Page 61 of Moonmarked

An easy guess, and so he told meno.With his widening eyes and the shaking of his head—and I could have sworn that I heard the word whispered in my ear for a second there, too.

“I found Rune, as you can see,” Lyall said again, and my eyes moved to his—golden and wide and inviting. “Come, Nilah, come. Say your thanks. I just said mine.” And he wrapped his arm around Rune’s shoulders exactly like a friend would. He was smiling wide, and Rune wasn’t—they were exactly the opposite from one another, and I saw it as clear as day when I forced my legs to move forward, get closer, and look at them.

Light and dark. One looked like he carried the sun on his shoulders, the other like he wore the night like armor. One was the fire, the other the smoke it left behind. One smiled like he could conquer the world with his charm and knew it—yet I still trusted the other whose lips were a straight line far more.

My heart tugged, begging me to move faster, get closer to him, and I did. I stopped just three feet away from them, and Rune was right there, but thatnostill echoed in my ears, even if it was just a figment of my imagination.I didn’t dare ignore it, not when Lyall stepped to the side right between us and put his hands on our shoulders.

“Look at her, my friend. Isn’t she a dream?” My cheeks flushed but not because of Lyall’s words.

Because of Rune’s eyes. Big and wide and sofullthey took the air from my lungs.

My God, I’d missed him so much I’d started to forget the lines of his face without even realizing it, and that scared me shitless. Forgetting Rune was a fate worse than death, and I’d been so close to it, now that he was there.

“Thank you again for bringing her to me. You are a true friend.”

Lyall’s voice was in my ears, but I couldn’t even turn toward him. Rune commanded all my attention, all my senses—all of me.

Then he lowered his head deeply. “It was my pleasure, Lyall. I’m glad to see you’re okay, Nilah.”

His voice. That perfect spot between a whisper and actual sound. My knees grew weak, and it was a miracle I didn’t lose control.

“Thank you,” I barely said with a nod of my own. “I’m glad to see you’re well, too.”

“He is, he is—you don’t know what he was like when I met him. A starving boy, practically skin and bones, but tough as nails at the same time,” Lyall said, laughing, patting Rune’s shoulders.

Rune, who couldn’t look away from me from under his lashes, his head still lowered.

“He can get through anything, Rune. Anything at all.”

“I know. He saved me from pretty much everything that tried to kill me in Verenthia.”

Fuck, my fingers itched to touch his face, to trailthe shape of those lips, to push his hair away from his beautiful face.

“Nowthat’sa story I would love to hear during dinner.” Lyall pushedmyhair behind my shoulder suddenly, then stepped to Rune’s side again.

The look Rune gave him would have been so incredibly obvious had Lyall not been focused on me.

“Go ahead, my friend. I’ll find you when I have the time,” he said. “My beautiful guest must be hungry—and who would want to keepherwaiting?”

Lyall laughed again.

Rune’s jaws locked. “Have a good evening.” And he stepped to the side.

Once more I was struck by how different they were from one another, the fae princes, though one banished. Standing together, friends, so full of secrets. The prince was polished gold, and Rune was rough stone, full of edges and shadows and storms waiting to break.

My heart all but fell to my heels.Wait, please, don’t go,I begged inside my mind, but I didn’t dare utter a single word out loud.

“Until next time, Nilah,” Rune said—again, as if he knew exactly how much I wanted to reach out my hand to touch him, speak to him like I knew him—because I did. And he knew me better than anybody in any world.

“Until next time, Rune. Thank you again for bringing me here,” I whispered, like he’d just brought me to the gates of the court that morning. Like he hadn’t helped me to run away when they accused me of killing the prince.

Like we were strangers.

“No thanks needed.” And Rune made for the open doors.

“Not a word to anyone, my friend. Remember,” Lyallcalled behind him, but Rune only nodded his head, said nothing.

I watched after him until the doors closed and took him from my view.

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