Christmas in ashes
This Christmas, Elora discovers the one thing more dangerous than the monster in the snow…
is the truth buried in her blood.
When Elora returns to her family’s remote winter lodge for the holidays, she expects awkward dinners, annoying relatives, and too much peppermint hot chocolate.
She doesn’t expect glowing eyes watching her from the forest or a beautiful, terrifying stranger whispering her name through the storm.
They call him “The Winter King” a forbidden, ancient being who chooses one mortal bride every generation.
A bride he marks.A bride he claims.
A bride he hunts.
And this year, he chooses her.
As secrets erupt, doors splinter, and frost creeps beneath her skin, Elora is forced into a deadly game of desire and survival. Her uncle reveals the truth: their bloodline has been hiding from the Winter King for centuries and LIORA was never supposed to exist long enough for him to find.
But he has found her and he will never stop.Because the moment he spoke her true name,she became his.
Now, trapped between a family that lied to protect her and a dark, magnetic creature determined to claim her soul, Liora must decide,it's either she Runs,Fight,or surrender to the forbidden bond pulling her toward him… even as the snow outside turns red.
Read
Chapter: Chapter 69: Aftershocks Hallowpine doesn’t explode after the hearing. It vibrates,That’s the more dangerous kind of reaction.Explosions burn out fast, Vibrations travel through walls, through routines, through conversations that pretend to be casual but aren’t. By evening, the town feels like a glass held too close to a speaker,every surface humming with something no one wants to name.We don’t go home right away.Lucien insists we circle the long way, past the mill road and the river bend, where the trees grow dense enough to block sightlines. He doesn’t say ambush, but his shoulders are tight, his eyes always moving.“They’ll spin it,” Ruby says from the back seat. “You know that.”“Yes,” I replied. “But spinning takes time. Silence takes coordination. They don’t have that anymore.”Milo watches the passing trees. “People were looking at you like they didn’t know where to put you.”“That’s good,” Ruby says. “That’s the face right before doubt.”The presence stirs, slower now, like something settling aft
Last Updated: 2026-01-25
Chapter: CHAPTER 68: The HearingThey call it a hearing because the trial would be too honest.The word sounds clean and. Neutral,As if what’s about to happen is merely procedural and not a coordinated attempt to compress a living person into something manageable. The notice arrives before dawn, slid under the door like a confession no one wants to own.Emergency Mental Health Review. Community Safety Consideration.Elias’s handwriting isn’t on it, but his logic is. Gideon’s voice hums between the lines, sanctified and calm. They didn’t choose violence because violence leaves marks. This leaves paperwork.Lucien reads it once, then again, jaw tight. “They’re invoking emergency authority. If they control the framing, they control the outcome.”“They won’t,” I say.Ruby snorts. “Bold of you to assume they won’t try.”Milo sits very still at the table, reading the paper upside down. He doesn’t need to understand the words to know what they’re for. “They want you quiet,” he says.“Yes,” I replied. “But they also want wit
Last Updated: 2026-01-21
Chapter: CHAPTER 67:What they buried still breathes Morning comes whether you want it to or not, the light sneaks in thin and gray like it’s not sure it’s welcome, I stay at the kitchen table way past when the sun’s properly up, last night’s memories still looping behind my eyes, twelve years old, snow everywhere, blood that wasn’t mine on the ground, a prayer I said too late when nobody was listening anyway.Ruby won’t sit still, she keeps wiping counters that are already clean, folding and unfolding a dish towel like it’ll keep everything from falling apart, Lucien looks like he hasn’t slept in days, his eyes red-rimmed and restless, Milo just watches us all quiet, the way kids do when they’ve already figured out grown-ups are full of shit but haven’t decided what to do about it yet.The thing inside me, the silver, whatever you want to call it, is quiet for once, not gone, just waiting.Lucien finally breaks the silence, “They’re not gonna let this slide, Elias especially.”“No,” I say, “he’ll run from it as fast as he can.”Ruby
