Read Online House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City) by Sarah J. Maas - Free Book Online
Authors: Sarah J. Maas
Ads: Link
vaulted the company into unprecedented fortune. A new era of linking the world, everyone claimed. Bryce thought they just gave people an excuse not to make eye contact. Or be bad dates.
“Reid,” she said. He just held up a finger.
Bryce tapped a red nail on the base of her wineglass. She kept her nails long—and took a daily elixir to keep them strong. Not as effective as talons or claws, but they could do some damage. At least enough to potentially get away from an assailant.
“Reid,” she said again. He kept typing, and looked up only when the first course appeared.
It was indeed a salmon mousse. Over a crisp of bread, and encaged in some latticework of curling green plants. Small ferns, perhaps. She swallowed her laugh.
“Go ahead and dig in,” Reid said distantly, typing again. “Don’t wait for me.”
“One bite and I’ll be done,” she muttered, lifting her fork but wondering how the Hel to eat the thing. No one around them used their fingers, but … The Fae female sneered again.
Bryce set down the fork. Folded her napkin into a neat square before she rose. “I’m going.”
“All right,” Reid said, eyes fixed on his screen. He clearly thought she was going to the bathroom. She could feel the eyes of a well-dressed angel at the next table travel up her expanse of bare leg, then heard the chair groan as he leaned back to admire the view of her ass.
Exactly why she kept her nails strong.
But she said to Reid, “No—I’m leaving. Thank you for dinner.”
That made him look up. “What? Bryce, sit down. Eat.”
As if his being late, being on the phone, weren’t part of this. Asif she were just something he needed to feed before he fucked. She said clearly, “This isn’t working out.”
His mouth tightened. “Excuse me?”
She doubted he’d ever been dumped. She said with a sweet smile, “Bye, Reid. Good luck with work.”
“Bryce.”
But she had enough gods-damned self-respect not to let him explain, not to accept sex that was merely okay basically in exchange for meals at restaurants she could never afford, and a man who had indeed rolled off her and gotten right back on that phone. So she swiped the bottle of wine and stepped away from the table, but not toward the exit.
She went up to the sneering Fae female and her human plaything and said in a cool voice that would have made even Danika back away, “Like what you see?”
The female gave her a sweeping glance, from Bryce’s heels to her red hair to the bottle of wine dangling from her fingers. The Fae female shrugged, setting the black stones in her long dress sparkling. “I’ll pay a gold mark to watch you two.” She inclined her head to the human at her table.
He offered Bryce a smile, his vacant face suggesting he was soaring high on some drug.
Bryce smirked at the female. “I didn’t know Fae females had gotten so cheap. Word on the street used to be that you’d pay us gold by the armful to pretend you’re not lifeless as Reapers between the sheets.”
The female’s tan face went white. Glossy, flesh-shredding nails snagged on the tablecloth. The man across from her didn’t so much as flinch.
Bryce put a hand on the man’s shoulder—in comfort or to piss off the female, she wasn’t sure. She squeezed lightly, again inclining her head toward the female, and strode out.
She swigged from the bottle of wine and flipped off the preening hostess on her way through the bronze doors. Then snatched a handful of matchbooks from the bowl atop the stand, too.
Reid’s breathless apologies to the noble drifted behind her as Bryce stepped onto the hot, dry street.
Well, shit. It was nine o’clock, she was decently dressed, and if she went back to that apartment, she’d pace around until Danika bit her head off. And the wolves would shove their noses into her business, which she didn’t want to discuss with them at all .
Which left one option. Her favorite option, fortunately.
Fury picked up on the first ring.
“Reid,” she said. He just held up a finger.
Bryce tapped a red nail on the base of her wineglass. She kept her nails long—and took a daily elixir to keep them strong. Not as effective as talons or claws, but they could do some damage. At least enough to potentially get away from an assailant.
“Reid,” she said again. He kept typing, and looked up only when the first course appeared.
It was indeed a salmon mousse. Over a crisp of bread, and encaged in some latticework of curling green plants. Small ferns, perhaps. She swallowed her laugh.
“Go ahead and dig in,” Reid said distantly, typing again. “Don’t wait for me.”
“One bite and I’ll be done,” she muttered, lifting her fork but wondering how the Hel to eat the thing. No one around them used their fingers, but … The Fae female sneered again.
Bryce set down the fork. Folded her napkin into a neat square before she rose. “I’m going.”
“All right,” Reid said, eyes fixed on his screen. He clearly thought she was going to the bathroom. She could feel the eyes of a well-dressed angel at the next table travel up her expanse of bare leg, then heard the chair groan as he leaned back to admire the view of her ass.
Exactly why she kept her nails strong.
But she said to Reid, “No—I’m leaving. Thank you for dinner.”
That made him look up. “What? Bryce, sit down. Eat.”
As if his being late, being on the phone, weren’t part of this. Asif she were just something he needed to feed before he fucked. She said clearly, “This isn’t working out.”
His mouth tightened. “Excuse me?”
She doubted he’d ever been dumped. She said with a sweet smile, “Bye, Reid. Good luck with work.”
“Bryce.”
But she had enough gods-damned self-respect not to let him explain, not to accept sex that was merely okay basically in exchange for meals at restaurants she could never afford, and a man who had indeed rolled off her and gotten right back on that phone. So she swiped the bottle of wine and stepped away from the table, but not toward the exit.
She went up to the sneering Fae female and her human plaything and said in a cool voice that would have made even Danika back away, “Like what you see?”
The female gave her a sweeping glance, from Bryce’s heels to her red hair to the bottle of wine dangling from her fingers. The Fae female shrugged, setting the black stones in her long dress sparkling. “I’ll pay a gold mark to watch you two.” She inclined her head to the human at her table.
He offered Bryce a smile, his vacant face suggesting he was soaring high on some drug.
Bryce smirked at the female. “I didn’t know Fae females had gotten so cheap. Word on the street used to be that you’d pay us gold by the armful to pretend you’re not lifeless as Reapers between the sheets.”
The female’s tan face went white. Glossy, flesh-shredding nails snagged on the tablecloth. The man across from her didn’t so much as flinch.
Bryce put a hand on the man’s shoulder—in comfort or to piss off the female, she wasn’t sure. She squeezed lightly, again inclining her head toward the female, and strode out.
She swigged from the bottle of wine and flipped off the preening hostess on her way through the bronze doors. Then snatched a handful of matchbooks from the bowl atop the stand, too.
Reid’s breathless apologies to the noble drifted behind her as Bryce stepped onto the hot, dry street.
Well, shit. It was nine o’clock, she was decently dressed, and if she went back to that apartment, she’d pace around until Danika bit her head off. And the wolves would shove their noses into her business, which she didn’t want to discuss with them at all .
Which left one option. Her favorite option, fortunately.
Fury picked up on the first ring.
Similar Books
