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There was a ghostly flutter of white down the tunnel and Rafe barely suppressed a smile.
Well maybe he was after all.
He apparently hadn't hidden his smirk well enough cause the man above him raised his weapon towards his forehead and looked at him curiously.
"Care to share what's so funny Mr Newark?"
"Heh, it always comes down to the girl doesn't it?
"Sometimes she's the cause, sometimes she's the problem and then sometimes she is the answer.
"I mean I can only assume you're here to kill me because of the McCallister girl. That's the cause. There is a murderous Fae wandering around Undertown that looks like a woman from a slaughtered coven. She's definitely a problem.
"And then there is Natalya. She is most definitely the answer," Rafe grinned up at the man, unable to keep the mirth from his voice as he did.
"The answer? The answer to what?" the man asked him, eyes askance, Rafe could only assume he was wondering what sort of loon he had captured.
"The answer to everything. She is the answer to everything," Rafe replied to the man wistfully before letting it his smile slowly turn feral, "but right now she's the answer to how I survive long enough to kill all three of you."
Rafe had to give the man credit, he didn't hesitate for a second. He just pulled the trigger, the gun roaring with no way for him to get out of the way in time.
But he didn't need to move. He already knew what would happen, he already knew the answer.
Natalya's barrier flashed to life before him, the bullet ricocheting away along the tunnel as it hit the magical wall. The would-be assassin fired again and again, emptying his magazine frantically in Rafe's direction but the barrier held and Rafe could see the panic set in when not a single bullet managed to reach him.
"I guess that means it's my turn," Rafe said ruefully as he climbed back to his feet, "I don't think you're going to enjoy this."
Flooding his body with power and activating his runes, the tell-tale blue glow infusing his body, Rafe moved with inhuman speed and power, the barrier falling away before him just as it had in the store. His first blow connected with the man's arms as he tried to raise them and protect himself. Rafe shattered them both. The second blow shattered his skull, the man falling in a bloody heap to the floor.
The other man and the elf had reacted as best they could, unwilling to fire through their comrade they'd both readied weapons but held their fire. With their companion now a lifeless lump in the dirt, they had no such reservations. The elf had a pistol just as his now deceased compatriot had wielded but the third member of their little hunting party had pulled out a submachine gun of some sort and he unleashed it with violent enthusiasm.
Bullets flew like a torrential rain of death down the tunnel towards Rafe, the elf unloading with his pistol and adding to the volume of flying steel heading his way. Another barrier from his still unseen protector slammed down halfway between Rafe and his attackers, the storm of lead colliding with it and deflecting wildly in the narrow passage. Both men immediately stopped firing and Rafe launched himself forward to close the distance as quickly as he could.
Natalya's barrier dropped again as soon as he was about to reach it, the way clearing for him to get close and end the fight. The goons must have caught on because as soon as the barrier dropped, the opened fire once again and Rafe was forced to hurl himself to the side in a desperate attempt to dodge.
He wasn't fast enough.
A bullet tearing through his shoulder and pain lancing throughout his body. Rafe crashed to the floor.
The ghostly white flutter that he had spotted earlier returned. Revealing itself fully as a translucent raven, it attacked the men, diving at their faces with spectral claws and beak. It was Natalya's familiar.
Rolling with the impact and pushing through the pain, Rafe pushed himself upright and kept charging at the men. This was his last chance.
The raven kept them distracted just long enough, its appearance might have been ghostly, but its attacks were not, both the elf and the man were already sporting several long gashes from their feathery assailant.
He was upon them in seconds, his rune-enhanced strength shattering bones and leaving crumpled bodies in his wake. It was a matter of moments, and the fight was done before it even began, the elf managing to dodge a blow with the natural agility of his race but dealing with the raven and an enraged runemaster proved too much and he soon joined the pair of humans in death.
"Oh, thank fuck for that," Rafe muttered breathlessly as he let his power fade, the glow of his runes dissipating with it and he slumped to his knees, grasping at the wound in his shoulder.
He looked up at the hovering familiar.
"Thanks Nat, I owe you for that one for sure."
"Cawwww," the raven replied, and Rafe definitely got the sense it was gloating somewhat.
