Page 52 of Blood Curse

Her fingers curled into my shirt. “That’s harder.”

“Take your time.”

“It wants me to make you offer.”

“I won’t.”

The Crown sent a pulse of heat between us. Bryony’s gaze dropped to my throat.

She leaned close and breathed against my throat. I kept my hands at my sides. If she chose to step away, I wouldn’t turn restraint into another set of arms around her.

“Your heart is louder,” she whispered.

“Yours is faster.”

“That’s because I’m thinking about biting you.”

“I assumed it wasn’t my coat.”

She almost smiled. The movement belonged to her.

She pressed her forehead to my shoulder and stood there while the hunger ran through her. It took longer than I wanted. Her nails pulled at my shirt, her teeth caught the fabric over my collar, and the Crown grew hot enough for me to feel it near my cheek.

The room remained quiet. Elias didn’t reach for his case. Mara didn’t make another attempt to stand. They watched Bryony rather than waiting for me to solve her.

Her breathing slowed one count at a time. Her teeth released my collar. She kept her forehead against me until her fingers stopped shaking.

Then her grip eased.

Bryony stepped back.

“Not here,” she said. “Not because it wants me to.”

The Crown cooled with an angry snap.

Mara sat again before Bryony noticed she had moved. Elias watched her pupils return to normal.

“How did you stop?” he asked.

“I didn’t stop wanting it. I waited until wanting wasn’t the only thing I could feel.”

“That distinction may keep both of you alive.”

Bryony wiped her palms on her skirt. “It’s getting faster. It took my voice in front of the court, then used Mara’s blood, and now it can make me taste Stellan without breaking his skin.”

“Which is why we don’t wait,” she continued. “We try the cleansing now.”

“You’re exhausted,” I said.

“The Crown isn’t.”

“The spring may only quiet it for a short time.”

“Then we use the time it gives us.”

“My heartblood is part of the rite. If the Crown takes you while I’m bleeding, it could order me to continue.”

“Then we agree on the stopping point before we begin.”