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The festival, Rune’s ability to be invisible and talk telepathically, Kastian here in Nesbrim, the skull in the basement, Rune’s dick—no, nope, don’t think of that.
But what the hell is Kastian doing here? With Violet… I clench my teeth and try not to let out too much emotion. Rune lies behind me, chest to my back, and his breaths are slow. I really don’t want to wake him.
My dark-winged Eostrix wouldn’t betray me—not like Arulius did. But a part of me is so torn and ruined that, no matter what explanation I conjure, there will always,alwaysbe doubt planted in my mind. My soul feels darkened by the trust that Arulius stole from me. I miss when I used to see the world with brighter eyes… when I believed in those who really did love me.
It’s a kind of hurt that words can’t explain. It’s felt with the blood lost in the process.
I can’t even trust my sweet Kastian. A part of me feels horrible about that, but it can’t be helped.
My chest still throbs with rage. Arulius is pissed, but he must be wrapped up in whatever the fuck Violet has him doing that’s keeping him from barging in here and threatening to kill my drop of blood in the snow.
Over my dead fucking body.
I slowly turn in the bed so Rune doesn’t stir. I do something that is really unlike me. But gods, I’ll do anything to try and calm my anxiety right now.
I watch Rune.
I watch him like he did me so many times. Silently and without any reservations. I watch as he takes deep breaths. His beautiful black lashes make his pale cheeks look soft.
I want to behere. Not in Nesbrim. Not as the Goddess of Life and Dawn. I want to be here in this bed with him.
With my quiet and lovely Rune.
After I get my fill of his peaceful features, I bring myself in tight to his chest. I want to be close to him, as close as I can get, because I’ve learned thatnothinglasts forever.
Nothing—even in a world where eternity is possible.
I can’t be sure how long this moment will last. So I hold on as tightly as I can. Desperate to never let go.
* * *
“Elodie.”
My pants are covered in cold mud as I tumble through the marshy zones of my forest. I don’t know why I’m running toward Old Man Bruno’s house again, but I am.
I’m so fucking scared. Margo’s hot breaths are puffing into the brisk air as she leads the way.
“You can’t run forever. We all know how this ends,” Mom’s eerie voice calls from somewhere in the shadowed woods.
Panic is pumping a hundred miles a minute through my veins. My heart feels like it will give out any second, but I can see Old Man Bruno’s house.
“Keep going, Margo! You can make it!”
She turns and looks at me with weary eyes, coming to a stop completely.
I stop, slipping in the mud—no, it’s red. It’s not mud at all.
Everything is red and muddy and cold, prickling with rot and frost. My eyes find Margo again, her body shaking from the run, and she’s already bleeding where she always is. Her body falls to the side and I scream.
“Why… I just want to wake up. Please. Please make this stop,” I cry and try to rub the blood and mud from my hands. Looking up, I see two dark figures slowly exiting the forest’s cover, knives in each of their hands.
But pain is already throbbing in my chest. I look down. Blood pulses out of me in steady streams. I’ve already been stabbed and my heart pumps life from me like it’s angry with the world. I’m holding a bowl… and there’s a skull in the center, pulsing, absorbing what I leak.
Devouring me.
* * *
My back is covered in cold sweat and my breaths are sharp and ragged. Rune is over me, pinning me to the bed with wide eyes. I’ve never seen him look so scared.
