Chapter 1

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO

T he moon shines brightly over the lake as I climb up the old sycamore tree off the side of the property.

It seems silly to still be hanging out in a tree house when I’m turning sixteen in nearly ten minutes. But, it’s become a force of habit, it’s a place of comfort in a place rife with discomfort.

This is the one place I don’t feel like I’m under a watchful eye from Mr. Mander or the staff he keeps housed on the five-hundred-acre estate.

Don’t get me wrong, Mander’s Academy for the Highly Gifted and Unhoused— pretentious fucking name —isn’t the worst place to call home. I know it could be far worse. At least, I can gather it would be worse from the books I’ve read and the television shows we’re allowed to watch. Harrowing tales of children being taken by a nefarious villain, or being discarded completely by the people who are supposed to love them. I guess that second one still rings kind of true in the grand scheme of my life.

At least at Mander’s I have three square meals a day and I don’t live in fear of not being accepted. Since a young age I’ve been told I’m different, all that wind up at Mander’s are distinct. The outside world is a hard, unforgiving place, one in which none of us will ever be accepted.

It’s easy to believe as things can get a little strange around here. Though, most of the oddities are ignored.

When someone does something beyond what is considered normal, everyone just turns the other way. At least I don’t have to pretend to be anyone other than myself when I’m here. Not that I know who I am, or what . Lately it’s felt like there’s something more to this school, more to my identity and the other students I’m surrounded by.

I turn the lamp on and open my biology textbook as I wait for Silas to arrive. We’re currently covering genetics, which makes me roll my eyes. None of the students here know anything about their genetics. The students of the obscure academy are quite the mystery.

There are those of us who have irregular things happening to us, like myself. Or those who are physically way larger than an average teenager.

Speaking of averagely large teenagers, Silas startles me while hefting his large frame into the entrance and shoving his body into the treehouse. The moon shines behind him, and I have to hide a smile behind my textbook.

My best friend is handsome, especially with the silvery light glowing against his masculine features.

“We need a new meeting spot,” he complains as his messy brown hair reaches the ceiling of the treehouse.

“You’re the one who needed a tutor,” I reply.

We both know he doesn’t need a tutor, but neither of us says anything. Silas is the brightest spot for me here, and I love spending time with him. Okay, I more than enjoy spending time with him. I have a ridiculous crush on him, but I don’t know if he feels the same. Plus, the last thing I want to do is ruin our friendship. It’s not like we go to one of those schools on TV with tons of kids, there are only about twenty of us at Mander’s.

He’s my friend, my best friend, and I don’t want to make things weird.

“We don’t need to study tonight,” he says softly, shaking back his hair, his brown eyes meeting mine. He’s already over six feet tall and is sporting light facial hair that he hasn’t quite learned to shave properly. He looks well beyond his sixteen years, and I wonder how much bigger he will get.

I tap my pen against my chin. “I thought you needed to study for the quiz tomorrow?”

A light blush creeps around his neck as he shakes his head and takes his backpack off and pulls out a small plastic container and removes the lid.

He looks shy, which is cute with how much room he takes up in the treehouse. It’s part of why I like Silas so much. While he may be large and intimidating, deep down, he’s the biggest sweetheart I’ve ever met.

“I know it’s not much, but I made them myself. Jonas helped me,” he says.

I look down into the container, seeing bright pink frosting, and smile.

“You made me cupcakes?”

“Almost forgot,” he replies, grabbing a candle out of his bag and placing it in the sweet frosting before lighting it on fire. “You have to make a wish,” he says.

“It’s not my birthday, yet,” I reply, looking down at my ancient watch, noting I have two more minutes. “And I don’t know what to wish for.”

I mean it honestly, I’ve given up on the dream of finding my family. Most of the ‘graduates’ wind up just staying here and working for Mr. Mander, anyway. Silas and I have plans to bust the hell out of here when we’re eighteen, even if the thought is terrifying. But staying sequestered on this campus doesn’t seem like a life worth living.

“What about a pact?” he suggests.

“What do you mean?”

His cheeks are nearly pink and it almost makes me want to tease him more, but I hold back. He’s being sweet, and I’m starting to realize that Silas is, in fact, more than my best friend. Perhaps this isn’t as unrequited as I thought.

“Like that we’ll always stay close and be friends no matter what,” he suggests.

“What about when you get a girlfriend?” I ask him and he rolls his eyes, making me bite my bottom lip to refrain from grinning. Is it possible that Silas actually wants me to be his girlfriend? Is that why he’s kept up this tutoring farce for so long?

“The candle is dripping all over the frosting,” he complains, and I shake my head.

“We need a better pact, Silas. That one is a given.”

He huffs out a breath and smiles. My heart skips a beat as he holds his hand under mine, so that we’re both holding the cupcake together.

“How about we make a pact that if we’re both thirty and single, we’ll get married,” he says.

This time, I roll my eyes. “There’s no way you’ll be thirty and single.”

“Violet, have you seen yourself? I’m going to have to scare every man away from you if we ever leave this hellhole.”

