She hides her scars, because they show what lives underneath.
Darkness. And through her scars, it escapes.
Renie Ward does everything she can to hide her scars. They tell a truth she desperately denies, a secret that could cost her life: she is a dark sorcerer, a crime in existence. Not that Renie considers herself one. Her magic is greedy and consuming, it leaves her in ruins, and it is growing stronger.
When she encounters the Atrate, he promises her power and a life free of fear. She refuses. That is, until her adoptive parents move to send her away, and she and Billy, her adoptive brother and loyal protector, run. With nowhere to go but the cold streets, they break into an apartment through an unlocked window, not knowing it belongs to Mason, the boy Billy is secretly in love with.
With discovery hanging over her head, Renie calls the Atrate for help. But the darkness inside her is nothing compared to what waits in the shadows.
Content warnings available on request · contains mature themes
“They will finally see you
for what you truly are.”
“A monster?”
“A God.”
— The Atrate
One day they would cut her open.
Renie knew that much. They would slit her skin. Crack her ribs until they jutted out like jagged teeth. And pry their nosy fingers inside the hollow of her chest to find no beating heart and no lungs to breathe.
No. They'd cut her open and all they'd find was darkness. It was all there was. All there had ever been. All she had to fill the hollow where a heart ought to be. It was, after all, what fed the monster with sharp teeth.
Darkness. And through her scars it escaped.
Her hands clasped the lip of the sink as shadows rose around her. Tremors shook the tiles of the school's restroom beneath her feet. Her breaths came sharp, shallow, breaking through clenched teeth. Her jaw locked, biting through the pain.
A trilogy begins
Shattered Souls
Renie's story begins. The debut novel, out now.
Available nowComing soon
The second volume of the trilogy is in the works.
In progressComing soon
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