Shadow Reaper by Lynette Noni

Here is a summary with spoilers for Shadow Reaper by Lynette Noni

Seventeen-year-old Viridia “Viri” Solace, a highly skilled Reaper Hunter living in Aravell, lives in a mountain city on the isolated Elverdine Isle. Aravell is surrounded by a lethal blackmist that kills anyone who enters it without protection, so the city relies on four enormous obsidian obelisks to keep the mist contained. The obelisks are powered by ellixen, the magical energy possessed by the people of the island. As part of the city’s system, children eventually undergo an Impartation ceremony in which most of their magic is taken and transferred to the obelisks. Reapers are considered the greatest threat to the city because they steal ellixen directly from people, particularly children, in order to increase their own magical strength. Viri has spent seven years hunting Reapers because their leader, the Reaper Priest, murdered her parents when she was ten years old. Her entire life since their deaths has been built around finding and killing him.

At the beginning of the novel, Viri captures a Reaper who has been stealing magic from children, but the interrogation produces a warning that the Reaper Priest knows who she is and is coming for her. The interrogation also managed to get Viri hurt, so when she got to her ‘foster’ home, her best friend Wynter heals her up. Wynter is not supposed to be using alchemy, but she does it secretly and manages to heal Viri up really well. Soon afterward, Viri learns from another Reaper Hunter friend, Darik, that an important member of the Priest’s inner circle has been captured. When she sneaks into the Underlock prison to see the prisoner, she discovers that he is Reeve Ashton, her childhood best friend who disappeared on the same night her parents died. Reeve is now a powerful Reaper and one of the Priest’s closest followers. He immediately recognizes Viri and calls her by her childhood nickname, “Little Shadow.” Rather than giving her information freely, Reeve offers to tell her where the Reaper Priest is if she helps him escape. Viri initially refuses, but when she leaves the prison is caught by her supriors. They give her desk duty for a week as her punishment, as she was not supposed to go see the prisoner. During her time at the desk she realzies that there are dozens of children that are dissapearing from Aravell, she realizes Reeve may be the only person who can lead her to them. The situation becomes even more urgent when Sarielle Starling, Viri’s guardian (and also Wynter mom) and the city’s Magistratus, learns that approximately fifty children have vanished. A legend says the appearance of the Aurora Comet can be used in a powerful sacrificial ritual, and Viri becomes convinced that the missing children are being gathered for that purpose, and it is the Priest who is doing it. 

Viri eventually breaks Reeve out of the Underlock using illegal equipment supplied by her best friend Wynter Starling. The escape immediately goes wrong when Reeve attacks the guards and knocks out Captain Darik Farrow and Viri’s friend Soren, forcing Viri to flee the city with him. She takes him to a bakery first, only to find out that the owner knows Reeve already, and absolutly adores him. Reeve then takes her to a hidden apartment where she meets his fellow Reapers, including Jonas Flynn, Sage D’alia, and Ardin. Viri initially believes she has been betrayed, but she soon discovers that Reeve and his group have actually been working against the Reaper factions that abduct children. They have been intercepting kidnappers and rescuing children whenever possible. Viri also learns that Reapers can siphon magic from one another, allowing them to manage their addiction to ellixen without continually stealing from innocent people. While Viri wants to believe all of this, it is still hard for her to go back on all the fundamentals, so she starts to freak out. Reeve uses magic on her, knocking her out. She wakes up to find out that Reeve and a few of the others have left to go save some of the children. Viri follows to find a full fight happening. Reeve manages to get stabbed while trying to save Viri. Reeve refuses to siphon from others to heal himself after being stabbed with a poisoned blade because he knows firsthand what taking someone’s magic can do, he passes out. This begins to destroy Viri’s belief that every Reaper is inherently evil.

Reeve’s injury becomes life-threatening, forcing Viri to bring him to Wynter, who secretly practices illegal alchemy. Wynter discovers that the weapon used against Reeve contained a magical poison called Weeping Wraith. The cure requires rare ingredients and a magical transfer involving someone with a deep emotional connection to the victim. Viri ultimately volunteers and saves Reeve by allowing the poison to pass through her own body during the antidote process. While Reeve recovers, Viri finally tells her friends the secret she has kept for years: the Reaper Priest is actually her older brother, Braedan Solace. Viri has spent seven years believing that Braedan murdered their parents during their children’s Impartation ceremonies. Reeve then wakes up and explains that his group has been trying to stop a mass sacrifice and that the Aurora Comet is connected to an ancient magical phenomenon involving two celestial bodies, Aurora and Orion. If the obelisks are destroyed, the blackmist will consume Aravell, but Reeve believes the Priest intends to use the comet to break the obelisks and unleash the magic they contain.

As Viri and Reeve investigate, they uncover more about the history of Elverdine Isle through the journals of an ancient mage named Kadmus Castro. Kadmus originally arrived on the island when its magic was still wild and uncontrolled because of a source of raw power called the Hallow Stream. The island’s mages eventually constructed the obelisks to suppress and control this power. Kadmus becomes increasingly obsessed with regaining access to the raw magic and begins experimenting with ways to bypass the obelisks. His obsession eventually leads him to discover that magic can be stolen directly from living beings. He becomes the first Reaper and begins using the power of the Aurora and Orion comets to circumvent the obelisks. His actions eventually lead to the creation of the Reaper threat that has existed for generations. The historical journals also reveal that the city’s official history has been deliberately altered and that the people of Aravell have been living according to a system built on secrets, erased memories, and manipulated information.

