This Safe Darkness
by Alexis Maragold
The Hunt was intended to make us an example, not a threat. That changes now.
Thirty-year-old Orelle Bren knows the best way to avoid death is to play by the rules of a society that only values women as wives and wombs. Though it would be nice to reclaim the dream life her ex-husband stole from her, Orelle would gladly settle for a loveless engagement that exempts her from being among the ten unwed, childless women drafted for the annual Hunt.
It’s supposed to be an honor, being selected to leave their underground utopia to eliminate the Sols—humans who’ve been mutated with corrupt magic by exposure to the sun.
But Orelle knows it’s a glorified death sentence, especially for someone who’s already in a daily battle with their own body.
When her desperate attempts at enticement fail and she’s cast above into the fatal world of light, an unexpected ally challenges Orelle to find a new dream of living—and maybe even loving—out of spite.
To do that, there are few lines she won’t cross to uncover the true monsters before becoming one herself, or something even worse: prey.
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The Hunt was intended to make us an example, not a threat. That changes now. Thirty-year-old Orelle Bren knows the best way to avoid death is to play by the rules of a society that only values women as wives and wombs. Though it would be nice to reclaim the dream life her ex-husband stole from her, Orelle would gladly settle for a loveless engagement that exempts her from being among the ten unwed, childless women drafted for the annual Hunt. It’s supposed to be an honor, being selected to leave their underground utopia to eliminate the Sols—humans who’ve been mutated with corrupt magic by exposure to the sun. But Orelle knows it’s a glorified death sentence, especially for someone who’s already in a daily battle with their own body. When her desperate attempts at enticement fail and she’s cast above into the fatal world of light, an unexpected ally challenges Orelle to find a new dream of living—and maybe even loving—out of spite. To do that, there are few lines she won’t cross to uncover the true monsters before becoming one herself, or something even worse: prey.