He leans away to grab something off the ground. Another bracelet made of woven leather. With one bead. He puts it on my right wrist and gently holds my hand up to show me the rune. A simple X.
“Gebo,” I say, already knowing the symbol. I’ve been reading about the runes, just like I’ve been reading about paganism and animism.
“Gebo,” he agrees, mouth tipping up in a warm smile. “Do you know what it means?”
I search my brain for a moment before remembering. “Gift?”
He lifts his hand to curve it around the side of my face. “Gift, yes.Mygift—your submission. The most beautiful gift a man could receive. And now it’s mine.” He leans his forehead againstmine, releasing a relieved breath that seems to resolve years of waiting. “Finally.”
“Yours,” I whisper, lifting my hands to his chest, pressing them to his skin despite the cut in my palm—relishing in the pain that erupts, relishing in the feeling of his strong heartbeat. Feelings of being alive.
“What happens now?” I ask.
“Now, I’m taking you home.”
“Home?” I ask with a frown, thinking he wants to drop me off at my apartment after everything that’s happened.
Seeing straight through me, he grabs my cheeks and says with uncompromising authority, “Home, Elina. With me. My place. You don’t belong to yourself anymore. Home is wherever I am.”
My heart skips a beat. I can’t even begin to comprehend what these rituals I’ve gone through will mean for me, but I know, deep down, that they’re leading me onto the right path—a road I’ve been looking for all my life. A road I never knew I was supposed to walk. A path I’m sharing with this mighty, terrifying, protective man. And I know that he’s right. No matter how the house, the grounds, or the world around us look, home is with him.
Ulf. My master and divine protector.
