House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) - Sarah J. Maas Page 0,237

eyes.

“It’s not true.”

Hunt shook his head. As if he could undo it, unlearn it. “Those drug lords I killed said Danika was seen around the Meat Market. Talking about synth. It was how Danika knew Maximus Tertian—he was an addict like her. His girlfriend had no idea.”

“No.”

But Hunt looked to Micah. “I assume we’re going now.” He held out his wrists. For cuffs. Indeed, those were gorsian stones—thick, magic-killing manacles—gleaming in Isaiah’s hands.

The Archangel said, “Aren’t you going to tell her the rest?”

Hunt stilled. “It’s not necessary. Let’s go.”

“Tell me what,” Bryce whispered. Tharion’s hands tightened on her arms in warning.

“That he already knows the truth about Danika’s murder,” the Archangel said coldly. Bored. As if he’d done this a thousand times, in a thousand variations. As if he’d already guessed.

Bryce looked at Hunt and saw it in his eyes. She began shaking her head, weeping. “No.”

Hunt said, “Danika took the synth the night she died. Took too much of it. It drove her out of her mind. She slaughtered her own pack. And then herself.”

Only Tharion’s grip was keeping her upright. “No, no, no—”

Hunt said, “It’s why there was never any audio of the killer, Bryce.”

“She was begging for her life—”

“She was begging herself to stop,” Hunt said. “The only snarls on the recording were hers.”

Danika. Danika had killed the pack. Killed Thorne. Killed Connor.

And then ripped herself to shreds.

“But the Horn—”

“She must have stolen it just to piss off Sabine. And then probably sold it on the black market. It had nothing to do with any of this. It was always about the synth for her.”

Micah cut in, “I have it on good authority that Danika stole footage of the synth trials from Redner’s lab.”

“But the kristallos—”

“A side effect of the synth, when used in high doses,” Micah said. “The surge of powerful magic it grants the user also brings the ability to open portals, thanks to the obsidian salt in its formula. Danika did just that, accidentally summoning the kristallos. The black salt in the synth can have a mind of its own. A sentience. Its measurement in the synth’s formula matches the unholy number of the kristallos. With high doses of synth, the power of the salt gains control and can summon the kristallos. That’s why we’ve been seeing them recently—the drug is on the streets now, in doses often higher than recommended. Like you suspected, the kristallos feeds on vital organs, using the sewers to deposit bodies into the waterway. The two recent murder victims—the acolyte and the temple guard—were the unfortunate victims of someone high on the synth.”

Silence fell again. And Bryce turned once more to Hunt. “You knew.”

He held her stare. “I’m sorry.”

Her voice rose to a scream. “You knew!”

Hunt lunged—one step toward her.

A gun gleamed in the dark, pressed against his head, and halted him in his tracks.

Bryce knew that handgun. The engraved silver wings on the black barrel.

“You move, angel, and you fucking die.”

Hunt held up his hands. But his eyes did not leave Bryce as Fury Axtar emerged from the shadows beyond the crates of synth.

Bryce didn’t question how Fury had arrived without even Micah noticing or how she knew to come. Fury Axtar was liquid night—she’d made herself infamous for knowing the world’s secrets.

Fury edged around Hunt, backing up to Bryce’s side. She pocketed the gun in the holster at her thigh, her usual skintight black suit gleaming with rain and her chin-length black hair dripping with it, but said to the Viper Queen, “Get the fuck out of my sight.”

A sly smile. “It’s my boat.”

“Then go somewhere I can’t see your face.”

Bryce didn’t have it in her to be shocked that the Viper Queen obeyed Fury’s order.

Didn’t have it in her to do anything but stare at Hunt. “You knew,” she said again.

Hunt’s eyes scanned hers. “I never wanted you to be hurt. I never wanted you to know—”

“You knew, you knew, you knew!” He’d figured out the truth, and for nearly a week, he’d said nothing to her. Had let her go on and on about how much she loved her friend, how great Danika had been, and had led her in fucking circles. “All your talk about the synth being a waste of my time to look into …” She could barely get the words out. “Because you realized the truth already. Because you lied.” She threw out an arm to the crates of drugs. “Because you learned the truth and then realized you wanted the