[PREVIEW ONLY] WATTYS WINNER 2023 | Sixteen-year-old Felix Carver carries the ghosts of magicians in his blood. He can communicate with them and use the magical abilities they wielded against monsters when they were alive. His newfound power would be pretty cool, if the ghosts in question weren't his family and the man who killed them. Death doesn't stop Felix's siblings from finding new ways to annoy him from beyond the grave, nor his parents from doing their best to protect him from the dangerous side of his new life. Felix learns that his family belonged to an organization of magicians called the Bright Guardians, while their killer was a part of the Guardian Uprising that tried to overthrow the organization eight years earlier. The Bright Guardians take Felix in, hoping they can train him to fight monsters and control the ghosts living inside of him. Felix barely understands the magical world his family kept secret from him, but he does make friends with other odd cases at the Bright Academy. Troublemaker Arisa Tamura is struggling to control her ability to animate objects while under the influence of cursed bracelets, while the smart but reserved Mason Briggs is a witch who was transformed into a demon as a last resort to save his life. Together, the three of them realize that Uprising spies are still hiding among the Guardians. They have no idea who they can trust, but they do know who they can't: a Guardian named Ernest Abernathy, who stole a powerful wand from Mason's parents before killing them. Felix, Mason, and Arisa must construct a plan to steal back the wand without any help. If their plan fails, Ernest will turn the Guardians against them and have them locked up, or executed. If they succeed, they'll have one more weapon in the fight against the Uprising's army. Either way, the approaching war is inevitable. Be warned this book contains death, violence, and an above average amount of spiders.