Last Updated: 2026-01-18
Chapter: CHAPTER 66: The thing that chose meThe first time the silver said my name, I didn't actually hear it.I just... remembered it. That's the difference, and it's finally clicking now while I'm standing in this freezing kitchen at dawn, gray light leaking in, Milo slumped asleep at the table because he flat-out refused to go back to bed.Memory isn't sound. It's more like something inside you suddenly sitting up and going, Oh. There you are.The presence gives one slow pulse. Not frantic. Not screaming. Just deliberate.“Cognitive barrier weakening,” it says. “Retrieval possible.”I grip the mug Ruby basically forced into my hands tighter. “Retrieval of what?”Lucien snaps his head up. He's been too quiet since last night,way too quiet,like he's waiting for something bad he already knows is coming.The silver doesn't rush to answer.Milo does,“It didn't start here,” he says, so soft it almost disappears.Everything stops,Ruby freezes with one foot still in the air. Lucien turns all the way around. Even the damn house feel
Last Updated: 2026-01-16
Chapter: CHAPTER 65: When the mirror breaksThe snow finally quit sometime before dawn, but the whole town still looked frozen in place-sharp, brittle, like one wrong step and something would shatter. Hallowpine was holding its breath,or maybe I was the one holding mine.I woke up heavy, that familiar silver weight sitting right under my ribs, throbbing soft and low like it already knew the day was going to suck before I did. Milo was still out cold next to me, curled in on himself the way little kids do when they feel safe, which just made everything feel more fragile. God, that innocence-it’s the worst kind of shield.Lucien was already up, pacing by the window like he does when he’s restless. “They’re gearing up,” he said, not even turning around. “You can feel it. The streets smell different.”“For what?” I asked, even though the answer was already crawling up my throat.“Everything.” He gave a short, bitter laugh. “Last night didn’t fix a damn thing. You shoved the truth in their faces. Now they’re scheming the parts they
Last Updated: 2026-01-14
Chapter: CHAPTER 64: The cost of being seenBeing seen isn’t free, it just sends the bill later, usually when you’re already tired.The morning after the council meeting, Hallowpine stops acting polite, no more sideways glances or fake smiles, people look right at me now, some grateful, some pissed, most carrying something heavier, like they’ve just realized they’ve been part of something ugly and can’t hand the guilt back.Ruby flips the shop sign from CLOSED to OPEN with a big theatrical swing.“If they’re gonna stare,” she says, “let’s give them something worth watching.”Lucien gives a short laugh that doesn’t reach his eyes.“You’re actually enjoying this, aren’t you.”“Chaos is more fun with an audience,” she answers, shrugging.Milo’s perched on the counter, legs swinging slow, eyes sharp and quiet, he’s not hiding anymore, he’s watching everything like he’s taking notes for later.The silver in my chest hums soft and steady.“Post exposure stabilization in progress,” the presence says, “secondary pressure vectors probab
Last Updated: 2026-01-12
Beneath the confession
When novices begin disappearing into the night, Sister Caterina, a brilliant, tormented novice fighting her vows, is pulled into a storm of lust, lies, and buried evil.
As explosive passion erupts between her and the charismatic Father Jordan Brick, centuries of conspiracy claw to the surface: secret recordings that could destroy the powerful, staged miracles, and a monstrous crime the Church itself was built to conceal.
In this house of God, every soul wears a mask. Every confession is a weapon. And the kindest priest in the monastery may be the devil they invited in.
A dark gothic thriller of psychological suspense, forbidden hunger, and shattering betrayals, where nothing is holy, and no one is who they seem.
I welcome you guys to St Eudoxia’s ancient seminary and convent, where forbidden desires burn behind stone walls and blood stains the sacred tunnels.
This is definitely an explicit story,under 18 really shouldn't consume this.
