Daughter of Winter

Left to die after a neighboring clan invades, seventeen-year old Ilyenna is healed by Winter Faeries who present her with a seductive offer: become one with them and their power. But to do so would mean rejecting her humanity and abandoning her clan.

Unwilling to forsake either, Ilyenna is subsequently abducted and enslaved by Darrien—who she later discovers is in league with the outside invaders, the Raiders, who have set their sights on her clan. In order to warn the High Council, Ilyenna manages to escape. But Darrien once again proves his cunning by convincing the Council that she is lying.

But they are wrong—and Ilyenna knows it.

With the Raiders coming over the mountains and Darrien coming to take her to his bed, she’ll have to decide whether to resurrect the power the faeries left behind. Doing so will allow her to defeat both Darrien and the Raiders. But if she embraces Winter, she’ll lose herself to that destroying power—forever.

Exerpt

Ilyenna’s horse danced nervously beneath her; the animal’s hooves making hard clicking sounds against the snow-buried stones that coated the land like dragon eggs. Reaching down, she patted her mare’s golden neck. “Easy, Myst. What’s the matter girl?”

“There.” Her father pointed at the base of a hillock, not fifty paces off.

Tymon soundlessly pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it. “Bear?” he directed the question at their father.

The word stirred unseen currents of tension in Ilyenna’s body. The cold stung her checks and formed a
vapor of moisture no matter how shallow she breathed. Unconsciously, her hand gripped the knife belted around her bulky wool coat as she glanced up and down the road.

“I think it’s a horse,” Tymon finally said.

Ilyenna eased her mare forward for a better look. “Then where is the ride—” her words died in her throat when she saw a motionless grey lump at the horse’s feet. Without thought, she booted her mare’s ribs.

“Stop!” her father cried at the same time Tymon called, “Ilyenna!”