The Nullmark

"Every sigil is a promise: one gift, one purpose, and a life measured out in ash."

ONE TOUCH BOUND THEM TOGETHER. ONE CHOICE COULD UNMAKE THEM BOTH.

On the moon of Ashgrave, magic isn't free - it's rationed, tracked, and paid for in years. At sixteen, every citizen receives one government-sanctioned sigil. Every active sigil draws Ashdebt, converting its wearer's remaining life into visible ash-grey pigment. More power, shorter life. The ruling Concord hoards sigils by the handful. Commoners survive on one. Unsanctioned ink is a death sentence.

Vesper Kane just became a criminal in her sleep.

She wakes on the morning of her own Rite branded with the Nullmark - a forbidden sigil that lets her absorb, mute, or unbind other people's magic entirely. There's no registry entry for what she is. There's only a hunt.

Warden Kade Ashworth is the Concord's enforcer, trained from childhood to track unsanctioned ink-bearers without hesitation. He doesn't hesitate - until the moment he catches her, and her power reaches back, tethering the two of them together. Now he feels her fear as his own. Her memories surface uninvited in his mind. And the closer he gets to finishing the job he was trained for, the harder it becomes to finish it at all.

Pulled into a hidden network of fellow unsanctioned ink-bearers, hunted by the man who raised her enemy like a son, Vesper has to decide how much of herself she's willing to spend to protect the family she's built. Kade has to decide whether loyalty to the man who raised him is worth more than the girl slowly unraveling everything he was trained to believe.

On a moon running out of light, love is the most dangerous magic of all - and it always, always comes with a cost.

The Nullmark is a standalone YA dark fantasy romance with series potential, perfect for readers who love enemies-to-lovers tension, forced proximity, and a magic system where every use of power costs something real.

• Enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity
• Original magic system with real, visible cost
• Standalone with series potential
• Forbidden romance across enemy lines