Only in an insane world would a young wizard find herself battling monsters and automatons one day and returning to Convocation Academy to cram for finals the next. But this is the world Alise Phel lives in.

Like it or not, Alise must face the consequences of ditching out a second time and dealing with the crushing workload assigned to her as a punishment. Worse yet, succeeding at the Academy means Alise must learn to master her powerful and unusual magic-the same magic that caused her to accidentally murder her own mother.

But graduating is her only way to protect the family she has left-and perhaps save the Convocation itself.

Cillian Harahel is a wizard of the mind. An archivist. A disciplined thinker. Thus, he absolutely cannot be in love with Alise Phel. Apart from the fact that he is faculty and she's a student-one destined for far more greatness than a lowly librarian like him-the provost has told him in no uncertain terms that Alise is off limits, which would be much more of a problem if Alise actually remembered he was alive.

Cillian has resigned himself to being Alise's friend and mentor, but when she cuts off even that much contact, in the coldest way possible, he suspects that darker forces than either of them imagined are haunting her. Alise has made it clear she wants nothing to do with him, but how can he abandon her to the demons clawing at her, from her House's enemies to the doubts plaguing her own heart?