Veronyka took a deep breath, but she’d never much cared for the dark. She was just getting more and more lost, wasting more and more time. She was going the wrong way surely she was-it had been too long since that right turn. There was nothing to ground her, no way to know if she was close or far or completely and utterly lost. Veronyka trusted the directions, followed them in a rush, even as everything inside her fought against rising panic. She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear anything beyond the sound of her booted feet slapping against the damp stone and the echo of her breath reverberating around her.

VERONYKA STUMBLED THROUGH THE darkness, her hands outstretched. Excerptįor as long as there have been Ashfires, there have been phoenixes. The world began with Ashfire queens…perhaps they will also be its destruction. Val is willing to destroy everything to get her revenge on a world that rejected her, and if Veronyka wants to bring peace to the empire and Pyra alike, she must face down her sister once and for all.

But when she discovers that Avalkyra has bonded with a strix-a legendary creature of darkness that feeds off the life force of others-Veronyka realizes she has more to deal with than an encroaching war with the empire. Veronyka is determined to do whatever it takes to get Tristan back, even if that means revealing her identity to the world and inheriting a throne she’s not sure she wants. Was it always going to come down to this? Sister against sister? Darkness against light? Except for her beloved phoenix, Xephyra, of course, and her new friend, Kade, who has his own reasons for wanting to save Tristan. Now that the secret is out, everyone at the Eyrie treats Veronyka differently, and with Tristan still a hostage of the scheming Lord Rolan-and Sev with him as a spy-Veronyka feels very much alone. Veronyka is no longer an orphaned stable boy or a nameless Phoenix Rider apprentice: she is the daughter of Pheronia Ashfire, the last queen of the Golden Empire… and the niece of Avalkyra Ashfire, the resurrected rebel queen who tore the empire apart. In the heart-stopping finale to the Crown of Feathers trilogy, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake calls “absolutely unforgettable,” Veronyka must face her most devastating enemy yet: her own sister.

Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto