Published in 2026, Briar Boleyn’s The Wings That Bind is the third installment in the Bloodwing Academy books, a popular dark romantasy series. Set in the dark academia-inspired world of Sangratha, the novel follows embattled lovers Medra Pendragon, a half-fae from another realm, and Blake Drakharrow, a highblood vampire prince. After a brutal coup, the magical academy of Bloodwing falls under the tyrannical control of Blake’s cruel uncle, Viktor, forcing Medra and Blake to navigate a dangerous political landscape while confronting their own dark secrets and a mysterious plague that threatens to consume their world.

The novel continues the series’ exploration of mature subject matter, using its high-stakes fantasy setting to delve into complex themes. As the characters navigate a world dominated by Cruelty as a Tool for the Ruling Class, they must be ready to make The Personal Sacrifice Required for Rebellion and soldier on by Forging Unexpected Alliances Through Shared Trauma with former rivals.

This guide refers to the 2026 MIRA edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide feature depictions of graphic violence, physical and emotional abuse, child abuse, bullying, sexual content, sexual violence and harassment, substance use, suicidal ideation, mental illness, animal cruelty, illness and death, and cursing.

Plot Summary

As the novel opens, Bloodwing Academy faces its worst crisis yet. The school has fallen under a new, tyrannical regime led by freshly appointed Headmistress Regan Pansera and her consort, the ancient and cruel Viktor Drakharrow, whose fate was left ambiguous at the end of the second book. The school term begins with a grim assembly where Viktor has the former headmaster’s head displayed on a spike and forces Regan to use thrallweave—a form of highblood mind control—to compel a blightborn servant to kill herself publicly, signaling that blightborns are now completely at the mercy of highbloods. 

Meanwhile, Medra Pendragon, the novel’s half-fae protagonist from another world, is currently alienated from her friends and loved ones. Medra can no longer communicate telepathically with the dragon Nyxaris, since Nyxaris bonded to Medra’s friend Florence Shen in the second book to save Florence’s life. Florence refuses to speak to Medra because the bonding ritual was performed without her consent, and Medra’s consort, Blake Drakharrow, has been avoiding her because of a secret he harbors. 

Blake, who is Viktor’s nephew, grapples with the new reality that he can shapeshift into a dragon, though he has little control over the change. The transformation feels unnatural to Blake since the dragon within him is a separate entity. Blake is also grieving the loss of his younger sister Aenia, a feral vampire whom their cousin Theo was forced to kill in the second book after she fell into a frenzy of attacking innocents, including killing the girlfriend of their friend Visha Vaidya. 

Medra’s relationship with her former mentor, Professor Rodriguez, is also strained, as she cannot forgive him for his role in the plot to neutralize Nyxaris. In the second book, Rodriguez tricked Medra into summoning the dragon so he could petrify the creature; the ritual failed. 

The oppression at Bloodwing intensifies daily. A new, thuggish alumni security force called the Bloodguard, led by Silvio Santos and Quinn Riley, begins terrorizing blightborn (non-magical or lesser-magical human) students with impunity. Medra confronts the Bloodguard when they assault a First-Year dwarven girl named Dani, leading to escalating tensions between blightborn and highblood factions. 

Florence, initially hiding in her mother and school librarian Jia Shen’s quarters to avoid her new reality as a dragon rider, is spurred to action after witnessing the Bloodguards murder two blightborn students in the hall. She seeks out Nyxaris, beginning the difficult process of training as a rider and learning to defend her mind against thrallweave. Meanwhile, Regan’s perspective reveals that she is not the willing tyrant she portrays. Instead, Regan is being controlled by Viktor, forced to carry out his bidding to save her younger brother, Persis, imprisoned by Viktor. Viktor also inflicts physical and psychological abuse on Regan. 

One night, Regan steps out of the castle to get some respite and discovers that Kage Tanaka, the leader of House Avari, can shapeshift into a wolf. Regan expects Kage to kill her for the discovery, but he decides to spare her on the condition of a Blood Vow, an unbreakable magical promise, to keep his secret. The two cut their palms and mingle their blood to seal the vow and an unlikely connection begins to form between them as Kage discovers Viktor’s cruelty in the form of the bruises he has left on Regan’s body. 

With cruelty against the blightborns intensifying, Medra takes on a malicious highblood called Larissa during a combat class, nearly beating her to a pulp. Blake intervenes and reminds Medra that the behavior she is displaying is not characteristic; Medra replies that sometimes violence has to be countered with violence. Alone with Blake after a long while, Medra admits that she has forgiven him for joining Rodriguez’s plot. Even though Blake betrayed her confidence, she knows his intention was good. Medra initiates sex with Blake, rekindling their romance. Their passionate encounters are shadowed by Blake’s struggle to control the violent beast within him. Blake’s biggest fear is that he will turn into a dragon in Medra’s presence and harm her. 

