Of Deathless Shadows

Of Deathless Shadows Alkrose Academy Book 1 K. M. Moronova Copyright © 2023 by K. M. Moronova Cover design by K. M. Moronova Character art by K. M. Moronova All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Content Warning Some of the content in this book may be triggering for some readers. The contents of this book contain aspects of physical violence, mental illness, morally grey characters, death, explicit gore, explicit sex scenes, substance abuse, childhood trauma, dubious consent, war trauma. * * * Also by K. M. Moronova Pine Hollow Series (Reincarnation. Gods. Enemies to lovers) A God of Wrath & Lies A God of Death & Rest A Goddess of Life & Dawn Alkrose Academy Series (Epic Fantasy. Shadows. Enemies to lovers) Of Deathless Shadows Between Heavens & Embers Series (Dark Fantasy. Mafia/Fast cars. New creatures) Wolves in the Graveyard Stand Alones The Fabric of our Souls Playlist * * * Tears don’t fall - Bullet for my Valentine Bring me to life - evanescence Forth of July - sufjan stevens Mr. Sandman - SYML (slow/reverb) Heads will roll - yeah yeah yeahs Darling - eyes set to kill In these walls - MGK Towards the sun - Rhianna I need a doctor - Dr. Dre/skylar grey Ashes - Celine Dion No time to die - Billie Eilish Sky fall - adele For those who have been burned by pain. It ruined us… but we rose from the ashes. * * * Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Acknowledgments About the Author 1 Terra Location: Navasik Love is an expensive piece of bullshit, and its price is your fucking soul. I know—poetic, isn't it? When you’re running for your life from a Fernestian assassin, you tend to revisit all the absolute shit-stained crap you’ve been served throughout your life. The man who broke your heart, shattered it like it was nothing. The family you were about to run away from. The life you never got to live. Everything. My lungs are on fire and sweat beads down my back. The snow is deep. Of course I chose today of all days to come up into the mountains. How was I supposed to know that the Fernestians would invade today? No one’s spoken of a possible attack; they’ve been silent for years. Fear stretches through me. My hot breaths wisp in the brisk air. I risk a glance back at the assassin. He’s gaining on me. He’s dressed head to toe in black tactical gear, a bulletproof vest strapped tightly to his chest. The only visible skin is his pale face. Gray eyes track me like a fucking wolf. His white hair lashes in the wind like the snow around us. He’s going to catch me. He’s going to kill me. The assassin tackles me to the ground hard. A blood-curdling cry leaves my lips as his grip tightens around my waist and we tumble through the snow. He plants one knee firmly on the ground and pins my arm down with the other. He wraps a gloved hand around my throat and panic surges through me with a fresh wave of adrenaline. Tears stream down the sides of my face and I scream, my throat already raw from the chase. My breaths are sharp and unsteady, whining from deep in my chest, a sound that dying animals make. My blood is on fire. My face stings from the snow clinging to my flesh. I hardly manage to open my eyes against the burning. I try to thrash from his hold but it’s useless—he has me. I stare at his face, unblinking. His white hair falls over his forehead and his gray eyes hardly blink against the harsh wind. His jaw is sharp, his brows as dark as my own hair. He’s unfairly beautiful—hauntingly so. “W-why are you doing this?!” I scream. He doesn’t answer me, only stares expressionlessly at me as he pulls a sharp dagger from his belt. It’s cold, the realization that you’re about to die. It’s not nostalgic or beautiful—you don’t think of anything except the thunderous sound of your heart pounding. A drum that only beckons one god: Death. My lips crack and my voice fails. Don’t kill me… Please, please don’t kill me. He holds the dagger to my chest as a bright orange glow lights the sky and burns the world around us. Dark clouds behind him singe auburn in a matter of seconds, descending to the earth. The sky is falling. Fernestia has come. They’ve come and they’re going to kill us all. My bones heat and my blood thickens like the earth itself has reached up to consume me. The orange light fills my soul with something sinister and a presence stretches my skin, entering my body. What the fuck is happening? Chemical warfare? Am I already dying? I close my eyes for the impact of the assassin’s blade, but it doesn’t come. I tremble beneath him. My life is entirely at this man’s mercy and the instincts pumping within my blood tell me I’ll do anything to survive. After a few moments of impending doom, I open my eyes. His brows are pinched together and his gaze is nothing short