Firstborn: A Novel (Descendants of the House of Bathory) by Tosca Lee

Audra's memory has come back and now those that she loves the most are in danger. Audra tries to distance herself from the people that mean the most to her, but Luka refuses to let her fight this battle on her own. As long as the Historian is alive no Progeny is safe. Can Audra make a deal with the devil in order to save more Progeny lives from being lost? Can she protect the one thing that would give the Historian the most power? And what about Audra's own powers? As a Firstborn she has yet to tap into all that she is capable of, but as her desperation and desire to keep Luka safe increases so do her abilities. Can Audra somehow stop a centuries-old vendetta by exposing the powers-that-be?

Firstborn was fast-paced and intense. I had a bit of a hard time keeping up with the Progeny and Scion's etc. It might have helped if I had read The Progeny and then moved right into Firstborn, but it has been quite a while since I read The Progeny. I loved Luka and Audra's characters. Their love for each other and their desire to protect each other is romantic even when the situations that they find themselves in aren't romantic. There were some surprises throughout the story that had me saying, "Whoa!" There were also several secondary characters that were quite entertaining. I loved all of Audra's friends that helped her along the way, Jester, Piotrek and Claudia were a tight-knit group of friends that anyone would love to have. Lot's of emotions, lot's of killings, lot's of history and lot's of action round out this entertaining read.