“She bit you and injected her own venom, using the anticoagulant properties instead of the coagulant ones. It was enough to break down what Jaxon had done and let her heal you properly.”

“So vampires can just do that? Just…override each other’s venom?”

“Keep in mind, I’m not a vampire, but—”

“Right. You’re just a witch.”

She ignores my interruption. “I don’t think they can. At least, not normally. But she’s an older, more mature vampire and she’s also a healer, which gives her extra abilities in times like that. It’s why she’s the school nurse. But from what my dad said, it still took a lot of skill and venom to undo what Jaxon had done. That boy was determined to save you.”

Not going to lie, hearing that feels good. But I’m still mad at him, even though right now, I’m not sure why. Except… “So what you’re saying is that I have two vampires’ venom running through my blood right now?”

Macy settles back with a laugh and an eye roll. “Trust you to focus on that.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s pretty hard not to focus on it when every vampire movie I’ve ever seen is playing in the back of my head. I mean, I’m not going to…” I mime getting fangs.

She cracks up. Like full-on, rolling on the floor, laughing her ass off.

“That’s not a no!” I whine.

She sits up, wiping tears from her eyes even as she continues to giggle. “No, Grace, you’re not about to sprout fangs and start sucking people’s blood. You’re fine. In fact, the only reason you’re alive is because a vampire was with you. And not just any vampire, but Jaxon. Most of the others would have had a really hard time stopping themselves from…”

“Drinking me dry?” I finish the thought she very obviously didn’t want to.

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, that’s not how I would have put it.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true, though, does it?”

Macy doesn’t answer, just grabs her teacup and stands.

I follow her, unwilling to just let her walk away right now when I still have so many questions. About vampires. And witches. And dragons, for God’s sake. How can dragons exist and the rest of the world not know about it?

Speaking of which… “There aren’t any other creatures here that you forgot to mention, right? No zombies, no unicorns, no—”

“Werewolves.”

“Exactly. No werewolves.”

“I wasn’t saying no, Grace. I was answering your question.”

“Oh.” I swallow. “So…vampires, dragons, witches, and werewolves.”

“Well, if you’re going to get technical, they’re wolf shifters really, more than werewolves.”

By all means, let’s get technical at this late date. “And the difference is?”

“Werewolves need the full moon. Wolf shifters can shift anytime. Same with the dragons.”

“So Flint can be a dragon anytime he wants?”

“Flint is a dragon, all the time. He can shift between his dragon and human form whenever he wants.”

“I have so many questions.” And most of them start and end with how is this possible?

“I know.” She leans over and gives me another hug.

“Marc and Quinn?” I think about the guys who tried to throw me out in the snow the first night. “Wolf shifters?”

“Yeah. Who apparently do get a little extra wild around the full moon.” She shakes her head, obviously still annoyed. “The jerks.”

“No argument here. They really were douches.” I pause as something occurs to me, then say, “But they listened to Jaxon, even though he’s a vampire.”

Macy snorts. “I’m sorry, but haven’t you noticed? Everyone listens to Jaxon.”

“Yeah.” Like in my Brit Lit class yesterday, when no one would come in. “Why is that exactly?”

“It’s a really long, really messed-up story, which I’m happy to tell you. But I’m seriously starving. Can I answer the rest of it over breakfast in the dining hall?”

“Yeah, of course. But I thought you told Mekhi we weren’t going to leave the room until Jaxon gets here.”

“I told him we weren’t going to class. And if the bite on your neck is what’s got their panties all wadded up, then it’s no problem. We know where the bite came from, and we know that it’s harmless. So we’ll just go grab a quick breakfast and be back in the room before Jaxon even gets here.”

She’s right. I know she’s right. Plus, it’s not like I’m going to ask how high every time Jaxon expects me to jump. Everyone else at this school might listen to him, but I’m not some supernatural creature. I’m human, and now’s as good a time as any for Jaxon to figure out I don’t play by the same weird, convoluted, terrifying rules everyone else around this place does.

“Sounds good,” I tell her. “Turns out, I’m suddenly really hungry, too.”

“I bet. Massive blood loss will do that to a girl,” Macy says as she disappears into the bathroom, a pair of school sweats and PE T-shirt in her hands.

She comes out two minutes later, and not only is she dressed, but her hair is slicked back in an adorable style, and her face looks like she spent half an hour putting on makeup in front of the mirror.

“What happened to you?” I demand.

“Oh, just a little glamour.” She wiggles her fingers in front of her face. “And can I say how glad I am that you know now? My life is going to get so much easier.”

“Apparently.” Suddenly self-conscious, I grab my purse off my desk and pull out the peach lip gloss I always keep in the inside pocket. I swipe it over my lips as we head out the door. “So how exactly do you do that glamour thing?”

“Oh, it’s just a little trick all witches know.”

“Yeah, well, flying’s still cooler,” I tease.

“Maybe.” She closes the door behind me. “But there’s a lot I can do that you don’t know about yet.”

“Like what?” I ask, totally fascinated.

“Pretty sure that’s for me to know and you to find out…”

   41

Vampires, Dragons,

and Werewolves,

Oh My!

The halls are crowded as we make our way to the dining hall—it’s thirty-five minutes before first period starts, and apparently everyone in the school tries to eat during the same half an hour period. Which makes sense. I mean, if I’m not worrying about bizarre fang marks or trying to fit in at a new school, I don’t want to get up one second sooner than I have to, either.