Page 32 of Bleed the Shadows

I looked up as Bram stepped into the kitchen from the hall. I wasn’t surprised when he didn’t look at me. After the first Hunt he’d spent a whole month pretending I didn’t exist.

“Did you tell her?” he asked Poe and Remy.

“Tell me what?”

And now he looked at me.

It felt like all the air had been sucked out of my lungs, like Bram had absorbed it into the hollowness of his soul.

“We’re going to help you. With Ethan Todd.”

23

REMY

I sawthe complex mix of emotions play on her face: confusion, relief, something darker that might have been fear.

I wasn’t surprised by the last part. Sometimes the worst thing that could happen was to get what you wanted.

She slid onto one of the chairs at the island. “But… I lost the Hunt.”

“This isn’t about the Hunt,” I said. “Not anymore.”

“Then what’s it about?” she asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Poe asked gently. “We care about you.”

I hated the way her gaze slid to Bram, not because I was jealous of Bram — why would I be jealous of an emotionally stunted rage-warrior? — but because it meant she cared not just about Poe and me but about Bram.

And even I knew that caring about Bram was bound to get her hurt.

She rubbed at the island’s marble top with her thumb even though I was pretty sure there was nothing there. Reva was a shit cook but an amazing housekeeper.

“But I stay here? For another three months?”

“Do you want to?— ”

"Yes,” Bram said before I could finish asking if she wanted to leave.

His arms were folded across his chest, his legs planted apart, and I knew this was the price of his willingness to kill Ethan Todd for Maeve.

We hadn’t talked about whether Maeve would still be required to see out her ninety-day term in the loft, probably because we’d all hoped she’d want to stay, but I knew Bram well enough to know there would be no moving him off this particular condition of our agreement.

She nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

Poe opened the box of donuts and put one on his plate, then offered the box to Maeve.

“I think you’ll like the maple bar,” he said, pointing to the maple-glazed donut I knew was filled with cinnamon cream.

She took it and put it on her plate.

“Got a plate for me?” Bram asked Poe.

“Didn’t think you’d want one.”

Bram went to the cupboard to get himself a plate, then chose a double-chocolate cake donut that looked rich as sin.

I hid my surprise. I’d gotten used to the fact that Bram was averse to anything having to do with Maeve.