Page 65 of Realm Walker's Awakening

She stumbled back, swatting at him as she huffed. “His neck has a bruise the size of a fucking toddler that’s weeping in the middle. You can’t tell me he’s fine.”

Hluti stopped and turned toward her, still holding her arm in a bruising grip. He frowned and narrowed his amber eyes, a feral glint in them that he was barely reining back.

“I didn’t say that. I said ‘he’ll live.’” His words were minced and nearly a growl.

What was up with him? Why was he acting weird with her?

Harper swept her arm out and waved her hand in my direction while she angrily moved her other around as she argued with the grumpy Viking.

“So you’re okay that he’s walking around with an infection and most likely burning with a fever?”

My spine straightened, my heart racing as I leaned away in Rune’s arm to look over his neck. His eyelids were drooped, and sweat beaded over his face. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him sweat.

“I’m fine,elskan mín,” he murmured when I grabbed his jaw to move his head to the side. He covered my hand with his, gently pinning it to his chest.

My eyes widened at the large black, purple, and blue bruise on one side of his neck. Just as Harper said, pus wept from an area where the dart struck him.

“Oh, Rune,” I whispered, jerking my hand out of his hold.

I extended my fingers to brush them over his neck but stopped when he jerked his head back and caught my wrist to keep me from touching it.

“Beauty, I’ll be okay.” He kissed my palm, his murky eyes held my clear ones as he brushed another kiss on my hand. “They injected a serum to prevent me from flashing. It’ll leave my system.” There was something else he wasn’t saying and left me hanging with needing to know.

“What can I do to help?”

There had to be something someone could do to heal him. Wasn’t one of the guys in the group a healer? I glanced around at the group, trying to remember who it was.

Rune pinched my chin, turning me back to him, and ran his fingers through my hair, tucking pieces behind my ear.

He gave me a sweet smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You can help by giving me a kiss.”

He couldn’t be serious.

I frowned, and he chuckled, but it was breathy and not his normal laugh.

“We need to leave,” Hluti said, breaking up our little moment and goading Harper.

“How long will it take until you can flash?” Slátra asked as he walked toward us. The dry leaves under his boots crunched along with twigs snapping. He still had his sword out with bloodstains on the blade.

“With the effects I’m feeling... hours. Maybe a day.”

The blond huffed and glanced over his shoulder at the others. Turning back to us, he jerked his head for Rune to get closer to the group.

“We’ll have to risk it.”

Risk what?

“No. Not with Isa,” Rune said tightly, his arms around me squeezed like he was preparing for me to be snatched from his hold.

Slátra huffed and scrubbed his hand over his face. He took a step back, his green eyes met mine, and his face held a calm mask. But through our stare and his body posture, he was on edge and looked like he was about to lose his shit any second.

What the hell was going on? I understood we were being hunted, or well, that I was being hunted. But the usual jokester blond was acting like they were hot on our tail, and he was about to throw hands with someone because of it.

Maybe the people after me were trailing us since they always seemed to find us when we thought we were ahead of them the whole time. That we were safe.

“You slipped, yes?” he asked, cocking his head at me. At my confused look, he rolled his wrist in a show of moving along the conversation. “You weren’tyouback there as you killed those men. Is there any way you can heal him?” He jerked his chin at Rune when he asked about healing him.

My lips parted, but I didn’t say anything. I turned my gaze to Rune, bunching my eyebrows together as he met my shocked stare. His hand came to the back of my head, threading his fingers through my tangled hair.