by Kayleigh Sky
“Some of them do. Diamonds and rubies. But no, this isn’t natural. These have been mined and polished. Purely decorative. In some cities, crystal is a natural feature, but that too is polished, though it’s a part of the stone.”
“How big is this city?”
“I don’t know,” said Rune. “I doubt very large just because they hadn’t been here long. They would have spent most of their time building the residences.”
“I want to see one inside.”
He moved his flashlight up to catch Rune’s face in the edge of light. His grin glowed, all teeth, no fangs. Sparks danced in his eyes as bright as the jewels. He pointed. “That one.”
Isaac glanced around the curve of the lake and followed the direction of Rune’s finger with his flashlight. The beam sank into a shadow that filled what appeared to be a gash in the rock.
“They built into the crevice there and probably have more space than the others.” He touched Isaac’s elbow, startling him with a zip of electricity from his fingers. Rune pulled back his hand, surprise crossing his face. His voice emerged throaty. “The rocks by the lake look loose.”
Isaac swallowed. “I’ll be careful.”
Damn. His nerves hummed now, all the way up his arm and down to his balls. He pussyfooted on the shore, the rocks glistening in his light, shifting and clacking under his footfall. He glanced back at Rune who lowered his head beneath the ceiling. The stalactites over the lake didn’t extend over dry ground, though maybe they had once and had been cut down. The ceiling rose near the row of houses. They had wooden doors that resembled the ones people bought at Home Depot. The door at the house Isaac stood in front of was painted, but he couldn’t tell the color. Four narrow windows, one on top of the other, framed it on either side.
“Is that glass?”
“Yes. We bought it on the surface. Go on and open the door. I doubt it’s locked anymore.”
It wasn’t. Isaac turned the knob and pushed it open. He swept his flashlight through the space, shocked at the spasm of sorrow in his chest. It jumped out at him the minute he saw the furniture. The room was larger than the train station had led him to expect. Shelves had been carved into the wall. Shards of glass and pottery littered the floor.
“That’s like… a whole living room set.” A moldering couch and chairs. An ottoman. Coffee table and… lamps? “How did the lights work?”
“Luminescence. It’s natural and lasts a long time without replenishment. We didn’t exactly live in the dark. The furniture was built here with materials we got on the surface.”
Isaac panned his light over a kitchen and down a hall before following the upward slant of a stone staircase. “This is amazing.”
“It’s just a house.”
“It was somebody’s home.”
“Perhaps they have a better one now,” Rune said.
“I hope so. Can we go upstairs?”
“Follow me. Just in case.”
But there was nothing wrong. The stairs were solid, and the two rooms upstairs contained only beds with disintegrating mattresses, dressers, and a mirror in the smallest room. Isaac stared into the glass with the flashlight under his chin. The cone of light turned his face orange. What if he’d been born a vampire, and he’d lived here, and woke up in the dark every day, and stared into the mirror never longing for the sun? “I guess they weren’t unhappy.”
Rune emitted a sound. Not quite a sigh. It sounded surprised. “Of course not.”
Isaac stared at him. “You would have lived your whole life down here.”
“Not all of us did. But this isn’t Celestine. There, the ceilings towered, and the plaza was crowded and loud and busy. I didn’t go to school with the others, but I had friends, a best friend, and my family. We’re just people, like you.”
Rune? Just people? Nothing about him was just anything. Isaac liked to sass him, though where that came from he had no idea, and Rune let him. But he wasn’t like other people. He swayed people as though he cast a spell on them. Energy vibrated inside him, and Isaac suspected he had to wrestle it for control. He wasn’t slow and easy as much as ready and willing. The quieter he got, the more dangerous he got. But Isaac wasn’t afraid of him.
“Do you miss it?”
“Always.” Though a moment later, a frown furrowed his brow. “But… Do you miss Comity House?”
No tripped over itself to get to the tip of his tongue before he clamped down on it. “I liked my room. I liked having money to spend. I liked Anya. I guess I didn’t hate all of it.”
Though it slipped through the dark, invisible below the beam of his flashlight, Isaac didn’t flinch when Rune’s hand cupped his cheek. “You saved someone I love very much.”
