The Eclipse-Kept Hour

At the Temple of the Unmoving Hour, Iolanthe Cassiopeia inherits her mother’s frozen hourglass and hears a thirteenth bell no one else can hear. The omen leads her to Aetheros, the eclipse-bound god imprisoned inside the constellation her bloodline has sworn to keep.

Every skin-to-skin touch wakes him further and leaves a silver mark on her body, trading pieces of her mortal life for his freedom. When the millennium eclipse aligns, Iolanthe must choose between obedience, sacrifice, and a third path her mother hid in the stars.

Every kiss erases an hour from my life. He counts them by the stars.