Page 39 of Blood Curse

“I am.”

“And if she orders us to attack?”

“I stop you.”

The answer left my mouth before doubt could make it gentler.

Every face fixed on me.

This was what Bryony had seen from the doorway. Not a title and not the empty throne at the far end of the hall. Authority lived in the moment people decided they trusted me with their fear.

I let them see that I understood the weight of it.

“You won’t be punished for anything the Crown makes you do,” I said. “You won’t be asked to prove your loyalty with pain, blood or obedience. You came home because Harrowmere belongs to you too. That is how this court begins again.”

The room stayed quiet.

Then the guard nodded. “About bloody time.”

Voices rose around her. A few people laughed. Others called my name or Bryony’s. Nobody bowed.

I looked at Bryony.

Her cheeks were flushed. Her lips had parted, and the glance she dragged down my body held nothing polite.

“Really?” I murmured.

She stepped into whispering distance. “You ordered a room without ordering anyone. It’s extremely attractive.”

“I was being responsible.”

“That’s new. I like it.”

“Keep looking at me like that and I may become irresponsible.”

“Promises, promises.”

Fuck. The Crown flashed red.

Bryony’s amusement vanished.

Her back snapped straight. One hand caught my sleeve, wrinkling the cloth.

“It’s moving,” she said.

I covered her hand with mine. “What do you need?”

Her fingers tightened once. Then her face went blank.

I knew the instant the curse took her.

The green in her eyes remained. Everything Bryony did with it disappeared.

She turned towards a young vampire near the first fireplace. He had arrived with the last group and still wore a rain-dark coat.

“Come here,” she said.

He moved.