Sera Voss, a penniless scholarship student, has spent her life hiding one secret: she can understand magical beasts. When a legendary war hero's phoenix is condemned to death, only she hears its furious cries—the bird isn't dying of magical exhaustion. Its collar is killing it. Saving it could pay for her mother's treatment, but defying the academy's experts puts everything she has at risk. Now a foul-mouthed phoenix calls her Mom, a powerful professor wants to uncover her secret, and his noble
