Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (z-lib.org).mobi

“The usual kind,” I said with some annoyance. “If you don’t want to answer
me, just say so.”
“I don’t want to answer you.”
“Oh.”
Then he sighed and said, “One hundred and twenty. Give or take.”
“What?” I squeaked. The soldiers sitting across from me glanced over.
“That’s impossible,” I said more quietly.
He looked into the flames. “When a fire burns, it uses up the wood. It devours
it, leaving only ash. Grisha power doesn’t work that way.”
“How does it work?”
“Using our power makes us stronger. It feeds us instead of consuming us.
Most Grisha live long lives.”
“But not one hundred and twenty years.”
“No,” he admitted. “The length of a Grisha’s life is proportional to his or her
power. The greater the power, the longer the life. And when that power is
amplified …” He trailed off with a shrug.
“And you’re a living amplifier. Like Ivan’s bear.”
The hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Like Ivan’s bear.”
An unpleasant thought occurred to me. “But that means—”
“That my bones or a few of my teeth would make another Grisha very
powerful.”
“Well, that’s completely creepy. Doesn’t it worry you a little bit?”
“No,” he said simply. “Now you answer my question. What kind of stories
were you told about me?”
I shifted uncomfortably. “Well … our teachers told us that you strengthened
the second Army by gathering Grisha from outside of Ravka.”
“I didn’t have to gather them. They came to me. Other countries don’t treat
their Grisha so well as Ravka,” he said grimly. “The Fjerdans burn us as witches,
and the Kerch sell us as slaves. The Shu Han carve us up seeking the source of
our power. What else?”
“They said you were the strongest Darkling in generations.”
“I didn’t ask you for flattery.”
I fingered a loose thread on the cuff of my kefta. He watched me, waiting.
“Well,” I said, “there was an old serf who worked on the estate …”
“Go on,” he said. “Tell me.”
“He … he said that Darklings are born without souls. That only something
truly evil could have created the Shadow Fold.” I glanced at his cold face and
added hastily, “But Ana Kuya sent him packing and told us it was all peasant
superstition.”