Leo’s Life Before Malmö

Leo is raised in Dallas by Susanne’s assistant and her husband, whom are his foster parents. His supernatural changes emerge during his orphanage period: exceptional strength, arrested aging, and a hunger for flesh and blood. He makes his first victim disappear, and he subsequently kills the couple who sheltered him—an act he calls accidental, while admitting hunger left no room for mercy since he could not control it. He hides their bodies and flees. Twenty years later, he still appears about thirty.

Leo Arrives in Malmö

Leo travels from Copenhagen to Malmö after finding old photographs belonging to his foster parents. On the train, he displays superhuman strength while stopping a fight. Shortly after arriving, he kills and drains an unfaithful married man in an alley of Old Town Malmö.

Michael observes him feeding. He reveals that he has no heartbeat, easily overpowers Leo, calls Leo’s behavior amateurish, and claims Leo has stolen the Everborns’ intended prey. He tells Leo that he now owes him a favor.

At the Quality View Hotel, Leo encounters receptionist Natalie, who reacts fearfully to him. The following day, he tries to rescue her from two men, only for her to call him a “filthy Everborn” and slash his face. Michael intervenes. Natalie reveals her own fangs, claws, and red eyes before fleeing when police arrive.

Michael explains that Leo is an Everborn and takes him to Morison’s establishment. Leo learns the faction’s version of its persecution history and hears that Night Walkers are their ancestral enemies. Michael then brings him into increasingly violent operations, including the interrogation and killing of a Night Walker while searching for Susanne’s diary.

Natalie’s people capture Leo and interrogate him over the death. Natalie intervenes, frees him, warns that she will not save him again, and tells him he does not understand the side he has joined.

Leo nevertheless remains with Michael. During a shared feeding, he kills a woman and is disturbed by the Everborns’ routine handling of her corpse, but he suppresses his doubts because the rush of it all was intoxicating.