Kari McCaffrey is no ordinary teenager. Gifted with magical abilities and determined to chart her own destiny, she chafes under the guardianship of her older brother, who has his own ideas for her future. Refusing to listen to him, Kari runs away and enrols in Greenleaf Academy, a prestigious boarding school for magical youths.

As soon as she steps on the bus bound for Greenleaf-accompanied by Tala, a baby dragon, and Therem, a magical book-Kari becomes intertwined with a group of talented youths, each out to be the best. From Li Reed, trying to escape the world, to Vlad, a worn-down vampire, Kari soon learns she must fend for herself in a very uncertain world. Soon after she arrives, Kari's life becomes even more complicated. Trapped on an island, she becomes obsessed with a name-Raku-someone whose existence has been hidden.

Kari is about to discover that her quest to know more about the mysterious Senya has unwittingly put not only her, but also the inhabitants of the island, in grave danger.