"Uh huh," he replied.
"Where are you?" he demanded, "I was worried! U-Sec shouldn't have taken this long!"
The raven familiar didn't answer, instead is simply dwindled away into nothing, Natalya's magic fading away and leaving Rafe alone in the service tunnel.
"Well, that's just great," Rafe muttered.
"I don't suppose any of you guys know where she is do you?" he asked the corpses.
Unsurprisingly he didn't get a response.
Taking a moment before dragging himself to his feet, Rafe considered what he should do. He still wanted to find Natalya, but his arm was really hurting, and the blood would definitely be suspicious. He definitely needed to move though, being found with three corpses was not something he particularly relished having to explain to U-Sec.
Stumbling towards the passage that led back to the main ring, Rafe hugged himself, putting pressure on the wound and doing his best to hide the blood staining his clothes. He stopped short when he entered. Standing at the end of it, on the very edge of the public walkway and haloed perfectly beneath one of the newly lit streetlights was Natalya. Gem clasped tightly in one hand, a bag hanging over one shoulder. Her hair shone, and her pale skin glowed beneath the light. The White Witch indeed.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed you idiot?" she snapped at him.
"Ummm no?" Rafe replied.
"Well how about you start acting like it? You knew the Greys are hunting you and you just come waltzing through Undertown without a care? That's idiotic Rafe even for you," she continued angrily.
"I was worried about you!" he protested, waving one hand wildly in her direction.
"I was fine! I was with U-Sec. They had a lot of questions about the Fae. It's not often you come across one that can survive iron like that and with my coven dead they weren't exactly forthcoming about letting me onto the streets alone," Natalya explained slowly, like she was talking to a particularly dense child.
"You're lucky I left Ed watching the store. If he hadn't seen you and alerted me, we wouldn't be having this conversation at all."
"You named the raven Ed? What Nevermore not on the nose enough already?" Rafe mocked her.
"You are so not making fun of me right after I saved your life are you?"
"Well maybe a little," Rafe conceded with a pained smile, "do you think we could leave the lecture until after we get off the street and somewhere a bit safer?
"If you haven't noticed I've been shot and am bleeding just a little."
"Oh, don't be baby, I know you can regenerate wounds like that," Natalya dismissed him airily.
"Besides that's what you get for being an IDIOT!"
"Yeah alright, alright, fair point," Rafe conceded, "I get the message."
"But I can't heal myself at the moment, I've used too much today, tanks are empty."
Natalya looked at him, a mixture of anger, concern and no small amount of satisfaction playing across her beautiful face.
"Well, I suppose I better take care of you then." she said.
"Come to the store, I'll heal you there," she told him.
"I think it might be better if we went to my bunker, those goons saw me scoping out your shop, there could be more, plus that's where you were meant to be going anyway," Rafe argued.
The look Natalya gave him wasn't much improved from her last one.
"If my shop gets wrecked because of you Rafe Newark, we are going to have a problem."
"I mean technically its already wrecked cause of the Fae right?"
That earned him a look that was downright withering.
"Just start walking Rafe," Natalya said.
"Yup, starting to walk," Rafe agreed and promptly started heading for the exit that led towards his tunnel and his bunker.
They got a few curious stares and askance looks as they made their way back to his bunker, but no one stopped them or harassed them. It also took a fair bit longer to get back then his frantic searching dash. The toll of two high magic encounters and the bullet wound had Rafe leaning heavily on Natalya for support by the time they reached the end of the passage below his trap door. It was an almost herculean effort for him to get it open and up into the relative safety of his bunker, Natalya helping him again move through the space and onto his bed.
"I think I might just lay here for a while, take a load off," Rafe sighed as he laid against the pillows.
"No sleeping until I've healed that gunshot," Natalya told him sternly.
"Fiiiine," Rafe huffed.
Natalya put her bag on one of the nearby benches and started rifling through it and placing several different objects on the bench beside her.
"I've brought what I need to enhance your wards and to add a few of my own if you're happy with that?" she asked while she organised her materials.
"They aren't going to be as strong as I can make them the first time, you're not the only one who's used a fair bit of power today.
"That's completely fine Nat, I trust you. You know that," Rafe replied.
