In a city of light, there are places even the sun forgets.
Hidden deep within Manhattan, where tourists bustle and skyscrapers glitter, lies a school that does not exist on any map. A school built not just for the gifted—but for the marked.
Empire High is where legacies are shaped, power is refined, and shadows move when no one is watching.
Seraphina Cole never belonged to this world. She didn't ask to be summoned. She never applied, never auditioned, never begged for magic. Yet the letter came anyway—heavy parchment, sealed in black wax, demanding her presence. No choice. No way out.
Three months ago, her mother vanished without a trace.
Now, her name is whispered in corridors older than the city itself.
The students of Empire High are no ordinary teens. They carry magic in their blood, loyalty in their bones, and secrets behind their eyes. They belong to ancient Houses—descendants of fire, water, earth, and aether. All powerful. All proud. All watching her.
But there's something different about Seraphina.
Something that doesn't match any House.
Something not even the Headmaster can explain.
And then the shadows begin to follow her.
They whisper. They shift. They stretch where light should end. And they know her name before anyone speaks it.
Rumors surface. Eyes narrow. Students start to disappear.
They say one student every generation is chosen.
Marked. Cursed. Bound to something older than magic itself.
This year, it's her.
And she's not ready.
Empire High doesn't just test your skills—it tests your soul. And if you're not strong enough, if you break, the school doesn't send you home.
It buries you.
As dark whispers stir in the halls and bloodlines begin to fracture, Seraphina is forced to question everything—her past, her mother's legacy, and her place in a story that began long before she was born.
There's a boy with silver eyes who sees through her.
There's a book with her family crest, locked in the library's forbidden wing.
And there's a mirror that should have no reflection—but does.
Every hallway holds a secret.
Every student wears a mask.
And someone in this school wants her to unravel.
Or worse... become the very thing Empire High was built to contain.
She came looking for answers.
What she found was a curse.
And it's waiting to wake.