Chapter 77
The weight in my satchel strengthens my confidence. My chest is thumping. My blood is hot. The crackle of magic hasn’t left my veins. I’m half-invincible, half-sick. I have no fucking clue what happened in there. The tang of blood still sits on my tongue.
Ari won’t believe it. He’ll be shocked. Impressed. His jaw will drop. What will I say when I return victorious?
No need to repay me, Ari, I’m always there for a friend in need.
Now that you have your ring, Ari, you can crawl back to your Queen.
Need a woman to do your dirty work? Maybe Vidar was right, Ari, you are ergi.
I chuckle to myself. None of those will do. It will probably come to me all on its own. I glance around as I prowl the shadows. No one is around. The dark feels thin, like the night itself is holding its breath.
If I just make it back now. Give Ari his fucking ring. Or her ring, rather. Then we shall see. Either way, tonight, I flee. My hair will dance in the wind.
I will be free. With or without the mangy crow.
The grass is moist. The air is crisp. Soon the darkness will retreat for the benefit of day. I must be gone by then. Rushing to Ylvin’s camp is the only option. To regroup with Eidunn. She deserves joy after everything I dragged her through. Maybe I do too. We will hug. We will laugh.
Ari can come and go as he pleases. I hope he comes, if I’m being honest. But I don’t plan to tell him. Imagine if he picked me over some wealthy queen. What would that make me? My body quivers at the thought. Maybe he will choose to be with me. Let the Norns carve in my favor. Just this once.
Imagine the life we could share. He is a skald. Jarls pay good money for such services. I could be by his side, wearing my gleaming necklace. Even now, the necklace’s silken purr lingers in my chest. If he leaves me, the necklace is still mine.
I arrive at the door. No one to be seen. It fucking worked. No problem. I open the door and step in, closing it behind me. A wave of prickles invades my skin, a foreign energy. It feels like… eager reunion?
Ari stands, looking ten years older than when I left him just half an hour ago.
“Where have you been?” he asks sternly.
My stupid heart leaps at his voice. Even when he’s being strict. Is his anger some confused way of showing care?
“Where do you think?” I say with a triumphant grin.
I toss the satchel on the table, but instantly regret it. He can have the ring. Fuck the ring. But the necklace is mine. My prize. Ari is a hidden Jotnar. A liar. Maybe he’s a thief too. The necklace is too gorgeous, irresistible. It’s perfect.
Who’s to say he won’t kill me for the loot and disappear into the night?
He raises an eyebrow. His eyes dart between me and the satchel. It’s like he can’t believe it. Guess what? I’m not just a victim. I’m not prey. I’m a predator. I strike. Just like him.
“Is it really—”
“Wait,” I bark, stepping forward.
I place the satchel back around my neck, just to be sure. Of course, I’m keeping the ruby-studded roaring lynx masterpiece. That’s only for me. It’s meant for me. I can feel its warmth, even through the leather. Picking the ring out, I hold it up in the dim light.
Ari breathes in sharply.
“You fucking did it,” he whispers.
He looks genuinely impressed. Just what I had hoped.
His admiration thrills me. I’m not a joke.
Not a slave. I take what I want. It’s good he learns this now, so there aren’t any more misunderstandings.
The ring shines pale in the dim light. The hearth warms the deep sapphire set in the shivering metal.
I throw it up and down in my hand, like it’s a simple stone.
“Oh, you want this old thing?” I say with a grin I know is cocky.
“You have no idea how much I’ve dreamt of holding that ring.”
“Really? Why didn’t you steal it yourself?”
Freya’s ass. Why can’t I just lay off? Let him have it.
I’m always picking a fight. But I’m actually curious.
He’s been here two years. Surely, he could have gotten his hands on it, had he truly wanted to.
Probably too busy seducing young maidens and reciting old tales.
Too busy taking thrall girls to strawberry patches and making them swoon. He frowns at me.
“You broke into the treasury?”
“No, Ari, I asked Sigurd for it… Of course I did.”
He steps forward, laying his hands on my shoulders. For a heartbeat, I melt into the warmth of his touch. It’s the opposite of the frost I felt that time, when he healed. Even now, I yearn for him to stroke me.
“Do you have any idea what would have happened if you were caught?”
I shake my shoulders to loosen his grip. Never mind being stroked.
“A simple thank you would have been better,” I snap.
“You would have been killed.”
What’s the big deal? He needed the ring, I got it. There are more important things to consider. Thyra is dead by Odin.
Ari looks worried. Like me getting caught would be the worst thing imaginable. Is he faking it? In any case, it sours my mood. I scoff as I move to the other side of the table, just to get some space between us. Our shared moments—eating, practicing thrust, sharing furs. It feels an age ago.
“Who are you?” I ask, “my fucking father?”
The man left me drowning in doubt earlier, time for him to flounder. He just let me sink.
