Page 95 of Realm Walker's Awakening
“Oh my god,” she whispered, her voice low and trembling on a breath. “Please tell me he’s in jail.”
I lowered my eyes and shook my head. Rune’s confession came back to me like he just said it.
“I’d kill him again if I could.”
The words were there for me to say, but I couldn’t seem to force them out. The thick emotion clogged my throat as my heart raced. Rune comforted me as he lessened the impact of the emotions of whathedid. And what Rune did to him.
“I killed him,” Rune answered for me, making me jump slightly. I glanced at where he still sat in the hallway, sharpening his blade. “I shoved my dagger into his left eye until it met the floor beneath him and interrogated him to get the little information he gave me. He didn’t die. Couldn’t because he was immortal. And I had a feeling he touched her because of the evidence of a struggle in her apartment where I found him. So I cut off his hands and listened to him scream before I cut his head off.”
His memory played in my head like it was happening now and it was me who was crouched over the flailing Callum with the dagger in his bleeding eye.
I scowled down at him, seething, while worried about finding Isa. The link she had established while she whispered about needing sleep sent me into a frenzy to get to her. Wherever she was, it was cold, and she was upset. There was a moment I felt something through our bond that made me see red. Whoever hurt her was a dead man walking. I sent her my warmth to keep her with me and for her to hold on until I came for her. But I didn’t know where the fuck she was.
“Wake up, Isa! Don’t leave me again, dammit! Hold on to me, elskan mín,” I begged through our link, but it went unheard. Her beautiful mind began wavering, her breaths slowing with her heart. Wherever she was, she didn’t have much longer.
The bastard beneath me didn’t tell me where she was and what he did to her. Only gave me crumbs of information and a dark, wet chuckle of, “We’re the least of your worries.”
I stood, glancing over my shoulder at the front door, and noticed the neighbors weren’t coming in to see what was happening. No one banged on the walls or door to tell the fucker to shut up. They were silent. It was a great possibility they were silent for her.
They would all pay for this. It wasn’t their lying and stealing god they should be afraid of because they just got the attention of a vengeful one with centuries’ worth of repressed anger.
Snarling, I unsheathed my sword and thrust it down to meet the fucker’s neck with a loud, wet thunk.
Blinking out of the memory, my heart hammered hard against my chest until it became painful. Pins and needles swept through my body as I swallowed to wet my suddenly dry mouth and throat.
“Good,” Harper said, making me jump again. I glanced at her with shock, and she shrugged a shoulder with an unapologetic look as she met my gaze. “I said what I said, and I’m not sorry.”
Rune slid his sharpened dagger into its place, followed by a snap before settling it into its leather sheath. He fluidly got to his feet and walked into the room. I peered at his shadowed form, my heart in my throat as this shared memory was still fresh in my mind. His ocean eyes reflected in the little bit of light, giving him an unnatural look with the way his eyes seemed to glow. It gave off feral vibes like he was two seconds away from slaughtering people. He stood at his full height, his hair flowing over his shoulders with intricate braids mingled in.
“You need to sleep,elskan mín. We’re leaving before the sun rises.” He moved his eyes to Harper with the same sharpness in his gaze. “You’ll need to sleep too.”
There was more meaning to his words. He was concerned with getting her back to the others so they could see her and not just hear her. They’d been patient enough and were getting irritated with her being away from them. Through Rune, I heard Slátra muttering about coming in here and grabbing Harper. Hluti was fighting it for so long until he went quiet, which was his agreement.
Was that how Rune was with me when we were separated?
“Yes,” he answered out loud, not bothering to explain for Harper to follow. His eyes strayed back to me as he stepped toward me and bent to help me stand. Having his hands on me and his warmth flooding through me made my heart race and things flutter. It was a reminder of what we did earlier and how it was the hottest thing we’d done so far.
He bent, capturing my lips in a soft kiss, ending it in the same breath.
Tease.
He chuckled softly as he stepped away and bent to help Harper stand, careful with where he put his hands on her. As soon as she was on her feet, he turned his body to face the side with his hand outstretched to the door to let her leave the room first.
He was such a gentleman.
Harper sighed, annoyed, as she stared at the doorway. She huffed and turned her gaze back to me.
“I’ll see you in a few hours.”
She didn’t look too excited, and I didn’t blame her. I didn’t want her to feel forced to do anything because it made me uncomfortable for her too.
“They can deal with it if you don’t want to go in there,” I whispered to her. “I have your back.”
Shaking her head and forcing a smile, she pulled me into a hug. I readily returned it and melted into her. It was so nice to see her again, and it was nice to finally have another woman around.
“They’re annoying and beat their chests like cavemen, but for whatever reason, it makes me lose all rational thought. It annoys me. And it annoys me that I’ll pretend I’m cold so one of them can big spoon me again,” she whispered with a dramatic sigh.
I bit my lip to hold back the smile and squeezed her before I stepped away. She caught my struggle and snorted a laugh.