"Ok," Nat said, "but first that gunshot.
"Take your shirt off, let me see the damage," she ordered.
Rafe did as ordered, struggling into an upright position, and fighting with his shirt till he could slide it off his wounded arm.
Natalya bit her bottom lip as she watched him strip. Rafe wasn't thin and he wasn't particularly bulky either, but he was most definitely fit. Firm stomach with some clear definition to his abs, the same with his shoulders and arms, just enough muscle showing that you could tell he was in shape and there was strength lurking beneath his unassuming appearance.
Then there were the runes.
They weren't hidden like the ones around his eyes or fists. A tapestry of lines and sigils etched across his chest, shoulders and back in a blue ink so dark it was almost black. The source of his power and strength. The magic that gave him his title.
Runemaster.
Extra strength, increased stamina, regeneration. Various magical resistances, protections against more mundane problems like sickness or less common ones such as poison. Rafe was a true master of his craft and it showed.
She had definitely missed seeing it, the exquisite artistry of rune and man together.
Pulling her top a little lower and exposing her cleavage just a little more, Natalya uttered a quick spell. A little something that would help her get what she wanted. It enhanced her scent, she knew Rafe already loved it and well, teasing him a little along the way would be fun.
Natalya gathered up a few materials before she moved to sit beside Rafe on the bed. Putting the materials down and pulling the amethyst moon from her choker once again, she inspected his arm.
"This isn't too bad, bullets gone clean through, I don't know what you were whining about," she told him.
"I got shot! I think I'm entitled to complain about it," Rafe protested.
"You've had worse," Natalya scoffed while preparing her ritual.
"Yeah and they hurt as well!" he exclaimed.
Placing a piece of echinacea on the wound, she gathered her power and prepared herself.
"I'm going to have to take some of the power for this from you if you want me to still check the wards, you're going to want to sleep after this," she explained.
"That's fine," Rafe said looking at her, eyes drawn to the soft valley peaking from beneath her tank top.
"Is it just me or are you showing more cleavage than before?" he asked quizzically.
"I don't know what you are talking about," she said, "now hush, I need to concentrate."
Rafe subsided and closed his eyes, content to let Natalya work. He smiled softly as he felt her tender touches on his arm, her slim fingers tracing a pattern around the wound, the quiet whisperings of her spell barely audible as she worked her witchery upon him. Rafe could feel the pull of her magic upon his vitality and felt himself drifting off, his body giving in to the need for rest and recovery and the last thing that crossed his mind was that he had missed this. Natalya at his side, the scent of jasmine and incense surrounding him, the feel of her skin on his. Why had he given this up?
Rafe awoke in darkness, the pain in his arm was gone and he felt reenergised. Now the only ache he felt was the painful hardness in his pants. It had been years since he had been this hard, his dick was positively straining to be free. Reaching down he unzipped his pants and allowed himself some relief. His movement disturbed the bed and he felt someone shift beside him.
Natalya. She was in bed with him.
Well that definitely explained the stiffness. Only she had ever been able to get him like this. His body knew what he wanted even if his mind was still rejecting it. The warmth of her was permeating the sheets and he could still faintly recognise the smell of jasmine in the air. His dick throbbed beneath the sheet.
Fuck. This was not good. He needed to get away from Natalya before she noticed.
"Hmmm Rafe? Are you awake?" Natalya murmured sleepily from the other pillow.
Fuck. So much for that idea.
"Yeah Nat, I'm awake," Rafe replied.
"What are you doing in my bed?" he asked, "there is a couch you know."
"Didn't mean to fall asleep," Natalya said, "just wanted to lay down after doing the wards."
"Again, there is a couch for that."
"Pfft like I'm going sleep on that thing," she laughed.
"What's wrong with my couch?" Rafe protested.
Rafe could hear the heat in Natalya's voice as she moved closer to him, the sheets covering them slipping enough for him to spy the pale glow of her skin in the darkness. His dick turned to steel as he realised she was naked beneath the sheets.
"Well for starters, I can't share the couch with you."
"Fuuuck Nat," Rafe groaned, "What are you doing?
"We decided we can't do this."
