“Beware the darkness and, whatever you do, never let the lights go out.”
Ten years ago, Hesper Stornaway’s sister vanished into the dark.
In a world slowly being consumed by nightfall, where monstrous things slither just beyond the reach of lamplight, such disappearances are a death sentence. The rules are simple: when darkness comes, never stray into the shadows, never let the lights fade – and never believe someone can come back.
But Hesper did.
Or so the whispers claim. They say she followed her sister into the dark… and returned changed. Touched, cursed, marked with one silver eye.
But the veil between worlds seems to be thinning and more people are disappearing by the day. The shadow terrors grow bold, clawing into the edges of the human world. And suspicion circles Hesper like a bird of prey. “Witch,” the inhabitants of her village whisper when she passes. She should be hiding. But instead, she’s standing her ground in the crumbling ruins of her ancestral home, Stornaway, desperate to hold together what’s left of her shattered Estate and heritage.
But when her last hope – a stash of coin scrimped and saved to pay the Duke’s coming tithe – is stolen and spent by her alcoholic mother, Hesper is dragged to the Capital. Not as a prisoner, but as an offering. The Duke doesn’t want another indentured servant – he wants to know her secret. He sends her back into the dark with one command: uncover what stirs in the shadows… or be consumed by them.
So, Hesper steps once more into the nightmare.
But what she finds is no mere void – it’s a mirror-world, ruled by things born of fear and hunger. There, after a harrowing escape from death, she is captured by enigmatic, handsome, silver-eyed Draven, sovereign of the Shadowlands and perhaps the very threat she was sent to spy on.
He offers her a bargain which she cautiously agrees to: she will retrieve an ancient, forbidden artifact for him – and in return, he will lead her deeper into the shadows and help her find her sister.
Because Hesper Stornaway does not believe her sister is dead. And she is willing to brave the darkness, the monsters, and the madness to bring her back — even if it means becoming something monstrous herself.
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