sarahmwamsa

Mara Kess has spent three years at Shadowcrest Academy trying to survive. Not thrive. Survive. Every day is a battle against magic she shouldn't possess and opponents who are born with power in their bones. Every day, she watches the same person crush her dreams in the sparring rings.
Soren Valdris is a fae prince hidden behind a scholarship. Cold. Untouchable. Ruthless. He moves through Shadowcrest like he owns it, and everyone knows he's destined for greatness. But he's also the reason Mara has failed the Trials three times. The reason she's marked as a liability. The reason she should have left already.
Then the Academy makes a decision that changes everything. A partnership project forces them into close quarters. And Soren, who everyone believes has ice for blood, begins to crack. His cold exterior melts in ways that terrify them both. He protects her. Challenges her. Makes her believe she might be more than the girl everyone underestimated.
But Mara's power is a secret. Soren's loyalty runs deeper than anyone knows. And when the truth comes out, everything they've built will burn.
They said Mara would never survive Shadowcrest. They never expected her to burn it down alongside the one person she trusted.