A Bond of Fire & Fury (The Windtorn Chronicles Book 1)

At thirty-two, the narrator has a history of failure: college dropout, fired barista, retail disaster, unsuccessful freelance photographer. When a military recruiter offers a spot at Thornwick Academy, she accepts despite red flags. She discovers the academy is not a military institution but a training ground for an ancient war where cadets bond with Sovereigns—dragon-like creatures—or die attempting it. The narrator learns magic exists only seventy-two hours before Obsidian, a black dragon, chooses her as a rider. Obsidian has killed his previous three potential riders. The academy gives her two weeks to survive. Her flight instructor, Captain Kael Blackwater, trains her intensively while watching her closely. He appears to know secrets about her that she does not. Meanwhile, black dragon riders are being systematically murdered and their deaths staged as training accidents. Pale creatures with sharp teeth hunt bonded dragons, draining their blood. All evidence points back to the narrator. Kael possesses answers about black dragons, a royal bloodline supposedly exterminated centuries ago, and what the narrator is. He keeps her alive by withholding information. She develops feelings for him while uncertain whether he is her protector or her handler, and whether he has orders to eliminate her if she becomes too dangerous.