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Wilder didn’t respond, and when I glanced over, his lips were thin, his face pained.
“I don’t mind sharing,” I offered him, which only gained me a grunting sound.
“Just fucking dig and find Rune. We don’t need to get emotional,” he finally snapped, ever the moody bastard.
And that was exactly what we did, furiously making me a fresh grave. Once it was complete, Wilder drew back, kneeling alongside the piles of fresh soil.
“Well, here goes nothing.” I hopped into the grave that came up to my thighs and lay down onto my back. It was shallower than I liked it when I healed in the earth, but it should work. “Cover me up.”
Wilder started pushing the soil over my body with his bare hands, its weight growing heavier.
“You finally did it,” Daxon barked, emerging from the dark woods around us. “You killed the fucker. About damn time.”
Sticking my head up, I gave him a deadpan look then murmured, “In your wet dreams.”
“Fucking asshole.” Daxon swung his attention to Wilder. “What exactly are the two of you doing?”
“Shut up and come help me,” Wilder muttered as he shoved a pile right over my face, seeming to enjoy himself, just as he rattled off what I’d told him about me trying to find Rune.
With more soil heaped on top of me, I soon felt something heavy stomping over the top of me. Daxon’s voice soon streamed down, “Got to get it nice and compact, asshole.”
Furball.I took his weight, then heard the arguing murmurs of him and Wilder. I tried to block them out, and I laid there, my fingers wriggling in the soil, my mind focused on feeling Rune.
My skin buzzed like it always did when I slept underground, and I remembered the taste of Rune’s blood on my tongue. Sweet coppery flavor, with a hint of spice, and a slice of magic.
I reached through the soil, sending my feelers outward for her.
A familiar darkness, one of death rose over my legs, my waist, my chest. It fed me, but that wasn’t what I sought. The arguing grew louder above me and I focused harder, searching for my Rune with everything I had, desperate to pick up on her power.
Where are you, little dove?
Concentrating, I kept reaching and reaching out for her, but I kept coming back with nothing. Not a single drop of her energy.
And no matter how long I stayed underground, it didn’t change the situation.
I was left empty, like someone had scooped the dead heart out of my chest.
I was broken.
Shattered.
A groan rumbled over my throat, and anger laced my thoughts.Where had she gone?
Having had enough, I shoved my way up through the soil, breaking the surface with a fist. I dragged myself out, all under Daxon’s and Wilder’s wistful stare.
“Anything?” Wilder asked eagerly.
“She’s not in the forest, that’s all I can tell.”
“Fuck this, fuck everything.” Daxon muttered, before turning and punching a tree with a snarl.
Up on my feet, I dusted myself off. Wilder was still watching me, his jaw clenched.
“Someone’s going to hurt her, and I can’t let that happen.” The words slipped from his mouth angrily, his face twisted with a savage heartache. “Daxon, get your shit together. We're going to tear up the damn country until we find her. We’ve got to go now!” Wilder glanced at me. “Are you joining us, or doing this on your own?”
“I’m with you.”
The three of us took off, all while a sickness churned through me that I couldn’t sense Rune. I should have picked up a clue, something…but nothing…that left me terrified.
