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twenty-three

We were on a cliff.

The very edge of a very high cliff.

I looked down at the buildings and the forests and the low hills below, and I realized we were on a mountain. We’d been riding that horse even higher up before Rune threw us off from another edge. Apparently, we landed onto the lowest level of the mountain, before it went straight down to the very bottom for possibly a hundred feet.

The woman hadn’t stopped smiling yet.

“Excuse me, quick question, Mrs. Miriam. Why is your house at the edge ”—I stopped there for a beat to let it sink in, then continued—“ of a cliff? ” I couldn’t make it more obvious if I painted it for her.

And she said, “Why, because of the view, of course! And, please, call me Miriam.”

The house—which was actually more of a cottage, but she called it a house—was literally about ten feet away from the cliff’s edge. The trees on which Rune and I had fallen started right off the back of the cottage, and the rest of the mountain rose like a giant skyscraper over fifty feet away. More trees on the left, and far to the right was this massive piece of land full of all kinds of plants growing in perfect rows. I had no idea how one could get all those plants I couldn’t even name to grow so close to a cliff, but they were definitely there.

A small table was on the right side of the front doors of the cottage, both open, just like the round windows. That’s where the woman wanted us to sit, and the worst part was that Rune was going for it.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s eat. We don’t have time.”

What else could I do except follow?

“I will be right back,” the woman’s said, a big smile on her face before she disappeared inside the cottage.

That’s when the smell reached my nostrils—it was… nice. Kind of like peppermint tea, but with a twist.

“I don’t understand anything,” I said honestly, starting with the fact that I’d kissed Rune.

On the mouth.

With tongue.

And the more I thought about it, the more my lips burned, like we’d just stopped kissing. Like I still had the heat of his body on mine, the memory vibrant.

“She’s harmless,” Rune whispered, thinking I was talking about Miriam, which should have been my main concern, but no. Here I was, focused on keeping my hand down on the table and not bringing it up to touch my lips to see if they were burning for real— they are not actually burning, you idiot!

“We’ll eat and use the bathroom, and then she’ll take us down there to Cloakwood. We can continue on foot for the rest of the day. By morning, we should be in Blackwater,” Rune continued.

Meanwhile, I was stuck looking at his profile as he spoke and nodded his head toward the cliff, beyond which was the town.

Fuck, he was a good kisser. He was a very good kisser, and though I’d only ever kissed Caleb before, I could tell. The way he’d followed my every movement, had fallen into my rhythm effortlessly. The way he’d kissed me like he meant it, like he was all in . The way he held me to his chest with all his strength…

“Are you okay?”

Oh, God.

“I’m fine.” I looked away at the sky and the white cotton-candy clouds in the distance, hoping he somehow missed the flush of my cheeks.

“You weren’t fine earlier, when we fell.” Fuck, shit, fuck! “Why? What was that? You looked…”

He searched for the word. Couldn’t find it.

And my instincts jumped at the opportunity because I was so damn embarrassed I was going to melt into a pile of goo right there on that chair.

So, I said, “ Terrified. I was terrified, Rune. And I needed a distraction, that’s all.”

The way my heart hammered. The way air seemed to deliberately take its time to reach my lungs when I breathed.

His eyes sparkled when he paused.

“A distraction,” he repeated—because he knew I was full of shit. Of course, I’d never admit it, and I’d stick to this excuse until my dying breath because it at least allowed me to look him in the eye again—but he knew.

“Yes. Just a distraction.” My voice was breathless, too.

Rune leaned in slowly, eyes on my lips. “No, that wasn’t it,” he calmly said. “You looked desperate, Wildcat.”

That’s because I was, asshole. “Oh, and like you hesitated,” I spit, suddenly angry now—and anger and embarrassment were never a good mix.

Rune’s brows shot up and I knew he was teasing me. “I simply felt sorry for you, mortal.”

Yes, he was most definitely teasing me because he knew how I felt about being called mortal.

And that was fine. Two could play this game.

“Aw, you shouldn’t have. I’ll tell you what—the next time I need a distraction, I’ll ask someone else for it. Anyone will do, really. How about that?” Fake sweetness dripped from my words like poison.

His smile dropped, but not all the way—because he, too, knew I was teasing him.

But even so, he leaned in and said, “Do that and watch what happens.”

“I’ll get my distraction is what happens,” I said, and call me crazy but I was actually feeling a great deal of pleasure watching that smile turn pure psycho on his lips. It was just half a smile—I was pretty sure by now that he didn’t know how to smile all the way—but it was murderous.

“You’ll kill your distraction is what will happen.”

Oh, that was delicious. Chef, please, another! “Is that a threat?”

He didn’t bat an eye. “Yes.”

I laughed— this guy . “You can’t just threaten me?—”

“I said you’ll kill your distraction ,” he reminded me, as if I hadn’t heard him the first time.

You’d think I’d feel bad about it, or at least a little panicked or afraid, but no. I was still enjoying it more than should be humanly possible. Like he put the entire world into my hands right now.

“Careful, Mr. Moody. Someone might think you’re jealous,” I whispered, and my eyes fell on those lips again. Now that I knew what he tasted like, the need inside me had turned feral. It had grown the size of a monster within seconds, and it wanted him so badly it hurt to hold myself back.

“Why would I concern myself with worthless opinions?” he asked. “I made a promise. I plan to honor it. Until I get you to the Seelie Court, nobody will touch you.”

I didn’t like this part all that much. I’d have preferred it if he’d admitted that he was, in fact, jealous, and swore his undying love for me as he fell to his knees right here and now—but whatever.

“Right—I keep forgetting you’re afraid of the prince,” I muttered, no longer half as amused as a moment ago.

“I’m not afraid—” But I already knew he wasn’t, and he already knew I was teasing him, so I didn’t let him finish.

“What was that woman talking about when she said the prince’s bride ?” Because now that I remembered it, I felt a little unease. Uncomfortable with the idea— very uncomfortable.

And Rune had told her right away that I wasn’t the prince’s bride, but the way his smile dropped now and how his eyes turned even more murderous—that made me uncomfortable, too.

“What? What is it? Is the life-bond some kind of a relationship or something?” Because I was not prepared for that.

Yeah, the boy in the meadow had been cute, but I’d been a kid — and also, I liked them tall and dark .

I found that out the moment I laid eyes on Rune.

“It isn’t. It never has to involve any kind of feeling, romantic or otherwise,” Rune said, looking to the side, to the doors where the woman had gone off to.

“But?” I asked because it felt like there was a “but” there.

“But there have been cases in the past when Lifebounds became lovers after.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Holy shit.” Rune closed his eyes. “Are you serious right now? I don’t want to end up in a romantic relationship with the prince!”

I didn’t know the guy, and he was fae, and stay the hell away from me!

Rune turned to me again. “Why not? He’s a prince.”

“I don’t care—he’s fae .” A different species from a different world. Ask anyone and their mother and they’ll tell you that that kind of relationship would never work. “He’s…he’s…Helid never told me about this, damn it!” And now I was shaking again.

“Calm down,” said Rune. “Like I said—life-binding does not equal a romantic relationship. Remember, you chose to come here.”

Yes— before I knew what the hell I was getting myself into.

“It’s fine,” I whispered before I started to lose control again. “It’s fine. It’s fine, I’m fine.” And I’d say it as many times as I needed until I believed it.

But lucky for me, the woman finally came out of her cottage with plates in her hands and a smile on her face, and I didn’t need to think about being the prince’s bride again the whole day.