The Demon in the Wood (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #0.5)

by Leigh Bardugo

Fear is a powerful ally, but feed it too often, make it too strong, and it will turn on you.

“Start building walls, and people begin to wonder what you’re hiding. We keep our buildings low. We don’t raid the villagers’ fields or farms, or empty their forests of game. Better they do not notice us than that they think we have something they want.”

“Your true name is written here,” she said tapping his chest. “Tattooed on your heart. You don’t let just anyone read it.”

Eryk shrugged. He was aware of the way men looked at his mother. It was one more weapon in her arsenal.

He understood then. The Grisha lived as shadows did, passing over the surface of the world, touching nothing, forced to change their shapes and hide in corners, driven by fear as shadows were driven by the sun. No safe place. No haven. There will be, he promised in the darkness, new words written upon his heart. I will make one.