Chapters (155)
- Copyright
- Dedication
- 1 Nearly Gutless Grace—Grace—
- 2 Head Space, Talk Space, Give Me Some Space—Grace—
- 3 I Do Like a Good Cup of Hurl Grey—Grace—
- 4 Every Little Thing He Does Is Not Magic—Grace—
- 5 Hot and Not So Heavy—Hudson—
- 6 In One Head and Out the Other—Grace—
- 7 Burning Down the Louse—Hudson—
- 8 Eat, Drink, and Be Wary—Grace—
- 9 From One Blink to the Necks—Grace—
- 10 Burning Your Britches—Hudson—
- 11 Sleep Like the Undead—Grace—
- 12 Grace on a Platter—Grace—
- 13 My Life Is an Open Phone—Grace—
- 14 Diary of a Vampire Kid—Grace—
- 15 The Best Defense Is More Defense—Hudson—
- 16 No Vamp Is an Island—Grace—
- 17 This Is How My Cookie Crumbles—Grace—
- 18 Trying to Lair Low—Hudson—
- 19 Put a String on It—Hudson—
- 20 All the Sizzle, None of the Heart—Hudson—
- 21 I’m Not RSVPing for This Pity Party—Grace—
- 22 All Cry, No Punishment—Grace—
- 23 Welcome to My Jungle—Hudson—
- 24 Dividing the Room in Styles—Grace—
- 25 I Mo, You Mo, We All Emo—Grace—
- 26 Re-Tweeting—Grace—
- 27 De-Briefing—Hudson—
- 28 It Dunks to Be Me—Grace—
- 29 How Do You Say Good-Pie?—Hudson—
- 30 Uneasy as Pie—Hudson—
- 31 Stalks and Bonds—Grace—
- 32 Some Bonds Can’t Be Unbroken—Grace—
- 33 Fake It or You Don’t Make It—Grace—
- 34 I Read You All Wrong—Grace—
- 35 Running Down a Nightmare—Grace—
- 36 Please Don’t Start the Fire—Grace—
- 37 You’re Dragon Me Down—Grace—
- 38 Waking Dawn—Hudson—
- 39 Keep Calm and Don’t Carry On—Hudson—
- 40 Don’t Farm It In—Grace—
- 41 Crop Till You Drop—Grace—
- 42 She’s Giving Me the Smokey Eye—Grace—
- 43 One Direction Is Not Just a Band—Hudson—
- 44 I Can Dish It Out If You Can Make It—Hudson—
- 45 Don’t Let the Bedvamps Bite—Hudson—
- 46 I Like to Sleep Tight, But Not This Tight—Grace—
- 47 You Really Stuck My Landing—Grace—
- 48 No Farm, No Foul—Grace—
- 49 Re-Veg Is Sweet—Hudson—
- 50 I’m Oh So Swan-Yay—Grace—
- 51 A Not So Savage Garden—Grace—
- 52 There Has to Be an Udder Way—Grace—
- 53 Suck It Up, Buttercup—Grace—
- 54 He’s Got Hangry Eyes—Hudson—
- 55 Afraid of My Own Shadow Queen—Hudson—
- 56 Baby Got Piggyback—Grace—
- 57 Cliffs Notes Got Nothing on Me—Hudson—
- 58 I Cave It My All—Grace—
- 59 I Know a Prick When I Smell One—Grace—
- 60 Tastes Like Teen Spirit—Hudson—
- 61 Carpe Drink-Em—Grace—
- 62 Dimples and Curls—Grace—
- 63 Tic-Tac-Toe and No Chill—Grace—
- 64 If I Could F(lie)—Hudson—
- 65 Live and Let’s Run—Grace—
- 66 Good Will Hugging—Grace—
- 67 The First Rule of Fright Club—Hudson—
- 68 I Have Friends in High Places—Grace—
- 69 Color Me Purple—Hudson—
- 70 Way Too Hidden Talents—Hudson—
- 71 Inn-stant Gratification—Grace—
- 72 Gone Wishin’—Grace—
- 73 My Lady in Red—Hudson—
- 74 1D-reams Come True—Grace—
- 75 Café Lotta Say—Hudson—
- 76 The Choux on the Wrong Foot—Grace—
- 77 Ah-Choux—Hudson—
- 78 All LinkedOut—Grace—
- 79 Getting the Red Ribbon Treatment—Hudson—
- 80 Starfalling for You—Hudson—
- 81 All’s Fair in Love and Ring Tosses—Grace—
- 82 Star Light, Star Bright—Grace—
- 83 On Top of the (Other)World—Grace—
- 84 It’s a Knock-Down, Dragon Fight—Hudson—
- 85 Dragon Me Over the Coals—Grace—
- 86 Go Stone or Go Home—Hudson—
- 87 Let Me Change into Something a Little More Stony—Grace—
- 88 Feather or Not, Here I Come!—Grace—
- 89 No One Wants to Catch These Cookies—Grace—
- 90 Sucker Brunch Me—Hudson—
- 91 I Know How to Hold My Drink—Hudson—
- 92 Drinks Are On Me—Grace—
- 93 I’m Spooning Over You—Grace—
- 94 Talk Dirty to Me—Hudson—
- 95 We Roll with the Brunches—Grace—
- 96 No Such Thing as a Free Brunch—Grace—
- 97 Time After Time Dragon—Grace—
- 98 Let’s Talk About the Time Dragon in the Room—Hudson—
- 99 Distrust but Verify—Hudson—
- 100 Whine and Dine—Grace—
- 101 Covering None of the Bases—Grace—
- 102 Between a Rock and a Hard Grace—Grace—
- 103 Passing the Pouspous—Grace—
- 104 How to Rock and Not Roll—Grace—
- 105 A Whole New Meaning to Stone-Faced—Grace—
- 106 Always Look a Gift Mayor in the Mouth—Grace—
- 107 Good Girl Gone Mad as Hell—Hudson—
- 108 I Want You to Want Me—Grace—
- 109 50 Shades of Fangs—Grace—
