Lies That Bleed (The Ember War Book 1) by Leia Stone

Author:Leia Stone [Stone, Leia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Leia Stone
Published: 2024-06-28T00:00:00+00:00

By the next morning at breakfast, everyone was over the two-mile run. Everyone but Tetra.

“She’s awful. I hate her,” Tetra growled, shoving potatoes into her mouth angrily.

I chuckled, half asleep still as Jace pulled into the seat next to me.

“Hey,” he said shyly.

“Nope.” Tetra pointed her fork at him. “Not happening.”

I had to hide my grin as I glanced at him.

Jace looked offended. “Tetra, Aisling and I talked. We’re cool now. Friends. Right, Ash?”

I hated that he still used his pet name for me.

I remembered him telling me at Club Sleuth about his parents’ divorce, and I pitied him.

Turning fully to him, I met his gaze, a gaze I had once gotten lost in for hours. “We are cool, but I need time before we just sit next to each other and act like nothing happened.”

Because he still cheated on me. I wouldn’t soon forget that, if ever.

His face fell and he nodded, getting up and moving to another table.

“Don’t worry. I still have a revenge plot in place,” Tetra said.

A new tray plopped next to mine and I looked up to see Alek and smiled genuinely. He was followed by Roc, Anika, Dev, and Meera. The Wilds alliance was all at one table.

“How are you feeling after that two-mile run, Tetra? My legs are sore,” Anika asked my bestie sarcastically, but there was a smile on her lips.

Tetra hadn’t run at all. She’d sat in the middle on a blanket with a bottle of Instructor Ashendell’s nail polish, painting her nails as ordered.

“Mine too.” Tetra matched Anika’s sarcasm.

I felt at ease with this group. Maybe it was because we’d bonded during our time in The Wilds. Meera was the quiet introspective and smart one. Anika was clearly one of the leaders, with a chip on her shoulder. Nikhil was the ladies’ man, who even now was flirting with Tetra and asking to touch her new cane. Dev was more like Kohen, quiet and always calculating. A man of few words.

Speaking of Kohen… the Avasan gang leader had arrived. If it weren’t for Roc and Alek sitting next to me, I might have had to switch tables for fear of people thinking I was aligning with him or something. I couldn’t let that kind of word get back to my father.

“Aisling.” Kohen said my name so delicately it made heat bloom in my core.

I looked up at him. He was holding his tray and eyeing the empty seat at the end of the table, farthest from me.

“Do you mind if I sit with you guys?”

Why in the stars was he asking? And so politely? Had he gotten hit over the head?

“Sure, dude.” I tried to be casual. “Why would I care?”

He plopped down next to Dev and across from Meera and peered at me. “I know you have to be careful about your reputation. I don’t want to cause you trouble.”

My gut clenched at the thoughtful statement, and for some reason I was getting really pissed off by his hospitality.

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