it’s still crazy bizarre to see a family waving at me from a photograph.
There’s a man, a woman, and two young children staring at me from the photograph. They all look so happy and friendly, and I’m already smiling when Audun scoots close and points at the little boy in the photo.
“Já,” he says. He points at the little girl next and says, “Niani, má sestra.”
The words sound similar enough to ‘my sister’ that I feel confident in my assumption that this is an old photo of Audun with his family. If Runa has this photo album, she’s obviously a relative too. Marieke probably is as well, so I feel a little embarrassed for my rant outside on the front steps.
“Matka a otec,” he continues, pointing to the couple I’m assuming to be his parents in the photo.
I grin as I look closer at the photo, and I turn my head to smile at Audun. “You were so adorable!”
Runa makes a shooing motion at Caelan, and he grunts before standing up and giving her his seat. I almost laugh as she scoots in close beside me, but she has a serious expression on her face as she begins drawing something on the blank paper.
First, she draws two stick figures at the top of the page—she obviously doesn’t share Audun’s skill in art—and then she draws a line between them, and a line down from that leading to two more stick figures. She points to each stick figure, verbally labeling them for me as Audun, his parents, and his sister.
When she begins drawing more lines and stick figures beside and under Niani, it quickly becomes evident she’s drawing a family tree. The room is eerily silent as understanding slowly dawns on me. Runa draws four more generations under Niani, ending with Naren all the way down at the bottom.
There are no names beside or under Audun’s, and I hold my breath as I count the names and deduce that Runa is Niani’s granddaughter. Making her Audun’s great niece.
“You’re immortal?” I feel stupid when I ask Audun the question, knowing he won’t understand my words. He looks so heartbroken and guilty, and I can’t stand seeing that expression on his face.
Caelan kneels down on the floor beside me, in between my seat and Audun’s. He takes my hand in his and kisses the back of my knuckles, and he gives me the same guilty look as Audun as he answers, “ano.”
I know that means yes, so they must understand my question after all. I meet Caelan’s pretty hazel eyes and ask, just to be sure, “Reule and Maalik?”
He nods, and hesitates for a moment before pulling my sleeve up just enough to show a bit of my mate rune. He points to the mark, then at me, and whispers, “a ty.”
I react without thinking, pulling my hand away from his in shock as I stare down at him with wide eyes. I’m not unfamiliar with immortal beings, but I never considered for a second that the guys might be immortal. Shifters in my world are mortal.
Clearly, these guys aren’t normal fucking shifters, and I’m an idiot for comparing them to Bryson or anything else from my world. Things are different here, and I need to remember that. Still, even if I’d suspected they might be immortal, I never in a million years would have guessed that becoming their mate would change me.
Audun and Caelan whisper my name, sounding completely pitiful and remorseful. I ignore them and stare down at Audun’s family photo without really seeing it. I seriously fucking hate that I’m stuck in front of people right now. I don’t want to seem rude, but I really wish I was alone to process this right now.
I take a deep breath and exhale slowly. I’m immortal. I’m going to live forever.
A nearly hysterical laugh bubbles up in my chest, and I have to cover my mouth so I don’t look like a crazy person. Less than a week ago, I arrogantly told Matthieu I was perfectly content with my mortality at Lord Rian’s party. This must be some form of fucked up karma.
Caelan and Audun speak in hushed tones with Runa, but it’s all background noise to me while I take another calming breath and attempt to think things through logically. I don’t feel any different, but it doesn’t make sense for Caelan to lie to me.
It’s not like I haven’t thought about what it would be like to be immortal. About