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“No.”

Wasn’t it enough that I was having to go through all of this? And I wasn’t even talking about being attacked by monkey monsters and spitting lizards. I was talking about finding out that if that prince in the Seelie Court died, so would I.

And if someone found out that they could kill the prince of the Seelie Court by cutting my head off…

I shouldn’t have come here.

I should not have come here.

“It’s faster. It’s more reliable. We can get to Cloakwood by morning.”

Rune was serious. I was looking at him because I refused to look to the side—I refused —so I knew he was serious.

“Abso-fucking-lutely not. There is no way in hell. No way on Earth or Verenthia or Heaven, either—no way at all.”

He stepped to the side so that we were face-to-face now. Looked down at me. Smiled.

My traitorous heart skipped a long beat. Tripped all over herself, possibly fell on her face.

Do hearts have faces?

My brain was an idiot.

“It’s just a horse.” It got worse when Rune now tried to stifle the smile his god must have spent years to perfect.

“Oh, I beg to differ.” I pointed my finger toward the horses on our side, tied to a piece of wood, eating grass. “ Those are gigantic beasts who will throw me off their backs by jumping on their front and back legs, then stomp me to death.” I leaned closer. “Is that what you want, Mr. Moody? Do you want this not-a-horse creature to stomp all over my skull? Because the prince would have a few things to say if that happens.”

Wrong—the prince wouldn’t have anything to say because the prince would be dead, too.

Fucking idiot.

“It’s faster. It’s safer. There are forests from here to Cloakwood. We can ride through them unnoticed. It will be three times faster than if we walk without stop until we get there.”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “No.”

Rune sighed. At least he wasn’t trying to stifle a smile anymore. “I can make you, you know.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

Now he was the one who leaned closer, and my heart was on her face again.

“Don’t test me, Wildcat.” This he said in a low whisper that had all the hairs on the back of my neck standing at attention. “I’m running all out of patience.”

“Funny because you were smiling just now,” I muttered, and I’d lie if I said I wasn’t afraid.

Not because of what he would do to me, mind you. But because of what I would do to him if he kept coming closer and my brain insisted that he would not mind at all if I kissed him.

Like I said—just to get him out of my system, that’s all.

“I’m not smiling anymore, am I?” the asshole said.

I swallowed hard and licked my dry lips, though I had a tube of gloss with me that I’d been putting on when I had the chance. His eyes immediately fell on my tongue and I thought, maybe he really wouldn’t mind…

“What happened to they’ll have to go through me and all that?” I muttered because, bad, bad Nilah. Don’t you dare kiss him!

But now my eyes were traitors, too, because I couldn’t tear them away from his lips. They were so close. I could taste them if I only rose on my tiptoes.

“Still true. Nobody else can hurt you, but me ?” He leaned his head to the side, and his fingertips were under my chin. He raised my head to make me look at him—of course, because I was looking at his lips .

His eyes had become so dark—or maybe it was because the closest light to us was possibly fifteen feet away by the nearest building. Fuck, it was suddenly so hot here, though the lower the sun went behind the horizon, the colder the wind became.

“I will do whatever I have to do to get you to the Seelie Court sooner,” he finished, and his breath was warm as it blew against my parted lips and slipped inside my mouth almost sneakily.

“Rune?” I whispered. I was this close to asking him to kiss me or slamming my lips to his.

And he wasn’t making it any easier. He was still standing there with those bloodshot eyes on me, holding up my head, looking at my lips, as if the same thoughts were going through his head, too. As if he was just barely holding himself back.

Thankfully, one of the horses neighed, and the sound reminded me of more important things than kissing Rune (not many made that cut, to be honest).

But stuff like my life did .

“Hmm?” he said, and for a moment, I tried to imagine what he’d sound like when he moaned.

Something told me I would like it very, very much.

“I am not getting on that horse.”

He stopped.

He leaned back and took his hand away from my chin.

Regret made a hole the size of a mountain in my chest—why in the hell did I just say that?!

“You’re going to make me lose my mind,” he said, and he said it calmly, so excuse me for not believing him.

I shrugged. “If that’s what it takes…”

“Wildcat, we’re wasting time here,” he said through gritted teeth, and now I was tempted to believe he was pissed for real—but at the same time, I was starting to kind of like that nickname.

Just an observation.

“So, let’s find a place to sleep. It’s dark outside anyway.”

