Page 65 of First Ritual

Rooke beamed, then shot a look at Bedwyr. “I’m heading to my room to jot that down.”

Liar. If she was a jotting kind of magus, she would’ve been allowed in the Glasshouse of Fun ages ago.

She achieved her goal. Bedwyr and I were left alone.

“How are you feeling?” He entered farther into the room. “Sven said…”

“I’m feeling better, thank you.”

Bedwyr peered around the chamber, then sat on the chair by the foot of the bed where Wild sat not many nights ago. “A shame you missed the meeting.”

“Much happen?”

Bedwyr cocked a brow. “We just finalized our strategy for Thursday. Nothing much.”

It actually didn’t sound like much to me. I could understand the game was a big deal to them, though.

“How are you doing with the change?” he asked. “Coven life. Caves.”

My chest squeezed at his question. “Thank you for asking.” I took a moment to look inward. “I don’t know that I’m thinking much about either. Just trying to get through each day in the hopes life here feels normal eventually. I’m unsure how to exist with a coven, let alone Caves.”

“I would think a coven would be like a circus. What I know of them anyway. What was that like?”

Didn’t matter if you were human or otherwise, everyone wanted to know what life in a circus was like. I sat up only to sprawl onto my stomach in his direction. I propped my chin on my hands. “Nothing like what you’d think.”

We chatted about circus life, then more about the Buried Knolls, his family, and then battle techniques.

After a while, the near darkness in the room reached my attention. Shit. I blinked and flames leaped to life atop the candles in their holders on the walls. “It’s late.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Good company. I didn’t notice.”

My brows drew together. My reply was slow. “Neither did I.”

“Then I’ll go ahead and ask if you’d like to join me at the hot springs this Sunday. On a date. Maybe we could go for a walk around the lake too?”

Coming to the Buried Knolls to find my tether person was a big gamble. I mean, hell, the council could’ve killed me at the front door. Someone in here could still be plotting against me, even though I didn’t perceive a threat from the coven as a whole. With that on the cards, with my drive to locate my tether person, and with the oath I’d broken to return here, I’d set myself against anything romantic.

I hadn’t expected to find a connection with Bedwyr. A healthy, sweet connection.

Excitement bubbled in my chest. Always a good sign. I met his gaze and smiled. “Yes, I’d like that, especially exploring the knolls. My magic likes to follow the same path at dawn.”

“You walk at dawn?”

“I was taught that was the time where the mother’s power was strongest and to be present to witness her beauty.”

He watched me for a beat. “Maybe I should come out too.”

“That’d make three of us.”

“Who else goes?”

I’d seen two esteemed. Once each of different days. “Each day? Wild.”

“Right.” He cleared his throat. “Hey, so, not that dating makes us exclusive, but I’d like to know what I’m getting into from the start, if that’s okay. Is anything going on between you and Wild?”

That was only fair. “We aren’t involved in any way.”

Bedwyr exhaled. “Great. Good to know.”

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