Page 135 of Lifebound

I don’t know what got into me. Suddenly I found myself moving, wanting to run, get out of my own skin.

“If you’ll excuse me,” I said and pushed the chair back. Looked at Rune.

He looked at me, too. Passively. Like we were strangers again, just like we’d been that first day.

“May I use the room I woke up in to lie down?” I asked Raja, who was just as surprised as I was a moment ago. So surprised, she couldn’t speak, either, only nodded.

I turned around and walked away with my head down and my hands in fists to make sure I didn’t scream or turn to him and curse him in my anger. He didn’t come after me, didn’t call my name, said nothing at all.

There were no lights on inside the house, but I managed to find the small room using my hands and the little light that came through the windows. I closed the door and lay down on the bed and focused on my body—my arms and my chest and my legs. My wounded leg that was throbbing a little, but to look at it now that the bandage was off, you couldn’t even see a little redness. Whatever Raja had done was a damn miracle, and the throbbing didn’t bother me at all. It was the sweetest pain at exactly the right time. I focused on it with my whole being because I didn’t dare think at all. I didn’t dare imagine Rune and how he refused to look at me, how he so obviously regretted what we’d done, how he most certainly wished we never had.

I just focused on the pain until I slept.

* * *

The soundof the door opening woke me up. Darkness in the room, save for a little light coming from the grayish sky beyond the three windows. I sat up when I realized Rune was standing there by the door, fully dressed in new clothes, all black, just like before. His hair was dry, and it was all over the place again, falling over his eyes.

It was like he’d gone back in time.

Likewe’dgone back in time.

“It’s time to go,” he told me, his eyes on me, but again, like I was a stranger.

The way it still hurt was unexpected—and it pissed me the fuck off. I’d gone to bed feeling like shit because of that look, and it wasn’t fair. Pushing my legs off the bed I stood up and blinked the sleep from my eyes. Thanks to the anger, my mind was perfectly alert within seconds.

“Sure. Just as soon as you tell me why you won’t look me in the face,” I said.

“Iamlooking at you.”

And he was. Right now—he was. But the way he looked at me was different, and he knew it. I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

“If you regret what happened last night, you can just say so. You don’t have to pretend I’m a fucking stranger all of a sudden.”

For a moment, Rune paused. Just looked at me.

Why? I wanted to say—screamit.What the hell changed so fast?

Instead, all I said when he refused to answer me was, “Was it me? What the hell did I do? Tell me because I don’t have a clue.”

It’s true that I was always fucking things up, but I could have sworn that I didn’t do anything this time.When could I have even tried?

“Nothing,” Rune said through gritted teeth. “You did nothing.”

“Well, I must have becauselook at you!” My voice was rising, but I couldn’t control myself. Even my hands were shaking.

“Don’t you dare try to take the blame. You did nothing wrong. Not anything,” he said, striding over to me, but not getting close. Not nearly as close as I needed him.

“Thenwhy?!” I demanded. “We were fine and then you…you…”

Rune closed his eyes for a moment. “There is no reason, Wildcat. We’re going to get to the Seelie Court by next morning. This journey is almost over,” he said. “It’s almost over.”

“And so what?!” I knew that it wasalmost over,damn it. I was dreading the end as well, but that didn’t mean we still couldn’t take advantage of this whole day.

His eyes were so dark I barely saw the silver in them. “When we get there, you will heal the prince, and once he’s awake, he…”

Again, he squeezed his eyes shut. My heart thundered in my chest, and God, I was so mad I was seeing red. That’s why I slammed my hands on my thighs and laughed bitterly.

“Oh, so that’s what’s going on here! I remember now—you’re afraid of the prince!”

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