Ivy Whitlock likes her life. She would just like it a lot better if she were allowed to apply to The Academy, the training ground for the demon fighting, royal protecting Vilerian guard. She was not made for organising balls and simpering suitors. She has too much fire in her for that. She craves more, craves a legacy like the one her mother made for herself in her Academy years almost two centuries ago. Despite her mother's status as an alumnus, her parents refused to allow her application and when the Lord and Lady Whitlock of the fae say no? They mean it. But when Lady Whitlock’s old Academy friends Crown Prince Hal and Sir Channing of Althania arrive at the family's winter solstice ball, Ivy is given the opportunity she has always wanted. Once at The Academy, Ivy soon realises that her mother hasn’t been exactly truthful about her time here and that the branches of a family tree can quickly turn into smothering vines. Can Ivy find the truth before the lies end up putting her in more danger than she could have imagined?