Novels by Zainab

~ SYLARI ~The silence after Thalia left was suffocating.I stood in the center of the ruins, my mind racing through everything she had said. Seraphine wasn't trying to help me, she was trying to steal the Primordial. The seal wasn't just weakening from overuse, someone was actively breaking it from the outside. My aunt, my only living family, wanted me dead so she could take what I carried.The hunger pulsed in my chest, slow and heavy, almost like it was confirming what I already suspected."Sylari." Eron's voice pulled me back to the present. "We need to leave. The vaelth could return with reinforcements.""In a minute."I turned toward Riko and Daren, still standing near the altar like they didn't know what to do with themselves. They looked smaller than I remembered, diminished by whatever the vaelth had done to them during their captivity.Riko finally lifted his head, his one good eye finding mine. His lips parted like he wanted to say something, but no words came out."You loo

~ SYLARI ~The ruins looked different in daylight.When Eron and I emerged from the shadows, the sun was high overhead, casting long beams through the broken walls and collapsed archways. The same decay I had seen during my meeting with Seraphine, but somehow less threatening with light pouring through the gaps.That didn't make me feel better. The vaelth preferred darkness, which meant meeting during the day was a concession on their part. They wanted me comfortable, wanted me to let my guard down.I wasn't going to give them that."Stay close," Eron said, his voice low. "If anything feels wrong, grab my arm and I'll pull us out.""Define wrong.""Anything that makes your instincts scream."Fair enough.We walked toward the center of the ruins, past fallen columns and crumbling walls covered in vines that looked dead but probably weren't. The vaelth liked things that appeared harmless, that was the first lesson anyone learned about them.Three figures waited near the broken altar. Tw

~ SYLARI ~I didn't sleep that night.The scroll sat on my bedside table, its words burned into my memory even with my eyes closed. One hour. That was all the vaelth wanted, one hour of my time in exchange for information and two brothers who had spent eighteen years making my life miserable.The smart choice was obvious. Let them keep Riko and Daren, let the Vaelth send whatever message they wanted. My brothers meant nothing to me, had never meant anything to me except pain and humiliation. Saving them would be a waste of energy and risk.But the vaelth had information Seraphine hadn't shared. Secrets about my bloodline, about what I was becoming. That was harder to dismiss.I sat up in bed and pressed my hand against my chest, feeling the hunger pulse slow and steady beneath my ribs. It had been restless since we returned from the ruins, stirring every time I thought about Seraphine or the vaelth or the truth I still didn't have.What are you hiding? I asked it silently. What don't

~ SYLARI ~The shadow-walk back was just as awful as the first one. By the time we emerged in the palace courtyard, my legs were shaking and my stomach was threatening to empty itself on the cobblestones."That doesn't get easier," I said, bracing my hands on my knees."No," Eron agreed. "It doesn't."Kaelith was waiting for us at the edge of the courtyard, his posture was rigid, and his pale eyes were scanning me for injuries. He crossed the distance in quick strides and stopped just short of touching me."What happened?""She showed up, we talked, she vanished." I straightened slowly, willing my stomach to settle. "She wants me to join her, to let her teach me. I said no.""You said no." Kaelith's expression shifted, surprise bleeding into something that looked almost like relief. "I expected you to—""Go with her? Trust her blindly because she's family?" I shook my head. "She watched my mother die and did nothing. She watched me suffer for eighteen years and did nothing. I'm not st

~ SYLARI ~Shadow-walking felt like drowning in cold air.One moment, I was standing in the palace courtyard with Eron's hand gripping my arm; the next, everything went dark and freezing. My lungs forgot how to work, my skin burned like it had been scraped raw, and then suddenly we were somewhere else entirely.I stumbled forward and nearly fell, my boots catching on uneven ground. Eron caught me before I hit the dirt, his grip was steady while I gasped for breath."You could have warned me," I said when I could speak again."Would it have helped?""No, but I would have appreciated the gesture."The place Seraphine had chosen for our meeting was a ruin. Stone walls covered in climbing vines, half-collapsed arches that led nowhere, the remains of what might have been a temple centuries ago, the sky above was thick with gray clouds that blocked any trace of sunlight.Vaelth territory. I could feel it in my bones, that same wrongness I had sensed when they attacked the palace. The shadow

~ SYLARI ~I have an aunt.The words didn't feel real coming out of my mouth. I read the letter again, slower this time, letting each sentence sink in.My mother had a twin sister. A woman named Seraphine who had been hidden at birth, raised in secret, trained in abilities I didn't even know I possessed. She had been alive this whole time, watching from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to reach out.And now she wanted to meet me."You weren't going to tell me," I said, looking up at Eron and Kaelith. "If I hadn't walked in, you would have hidden this from me.""We were discussing how to tell you," Kaelith said."That's not the same thing."Eron stepped forward. "The letter raises questions, Sylari. Seraphine has been in hiding for decades. She could have reached out at any point, could have found you years ago if she wanted to. Instead, she waited until now, until the seal is weakened and you're vulnerable.""Maybe she didn't know where I was. Maybe she was protecting herself