- 110 Need You Tonight—Grace—
- 111 Amateur Astronomer—Hudson—
- 112 Waiting for the Other Dragon to Drop—Grace—
- 113 One Surprise Deserves Another—Hudson—
- 114 Sending Out Smokey Signals—Grace—
- 115 The Tail End of the Deal—Grace—
- 116 Ripping the Scales—Hudson—
- 117 From Smokey with Love—Hudson—
- 118 It’s a Hack Job but Someone’s Got to Do It—Grace—
- 119 Big Disco Ball Energy—Grace—
- 120 Death on the Dance Floor—Grace—
- 121 This Is How You Skew It—Hudson—
- 122 Love Is a Red-Ribboned Thing—Grace—
- 123 Grin and Grace It—Hudson—
- 124 Now You’re Inn for It—Hudson—
- 125 Kiss My Asset—Grace—
- 126 A Not-So-Tastee Freeze—Grace—
- 127 Statue of Limitations—Grace—
- 128 Here’s Your Horns, What’s Your Hurry?—Grace—
- 129 Gargoyle Girl Gang—Grace—
- 130 A Shot in the Dark—Hudson—
- 131 The Story of Tonight—Grace—
- 132 You Bite It, You Buy It—Hudson—
- 133 Cross My Heart and Promise Not to Fry—Grace—
- 134 The Wheel of Misfortune—Grace—
- 135 BDSM: Bondage, Dragons, Stone, and Magic—Grace—
- 136 It’s Darkest Before the Dawn—Hudson—
- 137 Where the Wild Things Really Are—Grace—
- 138 Buggin’ the F*ck Out—Grace—
- 139 Don’t Trust Her as Far as I Can Throw Her—Hudson—
- 140 It’s Not Even My Third Rodeo—Hudson—
- 141 Is This a Bad Time?—Grace—
- 142 Full of Light,Full of Grace—Hudson—
- 143 What Grace Around Comes Around—Grace—
- 144 Out of the Shadows, Into the Light—Grace—
- 145 It’s All Coming Back to Me Now—Grace—
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Sneak Peek: Last of the Talons, by Sophie Kim
- Stealing Infinity, by Alyson Noël
- The Valkyrie’s Daughter, by Tiana Warner
- The Liar’s Crown, by Abigail Owen
- The Gravity of Missing Things, by Marisa Urgo
- Ember of Night, by Molly E. Lee
I hesitate, not wanting to offend our hosts, but then continue. “He said there was a realm made of shadow creatures known as wraiths led by a vicious Shadow Queen who is even more power-hungry than the vampire king, and that all she wants is to escape from the Shadow Realm to ours. I got the sense that her power would be insurmountable in our world or something.” I pause, then lean toward Tiola with my hands raised in mock attack. “He also said wraiths love to eat vampire children who don’t keep their rooms clean.”
Tiola giggles, as I hoped she would. The temperature in the room had dropped several degrees at the mention of the Shadow Queen, and I wanted to keep everyone talking to learn why.
Arnst shakes his head. “Yes, there are those of our kind who follow the queen and are constantly testing the barrier for a way into your world.”
“But not to worry.” Maroly pats my hand across the table. “The barrier cannot be pierced by any wraith—even the queen.”
“What about by humans?” Grace asks, then chews on her bottom lip. She didn’t ask about vampires, and I’m trying hard not to wonder if that was intentional.
Again, Arnst shakes his head. “I’m sorry, my dear. As far as I know, no one can pass through the barrier back to your world. We’ve heard stories of others like yourself coming to Noromar but no one ever going back.”
Grace looks like she might be sick, and I can’t blame her. Just because I don’t have a home to go back to doesn’t mean I can’t understand she might feel differently about staying here. With me.
Hoping it will steady her, I put a hand on her knee and rub it back and forth. Of course, the fact that she doesn’t immediately knock it off tells me everything I need to know about her state of mind, and it isn’t good.
Which is why I leave my hand where it is as I continue. “So I guess asking the Shadow Queen is pointless?”
“Not if you want to keep breathing, son,” Arnst says. “Your tutor at least got that part correct. She is…powerful. And she deals swiftly with…guests from your world.”
“My husband is right.” Maroly shakes her head, but her eyes have a faraway look, like she’s lost in thought. “Noromar can be unkind to strangers.”
“Well, except for Mayor Souil!” Arnst snaps his fingers. “He is from your world, and his village has managed to keep the queen’s army from invading for nearly a hundred years.”