TETHERED IN ASH AND STARLIGHT A Dark Romantasy Novella Every bond has a price. Every love has a choice. Damon Ryse doesn't believe in fate-especially not when it comes wrapped in glowing runes and forged in blood. As an elite magical hunter in a world where enchantment leaks into the cracks of reality, he's spent years containing breaches, breaking spells, and keeping the modern world safe from mythic chaos. The last thing he expects is to be tethered-soul-bound-to an exiled elven sentinel with a sword sharper than her tongue and zero patience for humans. Lirael Virelen didn't ask to be cast out from the Courts. And she certainly didn't ask to be magically chained to a reckless mortal who thinks sarcasm counts as strategy. But when their clash in a rain-soaked London alley triggers an impossible soul bond, it becomes clear this wasn't an accident. It was a design. Because the tether between Damon and Lirael isn't just a connection-it's a prototype. A weaponized blueprint for turning bonded souls into soldiers. And someone-or something-has been forging these bonds across realms, stitching memory into flesh and activating tethered pairs like pieces on a board. Now hunted by the Revenant that engineered their chain, Damon and Lirael are forced into an alliance neither of them wants. But as they're dragged through the cracks between worlds-pursued by stitched-mouthed horrors and corrupted bonded pairs-they begin to remember the truth: They've been here before. They've fought together before. They've died together before. And this time, their survival depends on the one thing fate can't force: Choice. Content Note: This book contains mature themes, violence, steam, and complex moral questions. Intended for adult readers.