Twenty-year-old Sophia DeWinter has only known life bound to her cruel uncle, the Collector, thanks to a blood bond he exacted from her as a child. When she learns of Killmarth College, an elite academy for magic wielders outside of the Collector's control, she knows it is her only chance to finally break free. But to gain entry, she will have to compete against other illusionists, masquiers, botanists, and alchemists in a series of brutal trials that many hopefuls don't survive--the Ordeals.

Sophia knows her skills as an illusionist are weak; she only makes it through the first challenge by teaming up with a powerful (and insufferably sexy) botanist, Alden Locke. To make it out alive, she will have to hone her magic and learn to identify who is a rival, who could be an ally, and who is a murderer.

Because now, not only does she have to protect her heart, but her very life. Hopefuls are being viciously picked off one by one between the challenges. In her haste to escape the Collector's trap, Sophia may have fled straight towards her own death sentence.