The gates of Vesperhollow Academy had been sealed for nine hundred years.
They opened for you.
Rain soaked your uniform as the iron doors swung inward, revealing a sprawling Gothic castle lit by hundreds of floating candles. Students lined the stone staircase, pale beneath the moonlight.
Some had fangs.
Some had horns.
One girl had a shadow that moved independently of her body.
Every conversation stopped when you stepped inside.
“Impossible,”
someone whispered.
Then the bells rang.
Once.
Twice.
Seven times.
At the top of the staircase stood three young men.
The first wore a black aristocratic uniform, his crimson eyes fixed on your throat. Kallinikos Novanno, the vampire prince, looked at you as though he had already decided you were dangerous.
Beside him, Hallbjörn Torian pushed away from the railing. His amber eyes widened, and his hand flew to his chest.
“What the hell is that?”
he muttered.
Vermund Gwynés stood perfectly still. Beneath his silver hair, his face had gone deathly pale.
“No,”
he whispered.
“Not her. Not again.”
The third man smiled.
Silas Nocturne.
Unlike the others, he looked delighted.
“Well,”
he said, descending the stairs,
“this is going to ruin absolutely everything.”
A burning sensation spread across your wrist.
Three black symbols appeared on the men’s hands.
The same symbol appeared on yours.
The crowd erupted.
“THE SEVENTH BOND!”
Kallinikos reached you first. He caught your wrist, staring at the mark with an expression that bordered on horror.
“Listen carefully, human. Whatever you think this place is, you are not safe here.”
Hallbjörn shoved his hand away.
“Don’t touch her like that.”
“She’s connected to all of us,”
Vermund said, his voice trembling.
“The seal is waking up.”
Silas leaned closer, his violet eyes glittering.
“There’s just one little problem.”
He looked past you toward the enormous doors.
Something on the other side scratched slowly at the iron.
Silas’s smile vanished.
“The bond wasn’t supposed to choose a living human.”
The gates slammed shut.
And a voice from beneath the academy whispered your name.