Page 11 of Kiss of a Hellish Prince

“What? No. I am not mad at… Taking you home isn’t a problem,” Rune said, holding open a large steel door that led into an underground parking garage. “But here, I have your phone.” He handed my phone back to me.

I had several missed calls from Sarah and a text from Vivi. “Thank you.”

Rune walked past a long line of motorcycles with intensely beautiful custom paint jobs to a bright red classic Mustang. He even opened the passenger side door for me. I smiled in thanks as I slid into the leather seat.

I took a moment to send Sarah a text saying I was on my way home. She instantly responded with a gif of Han Solo saying “I know.”

I opened Vivi’s text next.

Small Blonde

Was he hot?

What?

Small Blonde

The guy you went home with last night? I am trying to decide if hormones or general stupidity were to blame for your impressive lack of common sense. I hope you used protection.

That is not what I was doing last night! Aren’t you too young to know about that?

Small Blonde

Aren’t you too smart not to go home with random guys from the park? Best case, you end up on a talk show to prove he is your baby daddy. Worse case, you end up on a true crime special. Either way, be better than daytime TV. When you get home, we are having the ‘stranger danger’ conversation.

I put my phone down on my lap and took a deep breath.

“Everything okay?” Rune asked as he got into the driver’s seat and turned the car on.

“Do you have siblings?” I asked, looking at him through the corner of my eye.

“No.” Rune shifted in his seat. “Not anymore, but I have cousins that are like siblings,” he answered, backing out of the parking spot.

“Then you know you love them, that you will do anything for them, but sometimes you want to throw them off a cliff.”

“Murmur is my cousin. I get it,” Rune said, heading out of the garage. “You want to tell me where I am going?”

We pulled out of the garage into the bright desert morning sun. Thankfully, since we were downtown, I just had to tell him to hop on the 51 and give him directions from there.

The ride was quiet. The city around me faded from small stores and apartments to mountains, and then from large mansions back to an urban sprawl, all in the space of a few short miles.

In about twenty minutes, Rune was pulling up to the curb outside of my house. He put his hand on mine to stop me from getting out of the car right away.

“What is going through your head right now?” he asked.

“I am trying to figure out how the world has changed so much since I left here yesterday, but everything looks the same.”

Rune considered my words for a moment before saying, “Nothing has changed. You are just more aware of the world you live in. The only thing that is different is your perception.”

“Maybe,” I admitted. I turned in my seat to face him directly. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yes, I won’t lie to you. I might not tell you everything, but I won’t lie, not to you.”

“What happens now?” I asked.

“Well, you go inside and continue living your life, just as if none of this ever happened. Except maybe next time, you don't go running alone at night. Or better yet, you buy a treadmill or a gym membership. You really shouldn't be running alone. Especially at night.”

“You're not going to wipe my memory or anything?”

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