The Coven (Coven of Bones #1)

by Harper L. Woods

“If it is order that you value, then I will bring you nothing but chaos.”

“Maybe then you’ll see me the way you seem inclined to pretend you do.” The smile drifted off my face slowly, leaving me to gape up at him as the meaning of the words struck me in the chest. That guilt resumed its grip on me, and it was only through a careful mask that I brightened my smile all over again even as I dreaded what his admission might mean of what I’d suspected to be interest. Correctly, it seemed. Iban leaned in, touching his lips to my cheek sweetly and lingering just a moment past what was appropriate. “Enjoy your games, Willow, but just know I play to win.”

I couldn’t push past my father’s teachings, his reminders that men preferred women to be seen and not heard.

“I’ll always come for you, Witchling,”

I wanted her as obsessed with me as I was with her. It would be the perfect karma for the way she’d slithered beneath the surface of what made me, making herself at home in my soul.

“What kind of prophecy?” I asked. “Charlotte foretold of a witch born between two bloodlines who would restore what had been lost to time,”

“I think it’s time you acknowledge that it is too late to save yourself from me, love.”

“You fight. Every moment of every day, you fight. Because that is who you are,” he whispered, dropping his forehead to mine. “What happens when I’m tired of fighting?” I asked, trying to ignore the pool of tears threatening to fall. Hoping the water from the shower would wash them away before he could notice. His face softened, his lips touching mine in a kiss that was so much more delicate than any other. “Then you let me do it for you.”