LOGINHidden from human eyes, Obscura Arcanum University has existed for centuries—where wolves, witches, and vampires sharpen their magic behind walls of secrecy. But when Nora—a runaway with nothing but scars and survival instincts—accidentally stumbles through the veil, everything changes. She isn’t human. She isn’t supposed to exist. The last ember of a bloodline buried in ash, Nora’s presence reignites an ancient prophecy whispered in fear and forgotten by time. Now, the heirs of the old Houses—the Fang, the Rose, and the Star—are watching her. Some want her gone. Others want her controlled. And the three most dangerous men on campus? They’re tied to her fate in ways no one expected. The world was never meant to let the bloodlines unite. But the world doesn’t get a choice anymore.
View MoreThe raven came with the new year. The sleek black messengers with feathers tipped in red that were used by my clan. Nerezza crest burned into the wax, sharp enough to cut. I already knew before I cracked it open. The letter was short. My father never wasted ink. By decree of Lord Gerrard Nerezza, Lucien Nerezza is hereby struck from the line of inheritance. His name is to be erased from clan rolls. He is disowned, his assets forfeited, his rights rescinded. He is no longer recognized as heir, nor as son. Signed. Sealed. Final. I laughed. Not because it was funny, but because it was exactly what I expected. The shadows curled tighter around me, like they were laughing too. But the second letter didn’t come by bird. It came with a knock at the Ember Hills gate. I almost didn’t believe it when I saw her: my mother, Isolde, hood pulled low, cloak lined in crimson. She stepped into the hall like the stones themselves might betray her. “Lucien,” she breathed, pulling the hood back.
Snow crunched underfoot when the Hawthorne owl found me. Big, ugly bird, feathers storm gray and eyes that were far too sharp. It dropped the package into my hands, leather twine and wax seal stamped with the Hawthorne crest. I already knew what it would say. But still took it inside to read it’s contents. I tore the seal, jaw grinding, and read the decree in the firelight of the great hall. By the authority of Alpha Alaric Hawthorne, Caelum Hawthorne is hereby cast out of the pack. His exile is upheld, his name is struck from record, his privileges revoked. In his absence, Briar Maddox has been named provisional Luna and granted authority to act as future mate to the Alpha heir in the event of Caelum’s return. So decreed, so done. The words burned worse than silver. It wasn’t exile. It was replacement. My wolf snarled, and my hands clenched until the paper tore in two. Briar Maddox, Luna. The very idea of her there, in my place, my Wildfire where she should be, turned my stom
The Ember Hills castle breathed. I’d spent the last two weeks testing every theory I had, every rune Everley had ever branded into my skull, and still I kept circling back to the same impossible truth: this place wasn’t just protected by magic. It was magic. The first morning I woke here, I thought I was imagining it, the faint hum in the walls, the way the sconces flared to life as soon as Nora’s bare feet touched the stone. But the longer we stayed, the clearer it became. The castle responded to her like it had been waiting, dormant, until her fire set it alight again. And I couldn’t stop myself. Every night after the others fell asleep, I prowled through the halls with a glowstone in one hand and my notebook in the other. I pressed my palms to the walls, traced patterns in dust, whispered incantations until my voice rasped raw. The wards here weren’t passive inscriptions like Everley’s cloistered runes. They were alive. Threads of phoenix ash bound with dragonfire, woven so deep
A week. That’s all it had been since the walls of the Gauntlet cracked and the truth bled out with the fire. A week since mercenaries fell, traitors were dragged into the open, and the patriarchs spat their fury at us before storming out. And now it was over. Not the war, that was beginning. But the fragile, impossible rhythm of classes and trials and pretending that Obscura Arcanum was still a university? Done. Headmaster Arx’s announcement had been as cold as his expression. Effective immediately, Obscura Arcanum University will be closed until the spring term. Faculty review and security reassessment are necessary to ensure the safety of all individuals. Students are to return home at once. Home. The word hit like an insult. The other students scattered, dragging trunks and satchels, flocking to the gates in groups. But me? I had nowhere to go. No home waiting. No family. Aurelian House was all I’d had. And now it was being stripped bare. I stood in my room, staring at the
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