Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 112500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Heart in hand, she took Coștin’s sword from him. “If you want something done…”
Torben raised his weapon on instinct to protect his neck.
She cleaved through both.
Torben’s head hit the ground.
Painless. Body floating. Berserkerage no more.
But his immortal mind clung to life for long moments as he gazed at his beheaded corpse beside him?
“We’re done here.” Coștin clutched his bleeding stump. “The ruse is up across two kingdoms.”
“Trace this one’s remains away,” Yrsa said, “and in time I’ll convince others that Torben never existed.”
“You’re speaking to a king now. Clean up your own mess. Besides, news of my army will soon reach all ears.”
“What? That wasn’t part of the plan. I just convinced the Fey that Bloodreach’s threat was forever neutralized! You’ve made me look a fool.”
“The plan changed. It’s none of your concern now. I’m going to go retrieve my queen. Thank you for keeping her protected for me. Though I wonder how your jealousy made that possible.”
“Because I am clear-eyed, just as I was when I spared you all those years ago. When you try to make your sister love you, eventually you will understand that she never can. You’ll return to me, and the millennia have made me patient.”
“Like my father, you’ve always underestimated me.”
“I estimate your mediocrity perfectly, and you’ve never proven me wrong. Doesn’t mean you’re not mine. But we must deal in realities.” She took another bite, then grabbed Coștin to kiss him with a mouth full of Torben’s heart.
The vampire yanked back from her and swiped his lips in disgust. “You’ll see. Soon everyone will see.” He vanished.
Yrsa gazed down at Torben’s head, taking another nonchalant bite. “I always favored Arctos over you.” Then she left him too.
Torben’s life dimmed. He didn’t grieve his immortally wounded body, though it had been strong and had fathered a babe with his beloved mate.
He grieved the fact that he’d fought with Dagny the very night of his death and their parting had been filled with anger. Would those last moments overshadow all her other memories of him? He grieved the fact that Arctos would never believe that Yrsa could do this, until it was too late for him as well.
His vision wavered, darkness pulling him under, but he fought, needing more time in the same world as Dagny.
He dreamed that they sat before the fire, their babe nestled close. Warm and safe. Happy in their den. But he had to leave. He kissed them, saying, I love you both so much.
Don’t go, she whispered.
I must.
Then journey fiercely, my love, and blaze the trail to Valhalla for us. Dagny smiled through tears, even as she helped the baby wave goodbye to Papa…
Would Yrsa target them? As the last light faded, Torben prayed, Gods, please protect my family. His last thought: Because I cannot.
Chapter 54
Lia
“Thank you for bringing me back home,” she told Arctos once they’d left the turmoil of the feast. “It was getting a little…”
“Too much like a battlefield?” he supplied.
She wasn’t immortal yet; even an errant elbow could break her. “I do have a clearer idea what a battlefield might feel like now,” she said wryly. “Loud, crowded, and deeply unconcerned with my personal safety. Good for training.”
“I’ve never seen the clan so rancorous.”
Her humor slipped. “Was it because of me?” Others had been harmed by vampires, some even as deeply as Arctos and Torben.
“No. The clan liked you. Dagny especially.”
“I liked them too.” She hesitated. “But I noticed tension between you and Torben.”
“My cousin is hotheaded to a fault,” Arctos said, then added, “and often right.”
“About Yrsa?”
He shot her a look. “Did Dagny speak to you about her?”
Lia shook her head. “My thoughts usually turn to royals. It’s a bad habit I picked up early and never quite put down. During my days spent in the library, I studied them.” Distrust of crowns lived in her marrow. “It puzzles me that Yrsa wed me to you after what my kind did to your family.”
“Ah. Dagny told you that.” He poured vodka, offering Lia a glass.
“None for me, thank you. I intend to drink only water for the rest of my life.” She paused. “Possibly tea, if pressed.”
“Not a drop of blood?”
“Never.” Her voice didn’t tremble. “Now, your queen?” Some detail still tickled the back of Lia’s brain about Yrsa’s appearance. What was it that her mind struggled to remember?
“Yrsa wonders if she was hasty with the marriage decree.” He drained his glass and poured again. “She offered me an annulment.”
“Oh.” The word was a strangled sound. “How lucky for you.” He’d become her anchor here; the thought of losing him left her adrift. “What becomes of me?”
He hesitated.
She could guess why. “Yrsa’s sending me back.” Lia forced a breath. “I assume this is where I thank you for your hospitality and prepare to run for my life.” Her mind fired with thoughts of escape. Warmer clothes, sturdy boots, her sword. Maybe she could make it past that bear this time.