The Second Thread

Austin's magic is unraveling-and Alice Arroyo's wedding plans are the first thread to snap. Every time she tries to finish the luminous engagement weave that should bind her to Matt, the final stitch hisses, frays, and falls apart like a broken promise. Stranger still, heartbreak-haunted antiques are flooding her pawn shop: a pendant that cries saltwater, a scarf that breathes with someone else's grief, a mirror that shows memories that were never hers.All signs point to the long-dormant Second Thread-an experimental bonding spell abandoned decades ago-sparking back to life beneath the city's taco-truck smoke and street-art murals. To stop it, Alice must team up with Ronan, the charming not-quite-ex whose half-knot still tugs at her heart. Together they'll brave a forgotten thread-vault, dodge soul-gnawing scarabs, and decide whether closing the Second Thread means finishing it... or cutting it once and for all.