Fates That Bind

by Ashtyn Kiana

Most of Renata Blackthorn’s life has been spent hiding–avoiding her mother’s cruelty, ashamed of her powerful spirit magic, and dreaming of escaping from her childhood home. As the only gray witch in a family of green witches, she’s always been an outsider. But the Blackthorn family curse, which afflicts those born with spirit magic, only makes her feel more isolated.

When a letter arrives from a late great-aunt, Renata inherits the eerie, crumbling Dreaming Willow Inn… Alongside it comes a she’s the only one who can end the madness.

There are many places she has dreamed of running away to, but the inn where the curse started was one she hoped to avoid in every lifetime. Until it becomes a beacon of hope.

Once she steps foot on its grounds, fate stirs. So do the ghosts of her family’s past.

Renata quickly learns how the curse affects more than just her bloodline and its ability to give her everything she’s ever wanted—or take it all away, including her newfound coven and the man she never expected to meet in person, Archer Vexley.

After a decade of only finding him while sleeping, Archer is in Briarhollow with just as many ancestral ties to the Dreaming Willow Inn as she has. Not only that, he’s determined to learn more about the woman from his dreams.

Renata never thought she would meet him in person, or have a coven of her own. Now that she has everything, she won’t let fate rip it away.

Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 13, 2026

About the author

Ashtyn Kiana is an indie author whose debut novel came out September 2024. Her day job doesn’t leave a lot of room for creativity, so she started writing her first novel as a way to express that side of herself. Ashtyn writes loves stories that are heartfelt, emotional, and swoony with a good helping of spice! When she’s not writing, she’s probably walking her dogs, making macrame, or at a local coffee shop.