Page 11 of Their Blood Rite

Images of me tied down on a table before Shaw and his men flash through my mind.

Me, his helpless…pixie.

Their dark smiles.

Their firm hands on my body.

Their fangs. Their mouths.

Their…Shit! Stop that!

Cole nudges me as I continue staring at the door. ‘Hey. Are you listening to me, Ashe?’

‘Hmm?’

‘I said they’re monstrous, yes?’

‘Yeah. They’re awful,’ I mutter, still transfixed on the door and the muffled voices beyond it. ‘Utterly disgusting…’

Cole tucks my hair behind my ear. I get lost in his eyes every time I look into them. I’ve memorised every dip of colour. Every deep blue streak that darts through their soft counterparts. Our fathers may have arranged our marriage, but he is not a bad partner to be promised to. He’s gorgeous. Kind. Funny.

That’s better than most will get after the Rite. Most coven members cannot have only one partner after the Rite. Each witch belongs to the magic that we serve. The magic of the land. Sex is one of the many types of fuel that charge it, so why limit it?

But Cole is the next coven leader, and he gets to choose.

For some reason, he chose me years ago. My father was more than happy to agree to the match.

‘You okay?’ Cole asks. ‘Did they hurt you?’ He wipes the blood from the cut on my head.

‘No. That’s from a stone a village boy threw. I’m fine.’

‘You were so brave, Cole,’ Thalia swoons. ‘Wasn’t he brave, Ashe?’

‘Very brave.’ I smile as he softly rolls his eyes. ‘Thank you,’ I tell him. ‘I owe you one.’

‘Marry me, and we’ll call it even,’ he winks.

‘Well then, we will be even very soon.’

Thalia shuffles her feet. Her crush on him is well known. Even though Cole and I are… close, she still throws every compliment and piece of praise she can at him.

I don’t mind. I know Cole is not interested in her, and she would never risk our friendship by trying anything with him. But I step away and take her hand in mine to lessen her jealousy.

‘After the Rite, you will never enter such a place again,’ Cole declares. ‘That’s a relief, isn’t it?’

That warm fuzzy feeling soon becomes ice cold.

Forbidden. Controlled.

Owned.

That’s what awaits me after. I’m permitted limited freedoms now. But after the Rite, that will be gone. A magical tether around my fucking neck, never mind the title of wife to the future coven leader.

It’s the better of the choices, I remind myself. I just have to get the Rite over and done with. One night. I can deal with one night.

The village clock tolls four times.

‘Shit!’ I step back. ‘I’m late to meet my father.’ I bundle up the hem of my skirts, ready to sprint to the town’s border.

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