Beneath the Shell

by Cameron Darrow

The harder the head, the harder it is to get out of.

The expedition was supposed to be a formality, sent to debunk wild rumors of a gryphon colony appearing in the mage-controlled nation of Oestrephys seemingly from nowhere. It was obviously impossible—mages the world over knew gryphons had been extinct for centuries. Returning to the ancient Collegium Arcanum with a viable gryphon egg? Not even worth considering the possibility.

Sunny certainly didn't. She knows horses, and only went on the expedition because there was nobody else. Now she's being asked to overturn her whole life, change her career, disappoint her mother… a year from graduation. In secret. Alone. Who would help her, anyway?

Her best friend Raen is the only albino mage in Oestrephys and the Collegium's only remaining Lore student. She's used to being alone—and often goes out of her way to keep it like that. History is for other people to make! But Sunny is the one person she simply can't say no to, so whether helping her means digging into a heretofore unknown version of the past or even… going outside… it may be up to someone obsessed with history to determine the future--and not only her own.

With lives in the balance, graduation looming and the Collegium's reputation on the line, it would be a terrible time for Sunny and Raen's long-smoldering feelings for each other to become undeniable...



A sweet, new adult sapphic romantasy, Beneath the Shell is book three of the Alumita fantasy lesbian romance anthology.

—One world, many hearts—

The Alumita romance anthology presents sapphic fantasy stories from across cultures over thousands of years that don't ask if women can love each other, only how. Outcasts, princesses, mages and more embrace the familiar in the unfamiliar, finding strength in the one force more powerful than even the strongest magic.

Though each is a standalone story that can be enjoyed in any order, readers will have more context for the larger world by reading them in release order.

372 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication January 27, 2026

About the author

I write fantastical books about women who love other women that are very much character-driven, told in their unique voices. I was born in a different century in a different country, so I write a lot about characters who live far from where they were born and stand out a bit. Go figure!

I'm the author Midnight Magic, one of the Alumita fantasy lesbian romance anthology, which presents fantasy stories from across cultures over thousands of years that don't ask if women can love each other, only how. Kissy bits and magic! I've also written the (complete) From the Ashes of Victory series, an historical urban fantasy set just after the close of WWI. It's got witches, friendship, found family, trial, error, themes about loss and rebuilding, and forging your own path in a world that would rather you didn’t. If you like your paranormal mysteries with a historical twist and a laugh or two, then I have The Dizzy Dixon Mysteries as well! Vampires and werewolves roaming free in Britain after WWII means someone is going to die. And only the expert on the parallel dimension they came from can figure out who did it!

If you like your vampires vamp-y, witches that love science, or love stories that might also make you laugh, I hope you’ll find something you’ll like!