Author’s Note

Dear Reader,

In this chapter, the spark ignites. The world widens, the stakes sharpen, and desire begins to twist itself into something both beautiful and dangerous. You will witness the first tremors of connection—electric, insistent, threading through marrow and blood alike—as two souls feel the pull of fire and shadow.

This is a chapter of observation, of recognition, of fleeting glances and subtle gestures that imprint themselves on the bones. Approach with an open heart and steady breath; the pull is irresistible, but the fall is only beginning.

Step lightly. Step willingly. Step into the first sparks of devotion, temptation, and sacred chaos.

Of Ashes & Reverence

Chapter Two
The First Spark

Before the chapel,
before the hunger,
before I knew how willing I was to burn—
there was her laugh.

That’s what I remember first.

It sliced through the hush of the old bookstore like lightning splitting open a storm. Not a giggle. Not a chuckle. A laugh—sharp and wild, as if joy had teeth and she liked the taste of it. Everyone else flinched. I turned my head.

She was leaning against the poetry shelf, one boot hooked around the other, thumbing through a weathered copy of Baudelaire like she was skimming a diary she’d written in another life. Her hair was a halo of disorder, and her lips were painted the color of spilled wine.

And gods, she was dangerous.

I felt it before I understood it. The way the air stilled around her, the way people gave her space without realizing they were doing it. She wasn’t loud—she didn’t need to be. She simply was. Like fire. Like prophecy.

I watched her for too long.

She looked up.

And she saw me.

No smile. No twitch of surprise. Just eyes that pinned me to the spot. They weren’t seductive—not yet. They were curious. Like she was trying to decide whether I was worth devouring. I held her gaze and forgot how breathing worked.

“You like watching, don’t you?” she asked.
Not accusing. Not mocking.
Just…observant. Dangerous in the way truth always is.

I opened my mouth to lie.
Closed it.

She smirked and tilted her head, and the silver in her ear caught the light like a warning. “Good.”

She slid the book back onto the shelf and walked away.

No name. No number.

Just that laugh again—low, amused—and a glance over her shoulder that would haunt me for weeks. I didn’t follow. I couldn’t. My legs didn’t trust me to stand.

But from that moment on, I was marked.

Not by words.
Not by touch.
But by possibility.

The possibility that someone like her could see someone like me—hungry, hidden, half-formed—and still want to light a match.

I saw her three more times before the chapel.
Each time, she pulled a little more of me into her gravity.
Each time, I went willingly.

Closing Note

As the story unfolds, boundaries will stretch, trust will be tested, and the fire will blaze hotter. Each moment builds on the last, drawing you deeper into a world where desire and reverence collide. What begins with curiosity and fascination will not remain small for long—brace yourself for the path ahead.

The chapel waits. The flames are patient. The journey—your surrender—has only just begun.

—Rowan Evans

Of Ashes & Reverence

Chapter One | The Chapel
Enter the ruined chapel where shadows breathe and desire burns. Chapter One of “Of Ashes & Reverence” introduces Gabriel and Lilith in a hauntingly intimate, Neo-Gothic world where love, pain, and devotion intertwine.

Chapter Three | Scorchmarks
Chapter Three of Of Ashes & Reverence leads you into the silence after fire—the place where worship and ruin are inseparable. Lilith and Gabriel step deeper into their sacred chaos, where strength is redefined, and surrender leaves scars that feel like prayer.