mascarlatt
In the bustling university city of Cork, nothing is quite as it seems, and no one knows that better than Katherine Torres, a cynical undergraduate who has spent her entire life following one unbreakable rule: stay in control.
Keeping her dangerous magic hidden is the only way to protect the fragile normality of her family, caught between her mother's crippling anxiety and the unsettling prophecies of an elderly fortune teller.
Everything changes when a first-year student is found dead on campus, every bone in their body shattered without a single drop of blood spilled. At the same time, a swarm of deadly creatures infects Katherine's closest friends, Diana and Sophie. Without an Amplifier, they are doomed to die.
Katherine's enigmatic professor entrusts her with one of the six ancient Amplifiers, relics capable of awakening their bearers' full magical potential. To save her friends, Katherine must convince them to accept the Amplifiers destined for them, binding their fates to hers and to that of her arrogant classmate, Ryen.
Together, they must seal the rifts connecting Earth to Tefstalia, a realm torn apart by rival monarchies and on the brink of an energy collapse. Along the way, they are joined by Pyter, a deserter driven to avenge his executed family, and Braiden, a prince sent to hunt them down but secretly determined to bring an end to the Crown's tyranny.
Each of them possesses extraordinary abilities, and each has too much to lose to walk away. To survive, they must learn to trust one another and swear allegiance to the mage Alayna, because the power they share may be enough to save both worlds... or consume them first.
© 2026 M. A. SCARLATT