“There are no safe places in this part of town.”

I grabbed my hips. “Well, I’m tired. My legs hurt.” Which didn’t surprise him since we’d been walking all day.

“That’s why we need to ride horses.”

“Fuck. That .” My voice was as final as I could make it.

Lowering his head, he gripped his hair in a fist and paced in front of me for a moment, furious, his feet moving so fast they were barely touching the ground.

Meanwhile I stood there and watched him.

A completely unbiased observation (not really) but he was indeed a fine specimen. Tall and lean and strong and handsome.

Yes, his god or whatever had created the fae had really taken his time with Rune.

“Together.”

A noise rang in my ears. Rune stopped pacing in front of me and his pale cheeks were just slightly pink at the apples. It looked good on him, that wash of color.

“What?”

“We’ll ride one horse together. It’s still faster than continuing on foot—and we are not staying here for the night. It’s too dangerous. People have been noticing you more and more. It’s only a matter of time before they start to ask questions and before someone makes a guess about who you are.”

Rune seemed frustrated, but I was really focused on one thing here. “When you say, we’ll ride one horse together, does that mean you will be sitting on the same saddle with me?”

Because that would be…

That was just…

It was?—

“Yes.”

Fuck me sideways.

“Then what are we waiting for?”

First, Rune put on this cloak he’d bought—said it came with the horses, and it had a big hood so nobody would recognize him in Cloakwood—which was kind of funny because of its name. Kind of . But he’d been there before, and he didn’t want people to see him at all.

Unfortunately for me, the cloak made him look like some evil supervillain who was planning to take over the world. A very hot, very delicious supervillain who may or may not be purely evil (to others)—and it wasn’t even an I-can-change-him type of situation. More like he’s-perfect-the-way-he-is.

Of course, I didn’t comment.

He picked the bigger horse that could carry the two of us for longer stretches of time. He’d paid for both, he said, but if he wanted me to feel bad about it, I didn’t. I was going to ride a horse together with him, our bodies flush against one another. There simply wasn’t any space to feel bad about anything right now.

Once more, I wished I had my phone with me just to text Betty to tell her what I was about to do. I could have used some encouragement right now, but oh, well.

Rune helped me up on the saddle after he reassured me about a hundred times that the horse would not move. And then he got on, too, in front of me.

The way my arms wrapped around his waist instantly could have been funny—and not even half of it was from fear of being on a horse again.

But the cloak he had on was really long and it was sticking underneath my legs, which made him uncomfortable when he moved. So, Rune thought better of it.

“Someone might grab you before I can see them,” he said, and shivers ran down my back—this time a purely fearful reaction. The thought of being grabbed from behind made me want to jump off the giant horse headfirst.

Except Rune then climbed behind me.

His legs were on the sides of mine. My back was to his chest. His arms were to my sides, holding the reins.

I swear I almost came right then and there when I leaned back and settled against his chest.

His muscles were so strong, though. And I hooked my hands around both his arms, holding them to my sides. He wanted to complain, I heard him muttering to himself, but he knew I’d fall off if I didn’t hold on.

That would forever remain my excuse.

So, like that, wrapped up in his body and his warmth, and with his head to the side of mine, we started riding the horse into the forest.

It wasn’t comfortable by any means. These saddles were definitely not made for someone my size. Too big and too slippery, my ass kept moving from one side to the other, and my arms were already numb from holding onto Rune’s at this angle.

So, I pushed myself as far back as I could, and I settled against his chest. His entire body went rigid instantly, but I didn’t stop. I just continued to try to make myself comfortable, snuck my head underneath his chin and turned a little to the side so I could grab only one of his arms and keep myself steady.

Rune didn’t tell me to move away. Even though our bodies were very close together, and my ass was practically against his dick, his muscles were already relaxing again, and he didn’t even hint at being uncomfortable— thank God.

He smelled of vanilla, rich and sweet but also different—more smokey , if I was even guessing right. It was the scent of his skin, not his clothes, and that’s why I was turning my head more and more, forcing him to raise his head as I did, until my nose was basically pressed to the side of his neck.

Yes. Vanilla. Smoke. Secrets —that’s what he smelled like. Sweet, smoky secrets.

“Can you make some light for me?” I whispered after a little while because the forest was so dark.

Rune said nothing, just let go of the reins with his right hand and waved it in front of us. His palm glowed with white light—just like mine had glowed golden in the forest that night, probably just in my imagination.

