72. Vameer
Vameer
Rune lays her head on my shoulder as we follow Volik and his mate over the nearby forest. “I like them.”
“Good.” I flex my arms around her. “I trust the fates to give Volik a good mate.”
I feel my mate smile. “I always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling. Now I have a sister and a brother.”
I nuzzle my cheek against Rune’s hair. “Tonight I want you to tell me about your family.”
“There’s not much. Just me and my parents, really.”
“I still want to hear about them. And your childhood. I want to know everything.” I inhale her sweet apples. “Since I woke, things have been… chaotic.”
Rune huffs a laugh. “Just a bit.”
She is so understanding. Of everything.
“Mon Amour.” I murmur my feelings for her.
Our heart rate jumps as Rune tightens her arms around my neck. “I’ll tell you everything. But to start, my childhood was good. My constant need to move was apparently you. And… I took four years of French in high school.”
I turn my head and press my lips to her hair. “Fille intelligente.”
Volik and Nix start to slow ahead of us. And I’m looking forward to spending time with Volik and his mate, but I’m glad for this moment of privacy.
Rune twines her fingers in my hair. “I want to know everything about you too. All of it.”
I told her the basics about the fighting. The exhaustion. The need to rest that led me to the cave.
So she knows what she’s asking for.
All of it. The good and the bad.
I kiss her hair again.
Rune keeps her hand in mine as my brother welcomes us into his home.
She squeezes my fingers when he shows me the chairs he’s making.
My mate leans against me as I see how Volik has been living.
And like everything else, she’s completely accepting. No questioning the fact that Volik’s house is underground, in the middle of the woods, with a wall of glass in the side of a hill as the only hint of a dwelling beneath.
She doesn’t ask why the hallways are all long and winding. Or why the bedroom is at the deepest point.
I’ll explain it all later, tell her why he did it this way. And how it’s so impressive.
If I hadn’t spent so much unintended time in a cave recently, I might want a home just like this.
But the stone walls and floors and ceilings remind me a little too much of my time in the mountain.
It’s beautiful. And we’ll stay, as Volik and Nix have offered.
But Rune and I will find a different type of home when the time is right.
Still holding hands, we follow Volik and Nix back up to the living room.
It’s a spacious room carved from the same tan stone as everything else. A large couch faces a television on the opposite wall, with a low wooden table between them. And another smaller couch is perpendicular to the first.
“The spare suite is down that hall.” Volik points to the opposite wall. “If there is anything you need that you do not have, simply ask.”
The side of my mouth lifts. He was hardly a kid the last time I saw him, nearing two hundred. But this feels like a whole new adult version of Volik.
Which reminds me of the Battle of Versailles. A fight that never should have been his.
Shame and anger and guilt collect around me, and my shoulders drop.
Rune snaps her gaze up to mine, her forehead furrowed.
I squeeze her fingers as I face Volik and Nix. “I am sorry about Morell. He never should have gone after you. But I should’ve known…”
Volik lifts a brow. “You should have known he would eventually kidnap your brother’s mate through a painted mirror in the hallway of a college?”
I stare at him for a long second. “Obviously that is too specific.”
A loud laugh bursts out of Nix as she drops onto the couch.
“Sorry.” She widens her eyes.
Rune snickers.
I look down at my smiling mate, then up to Volik. “These two might be trouble together.”
Rune scoffs. “Us? At least we don’t crack our skulls together to say hello.”
Nix laughs again. “Oh my gods, I heard that too.”
Not letting go of her hand, I step in front of Rune, blocking her view of Nix.
She pokes my side with a snicker.
I lift my voice. “I should’ve known Morell would do something drastic. If I had warned you, it might have helped. Or, rather, I should have just killed him the last time I saw him.”
Volik slowly nods. “Da. Killing him long ago would have saved us a lot of trouble.”
I straighten my shoulders.
I am a warrior.
I have discipline.
I deserve his anger.
“But, had you done that, my mate would still have human in her. Meaning she would be more vulnerable to attack and injury.” Volik sits on the couch and stretches his arm out behind Nix. “Since you did not, and since Nix is amazing, my mate killed the man who became my enemy and gained her horns.”
“What?” My question comes out as a whisper.
Rune moves to my side, clenching my hand tightly.
“As I said.” Volik dips his chin. “Rune, did your change happen after biting Vameer?”
“Yes.” My mate answers, but I’m still thinking about the other part.
I look at Nix’s horns, then back at my brother. “So Rune just has to kill one of my enemies? Then she’ll be as invincible as we are?”
Volik shrugs. “Stands to reason.”
“Just?” Rune lets out a strangled laugh. “I’m all for killing your enemies. And I know I wanted to help you this morning. But other than the self-defense class I took a while ago, I don’t actually know how to fight.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “You will not fight. I will hold them down, and you will kill them. But what is a self-defense class? Did someone hurt you?” The gravito floating around my feet turns black as protectiveness shoves against my ribs.
Rune looks at me with a relaxed expression. “Calm down, Honey.” She dips down and gently swipes her hand through the dark tendrils, causing my gravito to lighten into a dark gray. “No one hurt me.”
I watch her eyes, searching for any hidden pain. “Why did you go?”
Her shoulders lift. “I lived alone. Figured it would be good to know how to defend myself.”
The gravito at my feet lightens again, believing her.
“You will tell me of every person who has ever hurt you.” I give her my third command.
Obey me for your safety. Come on command. And point me at your enemies.
Rune places her hands on my chest. “The only person who’s ever physically hurt me on purpose was that guy earlier this morning.” Her smile is soft. “And you ripped him in half.”
I reach a hand up to her cheek.
Literally perfect.
Volik leans forward. “You ripped a man in half this morning?”
“Sí.” I exhale, working to keep my anger at bay over the memory of his hands on my Rune. “But it’s the six men I killed after who are going to be a problem.”
“You have only been awake for a few days, and people are already trying to kill you.” Volik sounds almost impressed.
I let go of Rune’s hand and reach for the backpack she’s wearing.
When I pull the straps down her arms, she almost startles. “I forgot I was even wearing that.” She shimmies her shoulders as I pull it free. “That weighed literally nothing.”
“Gravito,” I explain.
Her brows lift. “Really?”
I hold my arm to the side and let go. The backpack hovers. My hand twitches as I release the power. The dissipating gravito flashes yellow. And the backpack falls to the floor.
Volik makes a sound of amusement.
I put a hand on Rune’s shoulder and guide her over to the other couch. “Sit with me.”
She drops onto the cushion. And I’m lowering myself beside her when she lets out a squeak and darts her hand over my lap to stop my robe from slipping open.
“Sorry,” Rune laughs as she tucks the robe around me. “You almost got a face full.”
Volik grunts as Nix laughs.
The short length is practically at my knees when I sit, and I have nothing on beneath, so I press my knees together. “I have not had time to find clothes that fit.”
Volik stands. “Haruto is still making clothes. You will need to go yourself to get a custom wardrobe, but you can borrow mine if they fit.”