He winced, offended that I thought he wouldn’t let me do that. Instead of voicing it, he inclined his head.
“Of course, you can.”
It stayed silent between us for a second as I glanced back at Aaliyah, unsure of what to do.
Rune’s sigh broke the heavy silence. He brushed his hand on my lower back as he moved around me, his fingers drifting a few seconds longer on me before he let his hand drop.
“I’m going to get someone to prepare for the fire. It won’t be pretty,elskan mín. Give me a minute, and I’ll be right back.”
I watched as he walked out of the room, leaving me alone with my dead friend. Rune’s heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway, leaving me feeling empty. The numbing cold came back, creeping closer and closer. It was only our open link, with access to him, that helped to keep it from overtaking me. I listened to Rune’s rumbling voice as he talked to someone, but I couldn’t muster the energy to figure who it was.
Swallowing hard, I glanced back at Aaliyah and grabbed her hand in mine. I shuddered, apologizing to her in my thoughts for not being comfortable touching her waxy-like skin.
“If I could bring you back, I would,” I whispered to her.
Light flashed in the window, startling me with a sharp inhale as I snapped my gaze to it, catching the tail end of the lightning of an approaching thunderstorm. A rumble of thunder in the distance followed a few seconds later.
ChapterFive
Rune was right. It wasn’t pretty.
But he did his best to show respect to my friend as he created a pit for her. The others piled wood and whatever else they could find to stoke the fire Rune had magically started. Seeing the roaring flames start on their own, reaching higher than any normal fire would. Screams came from it like the souls of the damned as it burned her body.
The pyre Rune built wasn’t one of the prettiest I’d seen—then again, I’d only seen them in shows and movies. There was no high-stacked wood like a bed with my friend lying on her back, dressed in her favorite outfit. If it was though, she would’ve been in her grungy band T-shirt, black jeans with rips in them, and her favorite pair of red Converse.
Instead, I watched something equivalent to a dumpster fire. Because that’s what it was.
My stomach churned from the awful stench of her hair and skin cooking. I felt the gag starting to work its way up my throat. Rune must’ve sensed it through our link because suddenly, it went away like he was taking the brunt of being sick.
Although he helped me, I still looked away when I couldn’t watch anymore. I raised my eyes to the dark sky. It didn’t start raining yet, despite the thunder in the distance and the bright flash of lightning while I sat alone with Aaliyah. It was only drizzling, the light mist of the rain cool on my skin. The summer night was warm and humid, holding the pressure that only happened when thunderstorms were rolling in.
Lightning streaked through the sky every few seconds in the near distance. It turned the thick clouds and the surrounding sky into blues and purples while shadowing other parts. It made human-like figures in them, which was common for people to do—make pictures out of clouds. It was all imagination.
But why did I feel like the lightning dancing in the Heavens and the flash of a man’s face in the clouds was someone sending their condolences?
That couldn’t be right. It was all part of my imagination.
What god would sympathize with me? God from church? Another god that knew Rune personally?
The fire popped with a gross screech like a soda bottle would if it was cracked open just a little for the carbonation to seep out. I didn’t want to know what made that sound in the fire.
“Let’s go inside and shower,elskan mín,” Rune said, sensing my need to go inside.
Blinking, I turned my gaze to him. He was already looking down at me with a worried expression. Circling his fingers around my wrist, he walked by my side into the destroyed house.
“We have a few hours before we need to leave,” he murmured, followed by his thoughts about how long it took for a body to burn, even with the fire he created. He didn’t want to leave now and risk someone from this realm finding a burned body that would bring more trouble.
My stomach knotted as my heart picked up in pace. I glanced at him before I swept my eyes over everything in the barely lit rooms as he led me to the bathroom we had sex in hours ago. The place was a wreck and didn’t look like Aaliyah’s home. It wasn’t neat with her plants decorating the rooms. Instead, it was littered with blood, dirt, broken glass, and fuzz from pillows that were ripped, for whatever reason.
Screams echoed in my head with the faint bangs of a gun from when we were attacked. My stomach twisted.
We really were leaving. My friend was really dead...
I was still being hunted.
Oh god, I was still in danger. Which meant the others were in danger.
Warmth seeped through my cheeks, bringing me out of my panic, and I noticed Rune was kneeling in front of me with his hands cradling my face. Even with him kneeling, we were still eye to eye, and I could see the worry in his blue eyes.
