Page 74 of Moonmarked

“We’re going to make it out of the court, and we’ll figure out the rest. But right now, Lyall can’t know about us,” Rune said between kisses.

“Yes, I figured that when I saw your face earlier.”

“He’s fascinated with you, and he will not hurt you. It will give me time and freedom to ask around, put the pieces together so that we can decide what to do next,” he said almost angrily.

My eyes closed, and I nodded even if my heart was breaking. “I just wish it wouldn’t be too long. My family is waiting for me, Rune. I miss them so, so much…”

He leaned back and smoothed my hair away from my face. “How about a letter, then? Would you like to write to them, tell them you’re okay?”

My heart jumped. “Yes! Are you serious—yes, I want to send them a letter! You can do that?”

“Yes, I think so. I can get a letter safely through the Aetherway.” And he smiled a smile that warmed me to my bones.

“Fuck, Rune, that’s…that’s…” I didn’t have the words, so I just kissed him again and I didn’t let go for a little while.

“Then you can sit at that table and write it while I go check the outside,” Rune said. “I won’t take long.”

I nodded. “It’s still early, isn’t it?”

“You still have to get back to the palace before anybody notices you’re gone,” he said. “A shower, and then I take you back.”

I smiled so big it hurt. “That’s a deal.”

I wrotethe letter with tears in my eyes, and I lied for most of it. I told Dad, Fi, and Betty that I was fine, and that I’d made it to the prince, and that I’d healed him and he was okay—which was all true—but then I also said that he’d invited me to spend some time in the Seelie court, and that I’d accepted because it was such an incredible place, and the people were nice, and the queen was super nice, too.Thankfulthat I’d healed her son—which she should have been.

I told them that the prince himself would bring me back in just a couple of weeks, and that I‘d write to them again whenever I got the chance.

I also told them about the beauty of the Seelie Court and the queen’s palace, and the room I was sleeping in, told Betty all about the makeup. All those were true, too.

By the time I finished, I was a fucking mess, but the pressure on my shoulders released a little bit.

“They will get this. I promise you, they will. I’m sending someone trustworthy,” Rune promised when I folded the thick piece of paper he gave me and left it on his table.

“I know,” I said because if he promised me, Ibelieved him.

“Come, Wildcat. Let me clean you up.”

He’d put a blanket over my shoulders when we left the bed, and now he took it off me, grabbed my hand and led me toward the door, walking backward, wearing only a pair of black boxer shorts that looked mighty good on him.

The sight of him calmed my mind like magic, and the smile on his face, the warmth in those strange, beautiful eyes—yes, he wasdesignedespecially for me, and I’d argue with anyone who thought otherwise.

But I’d written the letter and I knew that my family was going to read it soon, and if anything, they weren’t going to worry so much. They’d stop waiting for a little while, and I didn’t need to worry about them worrying, either.

It was all going to work out eventually—that’s what I believed when I looked at Rune.

And then he led me to his shower.

twenty-four

Half the bathroomceiling was missing—on purpose. This side of the house seemed to have been constructed on the side of this piece of rock right there in the middle of the forest, and I hadn’t even noticed. Not that I’d been very focused on the building while Rune was sparring half naked in the dark, but still.

It wasn’t a big room, and the toilet area was separate, right behind the entrance door, followed by a long mirror with a basin in front, and then the shower—which was water falling from the dark grey rocks over the eight-foot wall.

It poured in steadily, clear as glass. Rune pulled me closer to it, and I had yet to find the words appropriate for this moment, so I said nothing, only followed.

Small, smooth rocks in white and grey and black were set in the shower floor, and before we stepped on them, Rune’s hand lit up with that white light, and warmth slipped out of him before it dimmed again.

By the time we touched the water, it was just slightly hotter than lukewarm.

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