from Celie’s world have come to help them take care of Death. Celie’s mother also gives her the go-ahead for dealing with Filippa as well.

The group starts to set up a meeting with Death, and he readily agrees. Once he has arrived, he reveals that Dimitri and Odessa tricked Celie’s mother into the con where Michal died. Her mother did it to save her, but it is slowly killing her now. Death then gives Celie one last option: she needs to figure out how to bring someone back from the dead—and Celie is going to choose one of her friends, kill them, then go into the underworld to find them and bring them back. Michal volunteers and helps Celie stab him. Celie and Filippa go to the underworld to go find him. As soon as they enter, they both look at themselves—they are back to their normal human selves. Even though she is human, Celie feels her bond with Michal, and she follows it. She and Filippa pull an invisible string and bring him and Dimitri back—both mortal. They make a plan and start heading back.

Celie and Filippa are the only two that make it back—they claim that Michal said no to coming back, which enrages Death. He then shows his true colors and states Filippa has always been a pawn, and he will never help her bring her child back to life. In his rage, Death falls into a river and is swept away; he drags Filippa in, so Celie jumps in after them. She runs right into Dimitri and Michal. Celie then realizes that Filippa is the key—and she is struggling with the betrayal of Death. Celie manages to convince Filippa to close the gates that have been opened, thus keeping Death trapped. Everyone then makes it out, and Celie and Michal talk about what they want to do for the rest of their lives—especially now that they are both mortal.

In an epilogue, it’s Yulemas, and everyone is sharing gifts. Many chipped in to get Celie an old music box, one just like her childhood one. Michal also manages to track down a set of jewelry for Celie’s mother, one that she sold to make ends meet. It ends with a promise from Michal—that he plans on courting Celie, and that next Yulemas she’ll have a ring.