"Footsteps in the corridor." "Your final meal....Better eat up little malfetto. We'll come for you within the hour."Sixteen year old Adelina Amouteru is going to die. Charged with murdering her own father, she awaits her death sentence in her prison cell.Adelina understands that she is different. Her father believes she is a malfetto, one of the marked children, who survived the Blood Fever that raged through the kingdom when she was only four years old killing thousands and leaving behind a small group of children who bring shame and fear to the families and are known as the malfettos.Adelina herself is marked with an empty left eye socket and her now silvery white hair. But some of the victims of the Fever went beyond marking. For one small and special group of children the Fever delivered the power to conjure fire out of the air, to call the wind, to disappear or even kill in the blink of an eye. They are known throughout the kingdom as the Elite and though their identities are unknown, their names are written throughout the marketplaces and held both in fear and with hope.On this night Adelina secretly overhears her father dealing with a mysterious guest and finds herself bargained off as a mistress to this older man in return for the money her father needs to keep his business solvent. Steeling herself, she makes a plan to escape her father, the heartless man who broke her finger to teach her to discover the power of the dark side that lurks within her. Her only regret is that her escape will mean leaving behind her beautiful sister, Violetta.Adelina is about to discover a powerful force within herself that she did not know existed and through that power generated from her rage and fear, she conjures an illusion that will kill.Where can she go to be safe? Can she learn to harness her power and control it for her own purposes? All around her ambition is surging. The king and queen are determined to see the Elite destroyed but there are those who seek power for themselves causing unrest and danger throughout the land. No malfetto is safe. The Elite are being hunted down and killed one by one. The story arc traces the journey of Adelina from her home to the hidden world of the Elite and the Dagger Society, their secret sect. Her loyalty will be tested and her powers will be both trained and mistrusted. How powerful is she? How much darkness does she hold and is it possible for her to control it long enough to be a force on behalf of the Elite as they fight the king, the queen, and the Inquisition Axis who seek to destroy the Young Elites?
Is Adelina evil? Does she hold any redeeming qualities? This story searches deeply into the shadowy side of each of us and asks us to know our own truths. Love, ambition, betrayal, blackmail, lust and power beyond the human imagination have been unleashed. Can we control our own darkness? How powerful are we? Does she deserve to be loved for who she is or is Enzo Valenciano, another member of the Dagger Society, simply using her as a tool for his own purposes?
