Once per season, an Eastern city gives each of its vampires a girl pleasing to the eye as a gift—an easy precaution so that the city’s vampires don’t leave and start pouncing on just anyone. This time, the group of Gifts included Daria, a girl from our world who categorically refuses to be fed to any vampires at all.
And the gift ended up with the young Jano, who among his kind has a steady reputation for being a bookworm. And if you add that the girl here is big and strong—she did sumo and is generally decisive—then… it looks like the vampire might be the one in trouble.