Richie meets a beautiful young woman who leads him into the world of haute couture. His youthful jealousy causes him to run afoul of a world-class fashion designer, a deadly Immortal.

A mortal named Pallin Wolf, one of the renegade Watchers who believes the Immortals must be eliminated, lures an Immortal to his house and kills him, getting the advantage by tricking him into a sealed room that is completely dark, then stalking him with night vision goggles. Meanwhile, a Gypsy fortuneteller they meet in a restaurant, Greta, warns Tessa that she is in danger. When Tessa is kidnapped by Wolf, MacLeod returns to Greta, asking for her help. But she's mostly a hustler, and not accustomed to getting actual visions, so the clues she is able to provide are meager. Finally, Mac finds Wolf's house, where Wolf is waiting for him. He meets Wolf in the dark room and all seems hopeless until he remembers a matchbook Greta gave him with her phone number in it. Lighting the matches, he regains the advantage and kills Wolf. However, as Tessa and Richie are heading for the car, a young junkie accosts them for money, and in an act of senseless violence, shoots them both. As Mac mourns,

In 1918 in the Soviet Union, MacLeod promised the Immortal Drakov that he would not fight him, in return for seeing lives spared. Today Drakov, now called Arthur Drake, still operates behind the scenes of international politics, a cruel puppetmaster who is dragging Eastern Europe toward anarchy. Eli Jarmel, an old man whose family was destroyed by Drake, urges MacLeod to recant his promise, while Beth Vaughn, a reporter, puts her life in danger by investigating both Drake and MacLeod.

Richie returns, on the run, turning to MacLeod for help. An Immortal has been following him, refusing to confront him, but committing grisly murders wherever Richie goes. Richie is arrested for the murders. Mac learns that Immortal hunter Martin Hyde is behind the murders: considering the Quickening of a green Immortal like Richie not worth the taking, Hyde has been hounding him in order to drive him to his teacher. MacLeod must clear Richie of the murders and defeat the evil Immortal.