Chapter 27
JOSIE
“Again,” Rune demands. “Come at me again.” His voice comes from the left, then the right, but all I can focus on is the way the air around him blurs. Sweat stings my eyes as I struggle to both catch my breath and prepare for the next attack.
Despite knowing it’s coming, my Viking still catches me by surprise. He appears in front of me and knocks me to the grass in the same moment.
My breath gets pushed from my lungs when I hit the ground hard.
Even holding back, Rune is freakishly strong. And today, he doesn’t seem to be holding back as much as usual.
I lie there gasping for air, watching the trees of the Elysian parkette sway and the wispy clouds blow past on a welcome breeze. One of the things I truly need to get used to if New Orleans is to be my home is the thick Louisiana heat.
Rune’s rugged face blocks my view, and his golden braids hang down toward my face. “Is this nap time or a workout?”
I blink. “Okay, what’s got you so wound up today? I love the intensity, but while vampires may not get hangovers, I’m human. Our celebration last night isn’t fully out of my system.”
Rune grips my wrist and pulls me to my feet. “The wolves won’t only come at you when you’re bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Push through. Today isn’t about technique or strategy. Today is about relying on your instincts to survive a scrap.”
“My instincts tell me I need a break,” I huff, wiping my sweaty brow with the back of my hand.
“Fine. We can take five.”
“Five?” I’d like to call it a day and stop getting my ass handed to me, but Rune doesn’t pause long enough for me to say so.
“Trust me. Egan’s raising the stakes, so we have to be ready.”
“Is this about Egan or you being a sadist who gets off on bruising me?”
“That’s more Bas’s style. He likes to rough up whatever poor fly he catches in his web before he devours them.”
It shouldn’t surprise me, but the analogy doesn’t help my perception of the Bastard King. I’m not sure what he sees in my face but he lets out a long breath. “Sorry, I was joking.”
“Somehow, I don’t think you were.”
He pulls me against his chest and leans close, pressing a kiss on the end of my nose. My heart is already beating fast from the workout. Having him so close makes it hammer against my ribcage.
“Sebastian hasn’t always been the man you’ve seen. He’s cultured and used to paint and collect fine wines. He used to appreciate music. It’s just…”
“Since my mother cursed him, he’s lost himself.”
Rune frowns and drops his forehead to touch mine. “I see the guilt in your eyes, babe. What happened between your parents and Bas isn’t your fault. Your mom cursed him, not you.”
I draw a deep breath, taking comfort in the strength of his massive frame. “I don’t understand how she could even consider doing something so brutal to another person—even someone she hated. She had to know it was Egan who ended her life. Why would she curse Sebastian?”
He shrugs and pulls me in for a hug. “I don’t know, but together we’ll fix it.”
I ease back. “Okay, so if we’re facing things together, how about you tell me what’s pissing you off? I get that I asked you to train me, but I have a feeling I’m not the one you’ve been knocking the wind out of and throwing to the ground all afternoon.”
Rune releases me and steps away. “Shit. I’m sorry, Jo. I…Egan grabbed one of my guys last night. I got there in time to save him, but couldn’t get to him without getting shredded myself. He fucking bit him to turn him against us.”
“Oh, sweetie. I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah. Me too. Aiden was a good guy.”
“Was? Did he not survive the transition?”
Rune shrugs. “I don’t know. I just gathered my chipmunk and left.”
My mind stalls out on that sentence. “Is that some lewd reference to something I don’t want to know about?”
He chuffs a laugh. “No. I was working with a chipmunk. He helped me see inside the building where Egan had Aiden, and in return, I brought him out of wolf territory. See, that’s him there.”
He points over to the chipmunk bounding from tree to tree and waves. “Hey, little dude. This is the Unity Witch I told you about, Josie. Come, give her a high-five.”
The chipmunk runs over, and I bend down and hold out my hand. The little guy does indeed give me a pat of his paw.
I fight not to giggle, but it’s definitely a fight. “It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for helping Rune, and welcome to the Elysian.”
“He says thanks.” Rune laughs and nods. “Don’t I know it, dude.”
