Page 73 of Moonmarked

“Yes, cold. The gold light that you saw in the cavern? That feels warm. It gets really hot before it comes out of me, butveryrecently, since the soldiers brought me here, I’ve also felt this cold sensation that’ssort of rivaling it.” Fuck, it was more difficult to explain than I thought. “It doesn’t do anything, though. I just…feelit.”

The whispers in my head returned, and within the second, I regretted saying anything. I regretted not lying, just telling him that nothing at all had changed about me—because what always happened when I told people truths? I got mocked and laughed at and looked at like a fucking weirdo.

Except this was Rune, and that was the reason why my instincts hadn’t been so quick to warn me.

It was Rune, and Rune believed me, no proof required.

He thought about it in silence for a second, and he never once questioned that maybe I was mistaken or something. All he said was, “We’ll figure it out.”

“What does that mean, though?”

“Nothing, really. Seelie and Unseelie magic feels warm, and Midnight and Ice magic feels cold—but so does a bunch of other kinds of magic, too, from what I’ve heard and read. It could be anything.” Another kiss on my shoulder.

“When, though? Because Lyall is going to ask me to undo the life-bond again, and Rune, that’s my only leverage with him right now. Withthem.”

“It is. You did the right thing telling him you wanted to wait.”

“But how long will I have to?”

Closing his eyes, Rune took in a deep breath. “I don’t know yet. Things are…complicated right now. Everyone is restless. Most believe the prince is dead, and some think we’re being betrayed by the queen. I myself had no idea Lyall lived until two days ago.”

“Did you thinkIkilled him?”

The way he looked at me was more than a good enough answer. “Not for a second.”

I smiled. “How did you know?”

“Because you buried a snail you stepped on when you were five years old, Wildcat.”Aw, he remembered about the poor snail. “And you actually rescued a werewolf from a sorcerer’s cage.”

I took his face in my hands and kissed him slowly.

“Is it true what he said—that he’s trying to find the people responsible?” I asked after a moment.

“Yes. He’s trying. Questioning everyone, sending his shadows to spy on anyone he finds slightly suspicious.” Easy to understand by the tone of his voice that Rune didn’t like this bit very much.

“Why, though, Rune?” I wondered. “Why would someone go to such great lengths to kill him?”

For a second, he was silent as he raised his fingers and touched my face with his fingertips. “I told you before that Lyall is very vicious when he wants to be. As he prepared to become king, I’m sure he made many enemies. He’s powerful. He’s confident. Arrogant at times. It’s easy to see that some people might not have taken kindly to it.”

A thought occurred to me. “Do you still think he’s a good man?” That’s what he told me before—that he thought Lyall was agood mandespite how much he’d changed in recent years.

“I want to think so,” was his answer, but it didn’t take a genius to see that it wasn’t ayes.

“Me, too,” I muttered.

“I’m going to figure this out, Wildcat. Both Lyall and whoever tried to kill him, and what will happen to us when you unbind yourself from Lyall. I’m just going to need some time.”

“Us?” I asked with half a heart because he said all that, but theuswas the one thing that stood out to me.

“Us,” he confirmed.

“Does that mean you’re going to stick with me, Mr. Moody?”

Again, he looked surprised at the question. He grabbed my face in his hands and pulled me closer. “I thought I lost you once, and that was the end of me. From this moment on, where you go, that’s where I will be.”

My poor heart.

I kissed him with my everything.

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