House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) - Sarah J. Maas Page 0,208

answered. “It still hurts her.” He rustled his wings, as if unable to help the impatient gesture. “And she still insists on running.”

Ember’s eyes filled with alarm. “Why would you do that, Bryce?”

Bryce set down her croissant. “It’s none of anyone’s business.”

“Bryce,” Randall said. “If it bothers you, you should see a medwitch.”

“It doesn’t bother me,” Bryce said through her teeth.

“Then why have you been rubbing your leg under the counter?” Hunt drawled.

“Because I was trying to convince it not to kick you in the face, asshole,” Bryce hissed.

“Bryce,” her mother gasped. Randall’s eyes widened.

But Hunt laughed. He rose, picking up the empty pastry bag and squishing it into a ball before tossing it into the trash can with the skill of one of his beloved sunball players. “I think the wound still has venom lingering from the demon who attacked her. If she doesn’t get it checked out before the Drop, she’ll be in pain for centuries.”

Bryce shot to her feet, hiding her wince at the ripple of pain in her thigh. They’d never discussed it—that the kristallos’s venom might indeed still be in her leg. “I don’t need you deciding what is best for me, you—”

“Alphahole?” Hunt supplied, going to the sink and turning on the water. “We’re partners. Partners look out for each other. If you won’t listen to me about your gods-damned leg, then maybe you’ll listen to your parents.”

“How bad is it?” Randall asked quietly.

Bryce whirled back to the computer. “It’s fine.”

Randall pointed to the floor behind her. “Balance on that leg and tell me that again.”

Bryce refused to move. Filling a glass of water, Hunt smiled, pure male satisfaction.

Ember reached for her phone, which she’d discarded on the cushions beside her. “I’ll find the nearest medwitch and see if she can squeeze you in tomorrow—”

“I am not going to a medwitch,” Bryce snarled, and grabbed the rim of the laptop. “It was great chatting with you. I’m tired. Good night.”

Randall began to object, eyes shooting daggers at Ember, but Bryce slammed the laptop shut.

At the sink, Hunt was the portrait of smug, angelic arrogance. She aimed for her bedroom.

Ember, at least, waited two minutes before video-calling Bryce on her phone.

“Is your father behind this case?” Ember asked, venom coating each word. Even through the camera, her rage was palpable.

“Randall is not behind this,” Bryce said dryly, flopping onto her bed.

“Your other father,” Ember snapped. “This sort of arrangement reeks of him.”

Bryce kept her face neutral. “No. Jesiba and Micah are working together. Hunt and I are mere pawns.”

“Micah Domitus is a monster,” Ember breathed.

“All the Archangels are. He’s an arrogant ass, but not that bad.”

Ember’s eyes simmered. “Are you being careful?”

“I’m still taking birth control, yes.”

“Bryce Adelaide Quinlan, you know what I mean.”

“Hunt has my back.” Even if he’d thrown her under the bus by mentioning her leg to them.

Her mom was having none of it. “I have no doubt that sorceress would push you into harm’s way if it made her more money. Micah’s no better. Hunt might have your back, but don’t forget that these Vanir only look out for themselves. He’s Micah’s personal assassin, for fuck’s sake. And one of the Fallen. The Asteri hate him. He’s a slave because of it.”

“He’s a slave because we live in a fucked-up world.” Hazy wrath fogged her vision, but she blinked it away.

Her dad called out from the kitchen, asking where the microwave popcorn was. Ember hollered back that it was in the same exact place it always was, her eyes never leaving the phone’s camera. “I know you’ll bite my head off for it, but let me just say this.”

“Gods, Mom—”

“Hunt might be a good roommate, and he might be nice to look at, but remember that he’s a Vanir male. A very, very powerful Vanir male, even with those tattoos keeping him in line. He and every male like him is lethal.”

“Yeah, and you never let me forget it.” It was an effort not to look at the tiny scar on her mom’s cheekbone.

Old shadows banked the light in her mom’s eyes, and Bryce winced. “Seeing you with an older Vanir male—”

“I’m not with him, Mom—”

“It brings me back to that place, Bryce.” She ran a hand through her dark hair. “I’m sorry.”

Her mom might as well have punched her in the heart.

Bryce wished she could reach through the camera and wrap her arms around her, breathing in her honeysuckle-and-nutmeg scent.

Then Ember said, “I’ll make some calls and get that medwitch