Chapter 5: Ashes in My Mouth

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• Tethered To Fate    Chapter 103: Beneath the Ash and Stone

  Chapter 103: Beneath the Ash and Stone(Nayla’s POV)The forest felt different this time.It wasn’t just the lingering chill in the air or the way the wind whispered between the branches like it knew my name. It was in the soil. The weight of the air. The pulse beneath my feet.Magic.Old. Ancient. Mine.Dominic walked beside me, silent but sharp-eyed, every step radiating protectiveness. We hadn’t said much on the drive back out here. We didn’t need to.We both felt it — something was waiting.The trees gave way to the clearing like they were bowing back. The old ruins stood in the center, black stone half-swallowed by moss and time. The air here tasted like metal and memory.I stepped forward first, my hand brushing the carved arch at the entrance. It was colder than I remembered.The crescent-shaped symbol etched above the doorway pulsed faintly under my fingers.“I think it’s reacting to you,” Dominic murmured.“I think it always was,” I replied.We moved together through the shat

• Tethered To Fate    Chapter 102: The Breath on Her Neck

  Chapter 102: The Breath on Her NeckNayla’s POV)I had hoped for peace.Just one evening to feel normal. To let the scroll, the prophecy, the mark all blur into the background for a while. But my body wouldn’t let me rest.The cup of tea in my hands had long gone cold, but I hadn’t moved from the window. The skyline stretched wide and glittering beyond the glass, but I wasn’t looking at it.I was listening.To nothing.And somehow, that was worse.Asena stirred faintly within me. No growl. No warning. But her presence had shifted — her energy leaned toward the window like something was calling to her.I stepped outside onto the balcony, drawing my robe tighter around my body. The city below pulsed and breathed, oblivious to the storm crawling into our world. The wind wasn’t cold, but it bit at my skin like it knew I didn’t belong to stillness tonight.That’s when I felt it.It didn’t come as a scent or a sound. Just a sensation.A breath.Not mine.The fine hairs on the back of my nec

• Tethered To Fate    Chapter 101: The Weight of the Mark

  Chapter 101: The Weight of the Mark(Nayla’s POV)I didn’t hear the front door open.I didn’t even notice Dominic until I felt his presence behind me—calm, steady, but tightly coiled. The scroll had long since burned to ash, but I was still on the floor, cradling my marked hand to my chest, heart thudding like a war drum.“Nayla.” His voice was low, but sharp with concern. “What happened?”I turned slowly. He took one look at me, then at the soot-stained table and the scorch marks on the wood, and his whole body tensed.“I’m okay,” I said too quickly. My voice cracked, giving me away. “Mostly.”He was beside me in seconds, kneeling as his hands hovered over my shoulders, my arms, then my hand.“Let me see,” he said gently.I hesitated, then held my palm out. The mark was still glowing faintly, the heat subsiding but not gone. Dominic’s brow furrowed as he studied it—his thumb brushing just shy of the skin.“That’s the symbol from the scroll,” he said. “From the sketchbook, too.”“I di

• Tethered To Fate    Chapter 100: Mark of the Unknown

  Chapter 100: Mark of the Unknown(Nayla’s POV)The apartment was too quiet.Not peaceful quiet — not the kind that wraps around your shoulders like a blanket — but the eerie stillness before a storm. Even the hum of the city below felt distant, muffled by something I couldn’t name.I sat cross-legged on the floor beside the coffee table, the scroll from the temple spread out in front of me like an offering. The ancient paper pulsed faintly beneath my fingers, its symbols inked in blood-red and fading gold.I had been studying it for hours, tracing the runes, trying to understand why some moved when I blinked while others stayed frozen. My notes were scattered around me, filled with fragments that barely made sense:Where shadow drinks blood, the line must be drawn.Flame answers blood. The heir must burn or rise.A mark appears before the fall of fate.I didn’t understand.Asena stirred inside me. Not alarmed—but watching. Alert. Her energy pressed softly against my skin, like she was

• Tethered To Fate    Chapter 99: The Price Of Failure

  Chapter 99: The Price of Failure (Nikolai’s POV – First Person) She didn’t even look surprised to see me. Jaime stood near the broken window, her arms crossed like that might keep her spine from shaking. The wind slipped through the cracked glass and pushed her hair into her face. She didn’t brush it away. “You’re early,” she said quietly. I shut the door behind me. The lock clicked like a clock running out. “I thought you might’ve done something worth rewarding,” I said. “But here I am.” Her lips parted, but no words came. “Still no potion in her blood, Jaime?” I asked, voice deceptively calm. “Still no severed bond?” “She’s been locked down,” she said quickly. “Security around her’s tightened. I couldn’t get close.” “You told me you had access to her. That Dominic was growing careless. That he left openings.” “I thought he did,” she snapped back. “But she barely leaves the damn apartment. Maybe once. A coffee shop run and nothing since. I couldn’t—” “You couldn’t do the

• Tethered To Fate    Chapter 98: Fire Beneath the Crown

  Chapter 98: Fire Beneath the Crown (Nikolai’s POV – First Person) The moment I cracked the seal on the ash-scented parchment, I knew. She found it. The note inside was brief, but it might as well have been a gunshot to the chest. She’s awakened the temple. Your window is closing. Move or be erased. I crushed the message in my fist. The ink smeared against my palm, bleeding like a wound. For a long moment, I said nothing. Just stood in the middle of my office, staring out the window at the horizon, watching the sun sink behind the forest that had hidden too many secrets for far too long. She was never supposed to find that place. The Crescent Ridge Temple was sealed for a reason—forgotten by design. I made sure of it. Her mother had hidden it with blood, magic, and fear. I made sure every trace of it was buried beneath ash and shadow. And yet… she found it. Nayla. The girl who was supposed to be weak. Lost. Dependent. I gave her that apartment. Arranged the conditions so sh