Gideon leaned in anyway, calling her bluff as his mouth descended on hers. His free hand slid into her hair, pulling her closer, lips parting hers.
His kiss made her ache in all the usual places. But it also made her ache somewhere new.
What if this is really goodbye?
She dropped her knife and kissed him back.
Gideon’s mouth turned devouring. Rune untucked his shirt from his trousers and slid her hands up his bare chest. She pressed a palm to his scar, which was already heating against her touch. He shivered and grabbed hold of her thighs, lifting her onto his hips, pulling her securely against him.
Rune’s blood hummed.
This is a trick,she reminded herself,meant to keep me here until the Blood Guard show up.
She forced herself to remember Aurelia and Meadow down at the harbor. The two people she’d sworn to get safely across the Barrow Strait. They were waiting for her. She couldn’t fail them. Not when she was so close.
He’s trying to delay me. This is a distraction. The prelude to a trap waiting to spring closed.
But not even this was enough to snap her out of her madness.
It was Gideon who did that. Trembling a little from the pain of his curse, he lowered her from his hips. Taking her hand in his, he drew the pistol from his holster and pressed it against her palm.
“Promise me you won’t lose this one,” he whispered, his cheek rough against hers.
Rune glanced up at him.
What?
But he was already stepping away. Leaving his gun in her hand.
“And if someone tries to hurt you,” he said, “and there’s no other way to stop them, don’t think twice. Just shoot. Got it?”
She frowned, watching him pick up her casting knife from the floor, then sheath it in his belt. As if they’d made a trade.He didn’t close the gap again. Just stood to the side, leaving her path to the door wide open.
He wasn’t even trying to stop her.
Because he has soldiers on the way. They’re probably already here.
“I’ll give you a twenty-minute head start.” His expression was inscrutable. But his unspoken words were clear:And then I’m coming for you.
Twenty minutes. Rune wouldn’t even get to the harbor in twenty minutes.
Still, it was something.
She grabbed the bag of food she’d stolen from his cupboards and strode toward the open door of his apartment. She needed to get as far away from him as she could. Needed to start over somewhere he would never find her.
What would that be like—a life apart from him?
Her footsteps slowed, pausing in the door frame. She turned to glance back at him.
“Gideon?”
The sight of him blurred.
“I wish—”
“Don’t.”His voice was ragged. “Just go, Rune.”
She nodded, swallowing back tears. The only safe thing to do was run.
