FIFTY-NINE
Josephine’s face was paper-white, her outline flickering.
Why couldn’t she understand how little swiving another would mean to him? He was a taken male; he was Josephine’s. Meliai was a grudging chore to be done with—
Josephine darted for the exit.
Fury welled inside him. He’d told her over and over this would happen. But she’d chosen to believe whatever she wanted to.
“I’ll return shortly,” he said to the nymph. “Be available.”
Meliai raised her brows. “I’ll only wait so long.”
He made his way past admirers, nodding absently at them as he followed the only female he wanted.
Outside in the windy night, she leaned against the trunk, facing away from him.
“What is wrong with you?” he snapped. “You got jealous before and destroyed all my things. Once more, you’re jealous, throwing a tantrum to get your way.” Giving no concern for what he wanted. “I won’t be manipulated again!”
She turned to him with her eyes glinting.
He bit out a curse. “Why this hang-up, Josephine? You got past how many I was with before you. Why does the timing of this matter so much?”
“The timing?” Her voice was strained. “Explain to me how this would work. After screwing someone else, you’d shower, then hop in bed with me? Would we laugh about funny things that happened at work? Would you call if you got tied up with a client?”
“It wouldn’t occur every night, and probably not often after the Accession.” Then a thought struck him. What would happen once the Møriør seized control of the Gaia realm? Rune’s means were particularly fruitful when rooting out dissension; his duties might ramp up even more.
The mere idea exhausted him.
“Not every night? Will you listen to yourself? You are talking about being inside other females. About taking their bodies with your own.”
“This is my job! You saw me with the four nymphs that first night. Did I look overwhelmed with passion? Or did I look bored?” Like I’d rather be making arrows in my chair by the fire? Would he never be free from this chore? “You remarked on my lack of reaction.”
Josephine’s tears spilled over—they were blood tears, his blood—and it was killing him. She was too young to be losing nourishment, and she couldn’t have fed enough during the many times he’d taken her today.
He wrapped his palm around her nape. “If you tell me Thaddeus will be fine for just a while longer, we’ll go home for tonight. Say it, Josephine.”
Her gaze darted. “We can figure out something else. If we work together. So I need you to stop thinking like this!”
His hand tightened on her neck. “Like this? This is me! You’ve told me you feel more than infatuation for me. Then aren’t you supposed to accept me as is? Why do you have to try to change me? What is so bloody wrong with how I am right now?”
“You’re trying to change me too! You’re making me give up something I feel like I’ll die without.”
Jo and Rune had traveled worlds together and had encountered creatures of all species. They’d seen wonders.
He’d never looked at anyone or anything with this much bafflement. “You’ve gotten what you wanted. I’m yours, and you’re mine. I plan to spend the rest of my life with you. Have children with you. You’re not alone anymore, Josephine. You have me. And you’ll have your brother—if I do what’s necessary.”
He was making promises to her, just like that groom. Except Jo’s actual groom was about to spend his wedding night with a nymph.
And Rune could act like he was nobly doing this for Thad, but he was also doing it for the Møriør, for his mission. He still needed to kill Nïx.
His eyes widened as he lit on an idea. “You can ghost inside me. We’ll both be present, and you’ll see how little I’m affected.”
“I’ve been kidding myself.” This male was never going to be faithful. He wasn’t going to balk tonight. She shoved his hand off her nape. “I told you I wanted monogamy. Not a threesome.”
“Monogamy?” He gave a bitter laugh. “There’s obviously no reasoning with you, because you’re too young to see the bigger picture. You like to keep things simple? Sometimes life isn’t simple.”
“It won’t bother you when your mate takes advantage of our open relationship? You got jealous of Desh, and I wasn’t even screwing him. Yet.”
Black forked out across Rune’s eyes. “I’m not a hypocrite, but there would be no reason for you to bed others. No need. That wouldn’t be like for like. You’d probably think random sex means something. I’m old enough—and experienced enough—to know it means less than nothing.”
“Experienced? You’re letting your past color the way you see this!”
“Of course I am! That’s exactly how I know it’s meaningless! Why can’t you get that through your head?”
