A FEATURED @FANTASY STORY ❝NO ONE IS BORN EVIL, JUST LIKE NO ONE IS BORN ALONE. THEY BECOME THAT WAY THROUGH CHOICE AND CIRCUMSTANCE. I'M SO AFRAID OF WHAT YOU COULD BE, IF GIVEN THE WRONG CHOICE.❞ When Mare Barrow trades her life away to Maven Calore to save her friends lives, she has no idea what he has in store for her. She is a prisoner, powerless without her lightning abilities, and tormented by her lethal mistakes. She lives at mercy of the boy she once loved, a boy who is now King. In order to survive the King's twisted love, she must become so much more than the face of the rebellion or the lightning girl-even if it takes her down a road no one should follow. As Mare stays imprisoned at the palace, her once ragtag gang of rebels have been expanding. They prepare for war, no longer able to stay in the shadows. But Cal, the exiled prince with his own claim to Mare's heart, will do anything to get her back. CHOICES WILL BE MADE, ALLIANCES WILL BE SEALED, AND NORTA WILL BE FOREVER CHANGE. FOR ALL WILL BE TESTED AND NOT ALL WILL SURVIVE. grabthemonets | all rights reserved © | Highest Rankings | #1 in MARE out of 599 stories #161in DYSTOPIAN out of 30k stories #36 in CAL out of 1,200 stories | Awards | 1st Place in FANFICTION in the Coffee and Cake Awards hosted Began Rewrite: February of 2019 Finished: September 2020

A peasant makes a deal with a forbidden magic wielder - steal the strongest soul in the empire in return for a wish. When she begins to fall for the man it belongs to, she must select between his life and her own. ❧ A dangerous bargain. A forbidden romance. One chance to succeed. Enchanters have been chased down for centuries by the Ashaban Empire, loathed for the destructive powers they source from magical items. The matter is of little interest to Yumi, a cloth washer - until one of them, Erhan, rescues her from certain death and demands the strongest soul in the empire as the price. Swept across the country to the palace, she is tasked with the impossible; steal the soul of a disgraced family's heir, Zhen, who strives to regain his house's honor by claiming the throne. In return, Yumi will get one wish. Yet her near-death experience has left its stigma on her; an enchanter's power she can barely control - a power that alarms both the Empire and the enchanter rebellion opposing it. Torn amidst a fight she never chose, Yumi must choose between magic and mortality; freedom and duty; Erhan and Zhen. The price of failure? Her own life. ❧ Stunning cover by @lavendareyes (Note: this is a first draft and a work in progress! Edits will come along once the first draft is finished so bare with me.)