Page 18 of Boundless

“I have to, Dad. Trust me, I haveto.” So many things I couldn’t say out loud to them. So many fucking things that I hadn’t dared to eventhinkabout myself yet. Too much. Entirely too much to handle right now, especially since this ink on my arm became heavier with every passing second, a reminder that Icouldn’tgo to Verenthia because I’d already tried. I couldn’t go back.

But yesterday I was tired.

Yesterday I wasn’t myself.

Yesterday I was weary from having been spit out of Verenthia—and today I was not. I had rested. I had food in my system. I was wide awake. And I was going to try again.

“Youhaveto stay here with your family,” Dad said. “Nilah, I know we haven’t had the best of relationships, and I know I didn’t believe you when you told the truth. I will have to live with that for the rest of my life, pup, but?—”

I grabbed his hands in mine and stopped him. “I promise you, it’s not about that at all, Dad. I am not mad.” And I wasn’t. Disappointed and heartbroken, but every day a little less. I understood, even though it was hard. I got it. It wasn’t easy for him, either. “I swear to you that this is different.”

“It’s different here, too, Nil. People no longer talk about you the way they did. Dad has a job, and I actually made two friends since you’ve been away. People have been apologizing to us almost every day—it’s different here, too!” Fi said.

My poor heart.

I smiled at her. “I’m glad. I’m really glad, Fi, but again—this has nothing to do with my life here.”

“Then what does it have to do with?” Dad demanded.

Fuck, why is this so damn difficult?

We were standing between the kitchen counter and the dining table, as usual, and he was right in front of me. His warm eyes had turned darker as he waited for my answer with his breath held.

“With Verenthia,” I whispered. “With Rune.”

“Who the hell isRuneagain?!”

“He’s…he’s the Midnight King. He, um…”

“He’s your boyfriend.” Fiona’s voice rang in my ears, and fucking hell the way that word made my heart jump even in the situation I was in.Boyfriend.

“Yes.” One could definitely refer to Rune as my boyfriend, even if we had never talked about labels. To be honest, I never gave a shit.

“You were gone eighteen days—when did you have time to get to know a boy well enough to start a-a-a relationship with him?!”

“He’sa fae, Dad,” said Fiona, but my dad didn’t even hear her. His eyes were on me.

I got that he was pissed, I really did.

“Actually, it was a lot longer in Verenthia. I think over two months. Helid did say that time moved differently here and there, and he was right. But regardless, Dad.” I gave him my most honest smile. “He was going to come back here with me. That was the plan, and now I’m here, and he’s there, and I have to go to him. I have to find him.”

He shook his head. “Why can’thecome toyou?”

The question hung over my head like that dark cloud that had taken away the sky in the Quiet. For a moment, I imagined the door of the house opening, and Rune coming through with his messy hair and his torn shirt, his eyes ablaze with silver flames.

I imagined he’d gone all the way to the Neutral Lands and had passed through the Aetherway while I’d been unconscious. Hecoulddo that. Hewould.

“You were bleeding, Nil. We’re not stupid,” Fiona then said. “We know something happened. You have a tattoo under there, too. A big one.” She looked down at my right shoulder.

My mouth was suddenly dry again. “Nothing happened, Fi. I just…I have no choice but to go.”

The accusation in their eyes set me on fire.

Luckily, there was a knock on the door a moment later and I had an excuse to move away from in front of them. It wasn’t Rune, and I knew it wouldn’t be Rune—he wouldn’t have made it all the way to the Neutral Lands so fast, I figured, even if he was on his way to me. But I still hoped against all odds—until I opened the door and Betty was in front of me.

By the time she started cussing in my ear and hugging me like she meant to break every bone in my body, all my defenses were on the ground. Betty had been, and apparently still was, a safe place for me, and I had no doubt in my mind already that I was going to tell her the whole truth the moment we were alone. Couldn’t stop myself if I tried—and you know what? That was okay, because I wasnotgoing to lie to my best friend no matter how insane my truth was.

Betty’s momhad made me cupcakes. The ones with raisins and chocolate chips that I adored. She’d never made themfor mespecifically before, but I guess things were really different here now, too.