Fate of the Demon

Book excerpt: An offering. An omen. An ill fate... Before the night of the winter solstice, Brygida has everything: her mothers, a full heart, and possibly a place in two worlds. But between those worlds is the darkness, and when it comes time to make the offering to the demon, the lady of Rubin falls in... and so does Brygida. The land of Rubin is caught in a wolf’s maw. As a smaller, weaker region, it relies on Lady Rubin’s gift of diplomacy to stave off ruin. But as the heavy snows appear, she disappears without a trace. And Brygida, true to her ill-made offering, becomes the lord’s prime suspect—and that of the village—along with her mothers. When she’s attacked by a demon and marked, she believes the same demon may have taken Lady Rubin. To defeat it before the mark reaches her heart and transforms her, and avoid a clash between her mothers and the lord along with his villagers, she agrees to help Lady Rubin’s son Kaspian find her. As the winter deepens and the search stretches, however, demons and spirits begin to emerge in great numbers... with great hunger... Plagued by strange creatures and malevolent foes, Brygida and Kaspian search for Lady Rubin, praying to find her alive. If they succeed, it could balm the divide between the witches and the village, as well as that between Rubin and the bloodthirsty land at its border. To rescue her might repel the wolf at the door, but then there remains the mark reaching for Brygida’s heart, and the mysterious swell of demons and spirits, staining the snows like an ever-spreading pool of blood... Find out what fate the demon has in store for Brygida and Rubin in FATE OF THE DEMON, the second book in this romantic dark fantasy series inspired by Slavic mythology and folklore, sure to please fans of Juliet Marillier’s Blackthorn & Grim series and Naomi Novik’s Uprooted. Read Fate of the Demon to continue the beautifully haunting adventure today!