Harper’s eyes flicked past my shoulder where Rune stood. She took another step toward me and one of her hands came up in astopmotion.
“Don’t touch her,” she said in a rush. I stiffened and my heart galloped in my chest as ice spread through my veins. The tingles and heat disappeared where Rune was about to touch me. “She’s in distress.”
Hluti straightened, his arms unfolded and dropped to his sides. His amber eyes landed on me, searching for something. The way he watched me made it seem like he could see past me and into my soul. Like he could see my every dirty secret and knew why I was freaking out.
My face flushed, and I averted my gaze.
“Distress?” he said with genuine concern.
I swallowed hard.
“Hey,” Harper said soothingly. I peered back at her, unable to find my voice. She took a step toward me, then another, until she closed the space between us carefully so she didn’t spook me. “Focus on me. What happened?”
I opened my mouth to answer but stopped when my words became strangled in my throat and only a squeak came out. My lips trembled, which I quickly covered with my hand, swallowing around the lump thickening in my throat.
I was so close to sobbing.
My gaze went past her, noting the narrow entryway that led to a hallway. That meant a room could be back there for me to retreat to. I wanted to escape here and be alone. My heart was galloping in my chest, becoming painful enough that I was trying so hard not to gasp for breaths.
My chin trembled as Callum’s touch and words repeated in my mind. My piercing screams and begging for Rune played along with it like a god-awful soundtrack to a horror movie.
“Fuck this,” Rune growled from behind me.
His hand landed on my shoulder and whipped me around, pulling me into him. My breath caught in my chest, my eyes widening. Immediately my knees gave out, and the floodgates opened. I muffled my piercing cry as he wrapped me in his arms and picked me up, cradling me to him.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured, his voice lower than usual but soothing.
I barely registered him walking as I clung to him and cried my eyes out. Hluti’s deep voice was drowned out by my cries, and I couldn’t make out what he said. I didn’t care right now anyway.
The lighting around us changed, and I didn’t care about that either because being in Rune’s arms let me know I was safe. He’d never let anything or anyone harm me if he could help it. And from the recent events, I knew he’d take the bigger blow for me. As much as I wouldn’t forgive myself if he were hurt, I still found safety in it.
How selfish of me.
I cried into his shoulder, wailing things that didn’t make sense even to me. But it made me feel better, and deep within, I knew what I was crying out made sense. They were things I didn’t want to face or accept but were bubbling over, and I couldn’t keep them beneath the surface anymore.
Rune understood. He didn’t judge me and held me as I released everything that had been building inside me.
The sexual assault and being so close to being raped. How I was scared and blamed myself for it. How I shouldn’t have left him at the restaurant and that I was sorry.
Then the endless attacks and learning what I thought wasn’t real, really was and how that scared me too.
Discovering Rune wasn’t human and was a god made me so fucking insecure, wondering why he’d wantmeof all people. Then learning I was his reincarnated soulmate who I’d been hearing and seeing, which threw me into an identity crisis.
All the people hurt because of me. All the people who died because of me. ThenIdied trying to save a friend who ended up dying anyway.
And the worst... having the awful flashback of Callum and thinking Rune was him.
Jesus, Rune watched me freak out, and who knew what all I said at that time, but I was sure he heard it all when I screamed for him.
I didn’t realize how badly I needed him to hold and comfort me. All I needed was to let go and let him touch me when I was too scared. Too repulsed. But now, I didn’t want him to let go of me, ever. With his arms around me, he brought all my broken pieces together and held me together.
“I’m here,elskan mín,” he murmured as he petted the back of my hair, soothing me further. “I’ll never let you go.”
I must’ve said my thoughts out loud and didn’t realize it.
My fingers dug into him as I buried my face more into his shoulder to muffle my cries. After a while, they lessened, then stopped. My throat was scratchy and thick with the lump that wouldn’t go away for a minute. My temples and forehead hurt from the pressure. My nose was stuffy while dripping at the same time, and I felt so gross.
But I felt better and like I wouldn’t split from the pressure of tears I held back for so long. I could breathe too. Not literally, since my nose was leaking, but figuratively. It was like the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders, giving me temporary relief. Because I knew it would come back, but it wasn’t something I wanted to think about and dread.
