Moonbound: The Curse of Ashfall

iage. Lyra had never been this far out before. Most people avoided this side of Ashfall-calling it cursed, quiet, or simply wrong. It didn't a

ing. Thunder murmured somewhere behind the hills. The estate was close-she could feel it, not just s

. Ivy curled like veins over their surfaces, and something in t

red after a cur

utters, cracked and curling from years of disrepair, framed each window. The roof sagged slightly on one side, a

ring up at the manor like it might

mbered her mo

Estate... that's w

he stepp

ned with a groan li

through stained glass windows, casting colored shadows on the marbled floor. A staircase curved up to a dark

asn't empty-i

g the note in her coat pocket. Every instinct told her she shouldn'

like something in her blo

ortraits; a library with collapsed shelves and mildew-stained books; a ballroom that smelled of mildew and f

re she found

with brushstrokes so fine it felt more like a memory than a painting. A tall man stood at the center, eyes pale as snow, hair silver eve

ch

wide eyes and a loc

lo

wasn't her-but she looked like her

e brass plaque ben

y – Elias, Moira,

ra

ance

't look mad or cursed. She looked fierce. Determin

had she

rhead, so sharp it

d and near

od in the

voice was smooth, deep, with an old-world cad

, dangerous grace-like a wolf that had learned how to walk on two legs. His skin

ray.

he man in t

er pocket, fingers brushing the e

, smile faint. "Yo

ho

ira

pounded. "Y

on hers. "In a way. Time's a strange thing

't answer m

"My name is Dorian Lockwood. Last of the Lockwood b

ned. "I'

ot by name." His smile vanished. "That makes

hoice. Her knees hit a dust-covered sofa, and she

is supposed to hold the truth. M

aid. "But answer

ind of

expression hardened. "The fore

eaked as lightning flar

out a small, leather-bound journal. He

. She left it behind wh

ened th

as still legible. Moira's voice spoke fr

we. The curse is not just in blood-it's i

e to bind it. Or one

uched by decay. It smelled faintly of cedar and lavender, and though the sheets were clean, the windows refuse

urs reading

osed the covenant-she

But vows made in blood and moonlight cannot

ient place at the heart of the forest

t the forest had first spoken. Wh

ra would hav

was underlin

est stirs. Those cursed will hear the howling within them, and t

returned to

, watching the storm cloud

" he asked wi

"The shrine.

for it has ever come back whole. Som

d to f

ring across his face. "You

me. I feel it. It's waking up, and i

g unreadable in his expression.

aid. "It's fear of becoming

ffered a slow nod. "Th

ou

said. "

the manor

ne altars cracked by roots and wooden effigies hung with raven feathers an

est's edge was someone

ow

a cloak darker than night. There were silver lines em

l you," he said quietly. "I didn

nd on Rowan's shou

ook so sure. "

kno

. "You feel it, don't you? The pull under y

no

y gets

en teach me to hear it. B

ayed with the wind but stood utterly still, like they were listening. The bir

s is Moonroot. You'll need it to enter the s

at it. "Wi

't lie.

ank it

d touched her tongue

g on earth anymore-she was walking through memory, through shadow, through

in silver light

vered in lunar runes that glowed faintly as she appro

ingle pedes

owl, empty but fo

moth

ut, and the mo

oed through

e Hollow. The curse is not your

r knees as her ve

ng inside h

I reje