Veilcrest keeps its secrets the way the dead keep their patience—and some things always claw their way out of the grave.
Alicent Calder doesn’t remember applying to Veilcrest Conservatory, but the moment she steps through its gates, three thousand miles from a home that never wanted her, her blood becomes the key to a centuries-buried betrayal.
She came to chase a future. The acceptance letter was a beacon of hope in a world full of uncertainty, a place she thought would offer a fresh start—one she can’t seem to find since her parents’ death.
Instead, she finds a power humming beneath her skin, a name older than the school’s creation, and the unshakeable sense that this place has been waiting for her all along.
However, it’s not until a dead body, completely drained of blood, is found that she realizes there’s something much more sinister lurking in the dark.
Five vampires rule the hidden halls of Veilcrest. Cursed and condemned to the property, they’ve stopped at nothing over the centuries to find a way to break the spell holding them captive.
Freedom is finally in their grasp, but the one thing none of them counted on was wanting her.
As Alicent learns to wield magic she never knew she carried, the fine line between hatred and hunger blurs, and the men who were only ever meant to use her begin to fall for her instead.