Page 107 of The Bound Blood
Lindsay makes a choking sound across from me, trying—and failing—to hide her laugh behind her mug.
I press my fingers to my forehead. “Here we go.”
Tamsin is still panicking. “No, no, no, see—It’s not an insult! I mean—itisan insult, but it’s not… personal? It’s more of an aesthetic critique!”
Adeline just blinks at her.
“Oh stars,” Tamsin whispers, defeated. “I’m going to be murdered by a beautiful ice sculpture.”
Lindsay snorts. Adeline’s lips twitch—just barely.
Tamsin is still flapping her hands like she’s trying to physically erase her words from the air. Adeline watches herwith the same calm interest someone might give an unusually loud squirrel.
“I won’t murder you,” Adeline says at last. “I don’t kill people for poor taste.”
Tamsin freezes. Her eyes narrow. “Oh. So now I havepoor taste?”
Adeline tilts her head delicately. “You did call me a…Barbie.”
“I said Frostbite Barbie. Which isdifferent,” Tamsin fires back.
“How so?” Adeline asks, genuinely curious.
Tamsin gestures up and down Adeline’s figure. “You’re all—” she wiggles her fingers, “icy elegance and perfect hair and cheekbones that look like they were sculpted specifically to ruin people.”
Adeline blinks slowly. “…Thank you?”
“That wasn’t a compliment,” Tamsin protests.
“It sounded like one,” Adeline replies.
Lindsay bites her lip to hide her laugh. Nolan is pretending to read a book, but I can see his shoulders shaking.
Tamsin crosses her arms, trying to glare. “I wasn’tcomplimentingyou. I was describing the… vibe. Which is impressive but also vaguely threatening.”
Adeline folds her hands neatly in her lap. “Most impressive things are.”
Tamsin sputters. “Are you flirting with me?”
“I don’t think so,” Adeline says thoughtfully. “But if you’re flustered, I’ll take the point.”
Tamsin practically squeaks. Lindsay snorts so loudly she startles a first-year at the next table.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “This is going well.”
Nolan peeks over the top of his book. “Shockingly, Raiden, this is thebestversion of events. You haven’t seen Tamsin stress-eat lemon pastries.”
“I have,” Lindsay says. “She hit me with a fork once.”
“That fork had an agenda,” Tamsin mutters. “It wasn’t me.”
Adeline’s mouth curves. “You’re very entertaining.”
“Is that—are you calling me a jester?” Tamsin gasps. “Linds, she called me a court jester. I can’t believe this.”
Adeline’s voice dips into something wry. “I never said you were funny.”
Tamsin slams her hands on the table. “Oh,that’s it, Frostbite. We’re enemies now.”