Blake discusses the conundrum with his unlikely ally, Kage, one of the few people who knows about Blake’s ability to shift. As a shapeshifter himself, Kage explains that the transformation should seem natural, unlike the dissociative state Blake experiences. He asks Blake to seek the help of Rodriguez. The professor gives Blake a book titled The Dark Art of Eternal Bonds, suggesting that it contains a spell on dealing with the dragon entity within Blake. 

After the dragon erupts from Blake while he is making love to Medra and feeding from her (as a vampire, Blake depends on blood for sustenance), the dragon nearly kills Medra. A horrified Blake revives Medra with his blood and, leaving her asleep, performs a forbidden ritual from Rodriguez’s book, hoping the “Spell of Twin Hearts” will extinguish his dragon side. He uses the spell on the petrified dragon Vorago in the Dragon Court, believing it will result in their mutual annihilation. 

Elsewhere, a mysterious plague begins to spread in Sangratha, turning highbloods into feral, mindless killers who attack with no warning. The chaos at the school worsens when Viktor discovers Florence is Nyxaris’s true rider and attacks her mind. Nyxaris saves Florence by blasting through the wall of Regan’s office, killing the blightborn Professor Hassan in the process. To protect Florence from Viktor’s plans to “soul-bind” her to a highblood (a form of magical binding that will turn Florence into Viktor’s puppet), Kage’s grandmother, Lady Elaria Avari, arranges a formal betrothal between Kage and Florence.

The engagement is celebrated with a grand ball. However, during a waltz with Regan, Kage realizes he is attracted to Regan and cannot go through with the political marriage with Florence. Kage breaks off the engagement with Florence, who is secretly relieved. Florence has developed feelings for the dragon Nyxaris. It is hinted that Nyxaris may be a “made” dragon, capable of transforming into a human form, though he has forgotten this fact for now. 

The night of the ball, the plague overruns the school, with infected highborn students attacking others. In the Drakharrow tower, Blake, Medra, Visha, and Theo fight off infected students. The escalating violence culminates in the refectory, where Viktor and his Bloodguards capture the group. All through, Blake has the discomfiting feeling that the dragon within him is not quite gone; it is revealed that Blake’s ritual did not destroy the dragon but instead merged his soul with the far more ancient and savage dragon Vorago. Viktor can see the dragon in Blake and to force Blake to serve him, Viktor threatens to have an infected guard, Cade, kill Medra. He commands Blake to transform and “cleanse Veilmar,” a plan to destroy his political rivals in the Sangrathan city under the guise of stopping the plague. Seeing Medra’s life in peril, Blake can no longer suppress the beast within and transforms into Vorago. After mercy-killing a tortured professor, he flies toward the city, his consciousness seemingly lost to the ancient dragon’s will.

As Vorago burns Veilmar, Florence flies out on Nyxaris to stop him, armed with a crossbow and special bolts. On the ground, Kage transforms into his massive wolf form and carries Regan toward the burning city. In the aerial battle, Florence manages to strike Vorago with bolts coated in an emberfern mixture, a substance known to affect dragons, which momentarily allows Blake’s consciousness to surface. Just as Vorago retreats, Viktor appears in his own black-veined dragon form and ambushes Nyxaris, wounding him with a poisoned bite. 

Nyxaris retaliates with a blast of dragon fire that cripples Viktor, sending him crashing to the ground. Below, Kage attacks the wounded Viktor, but Viktor gains on Kage. To save Kage from the larger, more powerful creature, Regan makes a desperate choice. Feigning submission, she gets close enough to bite Viktor, smearing her own blood—now mingled with Kage’s from a wound—into his veins. The wolf blood acts as a potent poison, and Viktor’s body begins to decay as Kage delivers a final, brutal assault. Regan collapses in Kage’s arms, her throat slashed open by Viktor’s final blow.

In the aftermath of the battle, Florence finds the gravely wounded Nyxaris in a field outside the city. Using her alchemical knowledge of emberfern and the mysterious healing power of Neville, a small magical creature known as a fluffin, she manages to save the dragon’s life. 

Back at Bloodwing, Blake, consumed by guilt at his destruction of Veilmar, returns to his room with the intent to throw himself from the window. Medra finds him and confesses her love, stopping him moments before Professor Sankara and Rodriguez arrive with chains to imprison Blake. The attempt to restrain him triggers another transformation, and Blake, as Vorago, leaps from the window and flies away. With the school’s old power structure shattered, Medra, Visha, Lysander, and other students lead a rebellion, opening Bloodwing’s gates to refugees and dissolving the rigid highblood house boundaries in favor of a united front. The rebellion has begun, but Veilmar is in ruins, the plague remains a threat, and the fate of both Viktor and Blake is uncertain.