Exiles of Conota — Ash Fitzsimmons

Fleeing her fate was the easy part…One year ago, Lady Imaranta of High Vale escaped Conota—the so-called Gray Lands—and joined her human mother in the mortal realm. Living in a small Oklahoma town as Hope Lozano, keeping her true appearance masked by magic, she’s tried to blend in and make a life for herself as she adjusts to her freedom. But the locals still regard her with suspicion, she knows precious little about her new home, and then there’s the tiny matter of the dead to consider. Cynaeli are natural mediums, and Hope, who’s particularly gifted, has to contend with a constant stream of requests from the departed. Still, even if Hope’s path forward isn’t entirely clear, she thinks she has matters under control.That is, until Arik shows up.Another highborn cynaeli in Oklahoma would be dangerous enough, but Arik is wounded and weakening…and he carries an ominous message. Back in Conota, no one has yet stepped forward to claim the late queen’s throne, and the rival factions are massing their armies. Worse still, Arik’s father fears that another of his sons might be the missing monarch—a son who, like Hope, fled Conota. Now, an insatiable force is loose in the mortal realm, hunting him down, and no one in its path is safe.If Hope and Arik want to save Arik’s brother from a bloody end, they’ll need to go on the run—and with lives and a throne in the balance, they’ll need help from the living and the dead.