Dark shadows engulfed my house. It should’ve been lit both inside and out with lights on a timer. The hinge on the old fence gate squeaked when I slipped through. Freezing, I listened for a response and heard only silence. The air was still. Too still.

Only the sound of my heart pounding in my chest broke into the monotonous quiet.

I knew better than to walk up the stone path.

Three of the four porch steps creaked at even the slightest pressure. Ignoring my instincts, I crept on tiptoes to the top. The keys in my hand jingled like wind chimes, and my breath caught.

Nothing happened.

I suppressed a nervous giggle. Everything was fine. This wasn’t like before. My roommate was on her way home from work, and then I would no longer be alone. Eyes darting left and right, I swallowed the worst of my fear and slid my key into the deadbolt.

Just as I twisted the knob, it hit me. The reason every one of my nerve endings tingled. Not the lack of lights. Not the deafening silence. It was nothing so human.

The wards. Where are the fucking wards?

Stars exploded before my eyes; an intense stab of pain at the back of my skull registered a second later. I had only enough time for my stomach to grow queasy and cramp before I dropped to the porch.

A ghostly-white face leaned down to hover over mine. Sharp, pointy fangs jutted out as his lips spread into a slow smile.

“Hello, Winter, darling,” the vampire drawled. “Have you missed me?”

***

Even as a young child, I’d felt different. Not just because I was fae, either. Our kind were rare, but there were thousands of us spread across the world. While most lived in enclaves, my mom and I had been on our own my entire life, living in normal human towns. I’d graduated from a typical southern California high school before working as a server while considering college. That was all abruptly changing.

“Ah, home.” Mom inhaled deeply, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. She closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds as we passed a sign that read: Welcome to Arcane Landing!

I replied with a noncommittal grunt. My mother’s reaction to returning to her hometown was always a weird mix of relief and trepidation, though she did her best to hide the latter. I didn’t need her to
voice the concern to know it existed. There was a reason we’d stayed away so
long, and a reason we were fleeing there now.

“You’ll learn to love it here, Winter.” Mom
reached over and gave my arm a quick squeeze. “I promise.”

“You promise?” I scoffed, unable to help myself. “Don’t you mean, you hope?”

Mom’s green eyes flashed red in the headlights of a car coming in the opposite direction. “Winter Lynn Sable.”

I sighed and averted my gaze to the snow-frosted trees. I knew I should apologize. It wasn’t Mom’s fault we had to leave California, but that didn’t make it any easier to leave my job and friends.

“This is an opportunity for you to be among people like you,” Mom continued, as though my snide comment and her subsequent rebuke had never happened. “Just give it a chance. I was happy growing up here.”

Instead of answering, I sunk lower in my seat and pulled up the hood of my sweatshirt.

Mom launched into her Arcane Landing sales pitch for the dozenth time, extolling the virtues of small-town living: the mail carrier knows your name; the butcher, baker, and candle blogger visit your house on holidays; the local vet doubles as a barber.

Several times on our cross-country road trip, I’d asked why she’d left if she loved it so much. Each time, she’d immediately
changed the subject. Not that I expected her to answer.

Despite the late hour, my great-grandmother trotted across the porch of her colonial home before Mom turned off the engine. At just shy of her 97th birthday, Nana Essie didn’t think twice
before hurrying down icy steps in nothing more than a housecoat and orthopedic sneakers.

“Nana,” Mom chastised as her grandmother yanked open my door and swooped in for a hug.

“Hush, Colleen. I’m a water fae. If I can’t
stand an early snowfall, I don’t deserve to keep breathing on this earth.” Nana
pulled back from our embrace to appraise me with her sharp gaze. “You look thin, Winter. Colleen, have you been feeding this child? She’s too skinny.”
Nana shook her head. “Never mind all that. Dinner is on the table.” She grabbed my hand and started pulling me from the car.

“Hi to you too, Nana,” I said, as she led me up the stairs.

“It’s after midnight,” Mom called after us. “We already ate.”

“You’ll have to speak up, Colleen. My hearing isn’t what it used to be,” Nana said, giving me a wink over her shoulder.

All three of us knew her senses were basically superhuman. We also all realized there was no use in arguing with a woman who’d posed as her twin brother to fight on the front lines during World War II. Nothing stopped Nana from getting her way.

Mom launched more feeble protests, citing both my need to be up at the crack of dawn for my first day of college and the fact we should unpack the car. Essie acted as if she didn’t hear a word.

The town of Arcane Landing might not have given me the warm fuzzies, but Nana’s house sure did. It was cozy and lived in like no place we’d ever rented. The scars on the wooden floors were from generations of children playing hide-and-seek. The smell of cinnamon hung in the air and clung to the sheets and towels. None of the furniture matched, yet still went together.

