The Last Enchanters

Maire Embermere was once a student at the most prestigious mage academy in the country - until she was expelled for failing to meet its magical standards.
Ashamed of disappointing her family, she flees her hometown and takes refuge in a quiet antique shop far from the capital. But strange things begin happening around her. Sold items return overnight. Objects move on their own. Headaches leave her barely standing, and magic slips from her control in dangerous bursts.
Desperate for answers, Maire searches through forbidden texts and realizes the impossible:
She may be a dark mage.
In a kingdom where dark magic is outlawed and its users are hunted down by the ruthless Dark Magic Enforcers, discovery means death. Terrified of hurting the people around her, Maire runs once again - but someone is already tracking her.
When a spell backfires and leaves her vulnerable, she finally comes face-to-face with the man the entire country fears most.

Darren Delacourt.

Feared as a dangerous dark wizard and enemy of the crown, Darren is nothing like the monster described in whispered stories. He offers Maire sanctuary, promises to teach her how to control the deadly magic destroying her from within, and reveals a truth the kingdom buried long ago: dark magic was never evil - only feared.
But as rebellion rises and war looms across the kingdom, Maire is forced to decide who the real enemy is. Because the deeper she falls into the world of dark magic, the more she risks losing herself to the very power she's trying to control. Is the enemy herself? Or the government?
And in the coming Dark War, survival may demand becoming something far more dangerous than a mage.