Read
Chapter: Chapter 47Caterina's povI couldn’t sleep.After I left Jordan in the corridor and made it back to my cell, I bolted the door and just sat on the edge of the bed in the dark for a long time.The rain was still coming down outside, soft but steady, the kind that makes everything feel heavier than it already is. My body was tired, but my mind wouldn’t shut up. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Vittorio’s face in that hallway—the way he’d looked at me when he talked about curiosity becoming a problem.He wasn’t going to wait much longer.I lay down eventually, still fully dressed, and stared at the ceiling. The monastery had a particular kind of quiet at night. More like the building itself was listening. Every distant footstep, every creak of old wood, every shift in the wind against the windows felt louder than it should have, but I kept replaying the afternoon in my head: the bishop looking smaller than ever in that chair, the things he’d said about truth not landing cleanly, and then Vittori
Last Updated: 2026-10-06
Chapter: Chapter 46JordanI didn’t go straight back to my cell after we left Vittorio standing outside my father’s door.My hands were still tight, and the adrenaline hadn’t burned off yet. Walking the long way around the cloisters helped a little. The rain had slowed to a fine mist that clung to everything, making the stone darker and the air heavier. A couple of novices passed me with their heads down. One of the older priests nodded out of habit and kept walking.Nobody wanted to linger in open space anymore. You could feel it in the way people moved—the shorter steps, quieter voices, and eyes that checked corners before committing to a direction.By the time I reached the small side courtyard near the old laundry buildings, my pulse had settled enough that I could think clearly again.Vittorio hadn’t been bluffing. That much was obvious. The way he stood in the corridor, the way he looked at Caterina when he spoke about “curiosity becoming a problem”—he'd already decided we were past the point of w
Last Updated: 2026-09-29
Chapter: Chapter 45Jordan's POV The quietness in the corridor got heavier; I was certain this wasn’t a coincidence, and we both knew it.For a second nobody moved.Vittorio stood there in the corridor like he’d been waiting for exactly this, that smooth little half-smile on his face that never reached his eyes.Behind us, I could still feel the weight of the study—my father sitting weak in that chair, the things we’d just said hanging in the air. In front of us, Vittorio blocked the way like he owned the stones under our feet.“Father Brick,” he said again, soft and polite. “Sister Caterina. Funny running into you here.”Caterina shifted half a step closer to me, not like she was hiding; she was just ready.“We were leaving,” I said. Kept my voice even. “His Excellency needs rest.”Vittorio’s eyes flicked past me into the room, then back. “Of course. How thoughtful of you both to check on him. Especially given… everything.”The way he said “everything” made the hallway feel narrower.I didn’t answer. C
Last Updated: 2026-09-28
Chapter: Chapter 44JordanSo I was about to visit the Bishop,my supposed father,I didn’t even expect Caterina to come with me to see him.When I told her I was going to the bishop’s study that afternoon, she just looked at me for a second and said, “I’m coming.” No debate,no long explanation,I was scared and shocked at the same time.She just fell into step beside me like it was the most natural thing in the world.The corridors felt longer than usual on the way there. Rain was still tapping at the windows. A couple of the younger priests watched us pass but didn’t say anything. At this point, people were mostly just trying to stay out of the way of whatever was breaking open.The study door was half open. I knocked once and went in. My father was in the same chair as last time, blanket over his knees, looking even smaller. His skin had that gray look that doesn’t lie. He glanced up when we entered, and his eyes moved from me to Caterina and stayed there a moment longer than was comfortable.“You broug
Last Updated: 2026-09-26
Chapter: Chapter 43VittorioI knew the ledgers were gone before the full report even landed.The two men I sent down came back looking like failure itself.Over a simple job, come on. Half the active volumes were missing; there was absolutely no sign of forced entry that pointed clearly to anyone. There were just empty shelves where the most useful materials were supposed to be.I asked them to get out, then stood there in the guest suite staring at the rain on the window while reality settled in.Brick and the girl had to be.Agnes probably cleared the path for them. That old woman had been shifting for days, and now the cost of it was sitting right in front of me.The photographs were already outside. The city had already begun asking financial questions. And now the living confessions—the real leverage—were out of my reach. What was left below was history and machinery. Useful in the right hands. Dangerous in the wrong ones. And currently sitting there like a loaded problem I couldn’t fully contro
Last Updated: 2026-09-25
Chapter: Chapter 42Jordan I couldn't sleep much after we got the ledgers out; every time I closed my eyes, I saw those two men standing in the chamber, realizing half the shelves were already empty. By morning I was running on nerves and the leftover tension from the tunnels.The monastery felt off the second I stepped into the cloister. I could notice people watching more and saying less. Two of the younger priests who’d been hanging around the lower doors yesterday were nowhere in sight. Vittorio showed his face once in the courtyard, talked to someone, and then vanished again. That man only disappears when he’s planning something ugly.I saw Caterina across the chapel during morning prayers. She looked so tired but steady. We didn’t need words. The ledgers were safe, and we were still standing. That was enough for now.After the service I went looking for Agnes. and I found her near the belltower stairs, like she was waiting for me.“He knows,” she said without a hello. “The missing volumes. He’s
Last Updated: 2026-09-24
LOGIN
