Ayana Gray

Magic doesn't exist in the broken city of Lkossa anymore, especially for girls like sixteen-year-old Koffi. Indentured to the notorious Night Zoo, she cares for its fearsome and mythical creatures to pay off her family's debts and secure their freedom. But when her loved ones' safety is threatened by the Zoo's cruel master, Koffi unleashes a power she doesn't fully understand . . . 

As the son of a decorated hero, Ekon is all but destined to become an elite warrior. Until a fire at the Night Zoo upends his certain future and, on the brink of his final rite of passage, Ekon is cast out - his reputation left in tatters. For Koffi and Ekon, the outlook is bleak - unless they can capture the Shetani, the vicious monster that plagues their city, and recover their futures. But defeating the Shetani is something no one has yet achieved, though many have tried. As Koffi and Ekon enter the Greater Jungle, a world steeped in wild magic and untold dangers, the tentative alliance between them is tested to the extreme. The hunt begins - but are they the hunters or the hunted?

Koffi, gifted with powerful magic, has saved the boy she loves - at a terrible price. Now Koffi is a servant to the god of death, and must choose between the life she once had, or the life she could have if she truly embraced her power. Ekon is on the run from the ancient brotherhood he betrayed, and desperate to find Koffi: the girl who saved his life. But as he treks into the greater wilds of Eshoza in search of her, he must also contend with secrets his ancestors never wanted him to know. Separated by land, sea, and gods, Koffi and Ekon will have to risk everything. But the longer they're kept apart, the harder their loyalties are tested.