Isaac had always been half jealous of that love, but he’d never begrudged it. Jessa deserved it, the romantic goof. “I love him too.”
“I was deaf to you there. I don’t think I wanted to hear you.”
That hit Isaac in the gut. What did it mean? That Rune didn’t want him? He snorted. “Fated love is stupid. Clients told me I belonged to them all the time. They promised to take care of me.”
Rune’s thumb stroked his cheekbone. “Who is with you now?”
“You are, because I’m making you.”
Rune’s laugh was soft and so close. His breath against Isaac’s skin as humid as the inside of Jessa’s greenhouse. Isaac shivered and swallowed in a dry mouth. He was a simple donor, practically a blood whore, and Rune was—
Kissing him.
Using you.
Brushing a whisper soft caress across his lips. He gasped, sucking in Rune’s breath, filling his lungs. The fingers on his cheek slid to the back of his head, tangled in his hair, and drew him closer. He moaned and pushed into the kiss. His body melted, molding itself to Rune’s, dissolving into the vampire’s heat. It burned every inch of him, incinerated every thought. He grabbed handfuls of Rune’s silken hair and hung on, pushing back with his tongue, invading the alien darkness of this supernatural being. This king. “Why?” he whispered.
Why would Rune want him? A donor. Once a blood whore. Mostly unschooled.
With a groan Rune pulled his head up. He pecked again at Isaac’s lips. “Don’t talk. We don’t have much time.”
Time for what? Here? Before you leave me?
Because that was what Rune wanted. To get away from Isaac. But he needed the map.
Jerking away from the soft shivery kisses, Isaac twisted and shoved at Rune’s chest at the same time. He broke free and staggered backward. “Oh no, no. No way you get to do that just to get what you want. You don’t get to play with my feelings.”
Goddam the dark for hiding Rune’s face from him. The vampire was still, a tower of impenetrability in front of him. And then he hissed. Softly. It could have been the breath of a laugh or a snort. “I wasn’t. I don’t play games with people’s feelings.”
Was that an accusation? Isaac gaped, snapped his mouth shut, and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Well, you aren’t talking about me. I’m not trying to flirt my way to a hidden treasure.”
Rune growled. “I don’t flirt.”
“Well, you kissed me.”
“I wanted to.” Rune gripped the back of Isaac’s neck, but the faint thrill of fear that zipped through Isaac’s body fizzled. He moved his fingers on Isaac’s skin, stroking him, as warm and soft as a butterfly’s wings. “I wanted to.”
“I wouldn’t play with your feelings.”
“Are you sure?” Rune stepped closer. “If you haven’t been lying to me, I don’t have a right to kiss you.”
The fog blew from Isaac’s brain. “Oh. That.”
“That.”
“Okay.” Isaac screwed his face up, feeling like a kid with only lame explanations and his hand in the cookie jar. “I guess Anin isn’t my boyfriend.”
“Why did you say he was? To hurt me?”
“No.” He let his head fall back, and Rune’s fingers slid into his hair, caressing his scalp. Shive
rs ran down his spine. “Jessa told me to.”
“Jessa? Does he—?”
“Know about us? No.”
What a weird thing to say. Was there an us?
“You wanted to make me jealous?”
The tantalizing fingers crept up his scalp. His belly fluttered, and his cock ached. But kings didn’t fall for street urchins.
Why not?
“I wanted you to think… that maybe I was good enough for somebody else.”
Rune’s fingers slipped away, gliding against the skin of his neck and stopping on his chest where his heart pounded. “You’re good enough for me. You’re mine.”
Oh, he so wanted to bristle at that, but he leaned into Rune’s fingers. “Maybe you’re mine.”
“No maybes.” Rune’s laugh was deep and warm.
Isaac gripped the front of his shirt and stood on his toes, leaning in to brush a kiss on his mouth.
“I want you.”
The groan as Rune wrapped him in his arms was filled with pain and rolled like an echo in the dark.
Mine.