But suddenly, the memory of it suffocated me. Suddenly, I thought maybe it would be best to tell Rune about what happened in my room when nobody was there to witness it.

Maybe I should have told Helid, too—but what always happened to me when I told people the truth? What had happened my whole life?

I’d been mocked, bullied, called names. Made to live in fucking hell . Not just me, but my family, too.

And who even said it was true, anyway? I probably only imagined making things float on air because, if I could really do it, I’d have been able to do it in front of others. In front of Betty, at least.

But I never could.

So, I clamped my mouth shut and suffocated the panic.

Besides, I’d already promised myself that I was never going to tell anybody about it, ever again. So, I just settled against Rune’s chest, and I looked at the balls of white light floating in the air ahead of us.

“Can you make them look like birds?” I asked, and again, he raised his hand without a word, without hesitation. Suddenly, the four circles of light became birds as big as my fists, their little wings beating and chasing away the darkness.

“I forget that you’re human and can’t see in the dark,” Rune said.

That surprised me. “You can?”

“Yes. Midnight and Unseelie fae can. Vampires as well, because our lands are near Reme.”

He talked and I sniffed in his scent casually, watched his Adam’s apple moving.

If only I was a bit more comfortable on this saddle.

“What does that mean? Reme is the star, right?”

“Yes—the future star of our creation,” Rune said—and he said it like that should make perfect sense to me, too. “Our sun rises and sets away from it, so a part of Verenthia is in permanent darkness. Half the Unseelie court. Most of the Midnight Court, and most of Blackwater as well.”

“Holy fuck,” I whispered in awe. Permanent darkness? I couldn’t even imagine living somewhere where the sun didn’t shine daily.

“You really do have a very dirty mouth for such a tiny human.”

Every inch of my body froze, and I prepared to roast him to the best of my abilities—until the asshole chuckled again. That same chuckle, except now I was basically lying against him so I felt the vibration of his body on mine. Heard the sound so clearly my ears were now devoted to it like it was their god.

I sighed. “And you really are incredibly moody—anybody ever tell you that?”

“No,” he said, and I could still hear the smile in his voice. I wanted to see it, but I also wanted to continue to sniff him, so… “People don’t really talk to me, Wildcat. Let alone the way you do.”

“Why not?”

“Because they don’t.”

“But why ?”

“Because I am not one of them.”

I thought about it for a moment, and the way he sounded just now…

“But you’re fae.”

“I’m a Midnight fae in the Seelie Court.”

My mind went back to the vampire, the maze market, and to Tuck and Tucker. What was your sin? the vampire had asked him. And the Twinborn had told me that tattoo on his skin on which my head was pressed now was the mark of a traitor.

“But you’re still fae,” I ended up whispering.

“It doesn’t matter,” Rune said.

It did, though. It mattered a lot to me because I knew what it was like to be the same as everyone else but to never actually fit in, to be treated like a stranger, like an abomination, like someone who didn’t belong with them. And, fuck, the thought that it happened here, too, and to someone like Rune, made me want to set something on fire.

Instead, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath because I knew better than anyone what it was like to be forced to talk—or think about things like this. So, despite my burning curiosity, I wasn’t going to ask him about it. If he wanted to, he could tell me himself.

“Are you close to him?” I whispered eventually because my legs might have been resting, but my mind was still buzzing with so many thoughts. So many questions, and so many doubts. So much pleasure and calm that being close to this stranger somehow brought me.

I didn’t understand it, and the more I thought about it, the more senseless it became, this fact. The more I thought about it, the more it infuriated me to realize that he didn’t normally talk to people.

I mean, I had Betty and my family, and that still wasn’t enough sometimes. So damn painful.

“Lyall?” Rune asked.

Just the way he said his name. “Yes—the prince.”

“I was.” But the next moment he thought better of it. “I am . He’s a friend.”

“I see,” I said, though I didn’t really see much, but I didn’t want to pester him about it.

Rune continued anyway.

“He’s a prince. He has duties and responsibilities. Things to learn. He’s always needed for something, so we haven’t really seen each other much in the past few years.” He spoke slowly in that perfect whisper-tone. “Lately, he’s been…different. Changed.”

“Changed how?” I asked.

“I’m not sure.” Rune paused for a moment. “I guess he’s just becoming ready to be the king.”

