Major Story Arcs
Four Devils, One Hell
Simone, a joyful woman, marries Alfred Bixby, an insecure Grendel accountant. They are in love, but Alfred gets too deep into gambling, and loses her in a bet. In despair, Alfred has himself made pregnant, using the technology of the time, but the child soon dies as Alfred goes insane in the Amazon.
Calhoun, who won her from Bixby, is a smooth and mysterious Grendel. He falls in love with her, but despite his gambling skills, he also loses her in a bet to an unknown man.
She has an unnamed boy with this unknown man. The father becomes a vampire, and turns her into a vampire as well. She leaves him and goes off into the swamps to hide with her boy, whom she shockingly still loves and protects, despite the fact that he is still human.
Simone is part of the Batiaque family, the members of which are (unknown to them) direct descendants of Charlemagne, the ancient French king. Her cousin is Guillaume Batiaque. According to a voodoo prophecy, whoever is the most direct descendant of Charlemagne on the 800th anniversary of Hunter Rose’s death will become the reincarnation of Hunter Rose. The leader of the New Orleans Grendel krewe, Renute, is also related to Charlemagne, and starts killing all the other descendents until only he and Simone and the boy are left. Then he sends his Grendel soldiers to get them.
Simone and the boy kill some of the Grendels, and are joined by Calhoun and his ally, Josef Mantovani. They kill the rest of the Grendels, but Simone is killed in the battle.
Mantovani and Calhoun take the boy under their protection, and eventually he is permanently adopted by Bixby. Renute is ultimately defeated; it is unclear whether the boy does become the reincarnation of Rose.