22
In the Light of the Garden
After he exited the car, Isaac stared at the dark house and swiped his hands off on his shirt. What now? He was such a bundle of nerves he was afraid to move and trip over himself. The hum of insects whined in his ear, but everything else was still and quiet. A crescent moon glowed behind wisps of cloud.
Like fog.
He jerked at the thunk of the driver’s side door shutting behind him.
In Pomariah, Isaac’s head had been clear, and his heart had been hot. But now… Well, sitting in the car had given him too much time to think. Too much time to wonder how good he was at actually judging character. After all, he’d always thought Mr. Wrythin above reproach. But then he’d seen the special room in Comity House. A room decorated in blood-red silk and lush fabrics. A room where normal vampires broke the law and drank real blood. He’d thought Rune had wanted him. That he had called him, but then he’d pushed Isaac away.
And you let him.
So maybe this time he didn’t want to let him.
He opened the door and stood aside to let Rune enter first. Candles flickered on the entryway table, casting a soft light on Rune’s amused smile. Well, let him be amused, as if Isaac were an innocent boy playing games. He wasn’t innocent. Maybe as a toddler, but that was a long time ago, before he’d had to scramble after scraps. Before the sideways glances from humans and vampires alike started sliding his way. That had shocked him because the disheveled kid in the mirror had never impressed him, but it was what it was, and one day he’d given in. He wasn’t strong enough to starve. Honor didn’t mean much if nobody cared how honorable you were.
Rune continued down the hall into the foyer where he stopped and stared out of the glass doors.
“I like the view at night,” Isaac murmured. “The lights are so beautiful.”
Soft globes threw bushes into silhouettes and hung from branches. Shades of gold mixed with the darker shadows under the oaks.
“Like tiger’s eye,” Rune said.
So romantic. “Do you want some hot chocolate or something?” Not so romantic.
Isaac blushed as Rune glanced back, and imagined the amused smile returning. So much for not being an innocent kid. Rune was so out of his league.
But he’d turned his attention to Isaac again. “Hot chocolate?”
“Too sweet for a vampire?”
Rune’s head tipped to the side. “What do you think of us?”
“I don’t think anything about all of you.” Isaac’s life was enough of a disaster without judging people he didn’t even know.
“That’s good.” Rune approached. “We’re all human at our core.”
A laugh tickled Isaac’s throat, and he grinned. “That’s not much of an endorsement.”
Rune chuckled, standing so close now, the sound vibrated like harp strings thrumming inside Isaac’s chest. His cock stirred again, thickening, warm and achy.
“It can be.”
“I’m not much of an example.” Out of my league.
“No?” Rune reached up, and a finger ghosted across Isaac’s cheek. “After all this time, you’re still kind. You saved Jessa’s life.”
He shook his head. “I would have, but I didn’t. We were lucky, and you paid me.”
“Not enough,” Rune whispered. “I can never give you enough.”
That again. His fucked-up mission taking him away. Isaac glowered and fisted Rune’s shirt, trying to ignore the ridiculousness of the gesture, as though he weren’t a gnat Rune could swat away.
“I didn’t see any bugs.” Isaac rose to his toes, touching his chin to Rune’s.
A slightly dazed tone came into Rune’s voice. “Bugs?”
“Can you hear them? That whining sound all the time? But I didn’t see any bugs in Pomariah.”
He touched Rune’s mouth with his own, the tip of his tongue flicking Rune’s upper lip. Breath warmed his skin.
“Closer to the surface where the water is standing. So many. Like fireflies in the luminescence.”
Isaac had never seen a firefly. He probably never would. He’d never had sex with somebody he loved, and he was pretty sure he loved Rune, though the why of it made no sense to him. But he’d been dreaming of him for years, longing and swearing his heart to him.
He pressed harder with his lips, and Rune opened to him.
“Isaac…”
“I think…” Isaac pecked and nipped. “You need…” He cupped Rune’s face. “…to shut up.”
Rune clasped Isaac’s head, turned his face, and dove into Isaac’s mouth. Isaac pulled hard on the shirt in his fists and thrust his hips. Hot steel dug into his belly. He groaned into the kiss, dizzy at the rapturous plundering of his mouth. Rune’s tongue tangled with his, teeth gnashing but never pricking, never biting. He rubbed his dick into Rune’s jean-clad leg. Hard muscle met him. His own jeans rubbed him to burning. Every doubt in his mind blew away, but that left a tiny unease.