Her tears kept spilling. She wasn’t normally a crier, but she was about to lose the second person she’d ever wanted to keep. Should she have fought more for Thad when she’d had the chance? Desperate, she told Rune, “If you sleep with other people, I vow to the Lore I will too.”
“Gods damn it, do you never learn? You’re acting like a child! Fine. Fuck other males. You won’t coerce me with yet another vow!”
“When I return home from my dates, will you ask if my lays satisfied me? You’ll probably be put out when I’m full of another’s blood and can’t take any of yours.”
He drew his head back, as if this was insane talk. “Again, there’s no need for you to drink from another! Why would you even consider that? Your eyes can grow red if you drink indiscriminately.”
“Then I’d better stick with a few trusted sources.”
“And how will that work? You have black blood. I don’t think your bite will be poisonous, but would you risk it? You either drink me—or you drink others. You can’t have it both ways.”
“Your blood will run its course in a day or two. If your job calls you away too many nights, I’ll have to share suppers with someone else.” A lie. Once he slept with Meliai, she would never take from him again.
What if she dreamed of him with the nymph? Jo would lose her ever-loving shit.
He gritted his teeth. “For future reference, mate, this is not how to deal with me. Emotional manipulation and tears? Ultimatums and childlike behavior? You are pushing every wrong button. All you’ve done is compound my anger and reinforce my intentions.” He looked at her like she was pathetic. “I don’t even recognize you.”
She felt pathetic. But she had all these unfamiliar emotions, and no experience with them. No outlet. Her body flickered from solid to air.
“Why are you losing control like this?”
“Control? Control?” She flew at him, solidifying to beat on his chest. “You asshole! You’re breaking my heart, and you can’t even see you’re ending us!”
He snatched her wrists, capturing her hands against him. “Ending?” His voice turned tender, but it was menacing at the same time. “Oh, Josephine, there is no ending. We’re bonded mates now, so you’re stuck with me. Eternally. That’s why I’m confident you’ll get past this.”
She wrenched her hands free. “You’re wrong!”
“Do you really think you can exist without the pleasure I give you? Or the companionship? You were alone for the last fourteen years. How’d that work out for you?”
She beat on him some more. “Do you really think I’ll let you give me a steady stream of new nightmares? I’d rather starve than relive all your late nights ‘at work.’ ”
He bit out, “I want you to dream my memories of this, to experience what it’s like feeling utterly nothing—”
“Rune?” Meliai walked outside, her gauzy skirt whipping in the winds.
Jo turned away so the nymph wouldn’t see her tears. She reminded herself that Rune—Ruin—was about to be in the rearview mirror. But that only made her cry more.
“How much longer?” Meliai asked. Impatient for her stud? “It’s now or never.”
“On my way.” He turned to Jo, pulling her close to kiss her, but she averted her face.
He murmured, “From my vantage, I’ve got to weigh whether you’ll be more angry I swived a nymph—or that I let your brother suffer. You’re about to learn a lesson I grasped very early: one measly fuck can equal something you want badly.”
Maybe that was true. Maybe she wasn’t being rational. But it was difficult to stay rational—when she felt like she was being throat punched. She murmured back, “How is this different from your past? You’ll be having sex in exchange for something. You’re going to be a whore again, only this time there’ll be no excuse for it.”
He ground his teeth so hard that muscle ticked in his wide jaw.
“Obviously I was wrong when I said you weren’t that man anymore,” she continued. “But then, I am naïve.”
At her ear, he grated, “If it makes you feel better, I can honestly say I’ll be thinking of you.”
He straightened, then started toward Meliai. They strolled off together, leaving Jo behind.
Knife in gut. Knife in gut. Knife in gut.
That’s when a realization hit her like a Valkyrie’s fist: I’m completely in love with that prick.
Tears ran freely down her face. Of all the times for her to recognize this . . .
She knew she was in love—because nothing else could hurt this much. Nothing ever had, except for when she’d left Thad behind.
Rune glanced back at her one last time before turning a corner.
She could get another lover, but she couldn’t get another Rune.