29. Annette

It’s weird, being bound to Rukh. I feel different and yet exactly the same. But there’s a kind of comfort that comes from knowing that if one of us dies, we both die. A comfort in knowing that we’ll be together until our last day on Protheka.

It’s only been two days since it all happened, but Rukh still won’t leave me alone. It’s like he’s constantly worried about me, even though the curse is gone now.

“Lunch is ready!” I shout.

Rukh has been in the living room all day, reading books to see if there could be any negative side effects to us sharing one life force. Meanwhile, I’ve been cooking us a special meal.

I know that Rukh isn’t used to eating the kind of food I’ve been preparing, so I let him go out yesterday to buy some taura meat for us. I roasted it all day with some frisse, burgona, and some cryots to make it into a stew. It’s mostly taura, since I know he prefers meat to other things. It’s not luxurious by any means, but it’s better than the eggs we’ve been eating every day.

Rukh walks in with a book, heading for the table.

“Nu-uh,” I tell him, snatching the book out of his arms. “No books at the table. Not today.”

“Fine.” He chuckles. “It smells amazing in here.”

He plants a kiss on the top of my head before taking his seat at the table. I set his bowl of stew down in front of him and we dig in.

“Mmm, this is so good.” He moans.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to pretend to like it that much.” I giggle.

“No really, it’s delicious. I never knew taura could taste like this,” he says. And I actually believe him, because three minutes later, his bowl is empty. I’ve never seen him eat this fast before.

“Can we go into town today?” I ask as he takes our dishes to the sink. He stops, looking surprised.

“Mellara?”

“No, definitely not. I was thinking about the other one next to that, with all the cute shops. We could go around and buy some things to make this cabin our own.”

“You want to stay here?”

“Yes.” I smile. “I love it here. I know that it used to belong to that horrible woman, but she’s gone now, and we’re here. But if you would rather us find a new place, I’m okay with that too.”

“No, this is perfect.” He beams, walking over to me and lifting me into his arms. “We’ll stay here. And we can absolutely go into town today.”

“Yay!” I squeal. “We can get rid of anything around here that we don’t like and replace it with stuff we do! It’ll be fun.”

“I think we’re going to need a bigger bed.” He smirks.

“Well, that might have to wait for another day. I’m not sure how we’d transport it.” I laugh.

“No, I’ll build us one. I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard. I can chop up some wood and then learn how.”

“I’d love that,” I whisper before pressing my lips into his.

It isn’t hard to get lost in the kiss, lost in the taste of him. His tongue pries open my mouth, delving in and making me wish that he were using it for other things instead. It’s all I can do not to beg him to take me to that bedroom right now, but I hold myself back, knowing that if I do that, we’ll never end up going into town.

Finally, we pull away, and when I open my eyes, he’s back in his human form. I startle, having not expected this.

“I figured I should look more normal when we go into town,” he explains.

“Your eyes,” I whisper. They look like mine again.

“Yours have always stunned me. They’re the first thing that comes to mind when I shift.”

“But the first time you made yourself look like this, we hadn’t…” I trail off.

“I know, but even then you took my breath away.”

I have to stop the tears from forming, blinking them away. “I love you,” I whisper.

“I love you, too, Annette,” he whispers back, kissing me again.

This time, it takes even more effort to pull away, but I manage it.

“We should get going,” I remind him.

“Or we could just go tomorrow,” he says, pulling me back in and nipping at my bottom lip.

“Tempting,” I breathe, closing my eyes and letting him tease me. “But not gonna happen.”

“I’m prepared to beg,” he says, running his fingers through my hair.

“You remember that I have access to my magic again, right?” I threaten.

“What are you gonna do, blast me across the room?”

“Maybe.”

“I dare you,” he snarls.

I raise my hand, but before I can do anything, he steps back, putting his hands up in defeat.

“Alright, alright. But be prepared tonight,” he warns.

Ten minutes later, we’re on our way, walking hand in hand through the forest. Just like that first time, I find myself sneaking peeks at his human form. I definitely prefer his normal one, but it’s weird to see him like this. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to it.

As we’re walking, I stumble on a stray branch, and Rukh reaches out to catch me.

“Are you okay?” he asks, worry lacing his tone.

“I’m fine, it was just a stick.” He doesn’t seem convinced. “Rukh, what is this about? You’ve been abnormally anxious the past couple of days.”

He sighs, running his hand through his hair.

“I’m just worried that binding us was a mistake. I mean, I know there was no other way, but what if –”

“Stop. Nothing is going to happen. I’m glad that we’re bound. Truly, I am. You don’t need to worry about anything. I want to be with you forever. What could possibly go wrong?”

He considers what I’m saying, searching my eyes for one too-long minute.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just, after everything we’ve been through, it’s hard to accept that everything’s fine now.”

“I know. Believe me, I understand that. I’ve never been cared for like this in my entire life, and it’s certainly a transition for me. But it’s a good one. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“You mean that?”

“I do.” He nods, more to himself than me, and we continue walking.

Once we arrive, we make our first stop in a nice antique shop. There’s only so much that we can carry back to the cabin at once, so I try to limit myself in what I grab.

“This is beautiful. What do you think?” I ask, pointing to a painting of the mountains.

“I love it,” he says. “We need something like his to look at when we get sick of looking at the forest every day.”

“Exactly my thoughts.”

After grabbing a few more things, we decide to leave and check out another store.

“We should get some new stuff for the bed, like new blankets and stuff. I don’t exactly love the idea of sleeping in that witch’s sheets forever.”

“Agreed,” he says, and we set off in the direction of what looks like a linen store.

As we pass a group of men, I stop. Something feels wrong. I look behind us, in the direction of the men who just passed.

“What’s wrong? Did you know them?” Rukh asks.

I barely hear him as I take a step towards them. Then another, and another, until I’m basically following them.

“Annette.” Rukh grabs my arm, pulling me to a stop. “What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?”

“Maybe…” I trail off, still staring in their direction.

“Annette, look at me. Look at me,” he repeats. I finally do, but the feeling is so overwhelming that it’s hard for me to focus.

“I don’t know what’s happening. When those men walked by… I felt something. Like a bad feeling but worse.”

His eyes widen, and he looks back towards the men. “Did you feel it towards any of them in particular, or all?”

I look back at them, knowing instantly. “The one in the blue shirt.”

Rukh takes a step back, clearly shocked by something.

“What?” I ask.

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. But it makes sense.”

“Rukh, what makes sense?”

“I think that you can sense evil now, like I can. When you’re around someone evil, you’ll get this feeling.”

“This is how you feel?”

“Well, it might not be exactly what I feel, us being different species and all,” he whispers so no one overhears us. “But it’s probably very similar to what I feel.”

“Does this mean…” I pause. “Does this mean I’ll have to… eat them? Like you?”

I’m not sure what I expected his reaction to be, but it certainly wasn’t him bursting out into laughter.

“No, definitely not,” he finally says. “And I don’t eat them. Just their souls.”

“Thank the gods. So when that guy walked by, you felt it, too? How were you able to ignore it?”

“Well, normally I wouldn’t. But I didn’t want to ruin our lovely day,” he explains.

I look down at the ground, contemplating my new reality. This is what the rest of my life will be like, every time we go somewhere. How will I ever be happy like that? How will I stop it from getting to me, feeling all this evil all the time?

“Talk to me. What’s going on in your mind?” he breaks me out of my thoughts.

When I look up at him, I realize something. He is how I’ll stop it from getting to me. He’s the answer to it all. How could I ever be unhappy with him by my side?

“Nothing,” I say. “Let’s keep shopping.”