Elara's POV
I can't breathe.
My eyes snap open and I gasp for air like I've been drowning. My heart pounds so hard it hurts. Where am I?
This isn't my bedroom.
The ceiling above me is made of stone actual stone, like a castle. Heavy curtains hang around a massive bed that could fit five people. Everything smells weird, like old books and lavender.
I sit up fast, and my head explodes with pain. I grab my skull and groan. What happened? The last thing I remember is reading my favorite book, Crown of Ashes, while walking home from the library. Then bright headlights. Screeching tires. The horrible crunch of metal.
Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no.
Did I die?
I scramble out of bed and my legs tangle in a long nightgown I've never seen before. I don't own night gowns. I sleep in old t-shirts. I stumble to a mirror hanging on the wall and freeze.
That's not my face.
The girl staring back at me has long dark hair instead of my short brown hair. Her eyes are green, not brown. She's prettier than me, with perfect skin and delicate features. I touch my cheek and the reflection does the same.
No, I whisper. This isn't real. This can't be real.
But it is. Somehow, impossibly, I'm in someone else's body.
Memories that aren't mine suddenly flood my brain like a dam breaking. I see flashes of a different childhood cold mansion, parents who barely looked at me, being sent away to school. The name echoes in my head: Elara Ashwood.
My stomach drops to my feet.
Ashwood. That name is familiar. Too familiar.
I run back to the bed and search frantically through the room until I find a book on the nightstand. Advanced Magical Theory for First-Year Students.
Magic. Students. My hands shake so badly I almost drop the book.
No. Please, no.
I look around the room again, really look, and recognize details I shouldn't know. The silver moon carved into the bedpost. The blue curtains with gold stars. The window that faces east toward the mountains.
This is the dormitory at Valdris Academy of Arcane Arts.
This is the magic school from Crown of Ashes.
I'm inside the book. I'm literally inside the fantasy novel I was reading when I died.
And I'm not just any character I'm Elara Ashwood, a girl mentioned exactly twice in the entire story. Once when the main character starts school. And once when she dies in chapter twelve.
Chapter twelve. The festival massacre. When Caspian Noctis, the villain everyone fears, loses control of his dark magic and kills dozens of students. Elara Ashwood is one of them. She doesn't even get a death scene just her name on a list of casualties.
I have two weeks. Two weeks until the festival. Two weeks to live.
A sharp knock on the door makes me jump so hard I bite my tongue.
Miss Ashwood? A woman's voice calls. You'll be late for morning classes if you don't hurry.
Classes. Right. Because I'm supposed to be a student here. I'm supposed to act normal when nothing about this is normal.
Coming! My voice sounds strange higher than usual, with an accent I've never had.
My hands won't stop shaking as I find a uniform hanging in the wardrobe. Simple black dress, white collar, academy crest on the chest. I get dressed like I'm in a dream, moving automatically while my brain screams.
This can't be happening. Things like this don't happen. People don't die and wake up in books. That's fantasy. That's make-believe.
But the stone floor is cold under my feet. The uniform scratches against my skin. Everything feels too real to be a dream.
A maiden actual maid escorts me through hallways that look exactly like I imagined when I read about them. We pass other students in identical uniforms. Some practice making small flames dance on their fingertips. Others levitate books while walking and reading at the same time.
Magic. Real magic.
I should be amazed. Excited. This is every reader's dream, right? To enter the world of their favorite book?
Except I know how this story ends. And for Elara Ashwood, it ends badly.
We reach the main courtyard and the maid leaves me at the gates. Your first class is in the East Tower, Miss. Don't be late.
I stand there, frozen, staring at the massive stone academy building. Students rush past me, laughing and talking. Nobody looks twice at me. Why would they? I'm nobody important. Just a background character waiting to die.
I need a plan. I need to survive.
Step one: avoid the main characters at all costs. Don't get involved in the plot. Stay far away from Caspian Noctis, the dangerous villain who causes the festival disaster.
Step two: skip the festival completely. If I'm not there, I can't die there.
Step three: stay alive long enough to figure out how to get home.
Simple. I can do this. I have to.
I take a deep breath and walk through the gates into the courtyard. Students are everywhere sitting on benches, practicing spells, running to classes. I keep my head down and start toward the East Tower.
Then I see her.
A girl with golden blonde hair that literally glows in the sunlight. She's surrounded by admirers, laughing at something someone said. Her smile is warm and genuine and absolutely radiates goodness.
Seraphina Vale. The hero of the story. The chosen one destined to save the kingdom.
My heart races. That's her. That's actually her.
I duck behind a group of students before she can notice me. I can't meet the main characters. That's the whole plan stay invisible, stay alive.
I turn to leave and slam directly into someone's chest.
Strong hands catch my arms, keeping me from falling. I look up, ready to apologize.
The words die in my throat.
Dark hair. Sharp features. Eyes so dark they're almost black, watching me with an intensity that makes my skin prickle.
No. No, no, no.
Careful, he says, his voice smooth and cold. You should watch where you're going.
I know that face. I've seen it described a hundred times in the book.
Caspian Noctis.
The villain.
The man who's supposed to kill me in two weeks.
And I just ran straight into him on my first day.