The Coven of Ruin (The Coven of Ruin Book 1) by T. K. Tucker

Author:T. K. Tucker [Tucker, T. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2022-12-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter XXIII

The witch’s voice was sultry, making the song about Ares seductively dark. A thousand tiny fires tingled and sparked to life beneath her skin. The effect of the magically infused drink mixing with the witch’s voice was intoxicating. Even as the singer drenched her words in blood and the rhythm bowed deep, Trista found herself wanting to live in that moment forever.

“Spin us like this,” Demurielle said to Zyana, demonstrating.

Zyana took one of their hands each and held it up to twirl them. Trista spun until she felt dizzy. And then she laughed until she was breathless, and the room stopped wheeling.

A hand grabbed her elbow, causing goosebumps to travel from her neck down her arms. Turning, she didn’t realize she had expected Ares until it wasn’t him. Instead, standing before her, dark eyes wide with surprise, was Kace. His arms were around her in a familiar embrace before she knew it. Hesitating, she patted him on the back twice and then pulled away.

His smile was all teeth as he looked her over. “You look amazing, Trist. So, this is where you got away to. Ran all the way to the capital.”

She made her own assessment of him even as his words set her on edge. He had lost some of the roundness to his face in the last couple of months and somehow appeared harsher. Noticing a long dagger strapped to his waist, she wondered what other changes had occurred in the short time.

“How are you here?” she finally breathed out.

Looking around him, she found his usual two partners in crime were in tow, Vaunt and Kirla. They gave her perfunctory waves and head nods before continuing their conversation. Before The Arena she had merely tolerated them because they were friends with Kace. Now, she would have been perfectly content to never see them again.

“Did you not get my letters?” His smile didn’t reach his eyes—eyes that held more pupil than maple. She had seen this dead gaze on him before when he lost his temper, but here, in this moment, it unsettled her more than any other time.

“I suppose not since you were here the whole time.”

A lie it would be. “No, I didn’t. I was rather busy at the Akeso before I left too. It was all very sudden. I’m sorry.” She studied him like one does anything that was volatile and likely to rupture.

Demurielle either had impeccable timing or noticed her shift in attitude as she stepped forward. “Hello, my name is Demurielle, and this is Zyana. We’re friends of Trista’s. I don’t think we’ve ever met.” Zyana pressed a little closer to her too. She could only imagine that Demurielle knew without a doubt that Kace was not a member of the Circes.

The charm was there again. “Hello, ladies,” he said, looking them both over with cursory glances. “I’m Kace. I’m sure this one has mentioned me before.” The gleam in his eye as he met Trista’s seemed almost flirtatious.

Looking at her friends, she quickly explained, “Kace is a childhood friend of mine.

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