House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City, #2)

A gentle, warm hand landed atop hers. “I am sorry he did that to you.”

Bryce studied a stain on the counter, unsure if she could look at the witch without crying.

Hypaxia said, “Why do you think I came here this spring? I wanted to be normal. If only for a few months. I know what you’re feeling.”

Bryce shook her head. “Most people wouldn’t get it. They’d think, Oh, poor you, you have to be a princess. But I’ve spent my entire life avoiding this male and his court. I hate him. And I just walked right into his clutches like a fucking idiot.” She heaved a shuddering breath. “I think Hunt’s answer to all of this would be to go flambé my father until he reversed this bullshit, but … I wanted to see if you had any alternate ideas.”

The queen took another bite of her pizza, contemplating. “While I might enjoy the sight of Hunt Athalar flambéing the Autumn King …” Bryce’s mouth quirked up at that. “I think you’re right that a more diplomatic method is required.”

“So you think there’s a way out of this?” Marc had agreed to help, but hadn’t sounded hopeful.

“I think there are ways to manage this. Manage your father.”

Bryce nodded. “Ruhn mentioned you had some … drama with your coven.”

A soft laugh. “I suppose that’s a good way to put it.”

“He also mentioned that you had some unusual tutors growing up.” Ghosts, he’d told her on the phone this morning.

“Yes. My dearest friends.”

“No wonder you wanted to bust out and escape, if you had only the dead for company.”

Hypaxia chuckled. “They were wonderful companions, but yes. They encouraged me to come here, actually.”

“Are they with you on this trip?”

“No. They cannot leave the confines of the keep where I was raised. My mother’s summoning spell bound them there. It is … Perhaps it’s the reason I returned to my homelands again.”

“Not to be queen?”

“That too,” Hypaxia said quickly. “But … they are my family.”

“Along with the Hind,” Bryce said carefully.

“I do not count her as kin.”

Bryce was grateful for the shift in their conversation, even if for a few minutes. She needed time to sort through her raging feelings. “You look nothing alike.”

“That is not why I don’t consider her a sister.”

“No, I know that.”

“Our mother was as golden-haired and tan-skinned as she. My father, however—I take after his coloring.”

“And who was the Hind’s father?”

“A rich and powerful stag shifter in Pangera. My mother never told me the details of how they came to breed. Why she agreed to it. But the Hind inherited her father’s powers, not the witch gifts, and thus she was sent at age three to live with him.”

“That’s horrible.” When Bryce had been three … her mother had fought nearly to the death to keep her from the Autumn King’s clutches. Her mother had done all that, only for Bryce to wind up right here. Shame and dread filled her. She knew it was only a matter of time until her mom found out, but she couldn’t tell her—not yet.

“It was part of their deal,” Hypaxia explained. “Whatever gift Lidia inherited, that was where she would live. She spent the first three years with my mother, but when the shifter gifts manifested, his kin came to claim her. My mother never saw her again.”

“Was your mom bothered by what she became?”

“I was not privy to those thoughts,” Hypaxia said tightly enough that Bryce knew to drop it. “But it has never sat well with me.”

“Are you going to see her while she’s here?”

“Yes. I’ve never met her before. I was born several years after she was sent away.”

Bryce drank again. “I’d suggest not getting your hopes up.”

“I’m not. But we digress from your troubles.” The queen sighed. “I don’t know Fae royal laws, so I’m afraid I can’t tell you definitively, but … at this point, I think the only ones who might be able to stop your father are the Asteri.”

“I was afraid of that.” Bryce rubbed her temples. “Just wait until Hunt hears.”

“He won’t be pleased?”

“Why the Hel would he be pleased?”

“Because you are mated. And now your father has made you a princess. Which makes him …”

“Oh gods,” Bryce said, choking. “Hunt is a fucking prince.” She laughed bitterly. “He’s going to go ballistic. He’ll hate it even more than I do.” She laughed again, a bit hysterically. “Sorry. I’m, like, literally imagining his face when I tell him tonight. I need to record it or something.”

“I can’t tell if this is a good or bad thing.”

“Both. The Autumn King expects me to keep up my engagement with Prince Cormac.”

“Even though your scent makes it clear you’re with another?”

“Apparently.” She didn’t want to think about that. She finished the beer, then gathered up her plate and Hypaxia’s to toss in the trash. She quickly paid their tab, and as she pocketed the receipt, she asked the queen, “Wanna walk a little? It’s not as hot as it was.”

“I’d like that very much.”

They kept silent, unnoticed by those around them as they entered the alley. Ithan fell into step a polite distance behind. The dragon, if she was there, was nowhere to be seen.

“So your brother told you of the situation with my mother’s coven, then.”

“Yeah. That sucks. I’m sorry.”

They reached the river a block away and turned down the quay. Dry, warm wind rustled the palms lining it. Hypaxia studied the stars. “I had such visions for what the future would be like. Of witches returning to power. Of being with the person who I …” She cleared her throat.

“You’re seeing someone?” Bryce asked, brows lifting.

The queen’s face shuttered. “No.” Hypaxia blew out a long breath. “The relationship wasn’t possible anymore. I might have continued it, but it was not … They didn’t want to.”

Bryce blinked. If Hypaxia was in love with someone else … Fuck. “Poor Ruhn,” she said.

Hypaxia smiled sadly. “I think your brother wants to marry me as little as I want to marry him.”

“Ruhn’s hot, though. So are you. Maybe the attraction will kick in.” Bryce owed her brother at least an attempt to try to play up his good attributes.

A laugh. “It takes far more than that.”

“Yeah, but he’s a good guy. Like, a really good guy. And I can’t believe I’m even saying this, but … while I’m sure the person you love is great, you really couldn’t do better than Ruhn.”

“I’ll remember those words.” Hypaxia toyed with one of her long curls. “The engagement to your brother was an attempt to prevent my mother’s coven from gaining too much power.”

Bryce said, “But you said you want the witches to return to power. Or is it that you want your people to regain their power—but you want your mother’s coven to … be excluded from that?” Hypaxia nodded gravely. Bryce’s brows knit. “Aren’t the witches already powerful?”