House of Flame and Shadow Bonus Chapter - Bryce & Danika

Bryce

Humming along to the music, Danika padded into the galley kitchen. Bryce's phone buzzed with another message from Jesiba. I expect a reply within the next five--

Bryce signed and began typing back, any building bliss fading away.

"Wanna go out?" Danika called from the kitchen.

Bryce propped her feet on the coffee table, sending the email to Jesiba as she did. "No. My bra is officially off and I am not putting it back on."

"Who said you need a bra on to go out?" Danika emerged from the kitchen, munching on a soggy leftover sandwich.

"There's still plenty of ziti from what I made last night," Bryce offered, the music starting to send rippling gold rings through the room. Pretty. "That sandwich is, like, six days old."

Danika took another bite and said around a mouthful, "I'd rather risk food poisoning from this thing than that... concoction."

Bryce flipped off her friend with a finger that felt a million miles away. "You said the ziti was good!"

"It might have been on its own." Danika crossed her arms. "But you added...?"

"Sausage."

"And?"

Bryce winced. "Some other stuff?" Okay, maybe she'd gotten a little overeager adding things to the recipe. She'd stopped herself after the garlic and olives, though.

Danika nodded sagely. "Yeah, no ziti. Let's go out, though-- I've still got plenty of room for more. Pizza, then beer. Then whiskey."

"I have work tomorrow," Bryce hedged. "Jesiba's already messaging me about the pile of paperwork she wants me to fill out before she even gets in tomorrow morning. There's no way I can get through it if I'm nursing a hangover. Or still high."

"Just two drinks," Danika promised, unraveling and then re-braiding her blond, corn-silk hair with strands of amethyst, sapphire, and rose woven throughout. "I'll have you in bed by one."

That was a big fucking lie, if Bryce had ever heard one. But if Danika wanted to go out, only the two of them, no mention of making it a party with June and Fury...

"Please," Danika asked, frowning slightly. She approached the coffee table and picked up the mirthroot cigarette, inhaling again. "I could use it."

Even with the haze of the drugs, it was hard to miss the tightness in Danika's face, her posture.

So Bryce asked, as soberly as she could, "You all right?"

Danika shrugged, inhaling again. "Sabine. As usual."

There was something in the way Danika didn't look at her, didn't meet her eyes... Bryce wasn't entirely sure she bought it, even though Sabine was always nipping at Danika's heels. But what else could it be? Maybe something with Thorne, but Thorne's panting after Danika had never seemed to bother her before.

If Danika didn't want to talk about it, though, Bryce wouldn't push. She'd be there when Danika was ready.

Bryce took another drag of the mirthroot herself, free-falling into the serene calmness, and said, "One-- I want to be back here and in bed by one."

Her best friend, the sister of her soul, winked. But some of that tightness, that distant worry remained-- just a glimmer. Even as Danika said, eyes glowing with wolfish delight through the cloud of mirthroot smoke, "I'll get you a fresh bra."