Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #3)

by Leigh Bardugo

Again, rage coursed through me. From my first day in the White Cathedral, threat had hung heavy in the air, suffocating me with the steady press of fear. The Apparat never missed an opportunity to remind me of my vulnerability. Almost without thinking, I twitched my fingers in my sleeves. Shadows leapt up the walls of the chamber. The Apparat reared back in his chair. I frowned at him, feigning confusion. “What’s wrong?” I asked. He cleared his throat, eyes darting right and left. “It’s … it’s nothing,” he stammered. I let the shadows fall. His reaction was well worth the wave of dizziness that came when I used this trick. And that’s all it was. I could make the shadows jump and dance but nothing more. It was a sad little echo of the Darkling’s power, some remnant left behind in the wake of the confrontation that had nearly killed us both.