Midnight Eclipse (Paranormal Viking Romance, Completed)

Chapter 33: Home

The sea stretches out endlessly before me, smooth like a hotel sheet and glimmering like expensive rubies when the low-hanging sun hits it. There's no sign of the long-suffering man who just stepped through the surface to meet his love in another time. A time that should be long gone. But maybe that's not how time works. Maybe time is always happening, everything at once, rather than being stretched out into a line like in the history textbooks.

Björn's where he belongs. My mission in Greenland is finished. So why don't I want to leave this island?

A rattle from the cliff behind me makes me turn around. I find Mikk standing atop the steep hill, just like when I met him the first time. Luckily, there are no bears he needs to save me from this time, which makes the situation much less tense. Upon seeing me, knee-deep in cold waters once again, he breaks into a smile that warms even my numb calves.

Oh yeah, that smile is why. It's the reason booking a flight home to Sweden isn't at the forefront of my mind. I need more of that smile in my life. I need to see it every morning and every night. Even when those two blend together in darkness since the sun doesn't rise in winter.

"Is Björn gone?" Mikk asks upon realizing I'm alone in the waters.

"Björn is home," I reply, looking away across the waters as I wipe away a tear. I hope that Björn and Gudrun are--or were?--able to find a place they could call home on the other side of time. But regardless of their eventual fate, Björn belongs in his own time with his love and their child. His journey here was just a detour. A very long one.

"Come here then." Mikk shuffles down the cliff to reach out a hand and help me get ashore safely. Better avoid me getting completely soaked this time.

I land in his strong arms on the shore. His hold isn't necessary for me to keep upright, but it still feels vital for other reasons. I nestle against his chest, reveling in the scent of pine and paint chips. Tilting my neck slightly upward, our lips meet in a celebratory kiss. We did what we needed to do, and now we're free to do whatever we want.

"Let's get those pants off you," Mikk says.

Wow. I raise an eyebrow at the request. He's usually not that forward. Not that I mind though.

"Oh..." Mikk's face turns a shade of red reminiscent of the midnight sun as he realizes how I interpreted his words. "I didn't mean like that. Although..." He composes himself. "I meant that your pants are soaked in freezing water. You should take them off so you won't get frostbite. I brought a blanket from the truck." He nods toward the cliff above, where the blue blanket with polar bears on lies.

Not wanting to argue with sound reasoning, I've soon stripped my pants, socks, and shoes, exposing my pale legs to the sheen of the midnight sun. Wrapping the cozy blanket around my legs, I sit down on the rugged rock to enjoy the mindblowing sight of polar summer. Ever since I arrived here, I've been running around hunting the past, but now I can finally take in the beauty of this place in present-day fully, without worrying about some kind of were-bear emergency.

"Dammit," Mikk mumbles as he sits down beside me. His gaze is fastened on the sea, where a man we both had come to care for just disappeared into the distant past.

"What?" I ask, taking his hand in mine. It's such a natural action that I barely even recognize it consciously. It just makes sense to search for Mikk's closeness whenever I can.

"Well, I gave Björn my favorite hiking hoodie." Mikk sighs, probably not looking forward to having to buy a new one. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who enjoys shopping. "I don't think I'm getting it back now..."

"Unless it's found at an archaeological dig or something"--which would certainly be an interesting turn of events--"I fear it may be lost forever. I hope you didn't have anything important in the pockets."