Are you in the mood for a dark academia fantasy? Would you prefer a new magic system, with a world of magical beings able to wield powers? Our Dark Incantations by Wanda Hellmund is a debut novel that is set to rock your socks off.
It’s perfect for fans of Shadow and Bone and A Deadly Education, bringing a mixture of romance and fantasy within the dark academia setting. This is an enemies-to-lovers story — and yes, a real enemies-to-lovers story. The downside is that you will have to wait until October to read it. Our Dark Incantations is out on Oct. 20, 2026, but I can promise you that it is more than worth the wait! This is a debut you need to jump straight into.
The story follows ex-healer Mira Winters, who has sworn to never use magic again. Of course, if you know A Discovery of Witches and Practical Magic, then you know that these vows never work out. People are pulled back into the worlds they’re trying to escape, and that’s what happens when she’s accepted into Ivercrest University.
Why would she turn her back on magic? She was left orphaned after the war between Wielders and Casters, and she’s been left with a scar that pulses dark magic. All she wants is to get rid of that scar, but she ends up being placed in the wrong magic department, where she meets Wielder Aidric Dawson — the worst partner she could ever have.
Dawson is lethal and arrogant. With rumors of him being a high-ranking soldier during the war, everyone either wants to get on his good side or avoid him completely. Mira has to not only practice wielding dark magic, but needs to handle Dawson at the same time. Oh, and there’s a secret murder investigation to delve into.
Shadow and Bone fans are sure to fall in love with this enemies-to-lovers trope. It’s also perfect for those who need a grown-up Harry Potter. If you don’t believe me, check out the exclusive excerpt we have to share:
Exclusive Excerpt of Our Dark Incantations
The heat in Mira’s face rose, and it became increasingly difficult to contain her rage. Dawson, meanwhile, seemed in his element. The Shadowflame on his hand danced slowly across his alabaster skin. Like ink dissolving in water. It wasn’t violent this time. Somehow, that made it all the more intimidating. A slow and calculated rage. Contained for the moment but begging to be released.
“Feeling a little . . . off today, are we?” he asked with a grin. “Too much to drink last night?”
“You knew who I was.”
“Hard to forget the first student in Ivercrest history to just . . . appear in the Dark Magic Institute.”
The first. For some reason she had hoped there would have been others.
Mira gestured between them. “Did you ask for this?”
“Believe it or not, I have better things to do than train an infant Wielder. But I suppose I can take some time out of my day to watch you utterly fail.”
He circled her with slow, precise steps. His tight uniform displayed his lean muscles perfectly. He was a trained fighter. This was his world. “Lovely,” she responded. “Why don’t you demonstrate while I ooh and ahh at your exquisite skills? I’ll tell you that you’re the most powerful Wielder to have ever graced this fine institution, and we can call it a day.”
He cocked his head, seeming to contemplate her proposition. “You left out most handsome. If you’re complimenting me, you might as well get it right.”
“I thought you didn’t want me to lie.”
He chuckled. “You have a sharp tongue for a Caster.”
“It must be impossible for you to fathom that women exist who do not worship the ground you walk on.”
With the elegance of a conductor his fingers moved, and one by one the ink of his signifiers and his Shadowflame began to dance. “Not impossible. I suppose there is a first for everything.”
She groaned. “Please, put me out of my misery and throw a spell at me. It must be less torturous than having a conversation with you.”
“As the lady wishes.”
Dark shadows shot at her with lightning speed. A Wielder’s powers looked like shadows but burned like flames. Out of reflex, she cast a simple redirection spell, which only required her White Magic. Dawson’s spell, aimed for her hand, landed with a crack by her foot, singeing the laces on her shoes. The air around her sizzled with his powers. Her heart hammered in her chest. She had just used magic. Only the second time since entering Ivercrest, and it still felt terrifying to have powers course through her veins again.
“Idiotic of me to assume you wouldn’t actually use Dark Magic against a fellow student,” she said, trying to look unfazed.
“Idiotic indeed. Especially since I recall you requesting it.”
“You could have hurt me.”
“It was barely charged, Winters.”
Hearing her name on his lips made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She didn’t like how comfortably he said it. She didn’t want it touching his tongue at all.
She pointed at her shoe. “You owe me new laces.”
He ignored her request. “I wanted to check your reflexes. Not bad for someone who hasn’t used magic in three years.”
The temperature in the room seemed to have cooled. Suddenly there was something much more sinister about the Dawson heir.
“How do you know that?”
Did he learn about her scar and her parents’ death? She felt naked.
Exposed.
“Your student file made for a fascinating read.”
Students weren’t allowed to read personal files, but someone like him was apparently above the rules.
“F–k you, Dawson.”
He whistled between sharp teeth. “Look who finally learned my name.”
“I’m sure it was a dreadful experience having someone not know it. However did you survive?”
His hand, the one with the Shadowflame, went to his chest. “Barely. I blame a poor education system for the lapse. Or perhaps it was all that time spent in Yharvan? Regardless, I’m glad the error has been corrected.”
Magic and adrenaline beat through her, and she tried to slow her breathing. “Stop talking about my past. It doesn’t pertain to you. You’re supposed to train me.”
“Ah, but I am. You will learn that Dark Magic is different. It takes more to connect with it than your average white spells. Your reluctance to use magic at all is rather problematic. But let’s give it a go.” He stepped to the side and pointed at the dummy. “Shoot at it.”