“No, Kilda,” he says. “I’m your man. If you were hurt, I don’t know what—”
“What you would do?” I laugh. “Probably keep living your life.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
He’s fucking ridiculous. Not me. My man? I wish I could believe him. If he cared half as much as I pretend not to, maybe I would. I would love a safe shelter. An easy life. What woman wouldn’t?
“Why didn’t you just steal it?”
“I would get caught.”
“I’ve seen you with a blade, why not just kill everyone and claim it?”
“By the gods, Kilda. I’m not that crazy, nor am I a murderer. Besides, one man in a duel is one thing. Twenty men in an open skirmish is another.”
Makes sense. I guess.
“Fine. So, do you want your ring or not? Oh, sorry, her ring.”
He looks down at the floor. Like he can’t look me in the eye. What the fuck is this man hiding? I know he’s a Jotnar. I know he’s wanted to steal this ring for two years. Can he possibly have more secrets? He shakes his head slowly.
“I… I need it.”
“Tell me why then.”
“I told you, it’s to protect someone dear to me.”
“But you can’t tell me who?”
“It’s my sister.”
His sister? That’s it? I was expecting his wife, his estranged daughter, his secret lover. Anything but his sister. Why the fuck not just tell me that?
“That’s your big secret?”
“Yes.”
“Why not just tell me?”
“You think I’m proud of this? My woman having to steal the ring I need to save a loved one?”
“Your woman?” I snort.
He looks at me dead in the eye. A flash of annoyance colors his face.
“Insult me all you want, Kilda, but stop belittling my love for you.”
I actually laugh, wholeheartedly.
“It’s not easy taking a seducer’s word seriously.”
“Fucking lay off,” he growls.
Now he’s going to threaten me? After everything?
“I just say what’s on my mind. On my heart,” I say, “unlike someone else I know.”
His shoulders sink. His head too. Ari looks tired. Almost defeated.
“You know,” he says. “Your pettiness is starting to bore me.”
“Bore you? My pettiness? How petty was it to steal this fucking ring for you? I risked my life, like you said.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
His words cut into me. My victory crumbles. Where is my praise?
“Well, here we are. You want this shitty silver? Huh?”
I grip it in my fist, holding it up to him. He looks down.
“I need it.”
“Fine. Fucking have it. I prefer gold anyway.”
The man needs it. I toss the ring at him. Not in a friendly, easy-to-catch kind of way. More how a lord would toss stale bread to disgrace a beggar. I throw it right at him.
Ari surprises me with his speed, catching it in his hand. He holds it up in his palm, gazing into the gemstone. A look of relief takes over his face. His gaze turns to me.
“Thank you,” he says simply.
The sudden tenderness in his voice slices through my armor. He really has been worried about this ring. Maybe now he can be at peace. I fold my arms with a smile. I’ll give him a chance to congratulate my theft properly.
“Strange how cold it is, right?”
“It is. Thank you. You have no idea how—”
I blink to make sure I haven’t gone mad.
I can’t believe it. The silver twitches.
Like something alive testing its cage. The ring disintegrates in his palm.
Right before our eyes. It just turns to dust. In a second.
The gem too. My stomach plummets. A shivering cold fills the room.
The fire dies. This is wrong. So, so wrong.
Ari shouts and tries to brush away the powder in his hand, but it stays stuck. I step backward, unsure what kind of foul magic has been unleashed. This is not warm. Not like the necklace. This is more like the hammer.
“A… Ari?”
He grips his wrist with his other hand. His eyes are wild. The powder melds into him. Disappears into his flesh. He screams and falls to his knees, desperately clawing at his palm. My care for Ari overcomes my fear of the artifact. I run to him.
“Ari, what is—”
He collapses to the floor. Unconscious. I can’t lose him now. Not like this. In anger. Everything I touch is ruined… I kneel next to him, shaking his shoulders.
“Ari, what the fuck?”
No reaction. I slap his face lightly. No reaction. I lift his palm, inspecting it. The powder is gone. Maybe it’s a part of his body. What the fuck just—
His eyes snap open. I gasp. Gone is the natural blue I have grown to love.
Gone is the mystery. His eyes are pure white.
Ancient power stirs beneath them. I can feel it.
Older than our gods. Hungry. Starving. The Ari I know is gone.
I can tell in a second. Primordial magic has been unleashed. And it’s… it’s my fault.
I lay a hand on his arm, trying to make contact with the man… with the man I love. He jerks. Bones shift beneath my palm. His skin is cold. Ice-cold.
My gut twists. My instincts scream for me to run.
But I want Ari to wake up. I want him. I need him. My pride crumbles to dust. All my cruel words crash over me like a cascade of filth. If only I could take it all back. Tell him the truth. How I feel.
He’s… my man.
My Jotnar.
“Ari… please…”