The Bloodwing Academy books are set in a universe with multiple worlds, two of which are Sangratha and Camelot. Sangratha is ruled by vampire elites who call themselves “highbloods” and treat mortals, or “blightborns,” as their vessels. The series kicks off when half-fae Medra Pendragon drops into Sangratha from Camelot, after she was nearly killed in battle in her home world. Medra’s distinctive red hair and pointed ears mark her as a “dragon rider,” a rare and coveted bloodline that has the power-hungry highbloods competing for Medra. Medra is betrothed to the arrogant vampire prince Blake Drakharrow and enrolled at Bloodwing Academy, the elite school for vampires and “useful” blightborn students. Medra learns that like the upper classes in larger Sangrathan society, the school is divided among four houses: Drakharrow, Mortis, Orphos, and Avari. Viktor Drakharrow, Blake’s predatory and sadistic uncle, is the regent of House Drakharrow in the larger world and the unofficial ruler of the elites. Medra keeps her identity as an outworlder a secret, including the fact that her deceased mother Orcades’s soul assisted in her passage to Sangratha and is now lodged in a dagger Medra carries. 

In The Bond That Burns, the second book of the series, Medra’s conflicted attraction for Blake begins to turn into a deeper romance, especially after Blake confesses that his younger sister Aenia is actually a mortal child he saved from death by turning her into a vampire. Aenia’s transformation has left her with a growing, uncontrolled bloodlust, but Blake cannot bring himself to eliminate Aenia. With Medra and Blake growing close, Blake distances himself even further from Regan Pansera, his former consort. Regan vows to align herself with a stronger male to survive their brutal world (book three shows this is Viktor). 

Apart from Blake, Medra also forges a bond with Nyxaris, a stone dragon she accidentally awakened in the first book. Dragons, once ubiquitous in Sangratha, died out in a mysterious event known as the “Dragon Wars,” save only four specimens encased in stone in a courtyard at Bloodwing Academy. As Medra communicates telepathically with Nyxaris, he urges her to research his history, parts of which he has forgotten because of his century-long imprisonment. Medra’s research leads her to discover the sinister truth buried by official history: Dragons and their riders were used as magical tools by the highbloods to rain terror on mortals through a forbidden ritual called “soul-binding.”

Medra also discovers that the highbloods use a magic called “thrallweave” to keep the blightborn population compliant. Blightborns, like Medra’s friend Florence, are trained to believe they are inferior to the highbloods through a spell powered by an annual blood-sacrifice of a mortal young woman. With Nyxaris’s return, the thrallweave begins to weaken, causing Florence to question the order she accepts as natural. Since Blake forced a blood-bond onto Medra, feeding from her without her consent, the two are now tied to each other by a mysterious magic. The blood-bond has an unforeseen consequence for Blake—Medra’s rider-blood triggers a transformation in him, and he starts to change into a dragon-like creature himself. Blake realizes that his Uncle Viktor, the chief antagonist of the series, knew the possible effect of Medra’s blood and deliberately engineered Blake’s betrothal to Medra. Viktor’s plan is to use dragon-Blake against the blightborns and his enemies.

As book two ends, Aenia attacks another blightborn, forcing Blake’s cousin Theo Drakharrow to kill her. Blake transforms into a dragon and confronts Viktor, losing an eye in the battle. He blasts Viktor with fire, though book three reveals that Viktor survived the attack. As part of a premeditated plan with their teacher, Professor Rodriguez, Blake has Medra summon Nyxaris to the dragon courtyard. It is revealed that Rodriguez intends to trap the dragon back into stone, fearing Nyxaris will be misused against mortals as has happened historically. Medra discovers Blake’s and Rodriguez’s treachery and grows enraged. 

Meanwhile, Catherine, the head of House Mortis, and Marcus, Blake’s cruel older brother, arrive at the courtyard with a catatonic, spellbound Lunaya (the sister of Lysander, the leader of House Orphos). They use her to reanimate the Orphos dragon, Molindra, but they botch the forbidden ritual. Molindra awakens in a distorted form. Medra stabs her with the dagger containing the soul of Orcades. Orcades enters Molindra and commands the dragon to fly away, Marcus, Catherine, and Lunaya on her back. Before he flees, Marcus shoots a crossbow at Medra, but Florence, appearing on the scene, intercepts the blow and is mortally wounded.

Rodriguez suggests that Florence can be saved by a ritual binding Nyxaris to her. Nyxaris reluctantly agrees, his anger calmed by Neville, a fluffy magical creature who is the pet of Blake, Florence, and Medra. Florence is saved, and the binding transfers to her, effectively making her a dragon rider.