coat even tighter.
“Rune,” she finally whispered before repeating it louder. “Rune August.”
The man in front of her stood up and took a step back. Rune averted her eyes when she saw that the front of his pants held a noticeable bulge. She turned her gaze to the fire instead. It was safer. For a few moments, she became lost in the changing colors. Memories from her childhood washed through her as she remembered her and her two older sisters talking about the fairies that danced in the flames.
Tears burned her eyes as she remembered those simpler times. A time when she had a family. Why was she thinking of this now? Did it mean if she helped whoever needed it that she would be reunited with Aesa and Dalla?
“What kind of name is that?” Dimitri asked curiously.
“I’ll have you know it is a very good name!” Rune snapped, looking up at him in annoyance. “Which one are you? The Dimitri guy or the Sergei one?”
When both men scowled darkly at her Rune wanted to bury her head in her hands and groan. When was she going to learn to keep her mouth shut? She should have just waited until they introduced themselves. Now they would know she knew who they were.
“Who sent you?” Sergei growled out.
Rune sighed looking back and forth between them before she shrugged her shoulders in resignation. Nothing about this trip was making any sense to her. She usually had an intuitive understanding of what she needed to accomplish. She had been fortunate that her last ‘assignment’, as she thought of her trips to the living, took longer than normal. She had almost hoped that maybe she might have been forgotten.
This time there was nothing but confusion and turmoil in her mind and body. She couldn’t believe that either of the men in front of her couldn’t handle whatever life dealt them. They were not like the children or the nuns or the countless others she had helped. These guys made her look like a toy doll in the middle of a battle field.
“I can’t tell you,” she replied shortly before rambling out a series of questions in an earnest, frustrated voice. “Are you guys in some kind of trouble? Having issues that you need help with? Maybe have a minor crisis or anything that you can’t handle?”
Dimitri’s eyes lit with amusement. “Why? Are you volunteering to fix them for us?”
Rune crossed her arms over the jacket and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I’m just saying, if you need help with something maybe I can be of assistance. By the way, you never told me who you were.”
Sergei muttered a curse before he walked over to the bar and poured himself a glass of brandy. He drank it down in one gulp before refilling the glass. He turned and leaned against the bar, crossing his long legs in front of him.
“You will tell us everything there is about you, beginning with who you work for and how in the hell you got into our home,” Sergei bit out harshly.
“I am Dimitri Mihailov,” Dimitri said, shifting so he could lean against the bookcase that butted up against the huge fireplace. “That is Sergei Vasiliev. It would help if you would explain how you came to be in our home wearing Micha’s old coat and I suspect his socks and boots and a very… attractive nightgown.”
“Micha?” Sergei interrupted.
“How did you know it was his?” Rune exclaimed before clamping her lips tightly together.
Rune looked at Sergei with wide eyes. She bit her lip when she realized that she had condemned the old man who had helped her. She stood up, hugging the old coat to her as she stared back and forth between the two men.
“You aren’t going to do anything to him, are you? I was freezing and he was just helping me. I mean, I asked him if he had a jacket and shoes. My feet were so cold and I didn’t have a jacket or any other clothes and he was…,” Rune stomped her foot and looked up at the ceiling in frustration. “You see what happens when you do things like this? You should have just left
“Rune,” she finally whispered before repeating it louder. “Rune August.”
The man in front of her stood up and took a step back. Rune averted her eyes when she saw that the front of his pants held a noticeable bulge. She turned her gaze to the fire instead. It was safer. For a few moments, she became lost in the changing colors. Memories from her childhood washed through her as she remembered her and her two older sisters talking about the fairies that danced in the flames.
Tears burned her eyes as she remembered those simpler times. A time when she had a family. Why was she thinking of this now? Did it mean if she helped whoever needed it that she would be reunited with Aesa and Dalla?
“What kind of name is that?” Dimitri asked curiously.
“I’ll have you know it is a very good name!” Rune snapped, looking up at him in annoyance. “Which one are you? The Dimitri guy or the Sergei one?”
When both men scowled darkly at her Rune wanted to bury her head in her hands and groan. When was she going to learn to keep her mouth shut? She should have just waited until they introduced themselves. Now they would know she knew who they were.
“Who sent you?” Sergei growled out.
Rune sighed looking back and forth between them before she shrugged her shoulders in resignation. Nothing about this trip was making any sense to her. She usually had an intuitive understanding of what she needed to accomplish. She had been fortunate that her last ‘assignment’, as she thought of her trips to the living, took longer than normal. She had almost hoped that maybe she might have been forgotten.
This time there was nothing but confusion and turmoil in her mind and body. She couldn’t believe that either of the men in front of her couldn’t handle whatever life dealt them. They were not like the children or the nuns or the countless others she had helped. These guys made her look like a toy doll in the middle of a battle field.
“I can’t tell you,” she replied shortly before rambling out a series of questions in an earnest, frustrated voice. “Are you guys in some kind of trouble? Having issues that you need help with? Maybe have a minor crisis or anything that you can’t handle?”
Dimitri’s eyes lit with amusement. “Why? Are you volunteering to fix them for us?”
Rune crossed her arms over the jacket and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I’m just saying, if you need help with something maybe I can be of assistance. By the way, you never told me who you were.”
Sergei muttered a curse before he walked over to the bar and poured himself a glass of brandy. He drank it down in one gulp before refilling the glass. He turned and leaned against the bar, crossing his long legs in front of him.
“You will tell us everything there is about you, beginning with who you work for and how in the hell you got into our home,” Sergei bit out harshly.
“I am Dimitri Mihailov,” Dimitri said, shifting so he could lean against the bookcase that butted up against the huge fireplace. “That is Sergei Vasiliev. It would help if you would explain how you came to be in our home wearing Micha’s old coat and I suspect his socks and boots and a very… attractive nightgown.”
“Micha?” Sergei interrupted.
“How did you know it was his?” Rune exclaimed before clamping her lips tightly together.
Rune looked at Sergei with wide eyes. She bit her lip when she realized that she had condemned the old man who had helped her. She stood up, hugging the old coat to her as she stared back and forth between the two men.
“You aren’t going to do anything to him, are you? I was freezing and he was just helping me. I mean, I asked him if he had a jacket and shoes. My feet were so cold and I didn’t have a jacket or any other clothes and he was…,” Rune stomped her foot and looked up at the ceiling in frustration. “You see what happens when you do things like this? You should have just left
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