Some bloodlines were erased to keep the world safe.At the Shadowbound Academy, Lyra Dusk's forbidden magic awakens a bond that could crown her-or condemn them all.When Lyra steps through the iron gates of the Shadowbound Academy, the shadows recognize her before anyone else does.The academy is a fortress of stone and whispers-where magic is bound, tested, and weaponized, and failure is paid for in blood. Students are ranked by power. Secrets are currency. Survival is never guaranteed. Lyra arrives with nothing but questions and a name history tried to destroy.From the first night, the shadows answer her call.They coil at her feet. Murmur her name through torchlit halls. Watch her with a hunger that feels like memory. Faculty members avert their gaze. Records vanish. Doors lock on their own. Her bloodline was erased centuries ago-but the magic in her veins remembers.Then there is Kael.Cursed. Dangerous. Bound to fire and fate. The heir everyone fears-and the one Lyra is warned never to touch. His presence ignites something dark and electric between them, a pull that tightens with every stolen glance. When they're close, their magic reacts violently-shadows and flame entwining in ways the academy was built to prevent.Some bonds are forbidden because they awaken ancient power.As brutal trials begin and alliances fracture, Lyra uncovers fragments of a truth buried beneath the academy's stone foundations: a fallen king, a shattered crown, and a prophecy that does not promise salvation-only choice. Power demands a price. Love demands sacrifice. And destiny does not ask permission.The closer Lyra comes to mastering her magic, the tighter the academy's grip becomes. Rules turn into chains. Trust becomes treason. And the bond between shadow and flame threatens to awaken something far older-and far more dangerous-than either of them.Because in a world ruled by shadow and fire, destiny is not a gift.It is a sentence.Enter the academy. Embrace the shadow.