Bitten

Confronted by her father, Vanessa becomes enraged at him for abandoning her to the werewolves and begins to lose control of her transformation. To stop her, Calix grabs the back of her neck and applies pressure to a nerve. Misinterpreting this as an attack, Vanessa’s father shoots Calix in his decaying arm. Vanessa shields Calix, explaining that he was protecting her. She then asks her father about recent monster sightings. He confirms that there have been attacks on the beach linked to an older woman with short hair and black eyes, with the most recent incident occurring at the lighthouse. Calix reminds her that this might be the last time she speaks to her father. Vanessa softens for a moment and tells him to use silver for protection from wolves, and she and Calix drive away to find Sin.

After finding no trace of Sin at the lighthouse, Vanessa and Calix follow the sound of a commotion to a local bar. Inside, they find Sin pretending to be drunk and allowing men to punch him. After spotting them, Sin cheerfully announces, “My cousin! My lover!” (281). Evie and Eric soon approach them. They explain that they found Sin on the beach where Instructor Alvarez died; suspecting that Sin was the murderer, they pounced on him, and Evie stabbed him with a silver dagger. Evie gives Sin a potion that instantly heals his shoulder wound. After Calix confronts him, Sin quietly admits to Vanessa that his drunkenness is an act. When Eric and Evie leave, the howl of an Alpha wolf pierces the night. Sin, Calix, and Eric shift into wolves to investigate, ordering Vanessa and Evie to stay behind for their safety.

Left alone, Evie reveals to Vanessa that Queen Sybil had sent their group to the beach on a “practice mission” the night Celeste died to scout a potential Bitten human. Evie confirms that none of them killed Celeste and denies sabotaging Vanessa’s journal or leaving threats, explaining that Sybil would have killed her for it. They realize that Sybil sending Evie to retrieve Sin tonight was a trap. They shift into wolf form and follow the boys, only to be ambushed by four wolves, one of whom has Sybil’s scent. Vanessa watches in horror as this wolf crushes Evie’s throat in its jaws and escapes with her body. Consumed by a desire for revenge, Vanessa races back to Castle Severi alone to expose the queen.

Vanessa races back to the castle in wolf form, where Instructor Shepherd stops her in the hallway. After giving her a robe and waiting for her to shift back to human form, he tells her that the court is gathered in the throne room. Vanessa confronts Queen Sybil and publicly accuses her of murdering Evie. The queen coolly denies the accusation, stating, “I did not kill Miss Lee” (306). Vanessa’s Truthseer gift registers the queen’s statement as a truth, which completely discredits Vanessa in front of the assembled court. Afterward, Sybil privately threatens Vanessa by reminding her that Oona isn’t the only person she loves. Shunned by the court, Vanessa is ordered to leave.

In her room, Vanessa finds Sin waiting for her. He has already heard that Evie is believed to be dead. Feeling hopeless and mourning their seemingly doomed relationship, Vanessa proposes that they have one night together before the Ascension Rite separates them permanently. They have sex, and after they bathe together, Sin leaves her room, promising to see her at the rite.

The next morning, Vanessa tells Oona that Evie is dead, but Oona laughs and insists that she saw Evie alive and well at breakfast. Shocked, Vanessa rushes to her Alchemical Designs class and finds Evie at her desk, perfectly healthy and unharmed. When Vanessa embraces her in relief, Evie violently shoves her to the floor. Supported by her friends, Evie threatens Vanessa and denies that any attack occurred, claiming that Vanessa invented the story to cause trouble. Vanessa’s Truthseer gift detects dishonesty in Evie’s response, although she can’t determine which of her statements are false.

The night before the Ascension Rite, the court attends Orion’s Ball. Sin sends Vanessa a soft pink gown with a note reading, “You deserve better than red” (321), but their private conversation is interrupted by Queen Jae, Evie’s mother, who threatens Vanessa. To protect her, Sin claims that he was bringing Vanessa to dance with Calix, and he forces a reluctant Calix to do so. During their waltz, Calix’s eyes briefly flash red, a change he lies about. Vanessa tells him about the tortured humans she saw in the dungeon. Insisting that the dungeon hasn’t been used for centuries, a determined Calix drags Vanessa from the ball to prove her wrong.

In the dungeon, Vanessa finds that the space is physically different from what she saw before; there are iron cells instead of silver cages, with no signs of blood or torture. Calix wordlessly moves Vanessa’s hand to a jagged silver-dagger scar on his ribs. She connects this to the wolf she stabbed between the ribs the night Celeste died, and she realizes that it was Calix. He confesses that he murdered Celeste, stating that it was his “job.” Overcome with rage, Vanessa attacks Calix and is about to kill him when Sin arrives and uses a compulsion to force her to stop. After sending Calix away, Vanessa realizes that Sin isn’t surprised by the confession. She accuses Sin of being the one who bit her, and he admits that he did it to save her life, confirming that he has known the truth about Celeste’s death all along.

At dawn, the Ascension Rite begins. During the ceremony, Sin is announced as a “Dreamweaver”—a gift that contradicts what he had told Vanessa. The discrepancy triggers her suspicion that something is wrong. Defying his betrothal to Evie, he publicly chooses Vanessa as his intended mate. At that moment, a pack of malformed wolves storms the clearing and begins massacring the court. Queen Jae is the first to fall, killed while transforming into a wolf, and King Zhiyu soon joins her among the dead. Lord Allard is dismembered as he fights to defend the court. Vanessa then watches helplessly as Instructor Shepherd tries to protect Oona, whose injured leg causes her to stumble while they flee. A wolf tears out Oona’s heart, and when Shepherd cradles her body, the same wolf kills him. Katerina and Myles are slaughtered next, followed by Eric, whose death leaves Evie screaming in anguish. Nettie continues fighting despite Evie’s desperate pleas for her to retreat, but several wolves overwhelm and kill her. Sin uses a compulsion to prevent Vanessa and Evie from joining the fight. Vanessa’s rage cracks Sin’s hold enough for her foot to slip forward; she then shoves him to break free entirely. She joins the few survivors—Calix, Queen Sybil, Portia, and Lyra—to fight back.

The leader of the attacking pack is revealed to be Cora Severi, Queen Sybil’s banished sister, whom Sin addresses as “Mother.” Cora reveals that she and Sybil switched their sons at birth: Sin is Cora’s son, while Calix is Sybil’s son and the true Crown Prince. Cora reveals to Vanessa that Sin used his Dreamweaver powers to plant nightmares in her mind—including the dungeon visions and bloody threats—to manipulate her into helping their cause; Sin then confirms it. He attempts to intervene before Sybil is killed, having agreed with Cora only to cast her out, but Cora’s wolves kill Sybil regardless. Declaring herself the new queen, Cora demands that the survivors swear their allegiance. Vanessa and Calix share a silent look of shared resolve to reclaim the castle and kill them both; Vanessa then feigns loyalty, takes Sin’s hand, and lies, claiming that she loves him, too.