Page 126 of Lifebound

“Hey, little guy!” I said, smiling so big my cheeks hurt, like it really was an old friend. And the way it flew closer and nearly touched my nose with its glowing beak would have you thinking it was glad see me, too.

I laughed.

“C’mon, race me,” I told it and started swimming deeper down the lake, farther behind the weeds, shamelessly hiding from Raja. The bird followed me and so did Rune.

I didn’t get very far before my limbs got tired, though. I hadn’t eaten and I hadn’t swum in a long time. So, I stopped near the edge and I turned on my back, and I just watched the sky get darker while my bird got brighter and brighter as it flew over me. The water blocked the sound of the world and I was all alone in my head for a moment.

Even Rune couldn’t get to me here, and I had no idea whether he was far away or close by.

Slowly, I let go of a deep breath. I was alive and I was okay, and I was going to get to the prince soon. He would personally take me back to the Aetherway, and if he was as powerful as Raja, I wasn’t afraid. With him and with Rune by my side, I was going to make it to the Neutral Lands in no time.

Then I could get back to Fi and Dad and Betty. I was going to hug the crap out of them for hours until they had enough—thatwas my plan…

Wasn’t it?

That was how this whole thing was supposed to go since the beginning. I owed a debt to a fae prince, and I’d come here to heal him, wake him up, then go back home again. Simple. Easy. Not complicated in the least.

And then I could move to New York City or L.A. or wherever I wanted and get on with my life.

That had always been the plan.

Except now when I thought about it, something inside me protested. Something inside me squeezed and moved uncomfortably, something that didn’t want to even consider the idea at all.New York City, L.A., Oregon—they seemed so distant to me now so suddenly. The entire world I had lived in my whole life seemed so far away. So unreachable.

And the factcalmedme. It didn’t freak me out. Which was wrong on so many levels.

Eventually, I swam upright to find Rune was on his back, too, eyes closed as he floated on the surface. The sky was a deep blue now, almost identical to the color of his eyes. I wasn’t afraid, though—my bird was with me still, flying in perfect silence. It followed me when I slowly swam back toward the edge of the lake, to a spot where there were no bushes or grass growing right off the edge.

I rested my elbows on the wet soil behind me and watched Rune floating about for a while. The view was so perfect it hurt.

Or maybe it was just the fact that I wasnevergoing to be here again. I was never going to see him like this again, so relaxed and carefree, swimming in a lake.

How much longer untilthiswas over?

How much time did I have left with Rune before it was done for good?

Tears pricked the back of my eyes.This might be the last time we are alone together. And that, apparently, made me want to cry.

Rune opened his eyes and raised his head, and when he saw me there by the edge, watching him, he swam upright, too. Came closer to me slowly, the water around him barely rippling. His hair was pushed back like that again, and the moon, which was definitely smaller here than it was back home, didn’t give us much light, but the bird flying near me did. It bathed him in a silver hue that was all the more magical because of the water droplets hanging on his skin.

My heart held perfectly still. Our eyes were locked on one another, never blinking. Rune didn’t stop swimming until his hands were near where my elbows rested on the edge of the river.

I was trapped between his arms, but he was far still, too far.

“Come closer,” I whispered, and he didn’t hesitate.

Whatever it was about this place that had put him at ease like this, that took away all his inhibitions, it made me want to stay here forever. To never leave. To always be like this with Rune.

He came closer until we were chest to chest, and I pushed myself up and wrapped my arms around his neck, rested my head on his shoulder. I hugged him to me with all my strength while the bird flew around us slowly.

And when his arms locked around me, too, a sigh escaped my lips, this one in relief. In contentment. There was no place in any world, I thought, like Rune’s arms. Just something about the heat of him, the way his heart beat, the way he held me.

Like he, too, never wanted to let go.

“Are you cold?” he whispered.

“Not at all.” The water was really perfect, the air warm and still. “You cleaned me up. You washed my clothes.”

Rune said nothing, only kissed the side of my head.

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