Mira Winters was about to break her cardinal rule: Never use magic again.

With each step she took across the polished marble floors of Ivercrest University, her ­powers—dormant for ­ years—came back to life. Like a beast waking from a long winter slumber, the strands of her magic stretched their limbs. It was a soft prickle on her skin, a gentle hum in her bones.

And she was terrified. Terrified her magic could wake something else. Something worse.

Dark Magic always came with a price, and although as a Caster she didn’t possess any, all these years later, she still suffered its consequences.

Instinctively, she wrapped her hand around her left arm, waiting for the familiar pain to burn her skin, but for the moment, her scar was silent. Some wounds only magic could heal, and she had exhausted all other options.

Ivercrest had opened its gates for the first time in six years, and enrollment was about to begin. The newly rebuilt reception hall bustled with prospective students admiring the impressive arches and pressed banners. The air still smelled of fresh paint, but magic construction was different, and beyond all the layers of newness lay the true bones of the school. A carcass of stone, brimming with ghosts of magic pasts.

The laughter and chatter from the crowd were not enough to cover up the noise of Mira’s wet shoes, but she ignored the stares. After all, they hadn’t just walked hours through rain, fog, and mud. While they had coin traveled themselves to Ivercrest in their best formal wear, Mira’s old leather shoes were covered in mud and her coat was soaked.

Not even sore legs and blistered feet could slow her down as she made her way toward the older woman in a black dress with a high collar, checking names off a scroll. Several students stood in line, waiting to be let into the famous Circular Hall.

Mira hadn’t come to Ivercrest with the goal of a diploma or an illustrious career. Her sole motivator was the scar currently hidden underneath her sleeve, and Ivercrest’s ­ world- renowned White Magic Institute, with its extensive library and ingredient room, was her last hope for a normal life. Magic had brought her nothing but pain, and now she was convinced only magic could take away that pain.