Page 32 of Between Broomsticks and Beating Wings (Love X Magic #3)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

A VALKYRIE IN MY BED

Kari

“ B ut how does it glow?” I said, poking at the moss growing out of the cracks in the wall. I could barely hear the music now, but this moss seemed like it was still enjoying the celebration.

Is this moss blushing at me?

Rune grabbed my hand and held my fingers up.

They had faded to their usual color after taking a break from practicing the last few days.

That’d been weird. Charcoal-dipped fingers.

It’d never happened to me on Midgard, but then again, my spells sucked there, and the spells on the scroll Rune gave to me spoke to the seidr that lived within me.

“How can you cast spells?” Rune asked, still holding my fingers in the air.

I shrugged as she led me up the stone steps of the inn, bidding farewell to that flirty moss. “I have seidr. I’m fancy like that, I suppose.”

An odd sound came from Rune, and when I looked at her, she pressed her lips together to silence it. “The moss is fancy too,” she said with a smile.

“That makes sense.” I nodded in response, seeing more moss ahead as it lit our path up the stairs. I quickened my step to meet it.

Hello, fancy, flirty moss.

Rune pulled me away from this one too, and I felt a pout on my lips as she did. The shiny valkyrie held a brass key in the hand that didn’t hold mine, and she tapped in on the stone next to her as we went.

When we reached the next floor, there was a circular room with a cluster of chairs. On the outskirts of the room were doors embedded into the rock. Rune moved me four doors down and began wiggling the key into a hole next to the knob.

The next thing I knew, we were in the room, and she was dragging two beds together. They were wide beds, big enough for two people, but they were too short for either one of us. Once pushed together, we had one standard sized bed, big enough for a seeress and a valkyrie.

“Where’s my cat?” I asked, my head swinging around.

“He’s with Epli and Gunhild, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” I sighed, sinking down onto the bed. It was quite soft; I’d assumed they’d be made of stone. We were under a mountain, after all. As my back hit the bed, my heart ached for my sinister boy. “I’ve never slept alone.”

“You won’t be alone,” Rune said as she began unlacing my boots. I didn’t stop her; my feet were sore and my belly was so full, if I folded to take them off myself, I wasn’t sure what would come out of me.

“But you’re not going to curl up by my head and purr all cute,” I sighed. She really couldn’t compare. “You’re very hard and shiny. That’s not very cuddly of you.”

“I won’t purr, but maybe if you’re lucky enough, I’ll snore,” she said. “And I’m not hard once my armor comes off.”

“Yes, you are.”

Rune cocked her head, and I rolled my eyes. Didn’t she know what she looked like?

“Your muscles are so hard. Not cuddly at all.”

Rune barked a laugh, and I propped myself up on my elbows to watch her face light up. I liked that laugh.

“I won’t be flexing them in my sleep. I can be soft for you if you wish.”

“Okay, okay, I accept. You may sleep with me, and I shall cuddle you.”

“Whatever you wish, seeress,” Rune said.

She began removing her golden shell, but she wasn’t like a snail.

She wasn’t very gooey inside. She was strong, with muscles that rippled when her hands clenched.

I hadn’t seen her without her leathers very often, but I couldn’t help but peek at her exposed olive skin.

She knew I was watching her, but she didn’t seem to mind. It was only fair, because I knew she watched me too. She had been for a long time.

“I like you better when you’re not lying to me, you know,” I admitted as I laid my head back on the bed. I was sideways across both mattresses, but that was the only way I could lay without my feet hanging off.

“It’s hard to tell you the truth,” Rune whispered.

I kept my eyes shut to give her privacy, but I could hear her thumping around as she changed into her night attire.

The poor woman hadn’t had anything but leather and metal on her body in days.

I wondered if my warm skin next to hers would feel good.

I wondered if she was deprived of touch, of comfort.

“Why?”

“There’s no point talking about it now, seeress. That’s a conversation for another night.”

“There she goes again, evading questions like a fly avoiding a palm,” I mumbled into my arm.

Rune chuckled as she climbed into bed next to me. “Some answers require sobriety. When I tell you this truth, I want you to remember it.”

“I could tickle them out of you.”

“You could try, but I’d hate to break both your wrists.”

“You’re violent.”

“And you’re persistent.”

“Thank you.” I smiled proudly. “Gods, we fucking stink,” I moaned.

“That we do,” she said with a chuckle. “There’s a tub in the bathing chamber, but I don’t trust you not to drown.”

“What if you hold my head above water?” I asked with a wobbly smile. Surely, my charm would convince her. She simply smiled, as if she thought I was being silly, not sincere. “I mean it!”

“That would require me to be in there with you.” she pointed out, and I felt her shift next to me.

“And?” I asked, propping my head up on my arm.

“And…you’ll be naked.”

“And?” I asked again, not sure why she was resisting my perfect plan.

“Well, I don’t think you’ll feel as passionately about this plan in the morning,” she said. “Why don’t we have one night where we reek of ale, and then we can both bathe in the morning? Separately.”

“Sounds sticky, but fine,” I sighed.

We both turned to face each other, the blanket pulled up to our necks. My fingers ached to touch her under the thick quilt.

Did I want to scratch her? I must, because my hands kept balling into fists every time the urge struck me. She wasn’t a cat. Valkyries weren’t for petting.

“You’re thinking about me not being a cat, aren’t you?” she asked.

“I am.”

Rune let out a long sigh. “You and Tove have an unhealthy relationship, you know that, right?”

“He’s all I have.”

“No, Kari.” She shook her head, her face serious. “You have so much more, if you want it.”