{"product_id":"cruel-is-the-light-isbn-9780593810750","title":"Cruel Is the Light","description":"\u003cb\u003eINSTANT #1 UK BESTSELLER • The epic young adult romantasy that caused an international sensation—a star-crossed, enemies-to-lovers saga about a war between demons and exorcists . . . and the forbidden love that could change the course of history.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Sinister magic, crackling banter, and sizzling tension.”—Emily Thiede, author of \u003ci\u003eThis Vicious Grace\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIt is said that love conquers all. But will it tear them apart?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHumanity has waged a bloody war against demons for more than a century, with two elite soldiers now leading the fight: \u003cb\u003eSelene Alleva\u003c\/b\u003e, a powerful exorcist trained at the prestigious Vatican Academy, and orphan \u003cb\u003eJules Lacroix\u003c\/b\u003e, unrivaled on the battlefield.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen their paths cross, the distrust—and unwelcome attraction—is immediately apparent. But to get to the bottom of a series of unprecedented demon attacks, Selene and Jules strike an uneasy alliance, agreeing to an unusual arrangement: a fake engagement. With Jules posing as Selene’s estranged fiancé, they head to the holy Vatican City in search of answers—only to discover a terrible secret.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSoon Jules is forced to question everything he’s ever known—including himself. And Selene, unable to ignore her growing feelings for Jules, must make an impossible choice between love and duty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBook One of the Cruel Is the Light Duology\u003c\/b\u003e\"Surreal and beautiful.\" \u003ci\u003e—Kirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eSophie Clark\u003c\/b\u003e likes to say she writes fantasy featuring wounded girls with sharp edges, charming boys who fall for them anyhow, twisted gods, and other unholy things. She holds a masters degree in international relations, and worked for the Australian Senate before leaving politics for good. When not writing, she is almost invariably reading; when not reading, she’s lavishing affection on her border collie, Indy, and soaking up the wild beauty of her home state of Tasmania, Australia.CHAPTER ONE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGod created man and demon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDemon crucified God.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMan abandoned God.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd one more tenet only the Vatican knew:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMan harnessed demons’ unholy magic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelene Alleva ghosted her blade over the faint blue veins of her inner arm, lingering when she found the symbol carved into her bones. Devour. She hesitated. Her magic was the enemy, bleeding her with every exorcism. If it was only fear of pain that gave her pause, or some misplaced principle, then she could overcome it. Pain no longer frightened her—it had become familiar in the years of her Vatican training.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDio Immortale, she swore. She’d made mistakes tonight. If she had done one thing differently, she wouldn’t be in this predicament now—poised to bleed herself for power as the scent of rot and mold encased her. The metallic tang of blood beneath it all. She should never have lowered her guard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e***\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe threat of snow scented the air. Selene shivered, but not because the evening’s chill sliced knifelike up her spine. A rank wave of demonic magic ached through her eye teeth and into the depths of her skull.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat was more than one demon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey tasted like violence. Like a split lip. Vaguely iron and putrid. “Captain Alleva?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelene silenced her subordinate with a look. Ambrose Zurzulo was not perceptive enough to feel the tainted magic, and Selene had no patience for his dearth of natural talent. She glanced at the rune-carved metal hugging his hands. Knuckle-dusters. Honestly. But he was too infatuated with his own magnificence to notice her disdain.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy anyone would elect for extreme close-range combat, and willingly let a demon so damn near, she had no clue.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“We’re close. Move.” She led her team down a shallow flight of stairs, chasing the cold pull of demon magic to a crumbling stucco building at the end of the street. It looked abandoned—but wasn’t. Two. No, three. Maybe more. An infestation of this size was not unheard of in the heart of Rome, but it was unusual to find one so close to the Vatican.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe would reward them with steel for their trouble.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelene skidded to a stop out of sight of the windows, flanked by Ambrose and Benedetta. Both were new to her team, and while Benedetta Fiore had been in Selene’s year at the Academy, they’d never been close. It wasn’t ideal that today was her first opportunity to see them in action.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmbrose stretched his fingers, knuckles cracking. “I’ll take point,” he said, starting to shadowbox.