The Shadow and the Starlight

On her 21st birthday, Eira Thorne’s hidden mark awakens—and the first thing it does is murder a man.



When the silver crescent brand on her wrist flares to life in a burst of lethal starlight, Eira becomes the prime target of:

The Shadow King’s Hunters, who carve out magic-users’ hearts.

The Forgotten, monstrous beings who whisper that her blood *belongs* to them.

Something worse—the parasitic voice in her head that claims it’s her true soul.



Her only ally is Kaelan Dain, a lethally charming Shadowmancer with a debt to the king. But as bodies pile up and Eira’s visions reveal fragments of a past that can’t be hers, she realizes:



She’s not the hunter. She’s the sacrifice.







CORE THRILLS:

A MAGIC THAT REMEMBERS WHAT SHE FORGOT

Eira’s power isn’t just awakening—it’s rewriting her. The more she uses it, the more she loses herself to visions of a celestial massacre she couldn’t have witnessed… because it happened 200 years ago.



A LOVER WHO MIGHT BE THE KILLER

Kaelan’s shadows hide brutal truths: his "cursed brother" is actually the Shadow King, and his mission was never to save Eira—it was to deliver her to the slaughter. But the way he looks at her now? That’s not part of the plan.



THE FORGOTTEN’S GAME

The creatures stalking Eira aren’t mindless monsters. They’re fallen gods, and they’ve been waiting for her. Their taunts crawl under her skin:

"You didn’t escape us, little light. We let you go."

A HEART THAT ISN’T A WEAPON—IT’S A TRAP

The ancient crystal called the Heart of Vaelis offers the power to destroy the Forgotten… but using it comes with a sickening twist (think Annihilation’s psychological horror meets The Cruel Prince’s bargains).