Val stood near the academy gates like she was about to run away.

Again.

The sight of her there—small against the massive stone archway, silver moonlight catching the edges of her hair—made something in my chest twist violently.

The wards hummed low around the boundary of Dominion Academy, faint silver lines flickering through the air whenever someone got too close. They pulsed with ancient magic, designed to keep threats out.

And keep students in.

Beyond them stretched Sage ...