Day Without Dawn Series by Cordia Pearson

Two fathers. Two countries. No place to call homeWhen your skin's the wrong color and eyes a hated shade of blue, life is one godsdamned battle after another.All that's kept me alive is the birthmark for which I was abandoned on the night of my birth. A Luna moth, symbol of the Mother Goddess, with its alarming potential for magic. An anathema among my desert people.I worship the fierce warrior who found and named me Thea. In a moon, I turn seventeen... moreTwo fathers. Two countries. No place to call homeWhen your skin's the wrong color and eyes a hated shade of blue, life is one godsdamned battle after another.All that's kept me alive is the birthmark for which I was abandoned on the night of my birth. A Luna moth, symbol of the Mother Goddess, with its alarming potential for magic. An anathema among my desert people.I worship the fierce warrior who found and named me Thea. In a moon, I turn seventeen. If he deems me worthy, I will join his forces. Only service will ensure my citizenship, and hopefully end the hatred heaped upon me.A warrior mage I've never trusted swears we've known each other over many lifetimes. He sees a different path for me - one in which I embrace the mystical destiny my birthmark portends.Faced with this terrifying possibility, I find myself asking: Can I kill those whose blood I may share? Or will this enigmatic mage, to whom I'm inexplicably drawn, convince me to set aside a life of honor for one of magic?Be swept away into this magical adventure of war, honor, love, and destiny. less

Love has no price, only a cost, in that it changes everything.> My sire abandoned me in the country he now wages a bloody war against. I’ve lived here since a babe, but the color of my skin makes me the hated other. I gain no respect for fighting to protect them. Despite our failures in past lives, now I find peace and joy in my beloved Kemu’s arms. He gives me strength to resist the prophesied magic my birthmark suggests... moreLove has no price, only a cost, in that it changes everything.> My sire abandoned me in the country he now wages a bloody war against. I’ve lived here since a babe, but the color of my skin makes me the hated other. I gain no respect for fighting to protect them. Despite our failures in past lives, now I find peace and joy in my beloved Kemu’s arms. He gives me strength to resist the prophesied magic my birthmark suggests. I give him a reason to deny his spirit animal, a karakel, the deadliest killer on both sides of the border.As we die in greater numbers, the Covenant mages and A’tal’s first families who rule my adopted country, further entrench themselves in privilege and plots. Then, what I hold most precious gets ripped away. I swear to Heaven, either I will prevail or go down fighting. They will not force me into the Covenant or steal the horses my sire gave me, because I’ve learned in this life, to your heart and values, be true. This epic romantic fantasy tackles social issues and class distinctions in a world shaped by prophecy, privilege, and war. It follows characters who battle against the darkness within themselves and their society as they search for love, honor, and inclusion. less