"Kindret:
Blood Brothers" by Natalia Turchaninova, summary Automatic translate

"Kindrat. Blood Brothers" is an urban fantasy novel by Alexey Pekhov, Elena Bychkova, and Natalia Turchaninova (2004), the first book in the "Kindrat" series, set in modern-day Moscow. The novel’s world is populated by several clans of vampires — kindrat — each with special abilities and its own ethics. The Dakhanavar read emotions and communicate telepathically, the Kadavertsians wield necromancy, the Thornish are renowned for their cruelty, and the Fariartos for their beauty and charm.

Prologue: A Trap for the Master

On a rainy night, Wolfger Vladislav, an old and powerful necromancer of the Cadavercian clan, waits in a parked Bentley for his blood brother — a diplomatic partner. The brother appears, but instead of meeting, he lures Wolfger into an alley. Seven armed men await him there. The Master easily kills them with a snap of his fingers and begins to revive one of the attackers for interrogation. However, at that moment, an unknown assailant unleashes a powerful Medusa’s Kiss, a paralyzing spell whose power suggests several powerful Kindred had cast it simultaneously. The immobilized Wolfger is loaded into the car. The Bentley is stolen and hidden. The street empties once again.

Scanner: The Hunt for Living Blood

The narrative shifts to Darel, a Dakhanavar empath capable of feeling people’s emotions almost physically. Together with Christoph, a Cadavercian, he tracks down a teenager named Lorian: Darel needs the boy as a food source. Lorian stands out from the crowd — Darel perceives his inner world as a cold, clean wind and diffused sunlight, something nearly impossible for a city dweller.

Darrel gently clouds Laurian’s consciousness, introduces himself, and they attend the premiere of the opera — the musical "Phantom" performed by rock singer Gemran Vance. During the performance, Darrel barely restrains his hunting instinct: the pulsing vein in the boy’s neck drives him to the brink. During intermission, he leaves and returns calm. After the opera, Darrel introduces Laurian to Vance personally; Vance gives the teenager an autographed disc. The boy has no idea who he met that evening.

Archie: The Price of Mistakes

That same night, Darel receives a mental call for help from Archie, a young Dakhanavar who was turned by Constance just four months ago. Archie is a natural-born hacker, recruited into the clan precisely for his ability to break into any computer system. He encounters Darel at the Chameleon nightclub in a state of panic: in a dark corridor of the Labyrinth, he accidentally killed a woman by breaking her neck.

The situation is complicated by the fact that all clans that have taken the ancient Oath — Dakhanavar, Kadavertian, Nosophoros, Ligamentia, Fariartos, and Viesci — are obligated to refrain from taking mortal life. For the Dakhanavar, the prohibition is especially strict: the clan’s ethical norms completely preclude harming humans. Archie fears not only Constance’s wrath but also the police — he already has a criminal record for hacking and is out on bail. Furthermore, the boy still hides his transformation from his parents and cannot abandon them.

Darel calls Christophe. The necromancer arrives at the club, discreetly reanimates the woman’s corpse, and grants her a few minutes of life — enough for her to come out into the hall and provoke a police officer and a doctor, proving she’s alive. A teenage witness, who managed to raise the alarm, becomes a laughingstock. There are no traces of the murder, and the evidence is destroyed.

Paula and Miklos: Porcelain and Red Clay

A Fariartos named Paula accompanies the head of the Thornish clan, the Nachttóter Miklós, to a photo exhibition by war reporter Vlad. Miklós is one of the oldest and most powerful Kindræth, intelligent, cunning, and utterly unscrupulous. Vlad impresses him, and the Thornish half-jokingly threatens Paula that he will convert the photographer to his clan before the Fariartos do.

Paula objects openly: Vlad won’t make a thornish — he doesn’t have the personality or the right attitude toward people. Miklos tries to force his way into her thoughts, but encounters Faryartos’s unusual mental shield: her passive magic reflects the attacker’s power back — and the thornish hears her own music in her head. Shocked, he releases the faerie and suddenly tells her, "You can just call me Miklos."

Felicia and the Golden Billion Program

Felicia is a Mormolik, the most ancient of the Dakhanavar, who remembers the prehistoric city of Mohenjo. Constance comes to visit her and tells her that she has discovered in the clan’s documents a long-term program called the "Golden Billion" — a plan to reduce the human population to one billion.

Felicia calmly explains: the Dakhanavar won’t kill humans themselves, but for over ten years they’ve been helping human governments develop population control strategies. She believes that uncontrolled population growth will lead to resource depletion and war — and along with humanity, the Kindreth will perish. Constance accepts this explanation, but is confused by the ambiguity of the clan’s official policy, which proclaims its protection of humans.

Inter-clan intrigues

Meanwhile, Darel learns of Wolfger’s kidnapping and begins reluctantly considering how to confront Miklós — not out of principle, but out of interest in the game of logic. Svetlov, a man close to the Thornischi and personally victimized by them, approaches Darel with a request for help in exchange for an alliance. Darel doesn’t give a direct answer, but a plan slowly takes shape.