Page 24

FLYNN

T ime passed so slowly as I waited for Gunnar to return, and as night began to fall, I set up the tent and kept the fire going. The pain in my chest had dulled, and there had been no movement near the portal. The guard who was supposed to be watching it hadn’t come back this way. Please let Gunnar be okay.

The silence was deafening, and I tried to eat one of the sandwiches I’d packed, more out of boredom than hunger, but still the time dragged on. Night fell and once again I slept. The pain in my head had calmed down to a slow throb, but I wasn’t going to leave here without Gunnar. I had considered walking through the portal myself, but I didn’t want him to end up having to save me too. From everything I’d heard about the monster realm, shit was crazy there.

Warm hands brushed back my hair from my face and I knew he was nearby—I felt whole again. The hole that had been ripped in my chest was healed. “Am I dreaming?” I whispered, too out of it to open my eyes.

“No, my love, I’m here.”

“Gunnar!” I yelled and jumped into his arms. “I was so worried about you. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

He laughed and rubbed his forehead against my chest. “No, I was not hurt. We will never have to worry about Vince Drummond ever again.”

“Gunnar, I’ll meet with you at camp tomorrow to get all the information for the official report,” Gene said from behind Gunnar.

“Thank you, Gene. I will try not to hate you quite so much,” Gunnar said, and to my surprise Gene laughed.

“I appreciate that. Thanks again,” he said and walked off into the woods in the direction he’d probably come from hours ago.

“Tell me everything,” I said and climbed into Gunnar’s lap. He reached across and picked up the sandwich I hadn’t finished and shoved it all in his mouth.

“Sorry,” he said.

“It’s okay, come on, tell me what happened.”

“This portal is different to the other one. I walked out near a leshy village. One of them knew about Drummond and what he was doing. He’d also bragged about killing a troll, so I knew he had to be going to my homelands.”

“Oh no,” I said, and he wrapped his strong arms around me.

“The knife he had could easily kill a troll, but a troll can kill a human in more ways than one, and none of them require a weapon. He chose the wrong troll to fuck with,” Gunnar said with a chuckle.

“Was it someone you know?”

“It was Einar. He’s the troll that led me to the portal when I told him I wanted to find a mate. He’s far older than me, far stronger and has no fear of any human no matter what weapon they may yield.”

“Is he okay?”

“Einar? Oh yes, he was not injured at all. It seems Drummond had gotten quite sloppy. He had too much faith in a weapon that could kill if given the chance, but he still had to get within an arm’s length to use. Gene and I arrived just as he lunged for Einar and Einar ripped his arm off. Once his knife was lying to the side with his unattached arm, he had no defense. It makes me wonder why I was even worried about him at all,” Gunnar said and looked off into the distance as though seriously considering why he would have thought that.

“What happened to Vince?”

Gunnar looked at me then and his eyes were filled with regret and possibly a little guilt. “I know he was your uncle and I’m sorry his life ended the way it did, but if it wasn’t Einar, it would have been another monster eventually. He did not have any special power or skill beyond having a knife that would kill. Einar left with him, if I had to guess—well you know what trolls do with humans.”

“I just want to know he’ll never bother us or any other monster again. Gene told me what he was doing, and he deserved to pay for that. He was profiting off the suffering of monsters who did nothing wrong to him.”

“He was not a good person. When Gene first arrived, I did not want to trust him either, but eventually we did become friends. I know now I can trust him.”

“Wait, you were only gone a few hours.”

“Time is different in some parts of the monster realm. For me it was far longer than that.”

“I’m so happy you’re back and you’re not hurt. What happened to the knife?” I asked because it was a dangerous weapon that should not be in any world.

“I have it, but I will turn it over to the institute so they can destroy it or lock it away where no one can be hurt by it ever again. It should never have been created, but the elves hated us for a time, and they needed a weapon since they were no match for our power.”

“You’ll have to tell me about it someday,” I said and rested my head against his chest.

“I will, mate. Now we have time to enjoy each other without worry of a troll hunter who would have me killed to sell my parts.”

I shivered at the mention of that. “It really is disgusting. The people that buy that shit should be charged too.”

“I’m sure they would be if they could catch them. But even finding Drummond took a lot of time and effort. Especially from Gene.”

“I’m glad he wasn’t really a bad guy,” I said.

“The only bad guy was Drummond. How is your injury?” he asked and once again brushed back my hair.

“It’s okay. I’m glad he didn’t hit me any harder than he did.”

“Are you sure you do not want to have someone look at it?” Gunnar asked, his voice soft with concern.

“No, I want to stay here in your arms. That’s all I need.”