The House of Shadow - One of the three vampire kingdoms of Obitraes. Known for their commitment to knowledge; wielders of mind magic, shadow magic, and necromancy. Those of the House of Shadow are called Shadowborn.

Ix - Goddess of sex, fertility, childbirth, and procreation. Member of the White Pantheon.

Kajmar - God of art, seduction, beauty, and deceit. Member of the White Pantheon.

The Kejari - A legendary, once-per-century tournament to the death held in Nyaxia’s honor. The winner receives a gift from Nyaxia herself. The Kejari is open to all in Obitraes, but is hosted by the House of Night, as the Nightborn hold the greatest domain over the art of battle out the three vampire kingdoms.

Lituro River - A river that runs through the center of Sivrinaj.

Moon Palace - A palace in Sivrinaj, the capital of the House of Night, specifically there to house contestants of the once-in-a-century Kejari tournament held in Nyaxia’s honor. Said to be enchanted and to exert the will of Nyaxia herself.

Neculai Vasarus - The former Rishan king of the House of Night. Usurped and killed by Vincent 200 years prior to the events of this book.

Nightborn - Vampires of the House of Night.

Nightfire - Like Asteris, another form of star-derived magic wielded by the vampires of the House of Night. While Asteris is dark and cold, Nightfire is bright and hot. Nightfire is commonly used in the House of Night but very difficult to wield masterfully.

Nyaxia - Exiled goddess, mother of vampires, and widow of the god of death. Nyaxia lords over the domain of night, shadow, and blood, and as well as the inherited domain of death from her deceased husband. Formerly a lesser goddess, she fell in love with Alarus and married him despite the forbidden nature of their relationship. When Alarus was murdered by the White Pantheon as punishment for his marriage to her, Nyaxia broke free from the White Pantheon in a fit of rage, and offered her supporters the gift of immortality in the form of vampirism—founding Obitraes and the vampire kingdoms. (Also referred to as: the Mother; the Goddess; Mother of the Ravenous Dark; Mother of Night, Shadow, and Blood)

Pachnai - A human nation to the east of Obitraes.

Rishan - One of the two clans of Nightborn vampires. Have feathered wings. Usurped by the Hiaj 200 years ago.

Salinae - A major city in the House of Night. Located in Rishan territory. When the Rishan were in power, Salinae was a thriving hub, functioning as a second capital. Oraya spent the first years of her life, before Vincent found her, in Salinae.

Shadowborn - Vampires of the House of Shadow.

Sivrinaj - The capital of the House of Night. Home to the Nightborn castle, the Moon Palace, and host to the Kejari once every 100 years.

Turning - A process to make a human into a vampire, requiring a vampire to drink from a human and offer their blood to the human in return. Vampires who underwent this process are referred to as Turned.

White Pantheon - The twelve gods of the core cannon, including Alarus, who is presumed deceased. The White Pantheon is worshipped by all humans, with certain regions potentially having favor towards specific gods within the Pantheon. Nyaxia is not a member of the White Pantheon and is actively hostile to them. The White Pantheon imprisoned and later executed Alarus, the God of Death, as punishment for his unlawful marriage with Nyaxia, then a lesser goddess.

Zarux - The god of the sea, rain, weather, storms, and water. Member of the White Pantheon.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Every single time I have to write one of these, I’m amazed by how surreal it still feels. I have so many people to thank for helping me dream this new dark bloody world into existence. Chief among them:

Nathan (first as always), for being my best friend, my greatest love, my biggest supporter, my brainstorming buddy, my art director, my encyclopedia, and so much more. I would not be able to do any of this without you. I love you!

Ariella, Deanna, Elizabeth, and Rachel, for being amazing early readers and providing such helpful feedback. You are the best!

KD Ritchie at Storywrappers Design, for such a beautiful cover. Love working with you!

Noah, for being, as always, an amazing story sherpa. Thank you for lending your eyes to this manuscript many times over and for your invaluable editing pass.

Anthony, for fabulous proofreading and for eternally correcting my comma usage. I swear to god one of these days I’m going to actually nail it.

Rachel, for being the most eagle-eyed proofreader ever! Thanks for killing all my typos and correcting all my continuity errors!

Clare, thank you so much for listening to me whine all day every day and putting up with the notorious Carissa-Broadbent-brain-to-mouth pipeline. You are a star and I adore you.

And to my Swords & Corsets crew, Jenn, Krystle, and Angela, you guys are the fucking best. I love you all and could not possibly ask for a better, more talented, and more awesome writer friend circle.

And finally, thank you to you—for coming on this adventure with me!

If you have been a reader since the War of Lost Hearts trilogy, thank you for following me to this new world. And if you’re new to me, thank you so much for taking a chance on this book.

Your support, readership, fan art, reviews, messages, emails…. all of it has been instrumental to my career, and I truly, truly cannot thank you enough. None of this would be happening without you, and I never forget it for a single second.

I’m excited to join you for the next one!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carissa Broadbent has been concerning teachers and parents with mercilessly grim tales since she was roughly nine years old. Since then, her stories have gotten (slightly) less depressing and (hopefully a lot?) more readable. Today, she writes fantasy novels with a heaping dose of badass ladies and a big pinch of romance. She lives with her husband, one very well behaved rabbit, one very poorly behaved rabbit, and one perpetually skeptical cat in Rhode Island.