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She’d seen his past and accepted it She’d accepted hi in ed when our heartbeats synchronized I don’t knohat, but I know I’m different"

He understood He felt as if he’d discovered the answer to a mystery he’d been teased with his entire life A secret like no other

Though his body was sated, his mind wasn’t Would she wish to wed? Probably, if she’d been raised human He would do it for her--if she could coht had been, he couldn’t let that affect hoent about his life He’d tried to postpone this with her, but she’d pushed He suspected she ht even have mesmerized him at one point

The Møriør were still his priority, and war loomed As the eyes and ears of his alliance, he couldn’t shirk his duties at the cusp of an Accession

And without the Møriør, his quest for vengeance could fail He’d been so close to taking Saetthan out, but the prick had escaped hi that royal sword had only whetted Rune’s appetite for retribution

He would stay the course, refusing to change his existence yet again It was someone else’s bloody turn To it was far less than she expected

Using his silver tongue, he’d seduce her into his way of thinking, and she would adjust She was addicted to their sex, enaive him up

"Rune," she drowsily ain

His eyes flashed open in the dark That hadn’t been a question

To go from cold ash to inferno in teeks? Couldn’t be possible But then, he’d also believed he could never have awith Josephine She’d be fiercely protective of thele potential child to plural

Lorean parents were the true immortals They lived forever in memories If he had children, he would tell them about his own mother, whose sacrifice had allowed Rune--and his entire line--to live

He would avenge her, help win the co could be s his way

FIFTY-SIX

Jo watched Rune as he prepped his arrows for their upcoray, red, and white

With no weapons to prep, she’d been ready for a while, had dressed in frayed jeans, a funk-band T-shirt, and boots Her version of ear