I didn’t understand why it mattered to them. Why I mattered to them at all. Hluti and his group didn’t know me, who suddenly, since I ran into them, they’d taken me in and protected me like I was some celebrity or queen.Why?
Dragging my hands along Rune’s shoulders, it helped remind me he was here. Or thatIwas here with the living. The memory of being stuck in the In-Between was still fresh. The tears, panic, and screams for Rune wasn’t a distant feeling like most memories. It scarred me for life.
I didn’t want to be alone while there. I never wanted to be dragged away from Rune. He was myeverything. I was complete with him. My soul whole and singing with his.
Swallowing thickly, I curled my fingers into him.
This conversation was way heavier than I thought it would’ve felt.
I had died. I really died...
“No,” I whispered as my eyes drifted from Rune’s.
The echo of the pain I had felt in my death and in the In-Between throbbed in my chest and stomach. I swear it felt like my heart had missed a beat before it doubled in pace.
Rune turned my face back to him with his fingers still gripping my chin. When I stared at him again, he slipped his hand to the back of my head and threaded his fingers through my hair. Shivers swept through me, raising goosebumps and hardening my nipples. Warmth spread through me and made me dizzy.
What was it about his touch? Even as simple as this, it still set me on fire and brought me to life every time. With his hands on me—even in a nonsexual way—it was like coming home. Something in me always settled, and I could breathe easier.
He curved his lips curved into a ghost of a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
It disappeared as he asked with a tilt of his head, “Your friend was going through her death echo?”
The lump in my throat thickened, making it harder to breathe. Rune’s response was immediate as he dragged me against him so my cheek was flat on his chest. He held me, lending me his strength and comfort. My eyes slid shut, my chest tightening as I did everything to keep from crying.
I was so tired of crying. So tired of others getting hurt.
I jolted as heavy footsteps echoed from the hallway. The thumps grew closer until someone sat next to Rune on the couch. Opening my eyes, they stung, and my lower lip wobbled as I popped my head up from Rune’s chest.
“Hlíf,” I croaked.
Rune’s arms tightened around me, one of his hands petting the side of my head, his fingers playing with strands of my hair.
Hlíf’s green eyes met mine as he inclined his head toward me in his warm greeting.
“Hugrökk,” he said gently, his voice tender in the way he used only for me.
The unfamiliar word curled on his tongue and brought a smile to my face. I’d heard him use the word and Rune called me it too, but I didn’t know what it meant. Whatever it meant, it made me preen from the tenderness in their voices while saying it to me.
Now that I knew he was okay, I could breathe without feeling the tightness in my chest. At least not as bad as it was before since it was still uncomfortably tight.
I closed my eyes while laying my cheek back on Rune’s chest, taking in a deep breath.
“Was your friend going through her death echo?” Rune asked gently since I forgot to answer.
Swallowing hard, I cracked open my eyes.
This was so hard.
“She was, and she was being punished.”
Rune stayed quiet, but through our bond, I knew his mind was racing. I couldn’t hear his thoughts, and I knew I could force it open like he did when I tried to close it. But I gave him his privacy—as much as it hurt to do that.
“Who else was with you? How do you know she’s being punished?” he asked, his words chosen carefully.
He was hiding something.
I leaned back, gazing at him for a second, trying to figure out what he wasn’t telling me. The memory of being dead and stuck in the In-Between was fresh. I lowered my eyes, not wanting him to see the fear showing so clearly in them.