How much of you is his?
Too much?
All of him?
But his thoughts scattered, and his vision went red and hot.
He jerked his head back. His muttered, “Oh fuck, yeah,” grated his throat.
Rune grunted. “Bed.”
Bed? There was the couch or the rug or—
No. Not there. Rune scooped him up, an arm under his knees, and Isaac gasped. “Dude, put me down.”
“Where?”
The grating urgency in Rune’s tone scraped across every one of Isaac’s bones like sandpaper. He licked Rune’s jaw. “Behind you.”
Rune’s skin was rough with whiskers but sweet as honey. His scent was like honey too. And wood. And the gardens after the water had been turned off on a hot day. Isaac licked his neck as Rune carried him down the back hallway. His room on the corner glowed all night with the lights outside like a magical place.
His bed sank under him, softer than it ever had been before, pillowing him like a cocoon.
He wrapped his arms around Rune’s neck. “Stay with me.”
Whatever that meant—now or forever—he wouldn’t argue with any part of it he got. He’d take the moment, the way he took his snug little room in Comity House, Jessa’s friendship, Marcus’s lessons, the alluring lights that led him into his dreams at night. All the good bits and pieces in the ugliness. And this would be his shining star, the gold coin he kept in his pocket forever. Because Rune loved him, though he had no reason to, and maybe it was only a vampire thing he had no power over, but Isaac had the power to shake every goddam bit of treasure from it. Tonight… You’re mine.
Yours.
He gripped Rune’s face again, so fucking strong, so warm between his palms, and tugged him down.
“You taste so good.”
Rune sighed and kissed him, pushing an arm under Isaac’s shoulder and tangling his fingers in Isaac’s hair. Shivers ran over his scalp and down his spin
e. He bucked and twisted his hips, rubbing himself into Rune. Rune’s other hand crept under his shirt and tweaked a nipple. Fire spread across his chest. He spread his legs, Rune’s thigh nudging him wide as he bent his knee. Fisting the back of Rune’s shirt, he raked it up and dragged his nails down his spine. The skin contracted under his touch and Rune broke the kiss, leaving Isaac’s mouth raw and hollow. He groaned. “I don’t—”
“Stop.”
A thousand thoughts tangled and loosened and tangled again in Isaac’s mind. This is stupid, you won’t stay, I don’t care, I’m gonna get hurt, I don’t wanna be alone…
Like the lovers in one of Jessa’s romance. “Make him jealous,” Jessa had said with the gleam of conspiracy in his eyes.
I’m gonna live on this night for the rest of my life.
23
The Long Fall
Rune fell, Isaac’s pull dragging him down flat onto the human’s body. The kid knotted his fist in Rune’s shirt and scraped his fingers up his backbone. Nerves springing to life, tingling with energy, shocked Rune’s heart into a thunderous beat. His head filled with the booming sound of his own blood, Isaac’s small voice threading through the din—Mine, mine.
And there was the human’s pulse, fast and strong, whooshing through his veins, permeating his skin with the sweet aroma of bliss.
Oh, to drink from him.
You can’t.
To fill himself with Isaac’s sass and courage.
The little shit was trouble. Not anything like the scared kid Rune had stumbled on in Comity House where he’d followed Solomon. Too late for him to save Wen, but not too late for Isaac. He’d chased Solomon away seconds before he’d gotten his claws in Rune’s fated.
Mine!
Isaac stiffened as the roar rolled through Rune’s head. He wrenched away with a gasp, eyes wide, until his lip curled, and he lunged back, smashing their mouths together.
So good, his little one.
Rune rolled his hips, spine curving, and raised his head again, his gaze locked on Isaac’s. The human’s lips gleamed in the dark. His nipple rolled under Rune’s fingertip, chest swelling as he breathed in. Rune stroked soft, fine hairs, his thumb dipping into the sweat-damp hollow of Isaac’s solar plexus. A flutter met him under the thin membrane. Fragile.
