The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)

by Carissa Broadbent

love, understand, is sharper than any stake.

I loved it—really, truly loved it—when they underestimated me.

My heartbeat pounded in my ears, numb and distant, as if my rage and grief bubbled beneath a sheet of ice on the brink of shattering.

Sadness was a futile, weak emotion. At least anger was useful—a sharp edge to cut another’s heart, or a hard shell to protect your own.

And then I realized. I realized that fear, when embraced, hardens and sharpens. That it becomes rage. That it becomes power.

“I’ve lived through some injustices in the last couple of centuries. Seen some fucking travesties. But one of the biggest, Oraya, is that anyone taught you that you should become anything other than exactly what you are.”

He did not fear my darkness, nor pity my compassion.