Page 75 of Lifebound

“Because they’d have to go through me.”

My eyes closed and a deep sigh came out of me.

Yes, his confidence was annoying as hell, but I’ll be damned if it didn’t calm me down. EvenIwas surprised that it worked so well. He believed what he said wholeheartedly, it was easy to see. I had no choice but to believe it, too, if only to preserve my sanity.

Taking in a deep breath, I shook my hands to get them to stop shaking. “I thought you said I only need to be alive,” I muttered.

Rune came as close as possible to rolling his eyes without actually doing it, but he didn’t say anything. He just turned around and started walking down the street again.

“Oh, right—I remember now. You’re afraid of the prince,” I teased, feeling a million times better as if by real magic. Because that asshole of a lizard was still there under that carriage in the shade, licking the air with those three tongues, far away from me.

I ran after Rune, who barely glanced back at me. “I’m not afraid of the prince,” he said.

“Sure, sure. Not even a little bit,” I teased again, smiling a little as I pulled the scarf over my mouth.

For all his moods, Rune was pretty easy to get to—and I wasnevergoing anywhere near a lizard again.

twenty

“No.”

Wasn’t it enough that I was having to go throughallof this? And I wasn’t even talking about being attacked by monkey monsters and spitting lizards. I was talking about finding out that if that prince in the Seelie Court died,so would I.

And if someone found out that they could kill the prince of the Seelie Court by cuttingmyhead off…

I shouldn’t have come here.

Ishould nothave come here.

“It’s faster. It’s more reliable. We can get to Cloakwood by morning.”

Rune was serious. I was looking at him because I refused to look to the side—Irefused—so I knew he was serious.

“Abso-fucking-lutely not. There is no way in hell. No way on Earth or Verenthia or Heaven, either—no way at all.”

He stepped to the side so that we were face-to-face now. Looked down at me. Smiled.

My traitorous heart skipped a long beat. Tripped all over herself, possibly fell on her face.

Do hearts have faces?

My brain was an idiot.

“It’s just a horse.” It got worse when Rune now tried to stifle the smile his god must have spent years to perfect.

“Oh, I beg to differ.” I pointed my finger toward the horses on our side, tied to a piece of wood, eating grass. “Thoseare gigantic beasts who will throw me off their backs by jumping on their front and back legs, then stomp me to death.” I leaned closer. “Is that what you want, Mr. Moody? Do you want thisnot-a-horsecreature to stomp all over my skull? Because the prince would have a few things to say if that happens.”

Wrong—the princewouldn’thave anything to say because the prince would be dead, too.

Fucking idiot.

“It’s faster. It’s safer. There are forests from here to Cloakwood. We can ride through them unnoticed. It will be three times faster than if we walk without stop until we get there.”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest.“No.”

Rune sighed. At least he wasn’t trying to stifle a smile anymore. “I can make you, you know.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

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