"No!" Natalya countered angrily, her voice abandoning any semblance of sleepiness as her anger awakened and she sat up in the bed.
Holding the sheet to her naked chest she unleashed years of bottled anger upon her ex-lover.
"You decided! You decided that you didn't see a future for us! You decided that you wanted to leave Undertown and me behind!
"That wasn't my choice! That wasn't what I wanted! It was all you Rafe!"
"We wanted different things Natalya! It would never have worked," Rafe countered angrily, sitting up as well.
"You wanted to immerse yourself in Undertown, to become one of the best witches in the city and you've done that. You've even earnt yourself a title, you've got a successful shop and a hell of a reputation. You've got everything you wanted."
"That wasn't for me," he continued sombrely, the anger fading as it gave way to sadness and regret, "I needed to get away from it, try a normal life away from what I was. I wanted an easier life. You make everything so intense. You're like the sun Nat, and I was getting far too close."
"Well, it seems like we both got we wanted," Natalya said bitterly, "but why do we both feel so empty then?"
Rafe had nothing to say to that. He couldn't deny it. Everything above ground had been escapism and bad choices. Natalya was his heart. She gave him life like nothing else ever had.
"The first thing you did when you saw me for the first time in years was kiss me within an inch of my life Rafe. Can you honestly tell me that you don't want me, that you don't want us back? That you'd rather keep on existing without this thing we have?" Natalya asked him.
"I...," he tried to find something to say, find some way to express what he wanted to tell her.
"You've chosen to stay and fight for your home Rafe, to stay and fight the Greys instead of running away," Natalya said quietly, "why don't you stop running from us as well?
"Why not give us both what we want?" she finished softly before leaning forward and lightly pressing her lips to his in a quick tender kiss.
"You think about that ok?" she said, leaning her head against his and enjoying their renewed intimacy for a moment.
"I'm going to take a shower while you do."
Pulling away from him, Natalya threw back the sheets and Rafe was treated to the glorious sight of her naked body as she climbed for the bed and headed for his bathroom. Every inch of her was perfect and he could tell she was putting on a show for him. A catwalk strut putting an extra swing in her deliciously curved hips, her firm tight ass swaying to and fro as she crossed the room. He knew for certain it was a tease when she looked back over her shoulder at him to make sure he was watching her.
Rafe fell back against his pillow, staring at the ceiling above as he tried to order his thoughts and get Natalya's incredible body out of them. He needed to think about this properly and without the temptations of that witch.
Said witch wasn't wrong though. He was running, he was empty without her. If he was staying in Steelhaven, if he was going to stop running from the Greys and from himself then why shouldn't he stop running from her as well? The connection they had, the pull between them, the insane need. It had scared him. He could admit it to himself. He got cold feet. He'd been scared of it, of them.
What did he have to lose now though? He'd proved that he was happier with Natalya then without her. There was no reason to deny the things he felt for her except out of fear or stubbornness.
He propped himself up on an elbow and looked towards where she had gone, he could hear the shower running now and Natalya had left the door wide open, and the light of the bathroom shone across his bunker like a beacon. He could feel his dick stirring again as he watched her silhouette moving behind the screen of the shower, water and steam hiding her form and leaving it to his imagination to fill in the details.
Fuck it.
The Greys could kill him tomorrow. That Fae could kill her.
They were past the time for regrets.
It was time to stop running and accept that he needed her in his life. That she wanted him in hers.
Rafe grinned as he made his choice.
There was never any doubt really. Not with her here like this, not since that kiss on her doorstep. They were destined for each other. They needed and wanted each other like no other person they had ever met. He was hers; she was his. Fighting it was like fighting the tides. They were inevitable.
It felt like a crushing weight was lifted from his mind as he accepted Natalya into his life once more.
He wouldn't run again.
They would fight the Greys; they would fight the Fae. Hell, they would fight the newly emerged McCallister if she thought she could mess with them. They would wage war on the world if necessary. Together for all time.
Climbing from the bed himself, he crept through the dark towards the glowing beacon of the bathroom and the treasure it contained. Sneaking into the bathroom, he pulled the screen of the shower open, and he could only marvel at the sight of Natalya within.
