Book 17: Out of the Shadows

Aris

Sapphire Ridge isn’t a beautiful place by any means. Compared to the sub-tropical, evergreen landscape of the capital, the Ridge is, for the most part, buried in several feet of fog on even the sunniest of days. Today is no exception.

It’s raining. Pouring, to be completely, brutally honest. The hood of my cloak is sopping wet by the time I reach the gate of the castle, which opens wide with the help of a quartet of guards who either sensed my presence or open the gate for anyone who comes near, the latter being more likely. Sapphire Ridge is secluded, rural, and not friendly to outsiders. Everyone here–all two-hundred pack members or so–are related loosely, I believe. Distance cousins–at bes–are given the preference to marry and reproduce for alchemy power over love or even the mate bond.

The castle of Sapphire Ridge is a boxy fortress of m