Page 45 of Realm Walker's Awakening

“What the hell is going on? What are you doing?” Harper asked, the last of her words turning into a shriek.

I wrapped my arm behind Rune’s neck, my palm flat on his skin, which helped me not freak out. My eyes were steady on his face as he kept his intense gaze on the tornado barreling toward us.

“I’m safe,” I whispered as tears stung my eyes from Harper’s screams when she noticed the disguised portal. “We’re safe.”

Rune’s hold tightened on me, his eyes meeting mine for a split second. He kissed me, spreading warmth through his touch and setting me on fire. Everything in me burned for him, and even the scratch from his beard sent my blood roaring and my body tingling.

“You’re safe,” he whispered against my lips before he pecked me one last time and leaned away from the kiss. His mouth was mere centimeters from mine while his eyes held mine prisoner. His warm breath danced over my parted lips as he murmured two words. “We’re safe.”

I couldn’t close my eyes as I watched Rune’s face with tears still stinging my eyes and my heart in my throat. My stomach nosedived as his steps faltered, and he fought to keep his balance as the wind sucked us in closer to the tornado.

My fingers dug into his cape on his back as I gripped him tightly. With my other hand, I clutched the straps over his leather armor on his chest, forcing myself to believe that if I were to hold on to him with a death grip, I wouldn’t be separated from him.

My breath caught as he stumbled again, his face contorting as he concentrated on holding me while getting closer to the portal. My wet hair whipped around my face, blinding me as the pieces stung my eyes. Over the screeching wind, I heard Harper screaming, her words muted.

I squeezed my eyes shut as a scream reached my throat, strangling any sound as Rune tripped and the vortex sucked us in. I went weightless, and everything around me spun.

“Isa!” Rune roared. His hold on me slipped, his large hands grappled at me, jerking me with him as he tried to bring me back into his hold.

My eyes flew open, and my lips parted in a silent scream as I clawed at Rune while he was ripped away from me. His fingers held on to my cape, jerking me before he was sucked back and forced to let go of me.

The look on his face held horror as something dragged him away from me while his large hand reached out for me before he went through a barrier that zapped with electricity. Then he was gone.

It went dark, and my head spun as I searched for something. Anything to hold on to and figure out how to get back to Rune. My hair whipped around me with the whistling wind, the storm screaming louder than anything I’d ever heard.

Over it all, I made out voices. I wasn’t sure how I could hear them, but I focused on them, hoping it was the key to getting the hell out of here.

I opened my mouth, wanting to ask what was going on and where I was. But the words died in my throat as the voices grew louder. I listened to them, hoping these bodiless voices were my way back to my soulmate.

“Watching...”one whispered.

I jerked my head to the left where it came from, searching for the source.

“Shadow...”another murmured.

My head whipped to the right, not finding anything in the inky dark. My pulse hammered in my ears along with my sawing breaths until it was all I could hear. Not even the screaming wind.

As if someone dialed up the volume, the whispers made it through the noises I made. They sounded like they were surrounding me while at the same time inside my head.

I whimpered, my throat constricting as my chest squeezed while I looked around with wide eyes.

Was I in a black hole?

There was no reason for me to think about that. But I didn’t forget the galaxy we went through while Rune flashed us to the store. Did he take a wrong turn or something?

The growing murmurs continued, but I couldn’t make any of them out other than“watching”and“shadow,”which didn’t make any sense.

“Rune?” I yelled, my words strangled with my panic. “What’s happening!”

Did they find me and separate us?

Was I doomed to be in the darkness until someone snatched me to bring me back to the one who had put the bounty on me? Oh god, what was he going to do to me?

“And I’m the nice one.”Callum’s warning echoed from the painful memory.

“Isa...”a voice whispered, bordering on a yell.

In a snap, my focus was back to the voices and not on my mini freakout. My head spun again, and my body became light as I stopped fighting. My hair floated around my face instead of whipping across and stinging my eyes. The blue tendrils danced around me with the wind as it caressed me instead of punishing me.