Before Root & Ruin

Aisling of Ashwood has seen her own death. In a vision of blood and white flowers, she watched herself die in the arms of a man she hasn't met yet—a man from the enemy clan that has waged war against her people for two brutal generations. She should be terrified. Instead, she goes looking for him. Brennan of Thornhall is the heir to everything Aisling should hate. His father's warriors have burned her villages and murdered her kin. But Brennan carries the crushing guilt of his bloodline's cruelty, and when he meets a healer's daughter with autumn fire in her hair and visions of peace in her eyes, he discovers something more dangerous than war: hope. Their love is impossible. Their clans would kill them for it. But Aisling has seen a future where the bloodshed ends—and it requires them both, a sacred grove older than memory, and an oath sworn in blood and sealed in desire. What she hasn't told Brennan is the rest of her vision: the peace they create will cost them everything. In a world where the land itself is listening, two lovers will make a sacrifice that echoes through three generations—awakening a hunger that will bind their descendants to blood, desire, and oaths that endure beyond death. This is where it all began. This is the love story that started the legend.