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Chapters (64)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  6. Pronunciation Guide
  7. Prologue
  8. Part One
  9. One
  10. Two
  11. Three
  12. Four
  13. Five
  14. Six
  15. Seven
  16. Eight
  17. Nine
  18. Ten
  19. Eleven
  20. Twelve
  21. Thirteen
  22. Part Two
  23. Fourteen
  24. Fifteen
  25. Sixteen
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Twenty
  30. Twenty-One
  31. Twenty-Two
  32. Twenty-Three
  33. Part Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Part Four
  47. Thirty-Six
  48. Thirty-Seven
  49. Thirty-Eight
  50. Thirty-Nine
  51. Forty
  52. Forty-One
  53. Forty-Two
  54. Forty-Three
  55. Forty-Four
  56. Forty-Five
  57. Forty-Six
  58. Forty-Seven
  59. Epilogue
  60. Excerpt from The Sun and Its Shade
  61. The Night and Its Moon Playlist
  62. Acknowledgments
  63. About the Author
  64. Back Cover

She sat beside him well into the night, wishing they’d kept a weapon. This forest did not seem to be the ominous, beseul-filled woods near Farleigh, nor did it have the signs or sounds of vageth anywhere in sight. Then again, nothing ever seemed treacherous until it was too late—that was the trick of treachery. She wondered absently if the ag’drurath was the worst thing ever to happen to the nearby people and felt a faint scratch of remorse for unleashing hell upon them.

It wasn’t a very peaceful thought, but she couldn’t bring herself to care for the greater good. If she and the fae were to die alone amongst the trees and shadows in the cold night, maybe they’d take a few sheep and villagers with them.

Amaris pulled Gadriel’s head onto her lap, shuffling herself underneath him. She found her hands moving against his hair the way Nox had done for her so many times. She felt something hot and looked down at her fingers, wet with blood as they moved through his hair. A song from Farleigh wafted through her memory, one of the lullabies the matrons used to sing. It was a haunting song about the All Mother’s grace. Its slow, minor key was intended as an ominous melody to be wary of crossing the goddess’s goodness. It didn’t seem appropriate, but she had no powers of healing or anything she could do to carry Gadriel to safety. She was too weak, and he was too heavy. All she could do was sing verse after verse of the soulful, eerie song while she touched the hair of the man who had used his body, his life, to shield her. The song stretched and swelled until it broke against a choke of her sorrow’s helplessness, its ghostly melody carrying her through her memories into her current, poignant pain.

Her singing came to a halt when she heard a twig snap. It was a footstep.

She looked up, gaze darting through the forest, but there was no moonlight. It was a cloudy night with no way to see what dangers lurked in the rocks and trees. Her gift for sight did nothing for her in the dark.

Amaris had no weapon and no way to fight. She was helpless, exhausted, and defeated. If a vageth was going to eat them, perhaps it was best she alert it to her presence so it could hurry up and get on with it. She couldn’t fight. Instead, she let out a pathetic “Hello?”

After a moment, Amaris heard a quiet exchange of words. A blue lantern was lit, glowing into the faces of two or three people. Humans? Fae? She couldn’t tell from where she sat on the forest floor. She wasn’t sure if she should be getting up to flee. Even if she had to run, she wouldn’t abandon Gadriel.