Chapter 45 | Sven

Chapter 45

Sven

I WAS A BULLY AND A brute. It was true. The blood feud between the Fens and Bjorns had been going on for generations—especially the one between the Tor and Koll families.

It was some Hatfields and McCoys shit where, at this point, the seed of that feud was lost to the ages. Most of us didn't even know why we fought anymore. We just did.

But two things could be true at once. I would never admit it to the bear shifter: He hadn't been wrong in the mess hall. I felt the pull toward Ravinica just like the other men in her orbit. I had ever since she stepped foot in the academy.

Perhaps it was her beauty; her half-bred bloodline; the curiosity of her silver hair streaked with black, and the slightly tapered ears she had. Maybe it was all those things and more—the aura of resilience and intensity she brought to the academy. She seemed to carry a greater weight, and hold a higher purpose, than the rest of us.

I couldn't be sure. I just knew it was there, drawing me to her like a moth to flame. I was not a man to question the thoughts and feelings swarming inside me, and I was not a weak man. My father, Salos Torfen, had not raised me that way.

So it was that I watched with bemused interest at what was happening in the southwestern village, hidden among trees. The Huscarls rained down upon Grim like a hailstorm, accusing him of a killing he couldn't have possibly been responsible for because I'd been tailing him this entire time.

I didn't care Astrid was dead. She was a tool. It was a weight off my shoulders with the woman pining for me, when I'd had no interest in her. Ravinica took up too much of my thoughts.

I had known that the easiest way to find my prey was to follow another predator, then dash out before he could act and steal his kill.

This, however, was not something I anticipated.

Eirik Halldan told Grim to back down. Cowardly.

Begrudingly, the huge shifter complied. He was led away in handcuffs, toward confinement under Hersir Ingvus' jurisdiction. There, Kelvar the Whisperer would ply his diabolical trade and get answers out of the bear. Or he would force a guilty confession from Grim by bending the bear to his mindshaping powers.

For once, I didn't relish Grim's downfall. I took no joy in seeing someone else bring down my nemesis. In fact, it made me angry, because it should have been me reigning supreme over the bear shifter.

Once the field was cleared, and Astrid's body was scooped up, I stayed in the trees and pondered my next move. As the morning sun finally cracked the sky, I tapped my chin, staring across the horizon to where the golden orb danced over the trees.

Golden, like Ravinica's eyes.

I left the area and headed for Eir Wing. I would tell Ravinica what had happened here. Perhaps that was a way to gain her trust.

When I reached the infirmary, I found it odd her doors were empty of any guards. No Magnus Feldraug, no Arne Gornhodr, and neither of those girls who stayed by her side through thick and thin.

I pushed inside the room and raised my brow when I saw her bed empty. I found it more curious than alarming.

Still, there was a nagging at the back of my mind. My instincts told me this was a warning sign.

Something was off.

I walked into Nottdeen Quarter. A man, traipsing into the hub of initiate women at Vikingrune Academy.

The few girls in the lobby gasped when they saw me. One of them blushed, whispering and snickering to her friend.

I knew the attraction I possessed, and how it affected the fairer sex. The same sex too, at times.

I ignored the whispers as I marched up to the front counter. The girl there, with her hair parted down the middle in a stark black and white contrast on either side, lifted her head when my shadow settled over her.

Her eyes bulged behind her big glasses. "S-Sven Torfen."

"Dagny Largul." She was a fellow second-year—an inconsequential scholar I'd never thought twice about.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, panic in her voice. Her eyes darted over my shoulders. "Men aren't allowed in Nottdeen. You know that. As resident assistant I am obliged—"

I held up a hand. "Peace, girl. I'm not here to cause trouble. Tell me something. Is Ravinica here?"

Her brow furrowed. "What? No. She's in the infirmary. You know that."

"No. She isn't." I dipped my chin, thinking.

I hated what I was about to do. It's necessary.

I needed to find my little menace, to satiate the twitch telling me something was wrong. To do that, I needed to speak with her. I knew Ravinica would never do that. Not after how I'd treated her all semester long.