The walls were a bright, buttery yellow that was as constant as Nana herself. The hallway between the foyer and the kitchen was a visual timeline of our family dating back to The Crossing. I could see myself in the faces that stared back at me. Women and men with my same dark hair and high cheekbones.

Dinner—or rather midnight snack, since we’d eaten hours earlier—was Nana’s famous venison chili. The cornbread with fresh cinnamon butter was my favorite of all her dishes. Peach cobbler came straight out of the oven for dessert.

“Have you spoken with your mother?” Nana asked Mom between bites.

“You know I haven’t,” Mom replied, coolly. “Before you start in, let me remind you that she is the one who severed contact.”

I hid a smirk behind an enormous piece of cornbread. One of my favorite parts of visiting Nana was witnessing this
role-reversal firsthand. For all her lectures to me, Mom deserved a lecture from Nana.

Essie pursed her wrinkled lips. “Revisionist history is frowned upon these days, Colleen. Call your mother. Make peace with the old bat before it’s too late.”

Though I’d never met my grandmother, I’d seen her across town on a few visits to Arcane Landing. Once, Nana had tried to broker an intervention between her and my mother. Her attempt was the reason for the singed second-floor banister.

That night I slept in the attic bedroom. It was a space that time forgot. My great-great-great grandma Anna knitted the
patchwork quilt on the bed for her daughter June. Anna’s father, Henry, had
carved the twin rocking chairs for her and my great-great-great uncle Cecil.
The rolltop desk, my favorite antique, came to America during The Crossing. Only the Victrola that Nana received as a wedding gift shorted the century mark.

I breathed in the room’s musky cedar scent as I swapped my jeans and hoodie for a pair of flannel pajamas Nana had left folded on the bed. There was something special about the room. In there, I got a taste of the nostalgia Mom harbored for Arcane Landing. There was a peace of mind that I had experienced nowhere else. The cynical part of me believed it was a magically fabricated feeling—that Nana had spelled the attic with calming vibes. My great-grandmother was sneaky like that.

Sleep didn’t come easily. It reminded me of all the nights I’d laid awake before my first day at a new school while growing up.

I’d started over enough to know the drill. Some people would be nice to me. Some people would dislike me for no reason. Most would ignore me, just as they
dismissed ninety percent of their classmates. Eventually, I would find a friend or two. We’d grow close, then something would happen, and I would move away to start over.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Not this time, though. Arcane University
specialized in the advanced education of supernaturals. This made the experience very different from my previous ones—and I hated unknown variables. Even worse, this was my only night in my great-grandmother’s house. After that,
I’d officially be a resident of the dorms.

Of all things I already hated about my new life, I despised this the most.

My eyes had just closed when my cell buzzed on the pillow beside me. Even before I glanced at the display, I knew who it was: Lena. My former roommate was the best and closest friend I had ever made. Lena and I had taken a couple of years off before planning to attend USC together. Now, only she would travel and adventure before starting human college.

“Hey,” I muttered, only half-awake.

“Are you sleeping?”

“It’s late,” I mumbled.

“Aren’t you three hours behind California?” Lena
asked.

“Ahead. It’s three hours later here.”

“Oh,” she said, drawing out the single syllable. “Glad to hear you haven’t turned into an old lady yet. Good luck tomorrow, call me when you can.”

“You too,” I replied nonsensically and then promptly fell asleep.

***

Arcane University for the Elemental Arts looked a lot like the elite private institutions in movies and television shows. A blanket of snow covered the sprawling front lawn, which glistened beneath the morning sun. The main school building was a gothic stone architecture, like a castle from the old country. Smaller structures dotted the campus grounds, which extended all the way back to a treeline in the distance. There was even a stadium and horse stables.

“Remember, Winter,” Mom said as she drove through the imposing wrought-iron gates. “These kids are just like you. You can be yourself. Make some friends.”

“I had friends. In California,” I retorted. “And I highly doubt anyone here is ‘just like’ me.” Shivering, I zipped my parka all
the way to the top.

Mom ignored my attitude and pulled to a stop. The high temperature for the day was twenty-three degrees—as in nine below freezing. It was a mind-blowing prospect for a California girl. Despite the
frigid air, when Mom opened her mouth to deliver what was no doubt another
lecture, I decided to sacrifice warmth in favor of silence.

“This is close enough, I can walk.”

As I reached for the door handle, Mom was faster. She hit the child safety lock.

“What?” I asked, annoyed. “I don’t want to be late.”

