Erinsong by Mia Marlowe

Author:Mia Marlowe
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: viking, historical romance, celtic
Publisher: Mia Marlowe

Brenna wasn’t sure what actually woke her. One moment, she was curled up beside her husband and the next she was lying, body tense, ears pricked, straining to catch the sound again.

The moon had risen, cold and full, every blade of grass doubled by its own sharp shadow. Their fire had sunk to dully glowing embers. She raised her head to listen. There, she heard it again.

It was a voice, low and full of guttural grunts and sibilance. She couldn’t make out the words. The sound faded in and out as if it were sometimes amplified by water, sometimes buffered by the thick woods.

She eased herself away from Jorand without waking him and glided in silence to the river’s edge. The voices were louder now and she realized why she couldn’t understand the words. The men were speaking a foreign tongue.

Norse.

A rough laugh broke the quiet of the night, unnaturally loud on the water. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. It was the sound of one who rejoices in another’s suffering.

Brenna’s soul froze. She knew that laugh.

A longship drifted into view around a bend in the river and standing in the prow, behind the serpent head, was the man whose face had haunted her nightmares. The silvery light made it impossible for her to see the dull russet of his hair and beard, but his coarse features and unmistakable laugh were burned on her mind. She’d watched him violate her sister not just once, but over and over again in a thousand evil dreams. She’d know him anywhere.

Suddenly Brenna felt the weight of a hand on her shoulder. She sucked breath in over her teeth, ready to scream, when a palm clamped over her mouth.

“Be easy, girl,” Jorand whispered in her ear. “Keep still.”

Brenna watched, motionless, as the raiding party glided by them, too caught up in their own conversations to notice the glint of two pairs of eyes tracking their movements from shore. The Northmen started a grunting chant and she recognized with a start it was the same song Jorand had sung in snatches when he first came to her.

As the dragonship disappeared around a turn in the waterway, the aftershakes of terror hit her. Jorand folded her into his arms to still her shuddering.

“Hush now.” He murmured endearments into her hair, trying to soothe her. “They’re gone.”

“I know, but—”

“I won’t let any hurt come to you, Brenna.”

She stopped shivering and clasped him tightly. Finally, she felt him pull away.

“Wait here,” Jorand said. “I’ll be back.

“Where are ye going?”

“After them.” He turned and headed toward the hidden coracle. “Those men are familiar to me. I mean to get some answers. I’m not sure how, but I know their leader.”

“So do I.”

He spun on his heel then. Slowly, understanding dawned on his face.

“He’s the one.” She wrapped her arms around herself and rocked in hopeless misery. She felt her muscles constrict as she struggled to maintain control.

Brenna saw a cold shadow pass over Jorand’s features as his mouth settled into a grim line.

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