House of Hollow Bindings

When Evelyn Ward receives a mysterious invitation to Hollowthorn Institute-the most prestigious magical university in the empire-she knows it must be a mistake. After all, she's just a bookbinder's apprentice with no magical lineage... or so she thought. Upon arrival, Evelyn discovers she is the last descendant of a powerful founding family, and her admission isn't a mistake-it's a summons. As students begin dying in ritualistic ways, whispers spread of an ancient blood pact called the House of Hollow Bindings-a covenant between seven founding families and an enigmatic entity known as the Binder. Evelyn soon learns a shocking truth: she was created as a "vessel" combining multiple founding bloodlines, designed across centuries by her ancestor Margaret Ward for a specific purpose. With the covenant awakening after two hundred years of dormancy, Evelyn must navigate competing factions who each have their own plans for her: The Headmistress and her Covenant Circle seek to sacrifice Evelyn to gain control of founding magic. The silver-eyed Professor Thornfield helps her while carrying his own agenda and family tragedy. And somewhere in the spaces between realities, the Binder awaits, demanding seven sacrifices to restore the covenant that was imperfectly broken. As Evelyn races to gather seven magical keys scattered across the empire, she uncovers the horrifying truth behind founding magic-it flows from living conduits called Hollow Vessels, people transformed and trapped between realities against their will. Now she faces an impossible choice: restore the covenant and continue the cycle of sacrifice, seal it permanently and abandon the Vessels to eternal twilight, or attempt a dangerous third option-a reconciliation that would transform the relationship between realities entirely. With boundaries thinning between worlds and entities from the hollow spaces manifesting in reality, Evelyn must discover what it truly means to be the vessel. For in the House of Hollow Bindings, some bloodlines were never meant to wake-and others were designed to transform everything. A gothic fantasy of dark academia, forbidden magic, and the prices paid for power, where the boundary between worlds is thinner than anyone realizes, and salvation may require the greatest sacrifice of all.