“You can be mad at me all you want, I understand that. But don’t take it out on Arcane Landing or the university. We are staying here. Hating me and this town will only make you more miserable.”

My anger soured, tasting like shame in my mouth. She was right, and I hated when that happened. “Yeah. Got it.”

“I’m serious, Winter.”

A knock on my window cut off whatever else she might have said. I turned to find a pretty brunette with rosy cheeks and glossy lips smiling at me through the glass. She waved a gloved hand.

“Winter Sable?” she asked, her voice muffled behind the glass.

Mom released the child safety locks, and I opened the door to greet my new friend.

“Um, yeah. Hi. I’m Winter.”

The girl held out her hand. “Morgan Riley. I’m your student guide.” She looked past me at Mom. “Hi, Ms. Sable. I think you know my mother, Juanita Riley. Back in school she was Juanita Krump.”

“Yes, of course. I remember Juanita,” Mom said tightly. “Please tell her hello from me.”

Without looking back, I knew her smile was fake. Whoever this Juanita person was, Mom was not a fan. Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether that made it more or less likely that Morgan and I would hit it off.

“Have a good day, Winter, darling,” Mom continued. “I’ll call you tonight.”

“Can you pop the trunk?” I asked. “I need to get my bags.”

Mom averted her gaze. “I’ll drop them off for you. I want a word with John, anyway.”

Though I almost asked who John was, I decided I didn’t care.

Along with a new parka, Nana had bought me a matching knit set with gloves, a hat, and a scarf. They were a colorful pattern that was slightly juvenile but not offensive. Until I took in Morgan’s
sophisticated red leather driving gloves and tailored peacoat.

“You moved from California, right?” Morgan asked as we walked.

“Yep.”

She wrinkled her sharp nose. “So the snow must be pretty wild for you.”

“A little,” I admitted.

“It’s okay, it’s not typical for us, either. I
mean, Arcane Landing gets a ton of snow in the winter months, but an entire
foot of it in September is new.”

Morgan was trying. She seemed nice enough, so I met her halfway.

“Yeah, this will take some time to get used to. Though the past few years have been chillier. It snowed a bunch last winter. Not like this, obviously.” I made a gesture meant to encompass the winter
wonderland at large. “More of a light dusting, I guess. Still, it was the first
time I couldn’t surf in December.”

“Oh, do you surf?” Morgan asked, her eyes lighting up.

A group of students huddled together in front of the main entranceway, blocking the tall navy doors. One, a short boy with a very round face, waved a mitten-clad hand enthusiastically. “Hey, Morgan!” he
called in a deep voice.

“Hey, Chance.” Turning to me, Morgan explained, “That’s my twin brother.”

“Who’s your friend?” asked a girl in lace-up suede boots and patterned tights.

My hackles went up. It wasn’t her tone that bristled me, though, it was the way she studied me with too much interest.

“This is Winter, and you’ll all get your chance to interrogate her at some point, I’m sure. For now, Chancellor Keene is
expecting us.” Morgan threaded her arm through mine so our elbows linked. “Don’t want to keep him waiting.”

I shot her a grateful smile. It seemed Morgan and I were off to a good start.

The group of students parted to let us pass, at least a dozen eyes watching with unbridled curiosity. As Morgan and I were about to cross over the threshold into the warmth and safety of the school, my foot slipped on a patch of black ice. If not for Morgan’s tight grip on my arm,
I would’ve landed smack on my back. Most likely with my skirt flipped up to
expose the top of the wool tights covering my naughty bits.

There were a few snickers, which Morgan silenced with a glare as she ushered me inside.

“Sorry about them.” She sighed and began peeling off her stylish gloves. “My guess is that was Tina; she’s a water fae. Don’t take it too personally. She would’ve been just as happy to see me fall as you.”

Morgan nodded toward the right.

“This is Maven Hall. East Wing, three
floors—that’s where most of your basic intro classes will be.” She cocked a
thumb to the left. “West Wing is the dining hall, main lounge, and dorms. North Wing is mostly administrative on the first floor, including the chancellor’s
office. Don’t feel overwhelmed with trying to memorize the layout, though. It’s my job to get you where you need to go on time.”

She led me down a hall with portraits, and I noticed that some of the bronze plaques bore my own last name. There was a trophy case that boasted a handful of championships in the state collegiate spelling bee, a silver medal for academic decathlon, and a slew of gold medals in sports ranging from rowing to football.

“Do you know your dorm room assignment yet?” Morgan asked.

I reached inside the pocket of my parka. “Um, yeah. I’m in D-313. Looks like my roommate is Kristina.”

As soon as I read the name aloud, my stomach sank. Unless there was another girl named Tina, I’d already made an enemy of my roommate. Awesome. Just freaking awesome.