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNot ideal at all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut she had little say in the matter. Her superiors had spoken, and if the Vatican was anything at all, it was a place of strict hierarchy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I think not,” Selene said, her voice dangerously soft. “Don’t even look a demon in the eye without my say-so.” She counted on her fingers. “Obey. Impress me. Survive. In that order. Simple enough.” Even for you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe pinned Benedetta with her eyes. “Stay close to Zurzulo. He’ll protect you.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmbrose nodded his agreement, and the knot of worry in her chest loosened. Just a bit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“What about you?” Benedetta asked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelene held her gaze. “I’ll protect you too.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBenedetta blinked wide-eyed, and smiled a lightbulb smile. “Oh, I know that. I meant who’s going to protect you?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelene didn’t think that required an answer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA tall figure rounded the corner. “O Captain, my Captain,” Caterina Altamura drawled, flicking a still-glowing cigarette into the dark. “Relax. The cavalry’s here.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelene finally let a small smile show.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA weapons artificer like Ambrose, Caterina was as skillful as she was insubordinate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen a second figure trailed Caterina out of the dark.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLucia Scavo angled her pointed chin into the breeze, turning her pretty heart-shaped face as though scenting the air. Her sensitivity to demon magic was well known within the Vatican, and Selene trusted Lucia’s instincts nearly as much as her own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelene extended her senses too. Her power was always with her. In her blood. But it sang louder now in proximity to demons. She glanced at Lucia. “I don’t feel anything above a Level Two.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe sister of medicine nodded, her cheeks whipped ruddy by the cold. “And no more than five. All low grade.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Vatican ranked demons on a six-point scale. Curses and Ghouls frequently broke through nowadays. Low level, low difficulty, but with high potential for collateral damage. Enough to force the Vatican to respond quickly. With extreme prejudice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmbrose flipped a hexagonal disc that glimmered in the weak lamplight, and Selene snatched it from the air.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe frowned. “Do you have any idea what this is?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe brawler pushed his hands into his pockets. “Found it.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Where?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe shrugged.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelene turned it between her fingers, inspecting it. It was stamped with the seal of the Deathless God. A ward coin. One of many hidden within statues around Rome, their powerful magic working together to ward off demons. Which begged the question, why did Ambrose have it?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLucia’s voice broke into her thoughts, sounding uncharacteristically hesitant. “I sense . . . maybe a Fiend?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBenedetta paled at that, touching her forehead, throat, and the middle of her chest in a quick prayer. As if Selene needed further confirmation Benedetta had no business facing demons in the field.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Save your prayers,” Selene said coldly. “No need to call on God for a Level Three.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCaterina smothered a smile, but Lucia smirked openly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIgnoring them, Selene slipped the ward coin into her pocket and turned to the building. The chipped stucco facade appeared more orange than pink in the glow of the streetlamps, but Selene was more focused on the presences beyond. They throbbed weakly, like butterflies in her fist. Soon she’d crush them just as easily. Despite that confidence, unease coiled in her rib cage. Something felt off.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCaterina sliced her thumb and pressed it against the seal on her rifle. Bright threads of power raced along the gun’s six barrels, as her blood unlocked its full potential.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe five of them parted ways, silently sweeping the apartments on the ground floor before climbing the stairs to the next. Selene shadowed Ambrose and Benedetta, keeping them in her line of sight. She didn’t need to tell Caterina and Lucia what to do—they’d climbed the ranks two years ahead of her at the Academy and had been an effective team far longer than she’d been their commander. She respected their prowess. But she didn’t trust the other two.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe’d fought tooth and nail against having Benedetta on this mission, but, no. Two healers, they’d said. And so she obeyed her directive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA smoky, vaguely reptilian Curse demon trickled from the shadows, stretching toward Ambrose. Level One. Selene cut through it before Ambrose even noticed, flicking clinging shadows off her blade. She turned in the center of the room and then sheathed her sword.