Laura Schmidt

Something is wrong with Valerie Darkmore. She may have made it through her initiation into the Marionettes, but she’s quickly learning that was only the beginning. Everything she used to know has changed, including maybe herself. She can’t count on her partnership with a dangerous vampire prince to be enough to save her.

Valerie Darkmore’s entire life has been building up to this moment - her initiation into the Marionettes, the prestigious league of witches sworn to serve the vampires. As one of the last remaining blood witches, her spot is almost guaranteed. At least, so she’d thought. The academy is full of sabotage and secrets as the tasks begin, and Valerie quickly realizes she has more than her spot on the line. Her survival seems just as uncertain. The closer she gets to the final trial, the more she learns everything - and everyone - around her isn’t quite what it seems.

Preachers’ daughters aren’t supposed to be atheists. They’re also not supposed to make pacts to lose their virginity by the end of the year, but high school senior Meredith Beaumont is sick of letting other people tell her who to be. Spending the last four years as Mute Mare, the girl so shy just thinking about boys could trigger panic attacks, Meredith knows exactly what it’s like to be invisible. But when a vindictive mean girl gets her manicured claws on the anti-virginity pact and spreads it around the school, Mare’s not so invisible anymore. She just wishes she was.