The Coven (Coven of Bones, #1)

The Coven (Coven of Bones, #1)

Harper L. Woods, Adelaide Forrest



For those who love them villainous.





ABOUT THE COVEN





Revenge.

Raised to be my father’s weapon against the Coven that took away his sister and his birthright, I would do anything to protect my younger brother from suffering the same fate. My duty forces me to the secret town of Crystal Hollow and the prestigious Hollow’s Grove University—where the best and brightest of my kind learn to practice their magic free from human judgment.

There are no whispered words here. No condemnation for the blood that flows through my veins. The only animosity I face comes from the beautiful and infuriating Headmaster, Alaric Grayson Thorne, a man who despises me just as much as I loathe him and everything he stands for.

But that doesn’t mean secrets don’t threaten to tear the school in two. No one talks about the bloody massacre that forced it to close decades prior, only the opportunity it can afford to those fortunate enough to attend.

Because for the first time in fifty years, the Coven will open its wards to the Thirteen.

Thirteen promising students destined to change the world.

If the ghosts of Hollow’s Grove’s victims don’t kill them first.





TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNINGS





The Coven is a dark paranormal romance with gothic vibes and a dark academia setting. The male lead in this series is pushy, domineering, and manipulative. He goes beyond my typical morally gray antihero and is in my opinion an actual villain who gets his HEA.

Triggers include: - dubious consent - forced feeding - graphic violence - rough and explicit sexual content - forced proximity - betrayal

- references to past abuse & traumatic reactions to triggering stimuli - knife violence - graphic depictions of blood - physical harm inflicted upon the main character - ritualistic murder





CONTENTS





Prologue



Chapter 1



Chapter 2



Chapter 3



Chapter 4



Chapter 5



Chapter 6



Chapter 7



Chapter 8



Chapter 9



Chapter 10



Chapter 11



Chapter 12



Chapter 13



Chapter 14



Chapter 15



Chapter 16



Chapter 17



Chapter 18



Chapter 19



Chapter 20



Chapter 21



Chapter 22



Chapter 23



Chapter 24



Chapter 25



Chapter 26



Chapter 27



Chapter 28



Chapter 29



Chapter 30



Chapter 31



Chapter 32



Chapter 33



Chapter 34



Chapter 35



Chapter 36



Chapter 37



Chapter 38



Chapter 39



Chapter 40





Also by Adelaide Forrest





PROLOGUE





ALARIC GRAYSON THORNE





In the 329 years since my making, I’d come to appreciate the finer things in life. The beauty of the meticulously cut colored glass in the arched windows and the prisms of light they cast over the dark stone tile of the halls at Hollow’s Grove University was only one of those. It was not to be diminished by the tantalizing scent of witch’s blood drifting from the messenger escorting me to the tribunal room.

The Covenant wouldn’t wait long for any, not even the male they’d appointed as the Headmaster of their precious school. Cobwebs and dust lined the pathway before us, and I turned up my nose at the way the University had fallen into disrepair since I’d last set foot in it fifty years prior.

The witch at my side stopped before the tribunal gates at the end of the hall. She waved a well-manicured hand over the lock, watching as the iron and gold mechanism rotated until it parted. Gears turned slowly, the ripple effect sliding up until the rest of the locks followed suit. The bars latched across the seam where the two doors met finally retreated. The soft click of them opening a signal for the witch to grasp the handle.

“How many generations separate you and George Collins’s sister?” I asked, forcing the witch to pinch her lips as she looked over her shoulder at me.

“Nine generations separate The Covenant and I,” she said with a sneer.

The witches were always so testy when discussing what had become of their leaders, of the two witches who’d commanded them through the centuries.

Susannah Madizza and George Collins were no longer—replaced by the two halves of The Covenant when the Hecate witches raised them from their graves.

“A shame,” I said with a grin. “Sarah Collins was quite lovely before she died. It is unfortunate she wasn’t able to pass that along to her descendants.”

Harper L. Woods, Ade's Books