A Waste of Shame

Seventeen year old Lusine Brant of has an affliction that has separated her from other girls all her life, and to share it is to condemn herself to exile, or worse. Now, recently engaged to marry the Governor's son, Evander Falkner, Lusine is thrown mercilessly into a world of socialites, each hiding their own deadly secret. Meanwhile, young girls in Berington have started disappearing, turning up days later drained of all their blood, which Governor Roman Falkner declares the act of wild beasts. As Lusine navigates her new structured life, she discovers that her marriage, a disappointing lie, leaves her yearning to reveal her secret affliction, and finds comfort in the arms of her betrothed's estranged uncle. But when more bloodless bodies are found, looking suspiciously like Lusine, she is left wondering whether the culprit is an animal, as the Governor claims, or something more clever. And just how long will it be until she is next?