Once, there were six. Six young witches were destined for remarkable things, until they were lured into the dark wood that surrounded their boarding school. Only five witches returned. The terrible secret they buried beneath a hungry great oak split them apart forever. Then there were five. Eighteen years later, the death of their legendary mentor Professor Berriman forces them back together. In her will, Professor Berriman invokes a blood oath they made to her, which binds them to carry on her work until one of their deaths finally breaks their special magical bond for good. One of them isn’t willing to wait that long. Now, there are four. And the race is on to determine which of them was willing to kill to escape their bond. Magical spells and broken alliances—not to mention a relentless ghost of their past deeds—drive them back to the dark wood to unearth the secret beneath the hungry oak. Can any of them survive the specter of the dark wood and finally put the past to rest?Roots & Wrath is a fantasy horror novel for fans of Sarah Gailey, Alix E. Harrow and Rachel Harrison. If you love dark academia, dark woods, found family, or women's wrongs, this books it for you.

The most powerful warlord in the steppe sends a convoy consisting of his ten best men and his fourth wife, Chi, to escort his newest bride home—an easy journey. At least, it was supposed to be. Since losing her family and her right eye to cursed fire, Chi has been adrift, struggling to find her place within the Champion’s household. Unable to bear children due to her family’s blood curse, she has spent most of her married years training the Champion’s sons in the sword techniques she inherited from her father. When an undead monster attacks the bride’s party, killing all ten of the Champion’s men, Chi’s sword skills barely keep her alive, leaving her as the last line of defense for the young bride, Sangya. After a lifetime cloistered in a remote temple, Sangya is maddeningly inquisitive about everything around her, including Chi. While Chi scrambles to guide the chirpy nun through the wilderness, Sangya slowly pries her way through the walls Chi has built around her soul and wakes something forbidden. With enemies closing in, Chi realizes that the thing she wants most from life might be the one thing she can’t have. And in the dark of foreign woods, she decides that the best thing she can do for the world is die protecting the Champion’s bride. Better that than face a desire so dangerous.