The king. Even though I had no idea if the fae courts were monarchies or how much power a king really had, just the title made my stomach twist uncomfortably. To think that that boy from the meadow would wear a crown and rule over an entire court here in this wonderful, terrifying place…

“I was playing in the forest behind my house, the same one where the Aetherway to Verenthia is, apparently. I was five years old, and my parents told me not to go wandering so far, but I had just buried a snail I stepped on by accident, and I was in need of a distraction. So, I saw a squirrel and chased it, and it led me to this beautiful meadow where I could sing and dance in peace, far away from everyone. I went back a few times, and nothing ever really happened—until that day,” I said.

Rune must have been surprised because I could have sworn he pulled on the reins a little bit, and the horse slowed his pace.

I continued. “A snake got me right on the ankle. I didn’t even see it, but it must have been a venomous one because the effect was immediate. My leg was numb and my muscles weak, my entire body felt paralyzed.”

“Rattlesnake. I felt them in Nerith. Powerful venom, especially in a small body,” Rune said.

“Whatever it was, it got me good, and I couldn’t even scream. Whether it was panic or just the venom, I have no idea. That’s where the prince found me lying there in the grass. Came closer and asked me why I wasn’t healing myself, and I said I couldn’t. He asked me if I wanted him to heal me instead, and I nodded.” The memory was right there behind my closed lids. I tightened my grip around Rune’s arm. “He did. Just like that, he put his hand over my ankle and there was warmth, and then I was okay. He healed me, just like that. Without hesitation.”

Silence for a moment. “That sounds exactly like him.”

“Then Helid came looking for him, and he panicked. He told me not to move, and he did something with his hands that glowed just like yours do. He hid me, so when Helid came out of the trees, he looked right at me and he didn’t see me. They both walked way, and I never saw either again,” I finished. “Until a few days ago, that is.”

“I remember when he was on that expedition in Nerith,” Rune said after a moment. “When he came back, he told me that his magic finally worked, and he showed me an illusion that was only halfway complete. But he never once mentioned having healed a mortal.”

“Well, I did. I told everyone about him, but nobody believed me, just my mom. I have the scar and everything, but the doctors did blood tests on me and the results came back clean. No sign of any venom, so they just thought I was lying.”

“Seelie magic heals fully. They couldn’t have found any trace of it no matter what tests they ran. You carry the scar because you’re mortal. Had you been fae, it would have disappeared completely,” Rune said.

My ass was sliding more and more to the side, and I was uncomfortable as all hell, but I still didn’t move. Just sat there and sniffed him and looked at the birds made of white light flying ahead of us, leading the way between the large trees.

“Does all fae magic heal?” He’d told me about fae powers the night before, but I wanted to make sure.

“Not all, just Seelie. I can heal from venoms, too, but not in the same way. I can sort of deactivate an animal’s venom in a body.”

I closed my eyes when my ass slid farther to the side.

“Stop the horse.”

“What?”

“Just for a second. Stop him.”

By some miracle, Rune didn’t argue. He just pulled the reins and the horse stopped walking with a weak neigh. When he did, I moved.

Holding onto Rune’s arms, I spun around, put my legs on either side of his, and wrapped my arms around his waist. I rested my head on the crook of his shoulder and hid my face under his chin again.

There. So much better.

Except Rune could have turned into a piece of rock.

It occurred to me that I should have maybe asked him if I could sit like this.

“This okay?” I mumbled when he refused to say anything because I didn’t want to move again. This was comfortable. I could hold onto him with such ease, and my legs were over his thighs and my ass was no longer sliding to the sides. Granted, my very center was pressed against his dick, but…he wasn’t hard. And I was far enough away that I wasn’t rubbing against him.

Fuck, I needed to be able to close my eyes for a minute without fearing I’d fall off.

“ Fine, ” Rune finally muttered, and the horse started to walk again—faster than before.

I’d gotten comfortable so I wasn’t holding on as tightly as I should have, so I started to slip to the side when the horse took a turn. But before I could scream, Rune’s arm wrapped around my side and held me in place. Secured me to his chest. Covered half my body with the cloak.

I let go of a long breath and my very soul rested.

Perfect. It was perfect here.

Rune let go of me again, and I almost complained, but then he just put the hood over his head and wrapped that arm around my back once more, covering my side. Giving me warmth. Safety.

I slept right there with a smile on my face.

But what felt like mere minutes later…

“Wake up, Wildcat. We have company.”