Page 88 of Taken By Touch and Torment

I barely remembered being in the shower, as if I’d skipped forward in time. Now I stared at the clothes laid out on Rune’s bed—an oversized white sweater, black cotton leggings, and cozy-looking socks.

Damn him, I couldn’t be mad he’d dictated my wardrobe. This outfit was exactly what I wanted to wear, and he knew it. It covered my body, it was comfortable, and it was cute without being remotely showy.

I could, however, be mad at him for the breakfast—or maybe lunch, who even knew what time it was—spread on his dining room table.

My anger at the exorbitance had nowhere to go, as I stood in his beautiful dining room alone, no sound of life coming from anywhere in his chambers. Plates of fruit, more sugary pastries, meat and cheese, fizzy water that was no doubt spiked with vitamins and minerals, knowing Rune…

“Hello?” I called. This was absurd. But I was thirsty, and surprisingly, I was hungry too. I thought I’d lost that sensation a while ago. I poured myself a glass of the sparkling drink, and when I sipped it, it reminded me of that first night I met Rune. He’d forced me to drink water with electrolytes, citing that I looked pale. From the very beginning, Rune had taken care of me, in a way that was equal parts sweet and deranged.

Wait. Was that when he’d dosed me with his blood?

“Hello?” I called again, this time a tad more irritated.

I grabbed a stupid square of cheese and a stupid slice of meat, tentatively placing them on my tongue. I chewed and swallowed.

Food still wasn’t the same, but it was better.

I found myself standing at the head of the table, grabbing pieces of food here and there, eating angrily until I forgot why I was even angry.

I walked around as I replenished myself, admiring Rune’s art. Stars and mountains, roses and whorls of gold, vines and thorns. I spun, taking in the marble sculptures and intricate fixtures on the walls, the little touches that gave this room both warmth and familiarity paired with brushstrokes of the indescribable divine.

Then I looked up at the ceiling. I quickly swallowed my bite of a cinnamon pastry. My eyes widened, and my mouth fell open. It was a captivating cross between a deep, dark ocean and a night sky—a golden sliver of moon, nebulas and auroras, waves of deep blue and crackles of onyx. It was fire and water, darkness and light, like mine and Rune’s souls had exploded into the cosmos. All I could do was follow the art, my feet moving with a mind of their own as I stared upward. I stumbled over a step, and I found myself inside the main living area, where the ceiling was even taller and grander.

My lip trembled, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or smile or cry or yell for Rune again. Because the stars and oceans and deep darkness faded into brightness—a painting of me, in Helia’s golden dress, grinning and blue eyes bright. I understood my nickname now, the way Rune saw me as this flame of hope that refused to die. I was on fire from within, the shimmering fabric clinging to my curves as I stood mesmerized, gazing at the world.

I looked like I was in love.

With Rune, with Aristelle, with this messy, painful, unfair existence.

And only a man hopelessly in love with me could’ve commissioned such a piece. Only a man insatiably obsessed could’ve captured me for who I was, half Helia’s sun-kissed dreamer and half daughter of the goddess of lust, darkness, and chaos. A beautiful, sinful contradiction, just like the vampire afraid of his own humanity.

“I was wrong, Scarlett.”

The voice nearly made me jump out of my skin. I twirled around to see Snow drawing her eyes away from the ceiling and down to me.

36

SCARLETT

Snow smiled, her icy blonde hair a few inches past her shoulders now, her bangs slightly longer too. She wore a black sweaterdress and clunky platform boots. A silver pentacle necklace hung low on her chest.

“Rune is unhinged, yes,” she said, lifting her brows and shaking her head. “There are many actions of his I do not condone and never will. But my primary concern is you. Your happiness, your safety. He loves you deeply, and the pain he suffered when you were taken was difficult to watch. Yet he somehow managed to rule Aristelle and rescue you without making a single rash decision that endangered masses of mortals. I was wrong about him.”

She took a breath, her features turning more serious. “If you decide he isn’t what you want—tomorrow or years from now—I will always be your getaway rider. I’m team Scarlett, not team broody, arrogant vampire.” Her mischievous grin dissolved as she stepped toward me. “Against all my initial judgments, however, Rune seems to care about your happiness above all else. Doesn’t mean I won’t be watching him very closely.” She made a serious face and crossed her arms, and I laughed.

Snow relaxed at the sound of my laugh. Her eyes welled with emotion. Before she could politely ask, I hugged her.

“He didn’t leave you alone, you know,” she said over my shoulder. “I was here the whole time—in his private library, reading a filthy book.” She pulled back and waggled a brow, and I couldn’t help but giggle again. “We thought it might help your appetite if we gave you space.”

Snow took both my hands and squeezed. My heart was a puddle of goo, and I tried to push past the discomfort so I could fully bask in Snow’s warmth. How could I not? When yesterday, I was a slave, and my future was no longer guaranteed. When I’d watched my friend die before my eyes.

How could I not lean into love when there was a time that I thought love was for other people, and not for me?

I’d been wrong too.

“It did help my appetite,” I affirmed. “I love you so much. I thought about you all the time.” The clouds over my heart cleared, and I wondered if Snow saw it too—the space opening inside my aura that had once been opaque and impenetrable. “Isabella’s voice used to be the loudest inside my mind. She’d been clipping my wings, just like you said. But when I was at my lowest, when I thought Rune had abandoned me and I was better off dead—your voice was the one that kept me alive when I no longer had my own inner strength. You were the one who showed me that romantic love was not the foundation. Rune isn’t a missing puzzle piece to make me whole, to fill all of my voids.”

Snow rubbed her thumbs against my hands, and I thought of Rosalind. Snow nodded at me, pride in her eyes.

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