Box Set: Rune Alexander- Vol. 4-5.5 (Rune Alexander Box Set Book 2)
Page 49
“I don’t know,” he whispered back. “Probably die.” Then he opened his eyes and grinned at her. “I’m fine, honey.”
“Dammit, Ellie.” But she smiled.
He sobered and held out a hand. “Rune.”
“Yeah?” She took his hand, happy that she no longer felt anything other than his normal warmth. The heat Ben had left behind had faded.
“I promise never to leave you here alone if you promise the same to me.”
“I promise, baby.”
He squeezed her fingers. “Okay.”
But she’d have told him anything he wanted to hear, truth or not.
Living…that wasn’t exactly something she cared a whole lot about. Making Ellis happy was.
“Get some rest, Ellie. Call me if you need me.”
When she left Ellis’s room she spotted Z leaning against the nurses’ station, grinning down at a pretty brunette.
“Z.” She took his arm and pulled him away, ignoring the nurse’s pout of regret. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to check on Ellis.” He was still fully armed, his slender body weighted down with blades and guns.
People stared, some of them sliding to the side and finding something else to look at when Rune nodded at them. She and Z weren’t drawing stares because of how good they looked together. Shiv Crew had a reputation as stone-cold killers. They might protect the humans, but the humans didn’t really trust them.
“Did you get sidetracked?” she asked. “Ellie didn’t mention you’d been to see him.”
“I was there before you arrived, sweet thing.”
She frowned. “Z, you work for me. Don’t call me sweet thing.”
He walked her to her car. “I got you something for Christmas.”
“You know I don’t like that.”
He shrugged. “Still. I—” He paled and slapped a hand to his chest. “Oh shit.”
“What is it?” She opened her car door but made no move to get inside.
“My fucking jacket.”
“Ah. You left it at Wormwood.”
He nodded. “Your present is in the pocket.”
She grinned. “See? Fate intervened on my behalf. Don’t get me fucking presents.”
“I needed to, sweet thing. I’m going to swing by the graveyard before I go home. Maybe…” He shrugged.
“It’s gone, baby. Buy yourself a new jacket and move on.”
He sighed, his eyes dark and angry in the cold light. Not at her. “It wasn’t the coat, Rune.”
“I know.” She fiddled with the door handle, uncomfortable beneath his unfamiliar anger. “But Z, I really don’t want—”
He grabbed her shoulders, then leaned down and kissed her.
Hard.
She should have pulled away.
She didn’t.
For one moment, she let herself taste him. Feel him.
She was strong, but she wasn’t that strong.
Z.
She touched her tongue to his. One second. One heartbeat.
That’s all she would allow herself.
And then, she pulled away.
Z ran his hand through his hair and took a deep, ragged breath. “I always thought I’d have to get liquored up to do that.”
“Shit, Z. Don’t.”
“Why the fuck not, Rune?” His eyes were angry again, and this time they were angry at her. “Why the fuck am I not the one for you?”
She closed her eyes. “You will always be my Z. But you can’t be my Z that way. I would crush you. I would hurt you. And most of all, I would change who you are.”
He ran his hand over his face, then sighed. “I don’t get it.”
“No, baby. You don’t.”
And it broke her heart to speak that truth.
He nodded, slowly. “Okay. Okay.” He would let her go.
If he had pressed it…
Maybe she’d have said yes. And maybe she’d have destroyed him.
And she loved him too much to do that.
She knew herself. Z…Z loved women. His weakness was women.
His weakness was her.
Yes, she’d have crushed him.
She snagged his hand. “Forget this, Z. I will.” Because I have to.
He gave her a rueful smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, but at least the anger was gone. The hurt, it lurked like a monster, waiting to come out and devour them both.
She knew about monsters.
He’d have to let her go, but she couldn’t let him go. She couldn’t take him, but she couldn’t let him go.
She was selfish that way.
“My jacket,” he said, pulling his hand from hers and turning away. “I’m going to look for it.”
“Z.”
He looked back at her.
“What’s in it?” she asked.
He seemed to stiffen at the question, to straighten his spine and lift his chin as finality drifted like a curtain over his eyes. “Nothing, sweet thing. Nothing at all.”
And once more he turned to go.
“Z,” she said, her voice too desperate.
He said nothing, just looked at her and waited.
“Are we good?” she said, finally.
“Sweetheart,” he said, his voice once more the tender voice of the Z she knew, the Z she loved. “We are always going to be good.”
And that time when he smiled, it was a real smile.
Her cell rang, and she fished it out of her pocket. “Yeah?”
“The boy is gone,” Jeremy said, and his voice was hard, so hard.
“What?” she asked. “What do you fucking mean, he’s gone? You killed him?”
Z narrowed his eyes, watching her.
“No, Rune, I didn’t fucking kill him. He was snatched away from me. I could have—” He cut himself off.
“You could have what?”
“Nothing. But he’s not mine anymore, the fucking boy with the death touch. But…”
“What?”
“He’ll be back someday, Rune. Mark my words. He’ll be the fuck back. Whoever has him is going to get a lot of use out of that particular monster.”
She shivered, his words sparking something inside her, something…horrifying.
Jeremy was so angry.
No, he wasn’t telling her the entire story.
But he was telling her something…
“I’m coming to your house in one hour. You be there, Rune. Don’t make me hunt you the fuck down.”
She slid her cell back into her pocket, her breath catching.
Z stood with his feet apart and his hands touching his shivs, as though some invisible monster were about to devour her.
Truthfully, it was.
But Z couldn’t defeat her monster.
“I have to go, baby.”
“Rune! What the fuck is it?”
“Someone took the boy.”
But she couldn’t care overly much. Not just then.
She had to get home.
Jeremy was offering her a gift she could not refuse.
It was Christmas, after all.
And she deserved a little something.
She did.
From the Author
Shadows Past was created because, quite simply, I love my fans. They needed a little something to tide them over while waiting for book six, and I wanted to give it to them.
I hope you all enjoyed this look back at Shiv Crew.
~Laken Cane
About the Author
The coffee addicted urban fantasy/paranormal and horror writer Laken Cane lives in Southern Ohio with her genius son, two Yorkies named Daphnis and Lexi, and one Golden named Chloe who rules them all.
Join Laken’s mailing list for news, updates, and more!
You can find all Laken’s books on her website or on her Amazon author page. Be sure to check out her newest series, the Silverlight series, a dark urban fantasy reverse harem.
Table of Contents
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Obsidian Wings
New Regime
Shadows Past
About the Author
Dedications
Obsidian Wings
Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Part Two
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Part Three
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Epilogue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Part Two
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven