Chapter 44 | Grim

Chapter 44

Grim

I WOULD DO WHAT RAVINICA asked of me because I wanted her to feel safe. If my little sneak thought snagging Astrid was the better move than a passive defense standing outside Eir Wing, so be it. It certainly was not a bad strategy, taking the fight to the silvermoor bastard.

After leaving Eir Wing, I needed food badly. I also wanted to make sure Ravinica would be somewhat protected, so I called Arne over as he marched in the opposite direction from me.

"Let's be honest, iceshaper," I said to him. "I will catch Astrid. I am a shifter. My tracking is elite."

"So you're saying I'm useless?" he asked defensively.

I shook my head. "No. I'm saying your strengths are better suited elsewhere."

"What do you mean?"

"Keep watch over Ravinica. I can pretend you were with me the entire time." I didn't want to explain he would only get in my way of catching Astrid.

He mulled it over for minute. "You're making me out to be a coward."

"Not at all. I'm giving you more time with your little fox."

When I explained it that way, he hesitated and closed his big mouth. "Fine," he growled. "You'll know where to find me."

With that, the iceshaper wheeled around and returned toward Eir Wing.

I made my way to the nearest mess hall, sat down for a quick bite, and noticed Sven Torfen stalking around in the fringes.

When he approached me, I said, "Why are you here, Torfen? This is as much your fault as anyone else's."

His face twisted with contempt. "I told you, I had nothing to do with the attack on Ravinica, Kollbjorn."

"That may be true. Yet you also stoked the flames of discontent surrounding the girl ever since she got here. She wants nothing to do with you."

He lifted his chin defiantly. "I know that."

"So you can go. You've said your piece."

Still, he didn't budge. What is this asshole's problem?

Sven said, "I need her alive."

My head whipped over to him from my food tray. I stood, towering over the wolf shifter. "What did you just say?" My aura was threatening, menacing.

Sven didn't back down. "You misunderstand. I need her alive because she's the only one who will keep my jaws off your throat."

I bared my teeth, ready to shift right here in the mess hall and test that theory. A few other late-night eaters scampered from their tables, giving us a wide berth when they saw how quickly I jumped up at his threat.

"Fens and Bjorns have been enemies for ages," Sven explained. "That won't change anytime soon. With Ravinica . . . well, she truly is quite a menace. Because I have less of an inclination to rip your flesh apart when she's around."

"The feeling is not mutual, Sven."

A small grin crept across his face. "That's fair. I've given you hell all semester. And I'll keep doing it."

I couldn't understand his logic. If he wanted me rather than Ravinica, why had he attacked her so often? Orientation night, our stroll through the woods, the Lunar Night. His assaults were endless on the poor girl. Whenever he had an opening . . .

Staring down at his face, at his arrogant expression, it dawned on me like a kick to the balls.

He's been attacking her to draw me out. To test the waters and see if I would protect her, knowing it's in my nature. Once he saw I would on that first night, the game was afoot.

I shook my head, furrowing my brow. Fresh hells. He's telling the truth. He's been after me , not Ravinica, this whole time.

"You think I give a shit my stupid brother Ulf felt disrespected by the girl's tainted bloodline? Don't be silly. Ulf's feelings played no part in this."

I fought back on his explanation, knowing there was more to this than the simple revelation he shared with me. "You feel it too," I said.

His head lurched. "Feel what?"

"The draw to her. You try to deny it—to deny yourself. I know you, Sven Torfen."

His smile vanished, peeling back in a snarl. "I don't know what you're talking about, Kollbjorn."

I barked a scoff, crossing my arms. I had him. I could tell by the surprised expression on his face. Yes, I might have been his target this entire time, rather than Ravinica, but that didn't mean he wasn't drawn to her with the same eerie pull the rest of us were.

There was something about Ravinica Linmyrr none of us could explain. I had noticed it the first night I met her. Sven likely had, too. Arne was more smitten with the girl than any of us. Hells, even Magnus, that sociopathic man who reeked of blood and death, had been brought down by Ravinica. He had called her "love," silvermoon, and kissed her forehead like they were closer than any of us.

The four of us were wrapped around Ravinica's little finger. Sven was just the last one to admit it—the one putting up the most resistance before falling in line.

"Has she sent you to find Astrid?" Sven asked me.

I nodded curtly. "Try to stop me, and there will be trouble."

"On the contrary. I can get close to her because she wants to bed me."

"Don't get in my way, Torfen. She's mine. You just said it yourself: We're enemies."

His arrogant smile returned, arms folding. "Rivals, more like. Sounds like an intriguing challenge."

Sven pushed past me, heading for the door of the mess hall.

I called after him. "What are you planning, wolf?"

He stopped. "I'm planning on finding the prey before you do."

I left the mess hall half-hungry, unnerved by Sven's admission. I wasn't sure I could believe that wily shifter, even if his words were starting to make sense.