I give Rune a look. “What did he say?”
“That you’re way too classy for an ugly mug like me.”
I chuckle and smile at the little critter. “I happen to adore his ugly mug, but thank you.”
Rune notices a bruise coming up on the back of my arm and winces. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take my morning out on you.”
I brush away his concern. “I’ll let you make it up to me. Let’s finish our training session early so I can spend some time with the spellbook. Gran said I need to spend time with it, so it recognizes me. Maybe if I can figure out what curse she cast on him, I can work to remove it.”
“Shouldn’t you worry about that after tomorrow? Your final trial is in the morning.”
“Right, but my final trial is based on my connection to magic and Mother Gaia. There’s nothing to prepare for, and spending the afternoon with the family grimoire is likely exactly what I should be doing.”
He gives me one more kiss before patting my butt and then falling back into ready position. “All right, then let’s finish here and get you inside. Show me what you’ve got, girlfriend.”
I launch my weight forward, looking to force Rune to his back foot, to topple him to the grass.
It doesn’t work.
He sees the move coming and dodges easily, using my momentum to put himself behind me. The hard ridges of Rune’s body press into me, and I can’t resist leaning back into him.
“That’s my girl. Good try.” The smirk in Rune’s rumbling voice makes a shiver run through me. “Now—come at me for real.”
And just like that, the solid weight of his body is gone. “That was for real.”
“My bad.” Rune squares his shoulders, getting into a ready stance that puts his powerful, muscled thighs on display in his workout shorts.
“Are you ready, drengr? Or are you going to keep staring at my crotch?”
Laughter bubbles out of me. “Sorry. You’re very distracting. And what is drengr?” I repeat, butchering the pronunciation. “You keep calling me that, but I don’t know what it means.”
It doesn’t sound Latin, and it definitely isn’t French, but it could be something in Old Norse.
Rune waggles his brows, a glint in his eye telling me he’s plotting something. “I’ll tell you what it means when and if you can best me in battle.”
I step closer, closing the gap between us and dragging my gaze down his body. “What if there’s something else I’m after?”
He smirks at me, and I see when his mind flips to the same dirty track as mine. “Tell you what: if you avoid getting pinned for a full minute, you can have anything your little heart desires.”
Well, if that isn’t an incentive, I don’t know what is. “Are you sure you want to say that without knowing what I have in mind?”
“Drengr,” he teases me with the word again, “there is nothing you could want to do to me or with me that I wouldn’t like.”
“Remember that when I’m kicking your vampire ass in a minute.” I shake out my sore limbs, suddenly energized and raring to go—in more ways than one.
“Let’s do this.”
I nod, my focus sharpening as I mirror Rune’s stance, my feet shifting against the ground. I raise my hands in front of me to protect my face.
“Good, Josie,” Rune praises when I dodge his fist coming straight for my nose, and a sense of pride washes through me. “But remember, the key is to anticipate, not just react. Watch my stance, the shift in my weight.”
I do, and I see what he’s talking about. The slight tense in muscle right as he—oof.
“Holy hell.”
The force of Rune’s punch catches me in the shoulder and is about to send me to the ground again when something much softer than hard, packed dirt catches my fall. Thick arms cradle me in place, and the ribbon of Rune’s bond thrums happily between us.
He bends over to smile at me. “Almost got it.”
I bat away his braids when they tickle my face. “I should have seen that coming.”
He pulls me back onto my feet and I roll my shoulder, wincing when a joint pops.
“You will next time. But for now, I think you’ve had enough. It won’t do you any good to go into tomorrow’s trial if you can’t move. Spending the afternoon with your spellbook is a more constructive idea.”
I laugh. “You’re just afraid I’ll beat you and you’ll have to live up to your bargain.”
He grins. “No, babe. The bargain is in play for as long as we spar. No way am I quitting on you getting to call the shots. Just not today.”
Thank Gaia.
“All right. Let’s hit the showers.”
Rune lifts me off my feet and flips me over his shoulder. With a smack to my butt, he starts racing at vampire speed toward our floor. “I thought you’d never ask. Your shower or mine?”