Crave

Grace checks and rechecks her throat, thinking this can’t be some medicine-induced hallucination. She has bite marks on her neck. If she were in a horror novel, the marks would be from a vampire, but now she wonders if the marks are from a snake or two shots. She puts together clues about Marc and Quinn talking about the moon and Jaxon calling them animals, Macy’s warning about Jaxon and Flint’s different groups, and more. Grace repeats that “there are no such things as monsters, just people who do monstrous things” (265). Deeper down, she worries it could be a vampire bite.

In the early morning, she rushes to Jaxon’s room. She bangs on his door, texts, and calls, but Jaxon doesn’t respond. Mekhi finds her, and she rips off her neck bandage. Mekhi asks who bit her, as if a bite like this is normal. She threatens Mekhi that the bite better not be a joke. He swears it’s not and texts The Order. Jaxon is freaking out and texts he’s in the mountains but wants Grace to stay put for a few hours. She huffs that she won’t wait for the jerk who won’t be honest. Mekhi hints that sometimes the most obvious answer is correct.

Mekhi walks Grace to her room. Jaxon texts Grace multiple times, but she doesn’t look at the messages. Mekhi is adamant that she doesn’t go to class because Jaxon said so. Grace is furious and tells Mekhi to bite her, though “someone already did” (273). Macy goes pale, and Mekhi admits that Grace knows. Macy promises to stay with her, and says headmaster Finn already told her teachers about Grace’s condition. Grace shoves Mekhi out the door.

Afterward, Grace asks Macy if she’s a vampire. Macy isn’t, and neither is her dad. By Macy’s calmness though, Grace assumes vampires are real. She keeps asking questions, and Macy confirms that vampires are real, and Jaxon is one. Flint is a dragon shifter (with a human and dragon form). Macy is a witch. Grace should have been a witch too.

Macy explains that because Grace’s father, a warlock, fell in love with a human, her mom, he had to give up his power. He chose love, and Grace was born without any magic due to her weakened bloodline. Grace has trouble accepting these supernatural realities, but Macy insists it’s true. She proves that she’s a witch by making the tea kettle boil and pouring tea into a cup with a flick of her wrist. Uncle Finn was planning to explain everything to Grace, but Grace kept getting hurt, so he waited.

Macy reasons that Marise, the school nurse, bit Grace. She’s a vampire too, so she had to fix her arterial tear by using her vampire venom. Jaxon sealed her wound shut with his venom, and then Marise used her healing venom after opening the injury with her teeth. Macy adds that werewolves, called “wolf shifters,” who can transform without a moon, are also at Katmere. Grace is the only human.

Grace and Macy go to the dining hall, with Grace’s mind reeling from the bizarre information. She’s surrounded by vampires, dragons, wolf shifters, and witches. She wonders if there are rules, such as if she can cut her finger in front of a dragon, but maybe not a vampire, and how the groups get along or fight. Grace feels out of place when everyone stares, but Macy tells her it’s due to Jaxon’s interest in her, which makes most people jealous and curious.

Flint greets them and offers to get Grace a plate. He insists she sit with him and his friends. Grace thanks him, amazed that he’s secretly a dragon, and walks toward his table—until she hears a screeching sound from above.

The ceiling’s giant chandelier drops, about to hit Grace, but someone tackles her. Jaxon has his arms wrapped around her. He rescued her again. Jaxon is bleeding, so Grace forces him to sit down so she can tend to his wounds on his face. Macy makes sure Grace is all right.

Adults swarm the dining hall, clearing students away. The Order surrounds Grace and Jaxon while she cleans the cuts on his face. Jaxon is upset that she didn’t stay in her room, but Grace retorts that she was hungry, and the dining hall isn’t dangerous. Jaxon says chandeliers and tree branches don’t fall on their own: Someone is trying to kill her.

Grace asks why someone would try to kill her, but Jaxon admits he doesn’t know. Grace thinks she’s harmless, especially around supernatural students.

Uncle Finn arrives. He hugs Grace and ensures she’s unharmed. Jaxon slips away, and Finn brings Grace to his office to talk. He apologizes for not telling her sooner about the school’s powerful students, and that he can tell her about her father, his warlock sibling, another time. Her parents wanted to protect her from the magical world, and Finn still wants to protect her. He’s in awe of her reserve when others would be hysterical by this point. With Grace’s many near-death experiences, Finn believes she should go back to San Diego for her safety.

Grace argues that accidents can happen anywhere, and she’d rather be with Macy, him, Jaxon, and her other friends. Finn warns Grace that Jaxon is from one of the oldest, most legendary vampire families in history. Vampires can use their venom to turn others, though the genetic mutation happens via birth sometimes, too. He adds that Grace can’t imagine the story behind Hudson’s death.

Finn refocuses on sending her home, but Grace disagrees. She needs a fresh life, not going back to San Diego, where she’s constantly reminded of her parents’ death. Finn accepts this, agreeing she can stay with her family here. He will develop a plan to ensure Grace doesn’t get hurt again.

Outside Finn’s office, another minor earthquake happens. Grace texts Jaxon to meet, but he doesn’t respond. She goes to the library to read up on mythology. She meets Ms. Royce, the librarian, who reveals she’s an elemental witch. She carries books on the wind, snuffs and relights the candles, and makes snowflakes. Grace is breathless at her powers. Ms. Royce implies that Grace also has powers and that she’ll understand when she needs to. She should start in the dragon section.

Grace finds Flint reading an ancient-looking book, which he throws in his backpack. It’s for Ancient Languages of Magic, he says, and reminds Grace of Lia’s book. She interrogates Flint about dragons; he’s open and funny as usual as he answers her questions. He can breathe fire and ice and fly. He brings out marshmallows as a snack, blowing fire from his mouth to roast them. Grace laughs as they roast and eat the whole bag of marshmallows. Flint calls her beautiful, which makes Grace feel awkward, then laughs that he isn’t hitting on her yet.

Grace ignores Flint’s romantic comment. Flint checks his phone and reports that The Order is on the move. He hurries out of the library. Grace tries to text Jaxon for information, but they see The Order vampires running single file into a room. Grace rushes forward, finding Jaxon and his group attacking many wolf-shifters. She witnesses Jaxon’s unbelievable power firsthand; he’s the only one who can use telekinesis to levitate and smash the wolves into the walls.

Jaxon then takes Cole, a wolf shifter, high in the air. He makes a forcefield around them, though Grace shouts his name. Somehow, she can get inside Jaxon’s forcefield of power although no one else can. Jaxon suffocates Cole, almost murdering him. Grace pleads with him to stop. Jaxon brings Cole to the ground, but he drinks his blood until the boy goes limp. He stops before draining Cole and tells him that this fight is the only warning. Jaxon leads Grace away from the conflict.