My cheeks heated from the warning look he gave me.
He didn’t have to say it out loud because of our link, but he was warning me to stop beating myself up. I knew with it came the promise of an ass spanking. Or maybe he’d do what he did last time and fuck my throat raw. It wasn’t much of a punishment since I enjoyed the hell out of it.
I knew without a doubt that Rune was the type to defend me if people talked shit about me when I wasn’t in the room. That meant he was going to defend me from myself and wouldn’t accept whatever excuse I gave.
I glanced at the others keeping their eyes ahead, but I knew they were curious about why Rune was snapping at me. It was embarrassing enough that they always had front-row seats to our sex life and heard all the dirty things Rune said to me. But Slátra not saying anything? It wasn’t like him at all.
“What’s here in Azola for us to prepare for a war?” I asked, changing the topic to keep my mind from spiraling.
Rune shifted and relaxed as he looked back ahead. “I need to get the armies ready and figure out our plan of attack. There will be something here we’ll need.” At my questioning look, he explained, “Your future self wouldn’t tell us to come here to prepare for a war for nothing. That means there will be something or someone we need to find here that will either help us find who’s after you or help us win the war.”
I swallowed hard, and my pulse picked up.
My future self.And he did what I said with no questions asked.
Who the hell was I in my past life?
“So you know where this person is who’s after me?” None of us knew who was after me. So where the hell was he going to attack?
For whatever reason, I imagined a bunch of rough-looking Vikings sailing across the ocean to attack a small castle. Thinking of Rune and the other men on a small boat was weird. But what was weirder was them climbing up walls on wooden ladders with their swords across their backs. I must admit, it was the few episodes ofVikingsI watched that played in my head, but with their faces.
But this was all strange to me. It really was like a fantasy with the kingdoms, enemies, and Vikings that weren’t really Vikings but were more like royalty.
I didn’t know why I imagined it, anyway. They didn’t need to sail or use wooden ladders, but my imagination was random and often ran wild.
“I have an idea of who it is because he wants to bring you back to Plapidell. When we get into the city, I’ll send out more scouts and spies to confirm my suspicions that it is indeed his bloodline. What doesn’t make sense iswhythey are coming for you. It’s been centuries since that bastard killed you in your past life. And he was human.” There was distaste in his minced “human.” “He’s long gone by now.” I barely caught his muttered,“And hopefully Lucifer’s cum bucket.”
My heart stuttered over a beat. Not because of the man who killed me being Lucifer’s bitch, but because of how easily Rune said it was me in my past life and not Estrid. He’d been doing that a lot more lately, and it’d been helping me cope. That and he’d been freely giving me more information about my last life without going on about fracturing my mind.
“And you’ll still train me, right?”
I wanted to make sure he wouldn’t forget his promise to me. Maybe he could continue helping me remember things I had shoved so far down until I forgot about all the things I learned. And hopefully, with it came memories of my past life that would help me not only fight but understand what the hell was happening.
From the dreams of my past and the small bits of visions, I still didn’t have the answer to why this was all happening. Why I was killed, and why I was so special. As much as Rune was being sweet about me being special, it couldn’t be just because we were soulmates.
There was something deeper to this. Something everyone was too nervous to tell me because they were scared of fracturing my mind.
“Of course I’ll still train you,” Rune snorted and shot me a weird look like I asked him the silliest thing. “I never break my promises. Not to you. Besides, I would like another repeat of our last training.” He smirked, and his eyes darkened as they drifted to my lips. He shared his memory with me of how amazing it felt having his dick in my mouth. How tight my throat was around him as he fucked my hole until he came and forced me to swallow around him. The sensation was unlike anything I’d ever experienced, and I didn’t know how to handle that.
My clit throbbed, and my core grew wet just from the briefly shared memory. I squirmed to relieve the ache he caused but couldn’t get comfortable. And to make matters worse, he only chuckled and didn’t take away the ache by giving me a few orgasms with his magic fingers.
The rest of the ride was quiet between all of us. I couldn’t think straight. Couldn’t think of anything he said about what was happening because all that went through my head was how to get Rune alone so he could finish what he started. I knew he was hard and just as horny as I was. But he enjoyed me squirming and shifting on my saddle. A few times, I got the right angle as I shifted and moved back and forth, enjoying the amazing pressure against my clit.
I had to stop with burning cheeks when I caught Slátra looking at me with a knowing smirk. Rune covered his smile behind his hand, pretending he was rubbing his mouth and beard. But I knew, and the bastard found it even more amusing because I felt him grinning through our link and saw through the spaces between his fingers.
I was trembling and had to focus on something different to get the throbbing to stop. So I gazed around us at the woods in the night that held more light than the woods in the last realm. Peeking up at the stars above, a little smile formed on my lips as warmth bloomed in my chest.
The sight was familiar to me. Everything here was familiar. And it wasn’t because of my last visit here. I never got a good look around outside or up at the sky.
But the stars shone much brighter than the ones back home. Some had a purple glow, others blue. They winked and held a brighter aura around them, unlike back in my realm. I then realized why these stars looked so familiar.
My dreams.
All these years, the dreams I remembered were of sceneries. Oceans, fields, skies, towns, and so much more. But I dreamed of these very stars in the same sky from this realm. Off to the side—hidden by most of the white trees—were northern lights. Or the equivalent to northern lights. Another small smile pulled at my lips, but something caught my eye, breaking my gaze from the sky.
My breath caught in my throat as we rode past the cabin Rune and I stayed in. The lights were off and held no traces of us being there recently. I turned in my saddle with wide eyes as we rode. No smoke puffed into the chilly night from the chimney. No footprints in the snow or traces of the grizzly bear Rune ran toward with me in his arms.
I never thought I would see the cabin again. I wasn’t sure why I would think that, but it could have something to do with the fact I couldn’t sit down and breathe for a second to relax. Istillcouldn’t relax.
