Page 115 of Boundless

“Who was your mother? Was she tied to the royal family at all? A distant cousin maybe?” Maera asked, but Hil shook his head.

“Nothing of the sort. If I am tied to the royal bloodline in any way, it must have been my father. I’m probably a bastard or something. Worked well for you, didn’t it?” And he nodded at Rune.

Rune only looked at him, dead in the eye. Didn’t move, didn’t blink—didn’t fucking breathe.

I wanted to both laugh at his face and kiss the hell out of him for being so…Rune.So authentically Rune that I didn’t even find it weird that it turned me on. Stranger things had definitely happened—just in the past day, too.

“What is his problem?” Hil said under his breath, and he was actually nudging Maera on her knee.

“Touch me again and I will break your hand.”

Goddamn.She, too, said this with complete calm. No expression on her face. None.

The guy believed her. He immediately leaned to the side, frowning at her, then turned to me. “You should really consider who you hang out with.”

“And you should considernotwanting to steal from your home,” I said.

“It’s not stealing if it’s mine—it’syouwho say I’m king.”

“And you just…believe us?” Because really, I’d had a much more difficult time coming to terms with it—but then again, I was a human from Earth. At least when I was born.

Hil shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“Of course, it matters. You were locked up in a prison cell, and now you’re being told you’re going to rule a kingdom.”

He looked up for a second—and I knew exactly what that look meant. I knew that what Maera said in the beginning was true, and my heart jumped.

I dragged myself a little closer to the fire. “Hil, you know about the curse, don’t you?”

“Yes, they told me,” he said, and he was playing with his bare feet against the ground now, looking down.

“And youaregoing to stay in the Unseelie Court.”

There.The way he looked. The way he lookedawaythe next second, too. “I will come, and I will sit on the throne, yes.”

Maera looked at me and shrugged, as if to say,I told you so.

“No, not justsit,but actually?—”

“Wildcat.” Rune cut me off, his hand falling over mine. “It will be okay.”

I shook my head. “He plans to leave. If he leaves, the curse and this whole thing…” It would have been for nothing.

But Rune smiled. “He will sit on the throne. The rest will work itself out.”

I narrowed my brows. “How do you know?”

“The throne will give him all his power. The palace will connect with him.” His eyes moved to Hil, who was most likely watching because he could hear every word Rune said. “Then he can decide if he wants to remainjust a thieffor the rest of his days.”

The way he said it, like he was sure. He was always so sure. And Hil had nothing to say for a good moment, so neither did I. What was there to say, anyway? I had no idea what sitting on a thronemeant. I had no idea what the hell to expect from any of this.

“I think it’s time to go now, if you’ve rested enough. It’s a long way back,” said Maera, and she jumped to her feet.

“Wait—we’re not going to sleep here? Because I’m tired,” Hil said, but I stood up, too, so fucking eager to get going, to find our horses, to leave this part of Verenthia behind. Because I wasnevercoming so close to the mountain borderline again. That dragon would forever remain only in my memories.No thankyou.I could live a thousand lifetimes without seeing another one of them again. The fear was still there, and the farther away from Blackwater I was, the better I’d feel.

“You’ll take my horse. I’ll shift. Let’s move,” Maera said, pretending she hadn’t heard him.

Rune stood up, too, his hand in mine, his fingertip touching my chest. Mynakedchest where the dragon fire had scorched my shirt. You could see the edges of my burned bra, as well, but at least my nipples were fully covered.