Mercy is sent to the Academy because losing her costs her family least. Rogue is given a simpler choice: service, or a labour assignment meant to kill her.

The Academy takes people apart, decides what they’re useful for, and expects obedience in return. But when Mercy and Rogue are paired, they become something it never intended: loyal to each other before they’re loyal to it.

Attraction only makes survival more complicated — an officer who should be an enemy, a man bound by obligations he can’t escape, someone whose charm hides far more than he admits. Dangerous attachments pull in every direction.

But beneath the Academy’s brutal training, something is wrong. Impossible readings. Failing magic. Hidden experiments. And somehow, Mercy is at the centre of it.

They were brought here to become useful. Surviving it may mean becoming something else entirely.

"Chosen Names"

by Lyra Vale