“Oh, I see.” Morgan’s tone had a noticeable bite.

“I guess I know why she doesn’t have a roommate a week into term,” I joked.

Morgan didn’t laugh.

Worried I had offended her somehow, I tried to backpedal and ended up rambling. “I’m sure she’s great once you get to know her. Everyone has at least one excellent quality, right? I can be pretty bitchy sometimes too.”

“It’s not that,” Morgan snapped, but then she caught herself. “I’m sorry. It has nothing to do with Tina. I just didn’t know
they assigned her a new roommate. That’s all.”

It was an odd thing to get worked up about, but I let the subject drop.

We stopped at the end of the hallway in front of double doors with Chancellor Keene engraved on a plaque above them. I looked down at my room assignment form—same last name. So Tina hated me, we were living together, and her father was the head of the campus. The day was off to a banner start.

The doors popped open before Morgan touched them. My first thought was magic. Then I saw a guy with tousled hair, light gray eyes, and a scowl on his lips coming out of the office. He glanced from me to Morgan, and his frown flipped upside down.

“Hey, cuz.”

She gave him a tight smile. “Hi, Laz.”

“What’s wrong with you?” He laughed. “You look like someone killed your cat.”

He brushed past us, twisted, and started walking backward. Though his gaze was on me, his words were for Morgan. “Heads up, the old man is in a mood.” Laz turned and strode away without another glance.

“I heard that,” a deep voice said from inside.

“Just speaking the truth,” Laz volleyed from halfway down the hall.

Morgan nudged me forward. I entered the chancellor’s office to find a lean man sitting behind an impossibly tidy desk.
He stood, rising to well over six-feet tall. His suit was navy with thin pinstripes, paired with a silver and paisley tie. The cufflinks on his wrists were sapphires set in platinum, and the signet ring on his right hand gleamed enough to see my reflection.

“Winter Sable, I’m John Keene. It is wonderful to have you at Arcane University. Your mother and I were good friends during our time here.” He gestured to the two chairs opposite him. “Please have a seat.”

So this was John. The person Mom had mentioned in the car. Interesting.

“I see my niece found you.” Chancellor Keene smiled at Morgan. “I know she will do everything in her power to make you feel welcome. We are only one week into term, so you shouldn’t have any trouble
catching up.” He eased back down in his chair. “We require all first-year
students take a qualifier exam to gauge your magical abilities and aptitude for
specific elements. I have spoken with your mother, and she informed me you have shown proficiency in both water and fire. Is that right?”

I nodded dutifully and said, “Yes, sir.”

“Very well. Mrs. Canterwald will administer the test later today. Now, I want to assure you that many of our students come to us under similar circumstances.” He flashed me two rows of bright white teeth.

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m sorry? What
circumstances?”

The chancellor gave a short bark of laughter that made my jaw clench. “There is no need to be coy, Winter. You are among family, now. I understand your abilities are rudimentary, but give it a few weeks with our instructors and I bet you will prove just as strong as that
firecracker great-grandmother of yours.”

Though I tried to hide my alarm, I clearly
failed. Did everyone at the school already know all about me?

“You have nothing to be ashamed about,” Chancellor Keene was quick to add. “That is why colleges like Arcane University are so important. We teach you to use and control your abilities, thus preventing spontaneous outpourings of magic.”

Schools like Arcane University? There were other fae colleges?

The chancellor opened his top desk drawer and removed two sheets of paper, handing one to me and one to Morgan. “This is your class schedule. You will notice your general, core classes meet 2-3 times per week, while your practical magic instruction is every weekday. I have arranged a private tutor to work one-on-one with you until you have learned the basics.”

Not until I held the class schedule in my hands did I truly appreciate that this was happening. I was a student at a magic
college. My old life was over. My human life. Arcane Landing was my home. This
wasn’t just another weekend visit.

“Do you have questions, Winter?” Chancellor Keene asked in a tone that suggested the inquiry only had one right answer.

“No, sir,” I said.

“Wonderful. My door is always open.” He winked at me. “We are delighted to have both you and your mother back in the fold. She was quite active in the community before leaving, and I hope she will be again. You as well, when the time comes.”

His words reinforced Mom’s lecture from the car. If I embraced Arcane Landing, I could be happy there. I could be a part of something for the first time in my life.

“Have a good day, Winter.” The chancellor gave me a dismissive wave.

Morgan and I stood to leave just as the office doors banged open. Tina Keene was white as a sheet. Tears pooled in her gray eyes. “Ewan found a body in Gemini Forest.” Her watery gaze went to Morgan. “It’s Missy. She’s dead.”