Unbound: Confluence Academy, Book 1

About this book

Nineteen-year-old Nessa Thorne expects a quick death when she volunteers for the Empire’s brutal selection. Instead, she finds herself thrust into the halls of Confluence Academy, a lethal training ground where students bond with elemental beasts—ranging from wolves to ancient dragons—to become the Empire's ultimate weapons. While her peers are branded by fire, water, earth, or air, Nessa bears a mysterious silver spiral: the mark of an "unbound," a forbidden power rumored to have been hunted to extinction. To survive, Nessa must conceal her true nature in a castle where students are encouraged to kill for an advantage and failure to tether an elemental beast results in certain death. Complicating her perilous existence is Raith Hollow, a formidable fire-affinity student whose scorching gaze and hidden secrets threaten both her safety and her heart. As an enemies-to-lovers dynamic simmers between them, Nessa realizes that the academy is a web of blood-forged alliances and deadly deception. With her dark potential growing and enemies closing in from every side, Nessa must master her forbidden magic before her past catches up to her. In this high-stakes fantasy, she learns that at Confluence Academy, you either evolve into a weapon or you don't leave at all.