A magic-addicted spy trapped in the queen's service must track a princess-turned-assassin in order to earn her freedom, but things get complicated when she falls for the princess she's supposed to capture. ***** Weak. Cursed. That's how seventeen-year-old Kayden Branimir, the realm's deadliest assassin, views herself. Some believe she could save the world with her rare healing magic, but she gave up on her powers long ago after failing to save her best friend. Her life changes when she receives a letter from her supposedly dead twin brother, Alaric, begging to be rescued from rival territory Leodia. For the first time since her friend's accident, Kayden is determined to be the hero, but she must learn to embrace her magic--and herself--along the way. Strange. Unnatural. Those are the words whispered about eighteen-year-old Zara Tait, a Leodian spy addicted to soul-stealing magic. Forced into the queen's service, Zara wants to escape and return home, but she has nothing to offer the queen in exchange for her freedom. When Kayden arrives in Leodia, Zara sees the quiet girl with unique magic as the bargaining chip she needs. But the more she learns of Kayden, the more her feelings grow. Now, Zara must choose between her freedom and the dangerous assassin she hadn't meant to fall for. [2020 Watty Award Winner] Content warning: This story contains mature themes of violence, addiction, abuse, self-harm, and mental illness. Cover by Faera Lane

Being the Chosen One is the only thing Six ever knew to be. Now, at thirteen years old, she is called upon by the Goddess of Destiny, to complete the divine quest centuries in the making: venture into the Ever-Changing Forest and slay the last of the Cursed Beasts, demons who once thought to usurp the rule of the gods. Her death is as certain as her victory. But Six owes her life to Destiny, it seems only fitting that she dies by it too. The strange man in the Forest, however, disagrees. (The voices inside her head agree with him, even when they want to be as far from him as possible.

[complete] ( prequel to deadwater kings ) The world ends in magic and blood. It begins again with a promise.

❛the ends justify the means.❜ ( part two of deadwater kings ) The board is set and Shabina chose her side. The better world she dreamed of is finally within her grasp, but she struggles when the path to victory seems to be paved in blood. The longer she hesitates, the bolder her enemies become, giving room for monsters to creep from the shadows. Lin is left shattered in the aftermath of her last battles, having lost more than she thought she could survive. That just means she has nothing left to lose and a vendetta. She's now a free agent, and she uses that freedom to do the same thing she did before: hunt.

In midst of their boring, routine infected lives, six intellects at the prestigious Hones University try to grasp the fundamentals of a concept long lusted over by mankind: immortality. But when they end up going astray, they fall into a hole far from the beauty of Wonderland; spiraling into a whirlwind of secrets, crime and treason.

The House of the Heron has long stood on the hills of Old Providence, a structure of unknown origin, a watchtower to a sprawling land, a grave to gods of old and monsters of myth. In the land of Meiying, fable and gods once meant life: but now there is plague in the air, famine in streets, and the spirit of the people is dying. Poisoned by the venom of the Yan dynasty and a prohibition of storytelling, the fledgling Emperor of Yan, Huang Lei makes his ascent to the throne - his corrupt eyes set on the House of the Heron, and the ailing Empress who guards it. Intending to quash the last hallmark of fable from Meiying and absorb Old Providence into the new Meiying, the Emperor begins his march towards the House: but the House will not give in that easily to the rapacity of men - and the choices made by a guard, an Emperor and a scroll-smuggling scribe could cost Meiying it all.