The Ember Files

When Maren Vale returns to her haunted hometown after years away, she expects old ghosts. She doesn’t expect them to answer back.

Cassidy Rae disappeared the night the church burned down—a childhood friend, a partner in strange games played in ruined woods and whispered Latin. Everyone called it an accident. Maren never believed that. But now, the town has changed. Mirrors lie. Trees cry with familiar faces. And something called the Emberwomb is waking beneath the soil.

Guided by cryptic tarot cards, a one-armed boy with too many secrets, and her cat familiar Ethan, Maren must navigate a town where the rules shift nightly: never sleep where you didn’t wake, never light a candle after dark, and never—ever—look into the glass.

Because Cassidy isn’t just lost. She’s trapped. Used. Burning.

And Maren may have been the one who lit the match.

A lyrical, slow-burn supernatural horror debut full of grief, witchcraft, and buried girlhood, She Who Was Burned is perfect for fans of House of Hollow, Wilder Girls, and The Silent Companions.