THE SIN-EATER'S TITHE

Zoey Fantasy

BLURB/SYNOPSIS
For twenty years, Vesper has been the village's living trash heap. As a Sin-Eater, she absorbs the moral rot of her neighbours, her skin a map of black, vine-like tattoos representing the crimes of others. But Vesper carries a secret that is not her own: a jagged mark over her heart stolen from her dying mother, a "Black Sin" that belongs to no human but the monster that haunts the woods.
When a supernatural plague begins to wither the village, the elders decide a final sacrifice is needed to appease the Sentient Forest. Vesper is chosen as the Tithe. Expecting a brutal death, she is instead met by Caspian, the Lord of the Briars. Caspian is a cursed heir turned forest-god, crowned in thorns and draped in shadows. He doesn't want her blood; he wants the "Black Sin" ; she carries a piece of his own discarded humanity that Vesper's mother stole centuries ago to keep him weak.
Caspian brings Vesper to his palace of Thorns, but he cannot simply take the sin back. Because it was "eaten" with a mother's love, the magic has fused to Vesper's soul. To retrieve it, Caspian must make Vesper "un-eat" it—a process of dark intimacy and ritual that requires them to share their most guarded memories. As they begin the rituals, the "rot" Vesper has carried for years begins to bleed into Caspian, while his ancient, cold power begins to warm her.
As an intense, forbidden attraction grows between the sacrifice and the monster, Casper discovers the village elders didn't send her to appease the forest, they sent her as a weapon. The plague was a trap designed to lure Caspian out so the village could use Vesper's "Black Sin" to kill him and claim the forest magic for themselves.
Vesper must choose: return to people she spent her life saving but who ultimately betrayed her, or embrace her darkness and stand with the Lord of Briars. In a final act of defiance, Vesper refuses to be a vessel for anyone else's sins. She and Caspian forge a new pact, turning the "Black Sin" into a weapon that destroys the corrupt elders, leaving Vesper and Caspian to rule a forest that finally belongs to the monsters.

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