Broken Knights (Gifted Academy #4) - Michelle Hercules Page 0,46

“We have Morpheus, and if we can get more of those special bullets manufactured, anyone can fight.”

Xavier’s face turns into a grimace. “As much as I would love to put power in the hands of Norms and Fringes, not all of them are honorable. This weapon in the wrong hands could be catastrophic for everyone, us included.”

“Getting my brother killed is not an option either!” he retorts angrily.

“I’m not going to die,” Bryce replies softly.

His eyes are still closed, but the color has returned to his cheeks. I place a hand against his forehead, exhaling in relief when I don’t find it cold to the touch anymore. He flicks his eyes open, searching for my gaze.

“I’m okay, darling.”

“Is that Bryce I heard?” Felicity asks from the front of the restaurant.

“Yes, he’s awake.”

“Great. Just in time for some—”

“Pie,” Bryce finishes the sentence.” Blueberry pie.” He smiles from ear to ear, and it’s an effort to keep my shit together and not kiss him senseless. But with the audience, I don’t dare.

“Help me up, please?” he asks. “I’m still a little woozy.”

I take his hand and lift him to a sitting position. But sneaky Bryce slings his free arm around my neck and brings my mouth to his. There’s no chance I’m going to pull away from the incendiary and heady feeling of being kissed by him. I surrender without putting up a fight and only break apart from him when Xavier clears his throat.

My cheeks are on fire, and for that reason, I keep my head down, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

“Where should I set the pie?” Felicity asks. “It’s piping hot.”

“You can set it at this table. I don’t think we need to use it as a makeshift bed anymore.” Bryce hops off and then pulls up a chair. It’s clear he intends to eat the entire pie by himself.

“You baked that pie pretty fast,” Rufio points out.

“Well, I just had to warm it up. What’s going on with that girl outside? Why didn’t she come in?”

“What girl?” I ask.

“The girl in the red sports car,” Felicity replies.

I notice the exchanged glance between Bryce and Toby and the sudden tension in both of them. “Who is she?”

“Uh, you’re not going to like the answer.” Toby rubs the back of his neck.

“Why?” I’m leery in an instant.

“It’s Renata Pomme,” Bryce replies. “She helped us escape the Neo Gods.”

“What? You brought that snake here?” I yell.

“I didn’t bring her here on purpose. She was our driver,” Bryce replies with a fork in hand, ready to dig into the pie.

“Wait. Is she the one who broke your arm, Toby?” Rosie asks.

He drops his gaze to the floor. “Yeah.”

My sister’s face turns bright red, and her eyes sparkle with fury. I know that look very well. She turns on her heels and sprints toward the diner’s exit.

“Rosie, wait!” I run after her. As much as I’m livid that Renata is here, I don’t want my sister to get anywhere near that Idol. As furious as she is, she’s still a Norm. Not a match for Renata.

“Ah, shit. Mini Daisy is out for blood,” Phoenix pipes up, coming along too.

Once outside, Rosie is already banging on the driver window. “Get out, you stupid bitch!”

“Rosie. What are you doing? She’s an Idol,” I remind her.

The car door opens and Renata steps out. She doesn’t look like she’s about to break every bone in Rosie’s body though. She seems subdued. Remorseful. Whatever. She was part of Drusilla’s posse. She tried to kill me with Silver-voltage. I’m not going to pretend she’s okay just because she helped Bryce and Toby get out of campus. Too much bad blood to forget.

“I’m out. What do you want?” she asks Rosie.

“This.” Rosie pulls her arm back and swings a punch at Renata’s nose. Her head snaps back as she staggers against her car.

“Holy shit! Rosie is savage,” Phoenix exclaims.

He’s enjoying this a lot, but I’m actually mega worried that Renata will retaliate. Things can get ugly pretty quickly.

Renata straightens up, touching her nose. There’s no blood there, obviously. Rosie is only a Norm. I notice she’s now clutching her hand against her chest and fighting back tears. Fuck. I hope she didn’t break her hand. Bryce can’t heal anyone else anytime soon.

“I suppose I deserved this,” Renata says. “You must be Toby’s girlfriend.”

“You stay away from him,” she barks.

“I’m not the despicable person I was before.”

I come to Rosie’s side, glowering. “We don’t fucking care if you’ve had a