Page 145 of Moonmarked

I’d thought Rune was far away, waiting for me.

“I take it that it went well?”

His voice ripped through the air and filled my ears, and my mind was suddenly overwhelmed with one thought:Rune is here, Rune is here, Rune is back.

I don’t know how I managed to run.

I don’t know how I didn’t fall on my face, but I was jumping in his arms the very next second.

Screw the ritual and the prince and the court—and the entire fucking continent: Rune was here. He hadn’t died. I didn’t have to wait a second longer to be with him. He was here now, and everything was going to be all right.

forty-six

Shock after shock after shock—yeteverything seemed so distant now.

The talk with the seer.

The talk with Lyall.

Most importantly, the talk with the Seelie Queen.

It all was separated from me now by this thin veil that always seemed to be wrapped around me when Rune was near. Like he could protect me against anything and anyone, from the people and the absurdities of the Seelie Court.

He was there and his hand was between mine, and his eyes were wide and dark, the silver line in them barely visible—but he was alive.

“How in the world?” Lyall said for possibly the fifth time, shaking his head, pushing back his hair, rubbing his face as if to make sure he was seeing right as he looked at Rune.

Looking at him like he would rather believe he was a fucking ghost.

Then he came in front of him and put his hand on his shoulder. “How? How in the world did you survive that?!”

Terrified and impressed and suspicious—that’s what his voice sounded like.

“The same way I survive everything. Shadows,” Rune said, his eyes on the prince, and he did not look happy. His shoulders were rigid and his muscles tight, and just the way he was gripping my hand—but it didn’t matter, did it? He washereand I was fighting those damn tears to keep them from spilling out of my eyes, but a couple still slipped.

For a moment, all Lyall knew how to do was nod his head.Respectflashed in his eyes before he could help himself, before he smiled. “Well done, my friend. Impressive, as always.Well done.”

“Appreciate it, friend,” Rune said, his voice dark and just slightly above a whisper. “And you’re done with Nilah, too. The life bond is broken.”

“Yes, it is,” I said before Lyall could, and I was so damn eager to get the fuck out of there I had to stop myself from pulling Rune through the doorway. “It’s done. The ritual is over. I’m ready to leave.”

Please, please, let’s just leave…

“Well, you’re certainly not surprised,” Lyall said, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he looked at Rune’s hand in mine, then up at me. That smile on his face reminded me of snakes. “That means you knew, didn’t you.” It wasn’t a question. “You knew Rune survived, and you didn’t tell me?”

“She didn’t know, only guessed,” Rune answered for me.

Lyall laughed. “Oh, so you’re speaking on her behalf now, too.”

“Lyall, we did the ritual. There’s nothing for me hereanymore,” I said, my voice strong and clear, which didn’t surprise me. Rune was here, and with every breath I took, I felt more like myself. I fit my skin better, and even the cold that had spread all over my insides didn’thurtanymore. Didn’t feel entirely uncomfortable.

“I will take her back home to Nerith, the same way I brought her here,” Rune said, squeezing my fingers, which meant he was thinking exactly what I was thinking—Lyall wasnotto be trusted. I could tell by the way his voice was strained—Rune was on edge, and he wasprepared.

Prepared for an attack.

Meanwhile Lyall continued to shake his head and wrap a hand around his chin, sometimes looking at the floor and sometimes at us.

“Just give me a moment here,” he finally said. “Difficult not to feel…betrayedby the same people who are alive because of me.”

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