“So let me get this straight. You saw one possible version of me—a monster—and instead of trusting me, youmademe one. You stole my life, my magic, and my choices. You didn’t save me. You destroyed me long before that vision ever could.”
“No one destroyed you, Maple,” Rune’s voice had me whipping around so quickly I stumbled over my own feet. He was covered in swamp muck and sweat, but none of that mattered. Relief slammed into my chest as I ran as quickly as I could to him. My family didn’t matter. The answers I’d been so desperate for didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but him. His arms snaked around me, and I clung to him like my life depended on it, and it probably did. The hurricane raging in my soul quieted with his body wrapped around mine.
“You’re okay,” I breathed into his shoulder.
“I would tear apart the swamp to get back to you,” he said into my hair before he addressed my family over my head. “Though I don’t agree with your methods and I want to wage a war for what you’ve done to the woman I’ve fallen in love with, I can’t help but thank you because the woman in my arms is everything I never knew I needed. She is strong, fierce, loyal, funny, and so many other things that would take me all night to list. I hate that she had to experience all of the heartache she did, but all of that brought her here to me.”
The golden warmth inside of my chest reached out to the tendrils of shadow and smoke wrapping around us, and I knew that the place I’d once called home was that no longer. My home was here, wherever Rune was.
My mom’s face broke as she fought her composure, and my father’s eyes shone with unshed tears. My grandparents heldonto each other with a mixture of pride and regret in their features.
“We never wanted to break you; we wanted to do the opposite. We wanted you to have a life with the coven, even if you couldn’t be a part of it. We are so sorry that we had to be a part of the bad parts in your story. We will accept the fate of being a villain, knowing that we kept you safe.” A single tear slid down my grandmother’s cheek.
“You let fear write her story when you should have given her the pen. Maple is strong and kind; she would have never destroyed anyone.” Rune’s arms tightened around me.
“This is our first time on this earth, and we are learning as we go. We thought we were doing the best we could. Please, forgive us.” My papa’s voice broke, and something in my chest cracked at the sound. The pillar of my childhood was breaking in front of me. They were right, this was their first time doing things, and they were just doing the best they could with what they knew. I hoped that I would never be put in that position with my own children some day, but I knew one thing was for certain: I would never take the choices away from my kids. I was better than that.
I untangled myself from Rune’s arms and stared at my family with new eyes. I didn’t like what they did, but for the first time, I could see why they thought they had to. I could understand, even if I couldn’t accept it fully. Forgiveness wouldn’t come all at once—it would take time—but maybe there was a path toward it.
I opened my arms, and my parents rushed into them like they’d been waiting a lifetime. My papa’s voice broke against my ear. “Every moment of every day as we watched you buckle under the pressure, we fought to tell you. We kept our distance so we didn’t hurt you further. We hoped we’d give it back someday—after the wolves, after the war—but you did it yourself.”
“We underestimated you,” Mama whispered, her fingers trembling against my back. “We should have known better. You were always stronger than a vision. We only wanted to save you from being burned— from being destroyed. We couldn’t bear the thought of being the ones to stop you if it came true.”
Papa buried his face in my hair. “But look at you now. You found something better here. You found a family that accepted you—even when our coven couldn’t.”
Tears burned my eyes, but I nodded into their embrace. “That was the best gift out of all of this,” I said softly.
Behind me, Rune’s shadows stirred, brushing warm along my ankles as if to remind me he was still there. I didn’t have to look at him to know what his eyes said—that no matter where this conversation ended,I belonged here, with him and with them.
My grandparents stepped closer, unsure of what to do with themselves, and I opened my arms to them, too. They stepped forward hesitantly, but when they were within my arms with my parents wrapped around me, I felt a peace in my chest that I only felt in Rune’s arms, and I knew everything would be okay.
“It’s getting late,” Rune said behind us, which was an understatement. “Louis will bring you all to your rooms. We will have a beignet breakfast, and I’ll show your family everything New Orleans has to offer.”
Rune’s shadowswrapped around my ankles as we walked back to his room. I didn’t want to be without him again. He soothed something in my heart and body that I never knew I needed. His hand stayed rooted at the small of my back as we walked back in comfortable silence.
When he unlocked his door and we walked through the threshold, heat coiled low in my belly. I wanted him so badly it hurt. He’d been through so much, and all I could think about was taking care of him. I wove my fingers through his as I led him to the bathroom. My fingers itched to take care of him in ways I’dnever done before. I wanted more than physical; I wanted this connection with him.
Shallow cuts marred his arms and cheeks, and I wondered what all he’d gone through in the swamp dealing with Babette. That would come later. Right now, he needed me.
I grabbed a rag from the cabinet and ran the hot water over it before I returned to his side and started cleaning the mud and grime from his cheeks. The more I cleaned, the more cuts and bruises I uncovered. My fingers traced over the marks with reverence as my magic reached out to heal him. With each brush of my fingers, the warm glow within me smoothed his skin, healing the lacerations. My touch lingered over each wound even after they were gone, unsure of how to let him go.
“I’m nasty,” he protested as I began to unbutton his shirt and push it from his well-rounded shoulders. His body was a masterpiece that I was anxious to uncover. “You don’t have to do this, I’m fully capable.”
Though the words were spoken in strength, I could see the exhaustion weighing down his limbs. I knew he could still take care of himself, but I wanted to see him taken care of. Plus, there was a need within me to see that he was unharmed. I wouldn’t be able to rest until I knew he was completely healed before my eyes.
“You’ve carried enough on these shoulders, let me take on some of your burdens.” I pressed a kiss to his now unmarked jaw. “After all, I’m your wife. Or did you forget?”
A chuckle stirred in the back of his throat, and before I could protest, he had his arms wrapped around me and we were both under the hot spray of the water, clothes be damned. I didn’t know how the water had turned on, and I didn’t care. All I could think about was the way he was looking at me, with heat and hunger like never before. “I could never forget.”
With a deafening riiiiip, he tore my shirt down the middle. I couldn’t have told you if it was a favorite of mine or not, because all I wanted was for it to be free from my body. We fought with the wet fabric until we were both breathing hard and just a few inches apart. There were still bruises and scratches along his body, but with every touch from me, they healed before our eyes. He dragged his nose up the side of my neck, and I shivered into his touch.
“You’re mine, Maple. Not because of a contract. Not because of this coven but because you chose me and I chose you.”
It was all I needed to hear as I grabbed his face between my hands and yanked his mouth to mine. It was all-consuming, and with every swipe of his tongue on mine, I only unraveled further. The kiss only grew more desperate as we stood under the shower spray, water streaming over the both of us. I could hardly think straight. I didn’t know how we remained upright.
His rough hands trailed down my body as he backed me up against the cool tile wall. Rune groaned into my mouth as my hands skirted over his now, thankfully, bare chest. He shucked off his wet pants quickly; I tried to pull away to get a glimpse of his glorious body, but he pulled me back into another searing kiss. I wanted nothing more than to touch him and make him mine. All I wanted was for him to take more. But instead, he broke the kiss with a ragged breath and rested his forehead against mine. Our chests rose and fell rapidly as we stared at each other.
“I want you,” I whispered just a hairsbreadth from his lips. “I need you.”