The instruction was simple and yet impossible. All the magic she had ever used was defensive. White spells could redirect Dark Magic or create a shield around her, but they were never intended to harm someone else.
Even the wooden dummy in front of her seemed like an impossible opponent.
“What do I do?” She hated having to ask him.
“Find the Dark Magic in you. Harness it.” Dark mist traveled along his signifiers until it pooled in his palm. “And shoot.” Dawson’s magic rushed through the air with ferocity, cutting off the dummy’s head. It fell to the floor with a thud. “The first signifier is all about control. Without it, you can’t use Dark Magic at all.”
“I know.” She wanted to keep it that way.
Control was the first signifier but also the most important one. It allowed a Wielder to harness their powers. A rare few were even able to cool their dark flames to such an extent that they possessed ice magic. Around the room, sophisticated spells zapped through the air.
The Highmage yelled instructions at several students about form and speed.
“Any day now, Winters.”
“Can I pretend it’s you I’m shooting at?”
“I would be offended if you didn’t. In fact—” He moved in front of her and placed his hands behind his back. “Why use your imagination?”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m letting you aim straight for me.” Was he that confident she couldn’t do it?
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Shoot me,” he instructed. “You know you want to.”
She did. Spheres, she did. She wanted to wipe that stupid grin off his face and watch him stumble backward in shock. He had said to connect with her Dark Magic. The school had given her the Shadow-flame, so obviously, it must be there. Closing her eyes, she focused, feeling for the magic inside her.
In her mind, she saw the strands of her powers. Her White Magic shimmered in bright lights, easy for her to control.
So far, she hadn’t dared to look for her Wielder magic. Why had the school branded her with the Shadowflame? She was still convinced it was a mistake. A magic error that needed to be corrected because she couldn’t possibly be both Caster and Wielder. But . . . there it was. One large strand of black, glistening with flecks of silver. It sat alone, without any branches. Mira reached for it and tried to take hold of it, like a rein on a horse, but the strand of power evaded her, running through her fingers like mist.
When she first learned to control her Caster magic, it had never seemed this difficult. Mira tried to home in on her Dark Magic, and once she felt like she had it under control, she opened her eyes and lifted her palm. The magic in her surged. Her Shadowflame moved, and all her anger and frustration came to a boiling point.
But nothing happened. She shook her hand. Moved her fingers.
Nothing.
Dawson walked toward her in measured steps until his hard chest collided with her hand.
“I told you, Winters.” She could feel his cold breath on her. He smelled like fresh spearmint. “It takes a lot more than the Shadowflame to make you a Wielder.”
She threw a punch but he caught her by her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back, turned her around, and in one swift move, pulled her flush against him. Even his hand was cold, and she despised knowing what his skin felt like.
“A rather unsophisticated approach to Dark Magic,” he whispered by her ear, which made her want to rip out his throat.
“Let me go,” she hissed, and he did so immediately.
He grinned. “That pent-up anger will come in handy for your sin signifier. Unfortunately for you, control comes first.”
She rubbed her wrist, not because it hurt but simply because she wanted to erase his touch. “Yeah? What’s your sin?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Darling, all of them.”
She didn’t know which was worse—his pretentiousness or the fact that he had called her “darling.”
“I would have guessed pride,” she countered.
He caught his lower lip suggestively between his teeth. “You’re forgetting lust.”
Was he trying to make her uncomfortable? Unfortunately, he was succeeding. When his eyes traveled down her body, heat rose from her neck to her face and she hoped she wasn’t turning red.
“You want to know what I think?”
“Always,” he drawled.
“I think you don’t want to teach me how to get my first signifier because you don’t want me here.”
“Blaming your incompetence on me—how very original.”
She stared into his cold eyes. “I think my being here upsets you because a Caster might disgrace your precious faculty.”
“Perhaps you’re assuming a little much about me?”
“I would like to go back to not thinking about you at all.”
His eyebrows rose with interest. “Ah, so you’re thinking about me?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Yes, because just like vermin, you seem to be difficult to get rid of.”
He contemplated that for a moment as if he never had to deal with vermin before. Perhaps the castle he lived in didn’t have cockroaches and mice.
“If I recall, you approached me. But I have to admit I’m fascinated by this abnormality in the system you proved to be.”
She winced. Apparently, there was something worse than “darling” he could call her.
“I don’t give a damn whether you get your signifier or not,” he continued, and stepped closer. It took everything in her not to retreat. “I see the way you fight your magic. You despise it, and I cannot fathom why. It frustrates me how someone can be so utterly stupid as to reject their powers, but I am not in your way of achieving it.”
His words felt like cuts, slicing through her. Exposing her. He knew too much.
“Stop talking about what you read in my file.”
He scoffed. “Oh, but that’s not in your file. It’s written all over your face—the way you war with your powers. The way you reject them. I fear the only one trying to keep you from your signifier is you.”
Angry tears welled in her eyes, but she’d be damned if she let them fall. He didn’t deserve any of them.
“That concludes today’s practice,” Highmage Obryn said in the distance.
She shoved Dawson out of her way and he let her. Mira headed back to her room as fast as she could without looking like she was bla-tantly fleeing. She hated this place. She hated Dawson. But most of all she hated that he was right.
Excerpted from Our Dark Incantations by Wanda Hellmund Copyright © 2026 by Wanda Hellmund. Excerpted by permission of Ace. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Our Dark Incantations will be released on Oct. 20, 2026, and you do not want to miss out.