It happened way too suddenly... a hand grabbed her wrist and Grace was pulled inside the apartment. The next thing she knew, her back was pressed against the now closed door and Rune was standing there in front of her, caging her against the door with his giant frame.
She should have fought back, broken free from him and taught him a lesson for his audacious actions, and yet, she found herself doing none of those. She just stood there, looking into his eyes that were once again filled with such an intensity that she felt a shiver running down her spine.
All of a sudden, she was reminded of the dream she had about him a while ago. The moment she recalled those memories, her gaze dropped to his lips and she found herself feeling another weird sensation that was building deep in her belly.
"Everything alright, Ms. Blackwood? You are looking slightly troubled." Rune asked as he inched his face closer, putting their mouths merely breaths away from one another’s.
That move was so unexpected that Grace tried to press herself back against the door, but there was no place for her to go. She was indeed trapped there. When she failed to pull away, she returned her gaze to his eyes and found him looking at her with a knowing smile on his lips. He knew exactly what he was doing, as well as exactly what it was doing to her.
"Ms. Blackwood?" He called again when she remained silent for way too long. His eyes were staring into hers as if they were seeking a truth that he was unable to hear in her words or see through her actions.
"What do you think you are doing?" She asked while narrowing her gaze and glaring at him with unhappiness. She really didn’t like the way he made her feel almost helpless in these weird situations that he ended up creating just for her.
In response, he arched an eyebrow before speaking, "I’m just catching the person who was trying to force her way into my house."
Grace stared at him in shock. "When did I-" she didn’t get to finish her question as he was speaking once again. "How about this, Ms. Blackwood - since you are in my house, I’ll be the one making the rules here? Huh?"
She opened her mouth, ready to tell him that no such thing was going to happen, but she didn’t get the chance as he was speaking again.
"The rules are like this - If you want to know answers to your questions, then you need to stay here. But in that case, I’ll be the one holding all the power here. But if you can’t handle me being in power..." he suddenly let go of her her completely and stepped back before continuing, "... then you can leave right now."
Grace watched as he gave her a small wink before turning around. He then left her there standing all alone while he walked into the living room and settled down on the big couch with his back facing her.
She stood there for a few moments, trying to decide what she should do next. And once she knew her answer for sure, she felt irritated at herself and the man. She wasn’t liking the way he was making her feel helpless.
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. A moment later, she let out a sigh and finally opened her eyes. Without wasting another moment, she headed straight toward the living room. Stopping right in front of him, she confessed, "I want to know what you did to those bodies."
The smile that was playing on his lips only became bigger, highlighting his satisfaction and increasing Grace’s irritation at the same time. The way he made her feel so lost all the times - was something she had never felt before. No matter how hard she tried, she always seemed to be standing at the short end of the stick.
"I have already told you the answer. The technique I used is known as Soul Alchemy. It’s an ancient magical technique that is extremely dangerous and almost forbidden because it can be used to turn all those, who carries a soul within them, to be turned into spirit cores. These spirit cores can be used for several purposes... powerful and dangerous ones." He explained with patience.
Grace stared at him for a while before asking, "You have powers... like magic?" And much to her surprise, he nodded his head in a positive response.
Her gaze shifted from his face to the jade ring on his index finger and she asked another question. "Are your powers related to your ring?"
This time, he shook his head in a negative response before answering, "My powers don’t come from the ring, but they are somewhat connected to it."
"Where did you get your ring from? How do you know about my jade bracelet?" She asked more questions, her curiosity peaking as she eagerly waited to finally learn some answers.
Surprisingly, Rune continued to provide her with the answers.
"It was my Master who let me inherit his ring. As for how I know about your jade... my Master told me about it."
Master? Grace felt slightly lost at the term. She wondered exactly what that term of address really meant here, because to her, Rune didn’t seem like someone who would work under someone. Thus, it seemed like it was not the Master-subordinate relationship, but actually Master-discipline one.
"Who’s your Master?" She asked next.
Unfortunately, he was done answering. "That’s all I’m going to tell you today. If you want to know more, you are always welcome to come and find me here."
She wanted to press for more answers, but she knew that he wouldn’t budge. With that realization, she turned to head toward the door and leave the apartment. But she never got the chance as he once again grabbed her wrist and pulled her, causing her to fall directly into his waiting arms.