She would need to see a friendly face. A trustworthy face. My fucking rival's face will do. The same man I saw her naked with on the Lunar Night, in Delaveer Forest. Coupling, making me intensely jealous at the sight.

The same man currently jailed for a murder I knew he didn't commit.

"Lar gul ," I said, emphasizing the end of her name. "Named after Bygul and Trjegul, the mythic felines who pull Freya's chariot. You are a cat shifter."

"Astute," she answered.

I sighed. Then I swallowed my pride and shook my head, knowing my ancestors would be rolling over in their graves if they knew what I was doing—a hound bending the knee to a cat.

"I find myself, begrudgingly, in need of your assistance, Dagny."

Dagny and I made our way north, toward the monolithic structure of Fort Woden and Gharvold Hall.

Along the way, a voice called out behind us, "Where are you two going?"

We turned to find Magnus Feldraug approaching us from a meadow. He looked lively, intense as usual, with his trench coat swishing along his body, hiding the tattoos he so expertly tried to keep out of eyesight.

Magnus gestured at us. "Cat and hound. This is not a combination I expected to see." He stopped in front of us, scanning me with his unreadable eyes. "I went to Eir Wing. To Nottdeen Quarter. No one is around. What's going on?"

I grunted. I didn't know what he could do, but I figured he could be useful if he could fight at all.

"Come with us and you'll see," I said.

Magnus joined our little troop as we closed in on the prison. Classes were in session, which meant the campus was relatively free of meandering students. Our trio had more important things on our minds. I explained my theory that Ravinica was not on campus. Otherwise, I would have scented her.

"Why are we going to the prison?" Magnus asked.

"Because that's where Grim Kollbjorn is, and we need to get him out."

A look of shock passed over Magnus' face. I took satisfaction in surprising the madman. "And you are going to do it? Is this the same Sven Torfen?"

"The one who hates bears? It is. Ravinica does not hate bears, however. I feel she would rather hear what I have to say coming from Grim."

I left it at that.

"What is it you have to say?" Magnus asked.

"That fuckery is afoot, and I don't think she's safe. Call it a gut instinct."

"If this is a trick, Sven, I'll kill you."

I nodded at his simplicity. "You can try, madman."

We reached the smattering of longhouses used to house prisoners. From here, prisoners were transferred to Fort Woden's detention center, which would be impossible to break into. We had a limited amount of time to act, which was why I'd gathered this ragtag band to help me now .

We hid behind a storeroom and some barrels outside. Just beyond, four Huscarls stood guard at a specific longhouse—clearly the one Grim was housed in.

I explained my plan to Dagny and Magnus. They both nodded.

"I can make things easier," Magnus said.

I lifted a brow. "Do tell."

"Easier to show."

I folded my arms over my chest, inclining my chin.

Magnus drew out a knife and pulled up the cuff of his trench coat along his right arm. Mingled with the swirling tattoos were deep scars along his flesh, disfiguring him. I found it interesting.

The man cut into himself, creating a new scar, evidently, and that surprised me more than anything.

Dagny gasped as blood beaded on the slash mark . . . and then Magnus sliced himself again. He didn't wince or grunt or complain as he carved up his arm.

I noticed after the third mark that he was drawing runes on his skin. I stayed quiet while he worked. What sort of magic is this?

It hit me a moment later, when the bloody rune marks began to glow. I'd heard of this skill from my studies, yet had never run into a bloodrender before. I wasn't even sure what they were capable of.

"Are you ready?" Magnus asked us. His eyes glimmered, losing their amber hue, darkening.

Dagny and I nodded.

"Give me a moment," Magnus said. His arm continued to bleed, dripping down his wrist and fingers, trickling to the ground.

He Shaped the air. The shadows cast by the barrel on the wall of the storeroom shifted and coalesced. They became man-shaped . . . and then split off from one another. Within seconds, we were surrounded by shadowy figures—a dozen of them—stepping off the wall and gaining somewhat corporeal form.

