CHAPTER 58

"He's searching for my altar."

"I'd say he found it."

Faye kicked Sparrow under the table.

"Not so hard bitch," Sparrow complained, rubbing her shin. "What are you upset about? You have a man that gives you orgasms and is tracking down your shard. Do you want him to buy you a puppy too?"

Faye exhaled, stealing a slice of toast from Sparrow's plate. On the surface being with Rune looked perfect. He was wealthy, handsome, and powerful. But Faye saw deeper aspects that cast their relationship in an unfavorable light. He was an immortal dark-blood and Faye wasn't. She didn't fit into his world. She didn't want his obedience or to join his dark court of luxury and wealth. How could she live in this knowing her village suffered?

She needed Rune to see her. Choose her.

Sparrow crossed her arms. "I can see the smoke coming out of your ears. Stop overthinking and just fuck him. Preferably both of them."

"What does that make me?"

"A lucky bitch?" At Faye's scowl, her sister apologized. "I'm sorry but who's going to know? They're in the same body, you can't really avoid it. They're a package deal. Lots of dark-blooded queens have harems. You're just starting yours."

"I don't want a harem," Faye bit out.

Sparrow rolled her eyes and threw her hand up, leaning forward. "Well, you don't get anything if you don't make a decision. You're allowed to fuck him. You're allowed to not fuck him. You just have to pick one."

Her sister was always too quick to leap into things blind.The consequences will be worth the memory.Sparrow would have pounced on Rune at her first opportunity. Faye chewed her toast, staring into the fireplace. Getting close to him left her open for heartache. "What if I invoke my blood and I still age, or if he never finds my altar?"

What if he leaves me?

"Honey, you're worried about the wrong questions."

Faye eyed her sister. "What question should I be worried about then?"

"What makes you happy?" Sparrow hooked her foot behind Faye's ankle and gently swung her foot. "That's the only question that matters in the end."

"It's not that simple," Faye answered.

Sparrow snorted in response. "It is, you're just a control freak." She leaned an elbow on the table and gazed past Faye. "Your boyfriend is here."

Faye elbowed Sparrow before turning toward Rune.

Her sister stood and flicked a length of Faye's hair. "I'm going to watch Vash and Damian be all sweaty." She pointed at Rune as she passed and said, "Be nice to her, fangs."

The corner of his mouth lifted as he took a seat beside Faye. "Is fangs my name or the Ra'Voshnik's?"

Faye laughed. "You're fangs, he's Voshki."

Rune nodded with a smile. "I wanted to speak to you about your line."

Faye brightened. "Did you find something?"

"I am still researching your altar. Sadi looked into your line."

Faye's expression instantly soured, and Rune brushed the backs of his fingers down her arm.

Rune's look softened. "I understand you have your differences. I am not asking you to like her. She is the darkest and most skilled Familiar aside from Morbid and the Familiar King never gives a straight answer. I have known her for seventeen centuries. She has saved my life on more than one occasion."

"She's still a bitch," Faye added.

Rune nodded, momentarily arching a brow. "I can agree with your sentiment."

"Am I related to her?"

"No, and I am unsure why the two of you hold such a likeness. Your line is not Familiar. You are tethered in the Darkness."

My shores, her winged double's words echoed through her mind.

"You have lived many lives, they have run concurrently the past eight centuries," Rune explained.

The information settled heavily on Faye. "Am I immortal then? Can I be immortal." Faye didn't dare to hope. Afraid to want things that could be taken from her.

Rune brushed his fingers over the back of her hand. "I do not know for certain. I will continue searching for your altar. Darkness willing, your immortality will set when you invoke your blood."

A hope Faye coveted desperately but feared wanting.

Faye studied her reflection.It had been weeks since she wore her own clothes. They seemed out of place on her and the lack of familiarity with her own belongings left her feeling unsettled. She'd unknowingly grown accustomed to dressing in what Rune gifted her.

In comparison her black trousers and gray sweater seemed simple and plain.

Faye set her winter coat on her bed and finished packing her vials and ointments. A knock pulled her attention away from her task.

Rune stood in the doorway, the glow of hellfire flickering over him. "May I come in?"

Faye nodded as she cinched her pack closed. She shouldered her pack, looking him over. Nothing about this man was inconspicuous. "Can you take me home? I'll return around sundown."

"I will accompany you."

"You'll terrify the whole village."

The corner of his mouth lifted. "Prey will always flee a predator."

Faye glared at him, anger whispering through her veins. "They aren't animals." He wanted to court her but continued to look down at her kind. "Maybe it would be better if I went alone," she said.

A muscle ticked in Rune's jaw. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly through his nose. "I would ask you to allow me to accompany you."

Faye smoothed over her temper. He was making an effort and she could do the same. "You'll need to be invisible to yourself." Faye couldn't have him spooking the whole village.

"You take too much care with these mortals."

Faye clenched her jaw. "I'm one of those mortals."

With a pointed look, he said, "You are not one of them."

His disdain for Anarians shoved a wedge deeper between them.

Rune's look softened in response to her anger. "It pains me beyond words that you were subjected to Anaria. You are dark-blooded, meant for so much more than your meager beginnings."

Faye took a step toward him and hissed, "My meager beginnings shaped who I am."

He exhaled, searching her gaze. "It is your old life. You belong in a dark-blooded society. They are a liability to you at best."

"I don't care about dark-bloods or their archaic courts."

"You are a dark-blood. It matters not if you care."

Faye seethed. "Invisible yourself and take me to my village!"

Rune's shoulders stiffened. He held his hand out to her, biting out the words, "As you command."

Rune phased them inside her cottage in Anaria. The Ra'Voshnik prowled his mind.Stop angering our queen, it grated.