A Touch of Ruin

In a world where magic builds empires, her power was born to end them.
He heals what she was born to destroy.

At the Reath Institute of Martial Power & Artifice, Tiara is a nobody. She keeps her head down, relies on her friend's silence bubbles to drown out the noise, and plays the part of a harmless student blending into the background. Because if anyone-especially a Knower-discovers the truth, she won't just be expelled.

She'll be hunted.

Tiara possesses an unheard-of, forbidden magic: Death.

For five long years, she has kept her lethal power buried beneath a quiet facade, living only for one singular purpose-to destroy the people who murdered her parents. And to get her revenge, she needs access to the highest ranks of society.

Enter Kaden.

Warm, handsome, and painfully good-natured, Kaden is a Lumi-Healer who spends his days mending broken bodies and restoring life. He is pure light-and the nephew of the woman who destroyed Tiara's family.

To Tiara, Kaden is the perfect pawn. Easy to manipulate. Easy to get close to. Easy to use as a key to draw his dangerous aunt out into the open.

The plan is simple: use him, strike her target down, and disappear into the shadows.

Except Kaden wasn't supposed to look at her like she's worth saving. He wasn't supposed to unravel the walls around her heart. And she definitely wasn't supposed to bleed for a boy whose touch is meant to heal the very thing she is bound to destroy.

"I was born to take lives, Kaden. What makes you think I won't ruin yours?"

"Because even in the dark, Tiara... I only see you."

Tech vs. Power. Healing vs. Ruin. Revenge vs. Love.
How far would you go for vengeance when the price is the only heart you were never supposed to touch?