Kingdom of Claw: A Viking Romantic Fantasy (The Ashen Book 2) by Demi Winters

Author:Demi Winters [Winters, Demi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Forty-One

“My wolfsbone dagger.” A low voice pervaded her dreams. “My obsidian-hilted dagger. My hevrít. My whetstone…”

Silla’s eyes fluttered open to torchlight dancing across the rafters of an unfamiliar room. Her heart took off at a gallop as memories surged back. Trapped. Not safe. Where were the exits?

“Peeling the flesh from Jonas’s face…” Rey’s voice.

Whipping toward him, Silla’s pulse eased. She recognized the shield slung on the wall as Vig’s, and recalled it was his room in which she slept. A wall-mounted torch illuminated Rey’s form, crammed into a chair far too small for him.

“You’re awake,” he said, watching her curiously.

Her eyes met his. “What are you doing?”

The man’s lips twitched. “Thinking hearthfire thoughts.”

Rey was here. Safe. She was safe. Taking a calming breath, Silla tucked her hand under her cheek. “Am I to understand all your hearthfire thoughts involve blades?”

He blinked slowly, his gaze meandering down to her lips. “Horse was included.” Rey leaned forward and whispered loudly, “The chicks as well.”

Silla choked on her laugh. Gods above. Was he drunk? “What else?”

Rey lifted his flask to his lips. Tilted his head back. Frowned when nothing came out. “Empty,” he muttered, dropping it to the floor. “Sweet rolls,” he said, his dark gaze honed in on her.

“Sweet rolls?”

He nodded. “And…sunshine.”

His gaze was on her lips once more, and Silla felt suddenly very warm. “Sunshine,” she repeated.

“Chases away the storms.”

Flustered, Silla pushed into a sitting position, wincing at the vicious throb of her temples, her back, her ribs…everything hurt. But Gyda had examined her before she’d settled into bed, deeming her only bruised. And then, leaving Silla under Gyda and Runný’s watchful eyes, Rey had returned to the shield-home to deal with Ketill.

“I gather you’re drunk,” she said carefully.

Rey shrugged, a flippant, careless gesture so unlike him. Even through the drink, his eyes held a haunted look. “Had to question Ketill,” Rey mumbled, head knocking against the wall as he stared at the roof. Anders, back on the Road of Bones, flashed in Silla’s memory. Fingers sliced off. Bones broken. The look in Rey’s eyes as he’d slit the man’s throat…

“You killed him.”

“Had to know if he’d spread word⁠—”

“But killing him⁠—”

His gaze speared right through her. “No loose ends, Silla. Never.”

“Loose ends…”

“I left one in Kopa. ’Tis how they know my likeness. I let one live.”

Silla’s brows drew together, discomfort tightening her stomach.

“They already want me for murder, Silla. What is the harm in one more?” But there was something in his words, a certain…self-deprecation she didn’t like one bit. “Chicks are unharmed,” Rey said, the flask clunking to the floor. “Runný fetched them.”

“Good,” said Silla, mind drifting back to the shield-home. Those men, thirsting for her blood. Ketill, his face seared by her galdur. She winced.

“Bodies are with Kálf.”

“Kálf?”

“He’s…chieftain around here.”

Silla was growing uncertain. “And…the shield-home? Do you think it safe?”

A muscle in Rey’s jaw flexed. “Ought to have been safe all along. How Ketill discovered⁠—”

“Harpa,” Silla cut in. “Ketill was in Hef’s company when he brought Freydis to her home.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.