“Dressing won’t make him any easier to face. Trust me. I know.”
There was a flash of pain in her eyes that someday, Khost knew he was going to ask her about. But for now, he sank back down onto the forest floor beside her and took Nalla’s hand in his. “Will you stay?”
“Of course.” She reached up to touch the necklace hanging around her neck. “I have something of his anyway. Might as well give it back. Now that I’m no longer alone.”
For a moment, she looked scared, fear touching her eyes. “Unless, of course, he forgives you...”
This time it was Khost who reached out to lay fingers against her lips. “No. I’m not going back. Whether or not me and you end up together forever, I don’t know. But we’ll both be here, we’ll both know that we’re not alone. That we made this choice.”
Nalla started to smile when a loud voice thundered through the air around them. “How touching.”
Anger curled like a fist around him and Khost winced, a memory of a whiplash against his skin. A harsh voice and a raised hand. He turned to see a large man braced against a tree. Pale white, nearly see-through in the dim lighting of the moon. Herne was huge, standing by the base of an oak tree. The thick trunk looked dwarfed when placed besides the god’s bulk. Khost swallowed.
“Hello Herne,” Nalla said, cuddling closer. She laid one hand over Khost’s chest and the trembling inside him eased. She sounded so confident. Unshaken. “It’s been a long time.”
The Huntsman’s eyes flicked to her and Khost watched as lines layered his forehead when he frowned. “You lead another Hound into temptation, as if your punishment has not been enough?”
She didn’t back down or deny it. Just shrugged and stared up at him, unyielding. “Merely a kiss. Khost made the rest of the choice on his own.”
“A kiss is all it takes.”
“To make a man remember what it’s like to feel? Yeah.” Khost lifted himself up a notch and hauled Nalla closer. He wouldn’t let her take the fall for his decisions. “To make me remember that a person is supposed to have more.”
“You died. You already had your life. I gave you another.” Herne gestured towards the sky.
“I don’t want it then.” Khost stiffened.
“And if I don’t offer you this one? I could kill you. I killed her last lover.” The god leaned slightly towards them, his shrewd gaze darting to Nalla. “Or I could kill her. She was, after all, the tempter in this.”
Nalla shook her head. “You’re god of the Hunt, you’re not god here, Herne. We’re not in the sky like we were last time. He fell, Herne. You can’t hurt him. And it’s been a long time since you could hurt me.”
She tugged Khost’s hand up to her lips and kissed his knuckles. Reassuring. “You can’t touch either of us here.”
Herne roared and lunged. His massive body leaping from the tree to land in front of them, and Khost jumped, only Nalla’s hand in his keeping him from running straight back up into the sky. Nalla didn’t even flinch.
“We’re not yours anymore. I haven’t been yours since the day you cast me out. Khost made his choice.”
She glanced at him, one eyebrow arched and he knew she was asking, double checking, and he nodded. “I’m staying.”
Nalla turned back to Herne. “See? But I do have something to give to you.”
She let Khost’s hand go and brushed aside the wavy blonde locks of her hair. Khost undid the clasp at the back of her neck, watching as Nalla caught the horn as it fell into her palm. She held it out to him. “You’ll need this. A Great Hunt is upon us soon.”
Herne stared down at the golden horn, then at Nalla. Her smile was soft when it came, gentle. “It is never that I didn’t want to run with you, my lord. Or that I didn’t cherish being reborn a Hound of yours. Just that when I also found love, I couldn’t give it up.”
Herne reached for the horn with a grunt. “The Hunt and I are enough.”
Nalla shook her head. “Not for me.”
“Or me,” Khost said softly.
Nalla tipped her palm and let the necklace fall into his hand, the chain slipping away as the horn grew to fit the god’s palm. Herne stared between them, large fingers clasping the instrument in his hand.
“I made a mistake with you,” he said to Nalla. “I never should have exiled you. I should have killed you with your partner. It was a failing as a hunter. I won’t make it again.”
Khost tightened his grip around her waist and laid a kiss to her temple. Herne, Lord of the Hounds, God of the Wild Hunt...he could regret this now, but he couldn’t take Nalla from him. And that was enough for Khost.