by Emily Tesh
First published 2025
Dr. Walden directs the Magic Department at Chetwood School, where she teaches Advanced Invocation to four unruly sixth form students and protects six hundred pupils from demonic attacks. She excels at maintaining the magical barriers that keep the ancient creatures at bay. Her days blur together with administrative duties, classroom instruction, and constant vigilance against supernatural threats trying to breach the school's defenses. Then an old enemy stirs beyond the protective wards. This demon has waited centuries for its chance to strike at Chetwood and its magical legacy. Even with Chief Marshal Laura Kenning's tactical expertise, Walden faces a threat that tests every skill she has developed as both educator and guardian. The students depend on her leadership. The institution's survival rests in her hands. But Walden begins to suspect that the greatest danger to her school might come from within. As the ancient demon presses closer to breaking through, she must confront the possibility that her own power poses the real risk to everyone she has sworn to protect.
Genres: adventure, fantasy, action, academia
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Chetwood School
432 pages · Kindle Edition · Tor Books
Content warnings: violence