When we were children, Asher Blake, our three other friends, and I cast the Everlasting Bond Spell, swearing we'd never be separated.
We'd been inseparable ever since. They'd never once made me feel alone, and I thought nothing would ever change that.
Then Sera Ellis, my adoptive parents' long-lost daughter, came home.
At my birthday celebration, she asked about our plans after graduation.
To my surprise, all four boys presented acceptance contracts from the Nocturne Sanctum.
"Come with us, Lydia," Asher said. "We promised we'd always stay together."
So I signed my five-year contract in blood. That night, Asher even accepted my confession of love.
Three days later, I went to Asher's house to discuss our preparations for the Sanctum, only to find their private group chat projected onto the living room wall.
Did Lydia sign?
Yep. Four fake contracts got her out of Ravenwood for five years.
Now Sera can finally have us all to herself.
Asher's stuck pretending to be her boyfriend until she leaves.
They were all going to Blackwood Academy with Sera.
I'd trusted those boys with my life. Apparently, that meant nothing.
What they didn't know was that I'd accepted the Sanctum's offer of early admission.
In forty-eight hours, I would leave Ravenwood. Once I entered the Sanctum, its mandatory cleansing ritual would strip away every binding spell I'd ever carried, and its ancient wards would cut off all contact with the outside world.
Including the four invisible chains that had connected us since childhood.
They'd gone to so much trouble to push me out of their lives.
Soon, they would finally get what they wished for.