Daughter of the Shadows

palace. The golden banners bearing her family's crest - a phoenix wrapped in

owned in promise. And now? Nothing more tha

to see her before the guards shoved her through the back gates

mmed shut behind her. Not even when her feet bliste

n the rooftop of a crumbling city building, staring out at a world that did not

she t

tugged her hood tighter, shielding her silver-streaked hair. It had changed after her exile.

e, child o

ep, from a place that wasn't Vel

mooth and terrifying - pulled her deeper into the darkness behind her eye

rviving on coffee and cheap pastries. By night, she f

uman. She kn

curling along her arms, her reflection blinking back with silver eyes.

as unr

e part of her

nd the bookstore, tossing a cigarette she didn't even smoke. She didn'

unnaturally tonight.

hitched. "No

ke night itself had drop

n, he st

man. That muc

lack as ink, shoulder-length, and wet from the rain - though none touched his skin. He wore

hers, and Seraphina

smooth like wine in a chalice. "Daughter

k, heart poundin

ed his lips - dang

born from," he said. "And

conti