SWNOVELS Chapter 18
"Is that why she's been kidnapped? Because of this stupid prophecy?" I ask, my hand clutching the tumbler so hard it might crack as my anger returns more powerful than before.
Once again, the bar shakes, like a mini-earthquake, though we don't get earthquakes here. My baby is out in a storm so powerful it's shaking buildings. I'm beyond angry. I'm ready to tear into whoever did this the same way Darius and Zev tore into John. "We are not the only ones who seek her," Rune says.
"Fantastic," I say, downing the last of my whiskey. "As if having three supernatural alphas showing up demanding my child wasn't bad enough."
Rune frowns. "I'm truly sorry our presence has been so disruptive to you. I will admit, I never quite thought about your role in the prophecy. For thousands of years, this edict has been passed down in my family, that we would be ready to retrieve the one who could save us. It has made us all a bit...myopic in our approach."
Ugh. I can't be like, sure it's totally fine you want to steal my kid, but also, I don't know what I would have done if they hadn't been around to help deliver so, shit. "Right now I just want her back in my arms. The rest can wait. But know this, none of you are taking her away from me. She's mine." I pause, fighting a sudden urge to overshare, then give in when I realize it would be nice to have someone to talk to about the things weighing on my heart. I hold up my glass, and Rune reaches for the whiskey, pouring me another and sprinkling in his magic glitter once again.
"I didn't want her at first," I confess finally, after taking another drink. "She wasn't planned... obviously. And I gave serious consideration to..." I pause, drinking again. It's so hard to think about. To talk about. To have her or not have her was the most difficult choice I've ever made. "I was in a master's program at Julliard--"
When Rune looks at me confused, I explain. "It's a music school in New York. Very prestigious, hard to get into it."
His eyes soften. "I'm not surprised you attained that level of acclaim. Your music is truly magical."
His words send a thrill through me, which I attempt to ignore. "I had opportunities coming out my ass," I say. "But I guess the prospect of success made me stupid. I had an affair with one of my teachers... and ended up pregnant. He wanted me to have an abortion, and I was ready to. Having a baby would derail my career, my life. Everything I'd worked so hard for. But on the day of the appointment, I couldn't go through with it. I stayed at school as long as I could while pregnant, but then my grandfather died and I knew it was all coming to an end. My life, my dreams. Everything."
I swallow my tears along with more whiskey. "And then she was born and I looked into her perfect elfin face and I knew I'd made the right choice. I would give up everything for her. Everything."
I glare at Rune fiercely. "She is mine to protect. She is mine to raise. And that is non-negotiable. But I don't expect you to understand."
I turn away, overcome by my own emotions, hating myself for talking tough about my parenting moments after my baby was stolen from her room.
Rune reaches for my hand. "Bernie, I would like to show you something, with your permission."
"Show me what?" I ask, returning my gaze to his.
"Close your eyes," he says, as he places his hands on both sides of my face and leans in until our foreheads are touching. The gesture feels deeply intimate, and I inhale his scent of wildflowers and cinnamon. "I understand more than you know." His fingers heat up against my skin and my inner mind glows silver, then everything changes.
I am standing in a forest at night, a gentle breeze tickling the hair on my neck and swaying the branches around me. Dozens of small glowing bugs buzz in the air, casting silver light against the iridescent flowers spread over a vast valley that starts at the edge of the trees. The sound of insect life scurrying under layers of leaves and mulch fills my ears, and when I inhale, I smell a faint sweetness from the flowers and the musky scent of the rich green foliage surrounding me.
Everything feels so damn real, it's like being in the most advanced, futuristic virtual reality game.
"Come this way," Rune says, startling me with his presence. He reaches for my hand and a spark of energy dances on my skin when our palms touch.
He looks down at me, a look of surprise and something else... on his face before he schools his expression to neutral.
Our fingers link and I let him lead me through the trees towards the sound of running water. Of waterfalls and rushing rivers.
A man stands at the edge of the water, placing flowers into a narrow boat.
I gasp, tightening my grip on Rune's hand when I realize the man we are watching... is him.
He leans to whisper into my ear. "This is the night my wife and child died. I am saying goodbye." His voice is choked with emotion. "She was the last of our kind to get pregnant and give birth. We hoped it was a sign that the plague on our people was ending. That the prophecy we feared wasn't coming to pass. That perhaps our combined royal lineage could break this curse. But alas, the child came early, and was stillborn. The birth took her life in the process, and there was nothing I could do with any of my magic to save either of them."
We watch silently, our grip on each other's hands tightening, as the Rune of the past pushes the boat into the water. Once it's moving down the river, he raises an arrow and lights it with a blue fire, then draws his bow and releases. His aim is true, and the boat alights in glowing flames that fill the night sky. He falls to his knees as his wife and child sink, his cries of anguish raw and visceral.
The Rune by my side looks down at me again, his silver eyes glistening with emotion. "I know your fear. Your pain. Your worry. It is mine as well. It is what brought us all here."
He holds up a hand before I can say anything. "I'm not trying to justify taking your child from you. I just wanted you to understand why."
There's an argument to be had, but I see the point Rune's making. It's just... not a conversation I know how to have right now, after what I just bore witness to. So, I change the subject.
"I know so little about you three. Can you take me back further? To your time with Darius and Zev?"
A fleeting smile passes over the fae's face, quickly replaced by a look of longing.
"I'm sorry," he says, his eyes glistening with unshed tears as he stares into a past I cannot enter. "I'm afraid my heart cannot bear revisiting the memory of another loved one lost to me."
There are times to question and times to be silent, and I know this is the latter. As much as I want to know more, and even as much as I feel I have the right to know more, sometimes we must choose to be kind over being right. I give him what little solace a squeeze of my hand can provide.
I'm pulled out of the trance by the sound of the bar door slamming open, my heart heavy and my mind thick.
Rune is now sitting next to me, just as he was. But his eyes are still full of the pain I just witnessed. As powerful as our moment was, my mind switches gears immediately when I see AJ race in, a small bundle in her arms.
Darius follows, dragging a man with a hood over his head and his hands tied behind his back, a large white wolf nipping at his heels.
"Rain's okay," says AJ, handing my child to me. I grip Rain so tight, probably squeezing air out of her tiny lungs, but I can't help myself. Now that she's back, I finally let myself consider the thought I pushed back against so hard--I might have never seen her again. "I'm so sorry, baby," I say to her. "Mama won't ever let you go again."
"And this," AJ says, reminding me there's more to this story, "is the bastard who took her."
I glare as she pulls off his hood... and then I gasp.
"Karl?"
The deadbeat who's always passed out in my bar? The man who's known my family for years? That's the person who kidnapped my baby?
What the hell alternate reality have I stumbled into?