Viri, Reeve, and their allies discover that a magical map and talisman hidden in Sarielle’s office may lead them to the Guardian of the Isle, who can answer questions about the comets, the obelisks, and the Reaper Priest. During the attempt to retrieve them, Viri and Reeve become increasingly close. Viri’s feelings toward Reeve become difficult for her to ignore, particularly after she kisses him to avoid being discovered while they are stealing the map. Reeve admits that he did not object to the kiss, and their relationship begins shifting from their childhood friendship and mutual distrust into romantic feelings. Viri also discovers that Reeve has always possessed magical abilities because he never underwent Impartation. Wynter has similarly hidden her own magical abilities and faked her Impartation so that she could continue practicing alchemy. The group eventually escapes into the Mistwood, a dangerous region surrounded by blackmist, and uses the magical map to locate the Guardian’s tower.

The journey through the Mistwood becomes increasingly dangerous. Viri and Reeve encounter magical creatures, a wraith that takes the form of Jessalyn, and a massive creature living beneath an underground lake. Reeve is badly injured during the encounter, and Viri uses an alchemical potion to give herself enough strength to fight the creature and save him. Once they reach the magical portal leading to the Guardian’s tower, Viri discovers that it can only be activated through Solace blood. They arrive at the tower expecting to confront the Guardian, only to find Braedan there. Viri finally comes face-to-face with the brother she has spent seven years hunting. However, the confrontation immediately reveals that Braedan is not the true Reaper Lord. Braedan attempts to use a magewish to kill the Reaper Lord, but Reeve prevents the wish because killing the Reaper Lord would cause a magical explosion capable of destroying Aravell. The Guardian explains that the true Reaper Lord is an ancient mage-Reaper hidden within Mount Mort and that Braedan has effectively been serving him.

Viri decides she doesn’t care, she wants to use her wish from the Guardian, but he says he can’t grant someone a wish for a secont time. The Guardian then reveals that Viri has already wished that she forgot some memories from 7 years ago. The Guardian gives Viri the opportunity to recover the memories surrounding her parents’ deaths. Viri discovers that the story she has believed for seven years is completely wrong. On the day of her Impartation ceremony, the obelisk did not simply take her magic. Instead, it flooded her with an enormous amount of raw power. Terrified and unable to control it, young Viri released a blast of magic that killed her parents, Jorth and Amity Solace. Braedan did not murder them. Viri herself accidentally caused their deaths, and her mind subsequently suppressed the memory. Afterward, the Reaper Lord appeared and offered Braedan a bargain: if Braedan became his Reaper Priest and served him, the Reaper Lord would leave Viri alive. Braedan accepted, then siphoned magic from his parents’ bodies and became a Reaper. Viri later used a magewish to erase her own memories of what happened, and she had asked Reeve to stay with Braedan so that her brother would not be alone. Reeve had therefore remained connected to Braedan and the Reapers partly because of his promise to Viri.

Viri also learns that her history is even more unusual than she realized. She had actually died as a baby after being exposed to the blackmist. Her parents used a magewish to resurrect her, and the act bound her life force to the island’s magical system and the obelisks. This explains why her magic is unusually powerful and why she can interact with wards and raw magic differently from everyone else. The Reaper Lord wants to use Viri in the upcoming Orion ritual because her unique connection to the obelisks makes her an exceptionally powerful sacrifice. At the same time, the historical journals reveal that the blackmist itself was deliberately created as part of a plan to contain the Reapers. The mages eventually left the island, while Tephryn remained behind as the Guardian. The population’s memories were altered so that people would accept the official history, including the belief that children needed to surrender their magic to prevent a condition called “burnout.” The system that Viri has spent her entire life protecting was therefore created through manipulation and concealed history.

By the time Viri understands the truth, it is Sunday and the Aurora Comet is about to appear. She returns toward Aravell to warn everyone, but she is captured and taken to the White Tomb cathedral, where she discovers the fifty missing children. Jessalyn, Soren’s younger sister, is among them. The Reaper Lord intends to sacrifice the children during the comet ritual, beginning with Jessalyn. He also destroys Viri’s golden fillium, the weapon she has relied upon throughout her career as a Hunter. Viri is imprisoned and forced to watch as the ritual begins, but she manages to access the unusual ward-magic inside her. She breaks her restraints and destroys the cathedral’s protective wards, allowing the Nox and Hunters to enter and fight the Reapers.

A major battle erupts inside the cathedral. Reeve, Braedan, Wynter, Jonas, and the other allies join Viri against the Reapers. Wynter uses her alchemy against the attackers while the cathedral’s own magic is turned into a weapon. The Reaper Lord attempts to kill Jessalyn with a bone dagger, but Viri creates a ward around the girl that blocks the attack. The children survive and the Reaper Lord is forced to flee. Braedan and his allies also escape before the authorities can capture them. Viri survives the battle and reunites with Reeve afterward. The two share a brief moment of peace, with Viri having finally accepted the truth about her family and her feelings for him.

That peace does not last. After the battle, Viri is suddenly attacked from behind and loses consciousness. She awakens inside Mount Mort in an elaborate room with a red cuff preventing her from accessing her connection to the obelisks. The Reaper Lord arrives and reveals that Viri is still required for the Orion sacrifice. He tells her that she should give up because her brother and all of her friends are in prison. He begins to talk to her, saying that his vendetta started when Viri was a child, when he had two best friends, her parents. That is, until they used his magewish to bring her back alive. So when the time came for him to use his magewish it was gone and it turned him into the reaper. He then removes his disguise and reveals his identity: the Reaper Lord is Sarielle Starling, Viri’s guardian and the woman who has raised her since her parents’ deaths. Sarielle reveals that she has been involved in the ancient legend surrounding Viri and has been watching her since childhood. She is not merely an ally who was deceived by the Reapers; she is the person who has been orchestrating events from behind the scenes. Sarielle then delivers the final revelation: Reeve Ashton is her son. Viri has fallen in love with the son of the woman who has secretly been manipulating her life and is now holding her captive for a future sacrifice.