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.

MacLeod comes up against Nicholas Ward, an Immortal who conceals his murders by disguising them as popular hysterias. In the 1840's, Ward created a vampire myth in order to conceal the true motive behind his killing the owners of a business he wanted. Mac managed to prevent Ward from marrying (and murdering) the heiress, but Ward escaped. In the present, Mac teams up with Joe Dawson to discover what Ward is up to and protect the young woman he's set his sights on this time.

As Charlie regains strength, MacLeod accepts help from Dawson one last time, and barely misses catching Xavier and Horton. He then follows their trail to Paris — accompanied by the persistent Renee Delaney. They track down Horton, and when he almost escapes, he is shot by Joe Dawson. MacLeod, with the help of his humorous new neighbor Maurice, then tracks down Xavier and finally takes his head. In a coda, however, we learn that Horton still lives.

Xavier St. Cloud returns, killing Immortals with the help of mortal mercenaries who shoot his prey, making his kill easy. His next target is MacLeod but, warned by Dawson, Mac and Charlie just manage to escape death — though the dojo is all but destroyed in the gunfight. Renee Delaney, a CID agent investigating the mercenary angle, gets on the case. MacLeod goes after Xavier himself, and Charlie insists on coming along. During his battle with St. Cloud, MacLeod spots James Horton, the Hunter who killed Darius. Distracted, Mac is 'killed' and falls down an elevator shaft out of beheading range, and Charlie is badly wounded and lies near death. Blaming Dawson for helping Horton escape alive, MacLeod warns him not to cross his path again.

Charlie and MacLeod come to the aid of Sara Lightfoot, an Indian woman on the run with a baby. She tells them Avery Hoskins is trying to steal her baby. Hoskins and his brothers come after them, and they are forced to flee overland. After a rugged flight through a mountain canyon, MacLeod learns that the baby is in fact Hoskins' son, taken by Sara in retribution for her own child, killed by runoff from Hoskins' mines.

Richie wants to protect Laura Daniels, a young woman who's on the run from an Immortal bounty hunter, Mako. MacLeod has met Mako befoe and doesn't like his methods, but he knows the other man is lawful. He questions whether Laura is necessarily innocent. Richie doesn't care, he wants to help her anyway, no matter what it takes. MacLeod is torn between doing what's right and helping his friend. Richie defeats Mako and receives his first Quickening, and he and MacLeod realize it's time for him to move on.