Embers of the Marked Heart

Rain falls on Brackenmere as Poppy Ashworth climbs the rise back to the only home she has left, the village that once revered her mother's healing hands and now whispers of disgrace. The satchel at her hip holds little more than dried foxglove and yarrow, but the burden she carries is heavier: a family name turned to ash, a brother to protect, and a silence she swore to keep. When a bleeding stranger collapses at the village edge, bearing a strange, branded mark seared into his skin, Poppy cannot walk away. His name is Elias Thorne, and the mark he carries belongs to a world she was told had been buried forever. Dr. Lena Voss arrives with questions wrapped in clinical calm. Margot Finch watches from her shop window, smiling too knowingly. Cyrus Vane, a man whose power runs beneath the village like old roots, begins to circle. And Rogue Hollow, crumbling, secretive, hers, holds its breath as Poppy chooses whether to hand Elias over, hide him, or follow the ember of truth burning at the center of his secret. Because some marks do not simply appear. They are placed. And whoever placed his is coming to collect.