Blood Oath, Oak Heart

What would you sacrifice to save the one you love? Elara's brother, Liam, is dying. Medicine has failed, and a terrifying, unexplainable sickness is claiming him, painting his skin with black, spidering veins. With hope lost, Elara turns to the old tales whispered in the dark: of the Heartwood Oak, an ancient entity deep in the woods that can cure any ill. But the Old Man of the Wood does not deal in coin. His currency is life. Desperate, Elara makes a blood oath. To grant her brother a month of life, she must perform a "Harvest"—she must take another human life and pour their blood upon the roots. What begins as a desperate bid to save her brother quickly spirals into a nightmare. The first kill is messy, brutal, and stains her soul. But it works. Liam is healed. As the month wanes, the Oak demands another offering. And then another. Each Harvest is easier than the last, each justification thinner. To protect her brother, Elara becomes a monster, a ghost haunting her own town, hunted by a sheriff who was once her closest friend. But the Oak is not finished with her. Its final demand will force Elara to choose between the life of the last good man she knows, and the brother she sold her soul to save. To break this cycle of blood, she must outwit an ancient evil with a sacrifice of her own—one that could destroy them all. Blood Oath, Oak Heart is a chilling descent into folk horror and moral decay, perfect for fans of The Twisted Ones and The Only Good Indians. How far would you go for family, and what remains of you when the debt can only be paid in blood?