All Chapters of Thorns Of The Blood Moon: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I watched her arrive from the solitude of the northern tower, the stone walls cool against my palm as I leaned forward slightly. The castle shifted subtly around me, a ripple in the wards responding to her presence. It was subtle, nearly imperceptible—but unmistakable.She stepped from the carriage confidently, cloak billowing behind her like a flag. Delphine Ashwood. The witch sent by the Council, whether I wanted her here or not. Her hair caught the dying sunlight like embers, and she surveyed Castle Thorne not with the expected caution but with something dangerously close to excitement.She wasn’t afraid. That concerned me.Valesa joined me a moment later, her footsteps soft and deliberate on the polished stone. Her presence was always steadying, a quiet voice of reason in a castle steeped in secrets and shadows. She followed my gaze, studying Delphine with guarded interest.“You disapprove,” I said quietly, not turning to face her.“She’s powerful,” Valesa conceded carefully. “But

I didn't stop running until I’d reached the quiet corridor leading back to the safety of the East Wing. My breath came in ragged gasps, heart pounding as though I'd just sprinted headfirst into a battle instead of away from one. And perhaps I had. Battles with unknown magic were rarely obvious until after the first strike.I pressed my palm against the cool stone wall, willing my heartbeat to slow, my magic to stop buzzing through my veins like fireflies startled into flight. The mirror's image replayed vividly in my mind: Theron Valemont’s eyes locked onto mine, cold and piercing, as if he'd expected me—waited for me—to find him there, beneath layers of forgotten magic and hidden truths.“Stupid,” I muttered to myself, fingers curling tightly into my cloak. “Stupid and reckless, even by your standards, Delphine.”Footsteps sounded softly down the hall, approaching swiftly. I straightened, smoothing my expression into something less frantic as Mira appeared, worry etched clearly acros

I rose at dawn after a restless night filled with fragmented dreams and whispered magic lingering at the edge of my awareness. Castle Thorne’s presence remained steady around me, less threatening than curious, like an entity that had yet to decide if I was ally or enemy.Or perhaps simply prey.Either way, today was for answers. I refused to linger passively, waiting for Theron Valemont or his eerie castle to dictate my next move.By the time Mira knocked softly on my door, I'd already arranged a fresh array of warding runes across the table, a spell-circle woven with silver thread that pulsed gently beneath my fingertips.“Come in,” I called softly, glancing up as she entered.She approached hesitantly, holding a breakfast tray balanced carefully with tea, warm pastries, and fresh fruit. “You’re up early.”“I don’t sleep much when there are secrets lurking about,” I replied with a faint smile. “And this castle has more secrets than stones.”Mira offered a weak laugh, setting the tray

She smiled at me.After everything—after breaking into the most dangerous part of the castle, after stepping into sealed magic with reckless ease, after throwing my carefully laid silence back in my face—she looked at me and smiled.And worse?The castle liked it.I felt it the moment she walked away. The wards shifted. The walls exhaled. Magic that had lain dormant for decades stirred again, awakened by her presence. Not hostile. Not yet. But eager. Curious.Welcoming.Delphine Ashwood hadn’t just walked into Castle Thorne—she’d unsettled it, teased it, made it lean forward like a predator intrigued by the scent of something new. Something powerful.I stood in the observatory, above the greenhouses where our conversation had ended, watching her disappear down the winding garden path. Even now, long after her presence had vanished from sight, the magic clung to the space she’d left behind.She was supposed to be a contractor. A tool.Instead, she was becoming a catalyst.After making

I didn’t expect to see him again so soon.After the strange surge in the leyline map and Cassian’s not-so-veiled threats, I’d planned to spend the night reworking my warding patterns and not thinking about Theron Valemont’s voice in the back of my skull. I was mid-ritual—salt circle laid, candles relit, notebook open to page seven of increasingly worried observations—when another note appeared.Slid under my door. Again. No knock. No warning.Just the familiar cold, precise handwriting that made something sharp curl low in my stomach.Meet me in the greenhouse. Midnight. —TNo greeting. No request. Just another demand wrapped in distance and frost.Naturally, I went.Not because he asked. But because I wanted to know why.—Midnight in Castle Thorne was a different kind of quiet. Not empty. Never empty. But hushed, like the walls were listening. Judging.The greenhouse sat beyond the east courtyard, tucked between two ancient spires and surrounded by creeping bramble. Moonlight poured