Sara and Pride escaped Verweald's dangerous streets, but their quest to kill the Sin of Envy has just begun. In search of a way to end the immortal creature's life, Pride and the dying woman find refuge in the manor of Crow's End, where the residents harbor deadly, secretive histories, and the walls breathe with the memories of a madman as old as time. As their time draws short, Pride must manage an impossible feat no other Sin has accomplished before while Sara tries to survive the madness of Crow's End and come to grips with her own limited mortality. ---------------------------------- [[SEQUEL TO BEREFT]] [[ORIGINAL DRAFT]] [[ Highest Rank: #3 in Fantasy ]] [[Winner of the 2017 Fiction Awards (Best Fantasy Story)]] [[Winner of the 2017 Cryptic Awards (Best Dark Fantasy)]]

[ORIGINAL DRAFT SAMPLE] Given a new chance at life, Sara Gaspard returns to Verweald and must decide how the Sin of Pride fits in with her daily routine. Before they have a chance to settle, a strange box arrives at Sara's doorstep and tears them from the Terrestrian realm. The box throws both mortal and Sin into a world - and conflict - neither has ever seen before. Dragon blood is spilled. A king rises from exile and ignites a war. Magic enthralls, fire lights the night, and kingdoms balance upon the edge of destruction. Sara and Darius' search for a way home becomes far more perilous than expected. The Sundered Vale awaits. __________________________ Sequel to Bereft: Foretold

Darius escaped Envy's reckoning with his life, but lost much in the process. Mortal and vulnerable, he seeks a new reason for his continued existence, and may have found it lurking below the mage city of Itheria. The Sins and their immutable control are broken. The streets are bloodied by Wrath's wayward children. Magic clashes. A winged harridan descends. The King Below threatens Terrestria with destruction. Darius's quest to find redemption will lead him into the void itself, where the former Sin of Pride will be forced to decide just what he is willing to sacrifice for a world he has long ignored and the blue-eyed woman he failed to save. __________________________ Sequel to Bereft: Demise. [ORIGINAL DRAFT ONLY]