Page 48 of A Tongue so Sweet and Deadly

Especially this far in.

And especially in winter, when those creatures would be starved and desperate for food. The bears should be sleeping, she told herself, but when that untamed scent filled her nostrils again, closer now, her legs began moving on their own accord.

Head whipping from side to side, she sprinted back the way she’d come, the hair on her arms rising when the feeling of a presence remained. Snow crunched again, and she spun around, smacking right into a hard chest, the force of it making her drop the bundle in her arms.

“Venko!” Lessia pushed him back, trying to manage hererratic breathing and hammering heart. “Were you following me just now?”

Venko’s blue eyes flickered with amusement as he watched her bend down to gather the firewood that had spilled onto the snow. “And why would I do that, dear Lessia?”

Slicing her gaze to his, she narrowed her eyes.

They were the only ones out here, and after the conversation they’d had during the ride, she was certain he was up to something.

Making up her mind, she threw a glance over her shoulder, noting the silence and the dark house.

It was worth the risk.

Leaving the firewood on the ground, she rose, drawing on her magic until the light of her golden eyes reflected in the icicles hanging from the tree before her.

Venko didn’t back down when she took a step to close the distance between them.

He only watched her with mild curiosity, and her brows knitted when he whispered, “I’ve wondered what that looks like.”

Staring deep into his crystal-blue eyes, she asked, “Why would you have wondered that?”

Venko’s face softened as her magic filled his mind, his voice turning monotone as he responded. “Because I’ve been told of your magic.”

A chill, and not from the cold wind, brushed her skin. “Who told you of my magic?”

“I don’t know.”

She searched his eyes, but he was clearly still under her spell, face vacant and eyes locked on hers. “How do you not know?”

“I was told in a letter. I don’t know who wrote it.”

Lessia’s eyes widened. “What did it say?”

“That you’d use your gift on me, and that’s all I needed to know for now.”

She shook her head, her brows furrowing further. “Why are you here, Venko?”

“To participate in the election, try to win if I can.”

She bore her eyes into his, making sure her magic still flowed steadily between them. “And why do you want to be part of it?”

“Because I have a mission.”

“And what’s that mission?”

“I don’t know.”

Lessia shifted a few strands of hair out of her face and clenched her jaw.

This was worse than she thought.

He’d been strange when they talked on the way here, but she’d attributed it to him trying to use his knowledge of her against her in the election.

But if he knew of her gift…

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