I did two things I can't take back: I raised my cat from the dead, and I killed the boy who saw me do it.

Necromancy is forbidden. Erased from history. The kind of magic that gets you hunted by the Academy's best, Elite Soulren who've spent decades killing anything that threatens their power.

Falcen Reaves finds me, anyway.

He's cursed, ruthless, and supposed to drag me to the Academy to be broken or destroyed like every other late awakener before me.

Instead, he keeps me alive. Trains me. Watches me with a cruelty that feels like desire.

But my power isn't normal. There's something inside me, ancient, violent, and growing stronger every time I consume a soul.

It recognizes him. His curse. The darkness he's drowning in.

And gods help me, I want him despite it all.

Every training session becomes more dangerous. His control is slipping. So is mine. We're bound by a curse neither of us understands, a pull between souls that shouldn't exist, and a hunger that matches violence for violence.

He's my captor. My teacher. The only person who knows what I am.

And the bond between us might kill us both.

𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙊𝙉𝘼𝙉𝘾𝙀 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢, 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨-𝙩𝙤-𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙗𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.