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBehind her came a clang as a Ghoul scrabbled its way out of a disused dumbwaiter, grinning rows of serrated teeth in a horrible wide mouth. Level Two. Distinguishable by the fact that she felt barely a ripple of power from it. It had made its home in a corpse on the wrong side of decomposing, corrupting it with its magic. Benedetta shrank back, but Ambrose strode forward. His eyes gleamed with the fire of a subordinate desperate to prove his mettle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelene flung an arm out to stop him. “Wait!”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut Ambrose crowed a battle cry and wound up for a punch that would take the demon’s head off its shoulders.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe demon was deceptively fast. It opened its terrible maw, swallowing Ambrose’s arm to the elbow. His scream ricocheted around inside her ribs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Captain!” Ambrose pleaded, his arm and those damned knuckle-dusters buried in the demon’s gullet. Time slowed as she watched his eyes—black now from blown pupils and desperation. Save me, they said. Save me, please.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe arm was salvageable. His stupidity—terminal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a blink she had her knife poised over skin and bone—the cutting edge above the symbol for devour. She hesitated. Triggering her magic would devour another piece of her soul. If she wasn’t careful, soon she’d have nothing left. Cold fingers caressed her spine at the unwelcome thought. She moved the blade away from her skin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSorry, Ambrose.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEven a single drop of her magic was worth more than a limb. And so she sacrificed his arm on the altar of her ambition. There were other, far more powerful demons to kill, and she didn’t know how much soul she had left.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe flipped the knife and sheathed it, then drew the gun at her thigh in the same sinuous movement. Ambrose’s eyes widened as Selene chose, as she did so often, to fight and condemn with hot metal and blade. Her first bullet detached his arm at the shoulder. Selene strode closer, firing shot after shot until the demon went still. As she nudged it with her boot, her nose wrinkled in distaste. Deader than dead. Still not dead enough.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelene toyed with the idea of shooting it again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInstead, she turned on her heel, blinking blood from her lashes. Benedetta knelt beside Ambrose, applying a tourniquet to his arm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Ambrose whimpered piteously, Selene thought about the final unspoken tenet of their religion. Man harnessed demons’ unholy magic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA secret. Though perhaps not their most dangerous. One known only to the select few who graduated from the Vatican’s elite military academy. Demons had given them the means of fighting back. Unwillingly. Bitterly, perhaps.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt his continued whimpering, Selene indicated the brawler. “Silence him.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBiting her lower lip, Benedetta touched his forehead with two fingers. His pain drained away. Silent now, Ambrose glared at Selene over Benedetta’s shoulder, hatred replacing agony.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelene crouched in front of him. “We’ll get you another arm. One made of steel this time, like your little knuckle-dusters.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBenedetta redirected her attention to the demon. Pushing her wispy blond hair beneath her habit, she withdrew vials to collect blood and humors. She hesitated over the mess Selene had made of the demon’s skull before delicately extracting a tooth for later analysis.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelene extended her senses as she circled the room, open to the slightest stirring of demon magic. Nothing. Satisfied, she followed the hum of voices down the hallway as Caterina and Lucia compared notes on their kills. She stepped into the doorway just in time to see Caterina level her secondary weapon, a shotgun, and blast a demon across the room. The bullet flared on impact.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the imprint of the demon faded, she felt another.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePivoting, she searched the dark corners. Somewhere nearby another demon waited. It plucked at her senses like a spider playing the threads of its own web—gleaning information from her. More than she was getting from it. Selene hissed, drawing her handgun. Too slow. A demon smashed through the lead-light transom window over the door on the other side of the hall. It had crawled into the body of a small girl. Bright doll-blue eyes glinted prettily through a fall of dark hair. Its elbows bent the wrong way as it skittered across the ceiling, disappearing into the hallway’s gloom.","brand":"Knopf Books for Young Readers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233057648869,"sku":"NP9780593810750","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593810750.jpg?v=1767724304","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/cruel-is-the-light-isbn-9780593810750","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}