I shake my head at him, and he holds the cupcake toward my face.

“Make the wish,” he grumbles, his voice getting deeper.

“Do you even think you’d be a good husband?” I joke, not caring about the wax dripping all over the frosting.

I like teasing him. I also need him to say that he likes me, likes me, and this goes beyond us being best friends.

“I’d be the best husband, and you know it. We’d be one of those couples who wants to spend all of our time together. You wouldn’t be able to resist me. Honestly, the more I think about it, the sillier this pact is, because I think I’m going to convince you to marry me well before then anyway, Violet.”

“So confident,” I reply sassily, even though my heart is racing a million beats per minute.

It looks like Silas is going to lean in and blow out the candle, but stops a breath’s width from my lips and I lean forward as Silas takes my first kiss.

It’s short and sweet and when I pull away, his brown eyes are bright with happiness. My heart stills, and there’s a slight tingle against my lips that I can’t shake. I don’t think it’s normal, but I have nothing to compare it to. It must just be my nerves or what all first kisses feel like.

“Make your wish,” he breathes out.

I close my eyes and blow out the candle. Something deep in my belly warms as I make the wish. Every word of our pact ripples through my mind, almost like a chant. My nerves feel like they’re on fire, actually my whole body feels like it’s in flames. I’ve felt a tingling of this sensation before, like something is trying to escape me, but never anything this intense. Fear is licking up my spine and pain rips through me as my vision goes black.

“Silas,” I rasp out his name, the cupcake tumbling to the floor as I pass out.

There’s a soothing touch against my face. It feels wholly familiar while also being completely foreign.

“I wish to take her home now,” the voice says. It’s not high pitched, but the authority and primness in her tone is clear.

“The school is a great—” Mr. Mander says, and the woman cuts him off.

“ Please . Don’t pretend you are nothing but a collector of the unfamiliar, Mr. Mander. It’s unbecoming. Violet belongs with her people, where she can actually learn who she is, not slumming around with the likes of the other beings you house in this so-called school, ” she says.

I blink my eyes open and glance over at the woman. The moment I see her, I immediately know we’re related.

She has stark white hair, which matches the color framing my face. The only difference is the rest of my hair is black, while hers is light over her entire head. I always wondered why it grew like that and no matter what I tried, there was no changing the nearly white shade. But it’s unique enough that I know without a doubt she must be related to me.

Her clear blue eyes are exactly like mine, and she’s extremely put together, with her hair in a chignon and her simple black dress and cardigan completely in place.

She strokes my hair again and her lips part as she looks down at me.

“You look just like Lavender,” she says in a sad voice. Her emotion disappears as she looks over at Mr. Mander. “I’d like to take my granddaughter home now. Please collect her things,” she orders.

Mr. Mander looks down at me like he’s losing something precious.

“But—”

“Now, Mr. Mander,” the woman scolds.

He sighs, looking frustrated and loathsome of this woman, but tilts his head and leaves the room all the same. Meanwhile, I’m trying to wrap my mind around her words.

Unfamiliar.

Her people.

Beings.

I turn my legs to sit on the bed and blink up at the other woman. “Granddaughter?” I question.

“Yes, well. There will be plenty of time to discuss everything as soon as we leave this charnel house.”

“It’s a school,” I reply in a haze.

“No, it’s where others go to die.”

I blink at the woman who hasn’t given me her name and everything she says feels like it means something else entirely. I’m about ninety percent sure she’s speaking English, but like she’s speaking in a code, I don’t understand. “I need to say goodbye to my friends,” I say and she shakes her head, her lips in a tight pout.

“I’m afraid that isn’t possible. You don’t belong here and you surely can no longer be associated with any of these children .” She shakes her head and crinkles her nose. “I can smell the dog on you.”

I shake my head. Am I dreaming? Half of the words she’s saying don’t make any sense. My fingertips rub against my temples as I try to remember what happened last night. Silas and I were making the wish, and then nothing.

“How did you find me?”

She goes to open her mouth as Mr. Mander hands her a suitcase with my belongings. He gives me one last longing look before leaving the room.

“Whatever spell my daughter cast on you to keep you hidden was lifted on your sixteenth birthday. You’ll finally be back where you belong,” she says softly. “I’m Aster Delvaux, but you can call me Grand-mère. It’s time to go.”

“But I need to say goodbye to Silas,” I tell her.

He’s the only thing I’ll truly miss about this place. I still can’t wrap my mind around anything this woman is saying. A spell? A dog? Did I hit my head?

All I know is I need to tell Silas that I’m alright, that I’ll write to him, or maybe we can communicate some other way.

“I have to say goodbye to him,” I repeat. I can’t imagine how hurt he would feel if I left without a word.

“I’m sorry, but that just isn’t going to happen.”

My grand-mère wraps her perfectly manicured nails around my wrist and I’m suddenly ripped away from what was somewhat considered my home. Leaving the school, my best friend, and everything I’ve ever known behind me.