Page 142 of Lifebound

I followed his every movement intently while he put the other boot on me as well, tied it up nice and tightly.

“These are not fit for the rougher terrain farther down the tunnel. We can take them with if you’d like,” he said, showing me my old, worn, and almost completely ruined sneakers.

I shook my head. “Leave them. These will do just fine.” The boots were so comfortable it felt like I had only socks on my feet.

“The cloak is in my bag. Let me know if you get cold.” Rune tossed my sneakers to the side, then took my hand in his and continued to lead me ahead, just like that, his every movement fluid, not an ounce of hesitation anywhere on him.

Did I mention that I was in awe of him?

“What exactly does a Keeper of Secrets do?” I asked after a moment when I got my thoughts together.

Rune answered eagerly. “Keeps the long-forgotten secrets of a species. Usually seers do it, as they can see into the past and the future, but with seers being born so rarely, every land in Verenthia chooses a Keeper to ensure that their secrets both remain secrets and survive time.”

“Does the Seelie Court have a Keeper of Secrets, too?”

“They do. The seer that saw your life bond with the prince,” Rune said. “She’s one of the only two seers that currently live on our continent.”

“And where is the other?”

“Midnight Court.” The court that was his home. The court of the king who banished him.

I didn’t know the guy, but I agreed with Raja wholeheartedly—he sounded like a fucking pig to banish a six-year-old boy alone and leave him to be eaten. What kind of a king would do that to his subjects?

Still, I said nothing because I didn’t want Rune to even think about it and ruin his mood.

“I believe I have a slightly better understanding of your world now, Mr. Moody. You were very thorough,” I said, and he flashed me a grin before he let go of my hand and pulled me under his arm.

Heaven, I tell you. Heaven.

“What aboutyourworld? What can you tell me about it?” he asked.

My heart jumped. “Oh, there area lotof things I could tell you about my world. For example, it ishuge.Over sevenbillionpeople live on Earth—imagine that.”

“That does sound like a lot,” he said.

“Mhm, and we don’t have magic, but we have science and technology and senseless superstitions and this wonderful thing called the Internet,” I said, and I sounded socheerful,I even surprised myself.

Never in a million years could I have thought I’d beexcitedto tell someone about my planet—or that I’d ever talk to someone who wasn’t from my planet—but my life had taken so many strange twists and turns lately.

And you know what? It wasn’t so bad, was it? After everything that had happened, I’d say it wasn’t so bad at all.

“Okay, now I’m intrigued. What else?” Rune asked.

So, I started to tell him everything that came to mind about home. About the seven wonders of the world, about the moon landing, about our art and artists, about the pyramids, and the Great Wall of China and the Grand Canyon. I told him about cars and planes and trains and boats, even what little I knew about submarines and space rockets.

I spoke for what felt like hours and Rune asked me questions relentlessly, caught up in every single word I said. He cared—hereallycared—and he seemed actually fascinated by what I told him, which made me feel so damn proud it was almost funny.

That’s how almost half of our journey into the tunnel went.

* * *

How weird wasit that I was having a better time now that I did at any point since I came here?

I was in a tunnel underground, yes, but Rune was with me, and there was nobody else here, just the birds. Nobody to watch out for, nobody to hide from, nobody who wanted to kill me or drink my blood or fuck me until I died.

Nobody, just me and Rune, and I forgot where we were so quickly. The ceiling was high and there was plenty of air to breathe down here, and the temperature was perfect, although slightly hot. I wasnotcomplaining. In fact, if the entire way to the Seelie Court had been through this tunnel, I’d have loved every second of it.

The boots were perfection. So lightweight and they didn’t slip when we crossed particularly muddy areas or slippery rocks that covered the ground here and there. But even so, after possibly four hours of nonstop walking, I got tired. I got hungry and thirsty, and I wanted a break. Rune said he had a spot where he always stopped to rest when coming to visit Raja, so that’s where we went.

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