another sneak peek at shadows like ivy, the first book in the secrets from ambrose academy duology!

That night, Tessa couldn't sleep. With her door and windows locked, she didn't feel secure. Being buried beneath her covers didn't dispel the chill that had settled into her bones.

Murderer, cursed, operative.

These weren't just rumors, they were legacies.

He killed a man. She cursed them all. She would leave them all for dead.

How was this a school and not a prison? How did the brochures and tour groups not mention the statistics among their student body?

"I wouldn't put it past these students."

Kaden's dramatic words hadn't made her feel much better, either. Ambrose seemed like such an upbeat environment. How could its shadows become so...tangible?

As Tessa tossed and turned in bed between flashes of hot and cold, she wondered about the people she'd met and what had landed them there. She no longer believed in Kaden's innocent 'grand theft auto', there had to be something more, something that triggered that iron to come out from behind his softness.

And what about Reese, and his brother Flynn? What had landed not one but two members of the same family at this school for the 'gifted'? What were their 'alternative abilities'?

What about Mark? What darkness was there behind his quick wit and spontaneous nature?

And what of Dale, sleeping just down the hall from her? Was she sleeping at all, or was she kept awake with laments of her crimes as well?

This paranoia was nothing but toxic, Tessa knew that much, but she couldn't help it. How could you walk into the lion's den and expect to find nothing but a kitten? No, there were beasts lurking in the shadows, watching her, hunting her, waiting for the right time to strike.

And so that night, when Tessa drifted off to sleep, she dreamed of a place where shadows grew like ivy and lions prowled beneath the chilling light of the moon.