An orphan bent on revenge. A monster searching for freedom. A forbidden pact that binds their fates together.

 

Lyss has heard her father’s screams; smelled the iron-tang of his blood. She’s witnessed his execution.

 

And plotted her revenge.

 

Then a violent encounter traps Lyss in a blood-pact with a rarkyn from the otherworld and imbues her with the monster’s forbidden magic. A magic that will erode her sanity.

 

To break the pact, she and the rarkyn must journey to the heart of the Empire. All that stands in their way are the mountains and the Empire’s soldiers—and each other.

 

But horrors await them on the road, horrors even rarkyns fear.

 

The most terrifying monster isn’t the one Lyss travels with.

 

It’s the one that’s awoken inside her.

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2023 Sir Julius Vogel Award Winner (Best Youth Novel)

2022 Forward INDIES Book of the Year Bronze Winner (Young Adult Fiction)

2022 Indie Ink Award Winner (Best Friendship, Prettiest Prose, Side Character MVP)

2022 Aurealis Award Finalist (Young Adult Novel)

2022 Indies Today Finalist