Marked
YA Fantasy
Seventeen-year-old Alexyn thought she could offset the guilt of being an artist by becoming a soldier in service to The Father; until her boyfriend was murdered.
Almost a year later, his loss still haunts her. Within the Consone, citizens are supposed to be safe, but Renegade rebels continue to oppose The Father and slaughter the innocent.
Like art, asking questions about the Renegades, or their Marks, is all but forbidden. Accused of being a traitor by her fellow trainees, and a coward by her instructor, Alexyn risks what’s left of her status, and her family, to start research on the Renegades, and how to identify them.
As each research avenue leads to a dead end, with warnings from educators and soldiers alike, Alexyn attracts the attention of one person she never expected; Domnik, a Renegade. Not only does he have the knowledge she craves, but he is her chance at redemption. And revenge. Turning in a Renegade would prove her loyalty and bring justice for Luca’s murder. All she has to do is let him talk, discover his secrets, and become a hero.
But Domnik saves her life.
Domnik isn’t supposed to save her. He isn’t supposed to be fascinating. And he definitely isn’t supposed to show her his Mark; a tattoo he summons to life. After years of hiding her own art, seeing someone else’s brought to life shatters her compass. The knowledge she gleans from Domnik only alienates her further from the life she thought she wanted, and the truth she thought she knew.
Drawn deeper into a decades-long conflict, Alexyn must make a decision. Ever since Luca’s death she’s known she can't be a Tironem, but now she’s forced to ask, is she really a Renegade? Or something else entirely?