After months abroad honing her forbidden necromancy magic, Rose Thenlif returns for her final year at the elite Dunhollow Academy of Witchcraft with only two goals in mind: reuniting with her girlfriend, Sylvie, and reviving her best friend, Fen. But Dunhollow has a way of digging its claws in deep, and Rose soon discovers that, not only will the academy play host to the prestigious but deadly Ashwood Tournament between its rival universities this year, but she and Sylvie have been selected to compete.

Forced to hide her dangerous necromancy, and with only a tenuous grasp on fire sorcery to protect her, Rose has little hope of winning. Especially after her revival spell backfires, and she finds herself haunted by brutal thoughts, and losing time altogether. Yet the most dangerous threat she faces might be Callum, a rival competitor and compulsion mage with a sharp tongue and an unerring habit of showing up where Rose least wants him.

But, when the first trial of the tournament ends with Rose standing over her mother's scorched corpse with no memory of how she got there, she and Sylvie must once again team up to uncover whether it was Rose herself, someone out to frame her, or something altogether darker. Stuck between ruthless competitors, lethal trials, and the dangerous twists of Rose's own mind, the pair must rely on the unlikely aid of Callum to recover Rose's lost memories. Though his help doesn't come without strings attached, and the truth could very well be the weapon with which he betrays them. With their brittle alliance caught upon the edge of a knife, the trio must delve even further into Dunhollow's secrets and their own dark pasts, though they soon find that their hearts may prove the most treacherous opponents of all.