The fact remained: We were still enemies. He had said as much himself when he told me Ravinica kept his urges to kill me at bay. She was the only one standing in the way of us murdering each other.

The game was on, the challenge bringing excitement to my bones. We were both shifters, both adept at tracking.

I had one thing going for me: I knew Ravinica's scent inherently at this point. With that, I knew Astrid's, because they had been close together mere days ago.

I used my tracking skills to stalk across Vikingrune Academy in the wee hours of the morning. Truthfully, I didn't need to track, because I had an idea where Astrid would be staying.

I had seen the green-haired lass in the southwestern region of campus, near Eirik's dwelling. Even before she arrived on campus this year, back when I'd been friends with Eirik, Ayla, Gryphon, and Tyrus, the longhouse near them had been cleared out and kept empty for an "imminent new arrival."

That new arrival was the Tomekeeper's daughter.

I made my way southwest.

When I got close, I noticed one of the doors to a longhouse was open. Finding that odd, I hurried my pace, bounding over the hill toward the small village.

I stopped when I reached the bottom, noticing a small, dark heap near the village well.

The smell of death and decay was ripe in my nose—so strong to my preternatural senses that it made me reel in shock. I crept closer to the well . . . and frowned when I came upon the body.

Astrid Dahlmyrr was only recognizable by her wispy green hair. She looked skeletal, as if her blood had been entirely drained from her body.

"By the gods," I muttered, flabbergasted.

Someone had gotten to her, and it clearly wasn't Sven. Seemed neither of us would get the honor of bringing her to Ravinica.

"Hey!" a voice cried behind me.

I wheeled.

Three Huscarls on patrol stopped twenty paces away. They had chanced upon me at the same time I'd stumbled upon Astrid's corpse.

"Halt!" the guard called, drawing a sword. He pointed it at me. "Step away from the student!"

"Shit," one of the other guards said in a lower voice. "It's Grim Kollbjorn."

I had something of a reputation after last year's debacle. It certainly didn't help me in this situation.

"He's done it again!" the third guard yelled, drawing his sword with a rasp of steel.

The three Huscarls fanned out.

I cursed under my breath.

"You're caught red-handed!" the Huscarl shouted. This early in the morning, it was loud enough to wake the dead. "We have proof now, you monster. He's feasted on another student and drained their blood!"

I frowned. "I did not, soldier."

The Huscarls hesitantly advanced toward me.

I wouldn't be separated from Ravinica. Not after this newest misunderstanding which, admittedly, did not look great for me.

I bent my knees in a fighter's stance, ready to take on all three guards if it meant getting back to my little sneak.

Doors to the nearby longhouses in the village opened at the shouting.

"Grim!" a familiar voice called out.

Eirik Halldan exited his dwelling with a shirtless Gryphon behind him, as if the two had just been getting into their own early-morning festivities.

"What in all hells is going on?" Eirik asked the Huscarls.

"Look at the student, Drengr!" the Huscarl snapped, shaking his sword at me. "She's a fucking shell!"

Eirik received elevated respect from the soldiers of Vikingrune than most other second-years, because of his position as "Drengr," a warrior title he received last year for being first-in-class in Combat & Strategy.

Eirik muttered, "Grim . . ."

I growled, shaking my head. "I did not do this, Eirik."

He exited the longhouse doorway. "I believe you, old friend."

No, he didn't. Otherwise, he would have never abandoned me last year when something like this happened the first time. I could see the doubt in his face, and it hurt to know someone who had been so close to me my entire initiate year could desert me so swiftly at the first sign of impropriety.

Eirik took his rules and regulations seriously, to a fault.

"Don't fight them, Grim," Eirik said, hesitantly approaching at the same time as the Huscarls closed in on me from the opposite direction. "It will only make matters worse."

My instincts were telling me to shift and flee the academy. To take refuge in the woods, where I might be safe. Live as a loner, as I had my entire life before coming here.

Except now I have someone I don't want to leave. Someone I care about. Someone I could build a community with, and toss aside my self-imposed solitary confinement.

I loved Ravinica. It had taken this moment to realize it. I did not want to leave Vikingrune Academy anymore.

Not without her.

Slowly, I lowered my fists and straightened my stance.

"I will vouch for you," Eirik told me. "Go with the Huscarls and give me some time, Grim. I'll get to the bottom of this. I promise."

I didn't know if I could believe him. I wanted to, desperately. I hoped his connection with Ravinica would spur him to discover the truth and do the right thing. I knew I had a tumultuous history working against me.

"Fine," I said at last. "I'll go peacefully. For the sake of your sister, Eirik, I hope you're being truthful."

The relief on the Huscarls' faces was clear. One of them walked up, still nudging his sword in my direction.

"Grim Kollbjorn, you're under arrest for the murder of . . . who in all hells is that, anyway?"

"Astrid Dahlmyrr," Eirik pointed out helpfully.

The soldier nodded. "You're under arrest for the murder of Astrid Dahlmyrr. Come with us."