Ruel Valore was never meant to survive.

Not the creature that attacked him, not the powers inside him, and definitely not Aetheria War Academy—an elite training ground for people gifted with psionic abilities which was rebuilt atop the ashes of its own dark past.

Forty years ago when the three kingdoms of Kogarah united, the king's conceded that all psionics were to be executed. They invaded Aetheria War Academy and murdered every last psionic in cold blood. It was a massacre. A genocide. Because to be a psionic was to be guilty, whether or not they had ever used their powers for good or evil, and to be guilty, was punishable by death.

But Ruel is still breathing, if only barely.

Now conscripted into Aetheria after it was rebuilt, he finds himself in a world full of powerful students and professors, brutal training, and secrets buried so deep they have begun to rot.

With his best friend, Alora, by his side, and his powers barely controlled, he is placed into the Infantry Quadrant, where power is everything, and being weak is a death sentence.

Then, there is Kaidian Lostone, a blatantly honest, infuriatingly attractive, second year student.

Ruel doesn't trust him and Alora despises him. But, Ruel can't seem to stay away... and neither can Kaidian.

As students and professors disappear from the academy, and rumours of a secret society grow louder, Ruel is forced to confront two truths far more dangerous than he is ready for.

There is something inside of him that wants out.
And there is someone, or something, coming for it.

• Enemies-to-lovers

• Slow Burn Romance

• MLM Romance

• Found Family

• Close Proximity

• Morally Grey Love Interest

• Fantasy Setting

• Dark / Grim Academia

• Epic Battles

• Magical Creatures

There are only three reasons to watch someone when they think they’re alone. Revenge. Love. Or the guilt of knowing you weren't there the last time they needed you.

Ruel Valore knew exactly which reason brought him out here into these woods.

He was watching her. The kind of watching he knew would prickle her skin and make her glance over her shoulder, half-expecting to catch a glimpse of something, or someone, just out of sight

He watched from behind the thick trees, behind the shroud of leaves that swayed gently with the chilled breeze. He knew she didn’t know how close he was. How could she? But the way a stiffness settled over her shoulders, the way her eyes looked into Blackwood Forest’s darkness, the way her steps quickened told him she could feel it.

Feel him watching and waiting.

Ruel's boots crunched over the crisp autumn leaves coating the ground, every step taking him deeper into the heart of Blackwood Forest.

Skeletal branches reached out like claws as he stalked her every step, though none caught him as he passed.

She moved as though the earth beneath her feet might give way at any moment. And her hair… Her hair was beautiful, catching the sun’s touch and flowing like a river of faded lilac.

What would it feel like to touch it, to tangle his fingers in those loose strands. Would it feel like silk? Would it carry her scent, that cinnamon floral fragrance he caught whenever passing too close—

The quick snap of a twig broke the silence behind him…..

There are only three reasons to watch someone when they think they’re alone. Revenge. Love. Or the guilt of knowing you weren't there the last time they needed you.

Ruel Valore knew exactly which reason brought him out here into these woods.

He was watching her. The kind of watching he knew would prickle her skin and make her glance over her shoulder, half-expecting to catch a glimpse of something, or someone, just out of sight

He watched from behind the thick trees, behind the shroud of leaves that swayed gently with the chilled breeze. He knew she didn’t know how close he was. How could she? But the way a stiffness settled over her shoulders, the way her eyes looked into Blackwood Forest’s darkness, the way her steps quickened told him she could feel it.

Feel him watching and waiting.

Ruel's boots crunched over the crisp autumn leaves coating the ground, every step taking him deeper into the heart of Blackwood Forest.

Skeletal branches reached out like claws as he stalked her every step, though none caught him as he passed.

She moved as though the earth beneath her feet might give way at any moment. And her hair… Her hair was beautiful, catching the sun’s touch and flowing like a river of faded lilac.

What would it feel like to touch it, to tangle his fingers in those loose strands. Would it feel like silk? Would it carry her scent, that cinnamon floral fragrance he caught whenever passing too close—

The quick snap of a twig broke the silence behind him…..