Wattpad Original
When Shadows Rise (Book 1)
  • Reads 205,754
  • Votes 13,932
  • Parts 42
  • Time 7h 40m
  • Wattys winner
  • Reads 205,754
  • Votes 13,932
  • Parts 42
  • Time 7h 40m
  • Wattys winner
Complete, First published Nov 24, 2019
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
All Rights Reserved
Sign up to add When Shadows Rise (Book 1) to your library and receive updates
or
#207nonbinary
Content Guidelines
You may also like
SILVER EYES (GXG) by Ava_night_Writer
80 parts Complete Mature
[2024 WATTYS WINNER] Grace had no idea what she would find on the other side of the wall when the gates opened. Even less so that they wouldn't let her brother cross. Why? A blue-eyed and fierce commander, named Heather, holds the answer. She closed the gates to him. Now, as Grace is drawn to Heather in ways she never expected, she must uncover the truth behind the separation, before her heart leads her astray and the chance to reunite with her brother slips away forever. · · · In a world divided by a wall, once a year, the gates open for a chance to switch sides. Technological side or nature side? That's the question. Grace and her brother, Michael, tired of the nature side, are determined to make the crossing. But at the last moment, a fierce commander named Heather tears them apart. Why? Grace will stop at nothing to get answers. What she didn't expect, though, was to feel drawn to Heather in ways that would turn her life upside down. Now, not only does she have to find her brother and find a way to sneak him over, but she must also navigate her complicated feelings for the woman responsible for their separation. 𝔽𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕕: ⚡Romance reading list - @project_Athena ⚡ ★彡[ᴀᴡᴀʀᴅꜱ:]彡★ ⚡2024 GemStone Book Awards - First Place - Sci-fi Category ⚡ ⚡Zelicaon Awards - Second Place - LGBTQ+ Category ⚡ ⚡Adorn Award Book - Second Place - Romance Category⚡ ⚡The Crown Awards - Third Place - Adventure Category⚡ ⚡Qualified Queerverse activity #FreeTheWriting⚡
Burning Embers by JLSmithAuthor
8 parts Ongoing Mature
18+:ᴠɪᴏʟᴇɴᴄᴇ:ꜱᴇxᴜᴀʟ ꜱᴄᴇɴᴇꜱ:ꜱᴛʀᴏɴɢ ʟᴀɴɢᴜᴀɢᴇ Zara had always been an outcast among her kind. She was a monster, even among vampires. She was used for her power, abused for standing up for what was right, and beaten for being different. But there was one man who made me feel like she deserved more. He was the only thing that got her through the hell of her childhood. However, one day she escaped hell and left that all behind. Including the boy that she loved fiercely. 30 years later, she's been on the run, moving from town to town. She was being hunted by the man who once held her captive in her own personal hell, but he didn't know the woman she'd become. She killed every vampire he sent to fetch her home, then hopped to another town. She realises that she's been found yet again, but when this vampire shows, it's the boy who she loved with all her heart. But now, he isn't a boy at all. He's a tall, tattooed, fierce man who was still holding a grudge against her for leaving. He's come to take her home, but he's asking for her help to free the rest of her clan, to rid them of their evil captor. Zara realises that she must return home to save the people she once considered family. As Zara and Cody traverse across countries, they encounter more and more danger. Will they make it back to Bran Castle? Will the relationship ever go back to how it was? Will they finally admit their feelings for one another? Who knows. But Zara knows that the only way you can kill a monster is with another monster. ꜱʜᴇ ꜱᴍɪʟᴇꜱ, "ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ?" "ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ʜᴇʟʟ, ᴡᴇ ᴅᴇꜱᴄᴇɴᴅ," ɪ ᴘʀᴏᴍɪꜱᴇ.
The Wolf Witch by cheeseisjar
9 parts Complete Mature
Sora has no place in the world. She is meant to be a strong warrior, with the ability to shift into a wolf. She is none of those things, and looked down upon because of it. It brings shame to her, it brings shame to her family, and worst of all, it brings shame upon her prideful and strong brother. There is but one person who truly knows and loves her, but does he really? Magic is not the weapon of a warrior, magic is the weapon of a coward. Sora has been told that all her life, but she has magic within her, recently awakened, and so she has begun to doubt it. Still, witchcraft is punishable by death, and so Sora must be careful with her practices, lest she lose all she has. Sora is a better witch than wolf, though not by much, but she still pursues that craft in spite of the dangers. Her place in the world is a dangerous one, but will it last? The world she lives in is a dangerous one, and such a life as hers rarely ends happily. Disclaimer: this is a short prequel, Sora's story does not conclude with this one. If you finish this book and go "oh, that's the end?" it's because it's not the end. I'm writing a trilogy called Mortance that explores the larger world that this takes place in and concludes Sora's story more thoroughly than in this book. Go read that next if you like my writing, thanks. Please leave any and all criticisms you might have, anything you like and anything you dislike, I want to make this as good as I can. P.S. the cover is literally just a drawing I made in physics class, I know it's bad, I'm not an artist.
You may also like
Slide 1 of 9
Captive and Crowned: The Torvan Trilogy Book I (Sample Chapters) cover
SILVER EYES (GXG) cover
Scars of Gold cover
of Sword and Flame cover
Burning Embers cover
To Kill a Fae - A Fantasy Romance cover
The Wolf Witch cover
A Masquerade of Spiders cover
The Tenabrist Chronicles cover

Captive and Crowned: The Torvan Trilogy Book I (Sample Chapters)

6 parts Complete

The half-dragon King of Torva needs a queen, but the human bride he has captured may prove to be more trouble than she's worth. Evelyn is on a mission to find her mom, who left her family soon after Evelyn was born. But things go terribly wrong when crashing a high school graduation party leads to her being mistaken for her sister, kidnapped, taken to another world, and married to the king of the realm. As she plots her escape with the assistance of a handsome and mysterious duke, she becomes a pawn in a bigger game, a game of betrayal, murder, and revenge. Someone wants her dead, and the only way to avoid assassination is to escape Torva. But the King isn't willing to let her leave easily - and neither are the assassins. NOTE: This is a rewrite of Captured and Crowned. Order here: https://www.amazon.com/Captive-Crowned-Elizabeth-Newsom/dp/1949856151/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=captive+and+crowned&qid=1562855772&s=gateway&sr=8-1