I knew shadowshaping, because I could do a bit of it myself. But this? So many figures held at once, directed at the same time to do Magnus' bidding? It was revelatory. He had amplified his shadowshaping with the power of his blood.

While he summoned the shadows, the marks he'd carved on his skin glowed crimson and bubbled disgustingly. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the shadows off toward the prison longhouse.

The guards at the door of the safehouse shouted. "We're under attack!"

Magnus nodded at Dagny, and the girl shifted. Her clothes dropped to the ground as she shrank and turned into a black-and-white house cat.

I looked up over the barrel.

The shadows surrounded the guards. They fought in a wispy dance of darkness. Every time one of the Huscarls' weapons slid through an ethereal body, the shadow merely dissipated in a puff of smoke before reconnecting.

More soldiers joined the melee, dashing out from other nearby longhouses. Magnus toyed with the shadows from behind the barrel, moving his fingers like a puppet master. He controlled them, life and limb.

One of the shadows darted past the carnage in front of the building and snuck through the closed door, disappearing as it moved through the wooden barrier.

The door swung open a second later. Two more guards careened out with swords drawn. There were now nearly a dozen Huscarls to fight off the dozen shadowy opponents.

I looked down at Magnus, who had slid down to his back behind the barrel to do his work. His eyes were white, pupils rolled to the back of his head.

"Madman?" I grunted.

His eyes returned to normal with a blink. "Third room on the left is where they keep the keys. Grim is further down the hall."

I blinked. "You can see out of your shadow's eyes?"

With the intelligence gathered, Dagny nodded her tiny feline head and darted off, skittering across the ground.

She scampered unnoticed through the cracked door, while the fighting between shadowpeople and real people continued. The Huscarls were starting to get wise to the subterfuge.

Hersir Ingvus came into view from the building's entrance. "What in Hodur's name is going on out here?!"

"Someone is attacking us, sir!"

"Decoys, you idiots." Ingvus looked out, scanning.

I ducked down behind the barrel.

"Shit!" a guard yelled. "That fucking cat just stole the room keys!"

The Huscarl camp fell into chaos.

" That's the true culprit!" Ingvus shouted. "Catch that fucking thing!"

The Huscarls stumbled over themselves, trying to ignore the dangerous-looking shadows as Dagny cut away from the building. She didn't head for me and Magnus, opting to flee in the opposite direction.

I knew my mark, and lurched out from behind the barrel, shifting into my wolf form mid-stride.

Dagny sprinted into nearby trees, taking cover. Huscarls followed after her. Even Hersir Ingvus had abandoned his post at the safehouse.

Its entrance lay empty and unguarded.

I caught sight of the cat and kept low to the ground, staying parallel with her in the trees. She darted into a clearing, ten feet from me, the guards twenty feet behind.

I met her coming from the opposite direction into the glade. She noticed me at once. With a purr, she dropped the keys on the ground.

I grabbed them in my jaws and took off back into the trees. She yowled to draw the guards' attention, and kept running.

I galloped over my pile of clothes, grabbing my pants along the way and flinging them over my back with my paw. The keys jangled in my teeth.

Bursting out of the woods, I ran straight into the open doorway of the safehouse, barreling down the dimly lit hallway.

I followed Magnus' directions, streamed past the first five rooms, and found Grim sitting toward the back of a cell, knees pulled up to his chest.

He stood when my canine form pulled up short in front of him and I began to shift back into a human.

His eyes took in my naked body, which I quickly clothed with my pants from the woods. I would remain shirtless until this mission was complete.

Grim's expression of shock satisfied me. "Torfen?"

He approached the bars.

I wagged the keys in the air. "Let's go, Kollbjorn."

"What's going on?"

"We're getting you out."

"Why? You said it yourself, we hate each other."

I frowned. "Yes. But Ravinica Linmyrr doesn't. And I fear something is amiss with her."

Fury splashed across Grim's face. I took a step back reflexively, noticing the change in posture—the sense his battle-fury was about to take over and the berserk monster was coming out to play. Even I didn't want to fuck with a berserk bear shifter.

He curved his fingers at me through the bars. "Give me those fucking keys, Torfen."