Page 25 of Kiss of a Hellish Prince

It was probably the coffee, but not by much.

Rune got up and fixed me a plate while I focused on letting the magic bean juice work its alchemy. He set a plate filled with a little of everything in front of me before taking his seat again. “How did you sleep?”

“Eh, okay I guess. Strange bed and all that.” I took a bite of the sausage from my plate.

“You could always come back to my bed,” he teased. He touched his palm to my upper thigh, sending warmth through my body. “You seemed to sleep there fine before.”

“She wasn’t asleep. She was unconscious. There is a difference,” Murmur said, leaning over the sketchbook he and Sarah were looking at.

“Why are there more human sluts at my breakfast table?” Sif strolled in dressed in skintight leather pants and a matching halter top with metal studs around the hems. She barely glanced at Sarah and me, her gaze lingering on Rune, then noticed his hand on my thigh. “Don’t you boys know you can just pay them to leave? You don’t have to let them stay the night or even feed them.”

“Did Dominatrix Barbie just call me a hooker?” Sarah asked Murmur.

There she was. That was the sass I had expected from Sarah last night.

“They are guests in our home and under my protection, Sif. Watch your tongue or leave,” Rune said, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Why should I? This is my home, too. You are the one bringing in outsiders so you and Murmur can get your dick wet. My god, Rune, I knew you were going through a himbo phase, but humans? What’s next, angels? You going to fuck a fae too? Do you have some shifter fetishes to explore next?” Sif grabbed a cup of coffee and filled it to the top while shooting us dirty looks.

“Hey, Sarah.” I looked over at my bestie. Just because she was mad at me did not mean we didn’t have each other’s backs. “What does a petty, jealous bitch sound like first thing in the morning?”

“Why should I? This is my home, too.” Sarah mimicked Sif in a high-pitched, nasally voice.

Yup, we were totally mature.

But Sif started it.

Sif spun on her heel and raised her hand to slap me.

Rune caught her hand before it was even halfway to my face.

“I said they are under my protection.” Rune stood and towered over Sif. “Leave now, and if you try to harm any of our guests, I will kick you out.”

“You wouldn’t dare. You can’t,” Sif fired back.

“I can and I will. I don’t give a fuck who your mother is. If you lay a single finger on any of these girls, I will throw you in a cell so damp and dark, not even the worms will find you. Then I will forget about you, just like everyone else will, because you are insignificant. Do you understand?”

Normally I hated when guys fought my battles for me, but fuck, him standing up for me like that was hot.

Sif left without another word.

“Was that REALLY necessary?” Murmur asked.

“You would rather I keep letting her threaten our guests?” Rune asked, sitting down.

“Of course not, but I think you didn’t need to tear her down that hard,” Murmur reasoned.

“I wouldn’t have if she didn’t try to slap Tori.”

“I guess.” Murmur shrugged. “But you know this can’t be easy for her.”

“That isn’t my problem,” Rune said, turning back to his food. This time, he kept his hands to himself.

I wondered if I had made a mistake in how I’d responded to Sif, but I didn’t know what the right move would have been either. Was provoking her a mistake? Should I have just let Rune handle whatever was going on with her? It clearly had more to do with him than me. Or should I have stood up for myself more? If I was staying here, I was going to have to tread carefully, at least until I knew the full story there.

More importantly, today was the day I got to find out if I was a Nephilim—a half human, half Elysian. I’d find out if I was going to be like one of the badass women in the books I loved. Or was I the normal, boring, everyday girl who was attracted to the super sexy supernatural man?

Just thinking that made me hear my mother’s annoyed voice in my head.Ugh! Really? You think so little of yourself that you are going to let something as insignificant as your proximity to a man define you? Don’t be that girl; be the woman I know you can be.

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