Page 26 of First Ritual

Council member, nope.

Met him outside and said too much, nope.

Getting all freaky and angry all the time, nope.

Disses my esbat preparations, nope. “He doesn’t do it for me. But a drink sure would.”

She straightened. “Shoot, sorry. Worst bartender ever. What do you prefer?”

“Tequila would be fine.”

Her eyes narrowed. “In this bar, I don’t make what’s fine. I make art.”

Feisty. I held up both hands. “You asked for it. I’ll take a gunpowder gimlet.”

She held my gaze. “Coming right up.”

No. Way.

No.

Fucking.

Way!

I leaned across the bar to watch as she reached for a murky bottle. A bottle that—unless she was full of shit—was green-tea-infused gin. My mouth dried when she poured pistachios, honey, and water into a cocktail shaker and blitzed it with her magic to form a syrup. She added the gin, lemon juice, chamomile bitters, and ice to the syrup, then went to work shaking as I watched on in awe.

In gratitude.

In respect.

In adoration.

“I just fell in love with you,” I whispered.

Rooke set a heavy glass in front of me and poured until the glass was brimming. She set the remainder beside me. “I’m a loveable kind of gal, but first-cousin relationships are frowned upon now. Totally hypocritical, I know.”

My voice was hoarse as I wrapped my fingers around the glass. “Where were you made? Are there more like you? Please say yes.”

She snorted. “I’m one of a kind. Not much of an apothecary magus, really. Divination is where I’m at. But funnily enough, what affinity I do have as an apothecary is drawn toward anything to do with alcohol and illicit substances.”

I picked up the drink, careful not to spill a drop of the glorious elixir. I closed my eyes and sipped. A deep groan fell from my lips. I set the glass down, walked around the bar, and hugged my cousin tight. “You made this day better. Thank you.”

She hugged me back just as tight and patted my back. “Get out of my bar.”

Rooke and I?

Yeah, we were gonna get along just fine.

Grabbing a beer for herself, she sat on the counter as I resumed my seat. “Your first day here shouldn’t be something you need to drink away. What happened?”

“I learned about Caves.”

Her forehead cleared. “Right. It’s a lot to take in. Better to just get involved. Learn as you do.”

“No,” I interrupted her. “I learned that Caves is a thing. In this coven. I’d never heard of the game before two men attacked each other in the tunnel in front of me. Varden just gave me the run down.”

She set down her beer. “The council didn’t tell you anything about Caves before you joined?”

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