Page 1 of Revenant

Prologue:

Veilcrest Conservatory exists today to keep humans looking in the wrong direction. Reconditioned to conceal deadly supernatural beings in order for them to coexist in plain sight.

An unassuming prestigious college, with libraries built like sanctuaries, cradling centuries of wisdom. Every shelf sits heavy with what you were never supposed to know—and everything you’ll one day need. Knowledge from another world. Another time. Archives left untouched for so long they’ve gone weathered with dust, hiding in plain sight.

Until the right person grows too curious.

Or the wrong one.

The lecture halls hold no mystery. What you see is what you get—stained glass and polished floors, stone columns raised to make the grounds seem more inviting. Everything about the university screams prestige. Respectability. Humanity. Parents send their children, spawns of old money and curated ambition, to be polished into something the world will mistake for exceptional.

They think they’re buying a legacy. Veilcrest is what they’re feeding it to.

Most of them pass the crumbling building behind the school without a second glance, oblivious to the wisteria blooming where nothing should. Here, you survive on order and obedience. No one ventures behind the west wall—and the unfortunate few who do spend the rest of their lives wishing they’d never stepped foot past the gates.

It’s a subtle understanding: honor the rules—not out of fear, but reverence. Veilcrest holds promise—prestige, tradition, a future worth having. They never think to ask what the walls take in exchange.

Students don’t simply apply. Enrollment is inherited, earned or owed. And the world stays distracted, too busy admiring the surface to notice what moves in the dark.

A revenant. Patient. Waiting. And so very close to being free.

1: Alicent

Unrelenting rain pelts onto my cashmere navy cardigan, soaking through the seams, as it mixes with the wind. To make a shitty first day shittier, it turns my schedule into a soggy mess, erasing any and all information. I squint at the ink bleeding down the page, then up at the maze of buildings ahead.

No signs. No map. No clue.

I curse under my breath, wondering how in the world there isn’t anything to steer me in the right direction. And just when I think my day couldn’t get any worse, my suitcase gives out. It teeters to the side as one of the wheels snaps off, skittering across the cobblestone like it’s trying to escape. Annoyance flares through me and I have to remind myself to take a deep breath.

I’ve literally only been here for five minutes, and everything is already going to hell, but I’m not going to pass up this opportunity for a fresh start.

Despite my frustration I trudge forward, dragging the useless hunk of aluminum behind me because giving up isn’t on today’s agenda.

Students rush past, heads down, earbuds in, all of them pretending they don’t see me struggling. I hate them a little for it. The stupid broken wheel catches on a raised stone, but I don’t notice in time. One second I’m trying to make sense of anything on this mushy piece of paper, and the next…I’m holding in a scream as I fall backwards.

Right into a fucking puddle.

Instantly, whatever dry parts of me remained are no more, and yet, I make no effort to move. The damage is already done. Whether they acknowledge me or not, I can feel everyone’s eyes turn my way—heating my quickly chilling bones.

Stupid fucking school. Stupid fucking puddle. Stupid fucking suitcase.

“Need a hand?” The cheerful voice interrupts my self-loathing. My gaze lifts, staring at this guy whose bright smile contrasts with the gloomy day. Tall, surprisingly chivalrous and…tan. Somehow. The sky hasn’t offered even a ray of sunlight since I got here, but maybe that’s because he is a walking ray in his own right. His face is annoyingly symmetrical, the kind I’m sure gets him out of parking tickets and into parties he wasn’t invited to.

His hair is disheveled, as if he just rolled out of bed, already perfect. But the most captivating part is his eyes. An entrancing light gray that’s soul sucking, hypnotizing in the way they call for you to come closer and never escape.

I clear my throat and drop my eyes because some things, like the sun, can’t be looked at for too long without going blind. “I’m fine.” I hear myself say it, but the admission rings hollow even to me.

“Even if I believed that—and I don’t,” he makes sure to clarify as he crouches to my level, pulling my attention back to him with ease. His eyes quickly flick behind me, no doubt at my hobbled suitcase, before returning to me. “That’s not.”

He’s not wrong. I’ll be lucky if I’m able to get it to my dorm…wherever that is. Getting back on track, I stand abruptly, probably startling him in the process, judging by the look of shock hitting his stupidly gorgeous face.

Adjusting the leather strap on my backpack, I make sure it’s secure before reaching down and grabbing the handle on my wretched luggage. My schedule has all but disintegrated on the ground—not that it would’ve been of use anyway—but what kind of school doesn’t have a map posted? A bulletin board? Something!

My next plan of action is to find the office and get a new schedule. I’m sure it can’t be that hard. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get a new schedule.”

“I can show you where to go,” he suggests.

“I’m sure I can find my way.” The lie rolls off my tongue. In retrospect, after enough wandering and shamelessly looking into buildings, I’m bound to find it at some point. But on the other hand…I don’t really want to drag this suitcase around.