Chapter 25 | Ravinica

Chapter 25

Ravinica

WE WOULD NEED HELP . Two initiates did not a rebellion make.

But it was a start. A spark .

Before leaving, I asked, "Do you plan on making the last class of the afternoon, now that you're, uh, feeling better?"

I gave his nude, tattooed, studded body a once-over, lips wryly curling.

"Stealth & Interrogation with Hersir Kelvar?" He scoffed and shook his head. "I'm sure I'll be seeing more of him soon enough. I'll continue resting."

My smirk vanished, frowning. "Why? Is he in charge of the . . . what do you even call it when they steal your blood?"

"I call it leeching."

"Sounds apropos."

"I'm sure he has a hand in it. He's the Whisperer, the academy's spy master, after all."

"You don't sound certain though."

He shrugged, sitting up in bed with the covers lazily draped over his lap and thighs. It made my mouth water.

"I'm not," he said. "When I show up at Fort Woden, they put a hood over my head before walking me to the laboratory. The acolytes and doctors are also masked."

I palmed my forehead, incredulous. "Loki's shadowy taint, Magnus. That's despicable. I'm so sorry."

He put a hand up. "I'll be fine, lass. It won't last forever."

You sure about that? I wasn't. Magnus didn't strike me as a glass-half-full kind of guy.

I didn't want to keep prodding him about it—the leeching must have been a horrible source of trauma. During our talk of revolution, we'd brought up a way to circumvent his every-other-day meetings with the doctors, or even use it to our advantage.

Magnus had an inside track to Fort Woden, the most impregnable, secretive building in this whole academy. If he could figure a way to escape his bindings after being leeched and snoop around . . .

He cleared his throat and brought my attention to the swirling runic tattoo that surrounded his Adam's apple. "How about you, silvermoon? Plan on attending the class?"

I bit my lip. Looked at his unnervingly sexy body again, only clad in that flimsy blanket. The corded muscles of his thighs were calling to me, tattooed, bulging, slightly parted.

Magnus Feldraug knew exactly what he was doing.

I shrugged. "I've already missed a month of classes. What's one more day?"

"What would you rather do instead?"

I paused for a second, standing at the edge of the bed. Then I jumped on him, flinging the blanket off so I could press my body against his.

We both laughed as we buried ourselves into the bed and became a tangle of limbs.

"Gods," I drawled with a sigh after pulling my lips off his. "There's no way I can kill you."

"Wait—what?"

Leaving Magnus' dorm room, I had a smile on my face. I'd certainly left him feeling much better than when I'd arrived, and the feeling was mutual.

I was so glad I had come. I mean, not only had I come , multiple times, but simply speaking with Magnus made me feel better about my entire predicament. I had an ally I could trust.

And to think, I'd originally gone there to chastise him and wring answers out of him. My reticence had been unfounded: The pragmatic man had been entirely open with me, telling me everything I wanted to know.

I don't think he could lie to me even if he knew how. Like Grim, he cares for me too much. What was it he said? He'd burn the world down for me, and smile at its ashes.

It was good to have allies like that, with such conviction. Especially two of them. Now I just need to see if I can get the others on board. Trusting Arne again . . . Sven, maybe? Dagny and Randi, for sure.

After my slip-up about not being able to kill him, and his subsequent surprise, I shrugged it off as a figure of speech. He seemed to accept my answer.

I felt bad about lying to him, especially since he'd been so truthful with me. I still wasn't comfortable about the idea of killing these men after finding out their families were involved in my family's ruination. The more I got to know them—the deeper I fell for them—the more farfetched that idea became.

Maybe in a few days, I'd feel more confident and tell all four of them at once: Magnus, Grim, Sven, Arne.

For now, I had a side quest to get our rebellion started.

"We'll need help," Magnus had told me.

I thought of his words as I made my way out of Nottdan, headed north toward the nearby longhouse village. There, six longhouses sat against a hillside, with a closed-off well between them. I wondered why the well had become inaccessible, a heavy grate over the circular stone opening.

Clicking my tongue, I went to one of the longhouses and knocked on the door. I waited for a few minutes, with the sounds of rustling clothes and footsteps on the other side.

A slender man opened the door, a towel loosely tied at his narrow hips. He wore nothing else.

My eyes bulged. "Oh, shit. Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb. I can come back." I started backing away from the door, palms out.

The blond, fair-faced man actually seemed more surprised to see me than the other way around, if it was possible. "Holy shit. Eirik. It's her."

Stampeding feet pounded behind the man, who I knew as Gryphon.

My brother shoved him out of the way to stand in the doorway, also dressed in a towel and little else. He was stronger, bulkier than Gryphon, and I couldn't stop the smirk coming to my face at seeing the two men so close together.

"Hello, brother," I murmured.

His jaw dropped. "Vini! You're alive!"

Without another thought, he rushed me and hauled me into a hug, then hoisted me into the air. His hug was lung-crushing, and I heard a light ruffling and the sound of something dropping a second later.

My face went beet-red as I realized what happened.

"Uh, love, your towel's fallen."

This, from Gryphon.

I gasped and put my hands on Eirik's face, pushing his bearded mug as far away from me as possible, even as he swung me in a circle like it was the happiest moment of his life.

"Oh my gods, ew, ew—Eirik!" I yelped, kicking my feet, begging to be put down.

Luckily, Gryphon saved my life and pulled up the towel to clothe my freaking half-brother so I didn't have to see or feel anything that would scar me for all my days.

A third figure appeared in the doorway. "What in Hel is all the commotion? Oh."

It was Ayla, one of Eirik's other "roommates."

And she was shirtless. Her tits were just . . . out. In broad daylight.

I averted my gaze to the ground, shielding my eyes with a hand in front like I was trying to block out the sun. "Gods above, you three. Clearly I showed up at the wrong time."

"There's never a wrong time to learn my little sister is still alive," Eirik pointed out, lifting a finger. "Even with a wardrobe malfunction."

" Wardrobe malfunction ?" I spat, still not lowering my hand. "What do you call that ?" My chin thrust to Ayla and her tits.

She laughed, hands on her hips. "What? You see them every day. You have them too, little lass, in case you've forgotten. And yours are bigger than mine, so I don't see why you're so kerfuffled."

I was mortified, not kerfuffled. I didn't feel I was being prudish. "Keyword, Ayla, is they're mine ."

She let out a "Pah," flapped a hand, and wandered back into the longhouse.

Eirik asked, "Coming inside?"

I shook my head sternly, finally lowering my hand. "I don't want to chance it," I said hesitantly, worried about what I'd find in there with three half-naked people showing themselves at the front door.

My brother seemed to be living his best life. Good for him . . . While I've been missing and thought dead.

Frustration rifled through me. I tried to hide it and give Eirik the benefit of the doubt.

"Suit yourself," my brother said, shrugging his brawny shoulders. "When did you return? I'd heard you were back. Wouldn't believe it until I saw you."

"You didn't think to come looking for me when you heard that?"

He shot me a crooked smile. "I knew you'd come to me, eventually."

Damn older siblings. Always thinking they're the most important ones. It was aggravating hearing this from Eirik—as if he had thought nothing was wrong.

"Was it really elves who took you?"

"It was," I said. "Ljosalfar. They've returned to Midgard."

"Field duty just got a lot more exciting," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"No, not really. They're gone already. After letting me go." The "how" and "why" they'd left wasn't important right now. And it wasn't like Eirik was pressing me for answers.

A sinking feeling hit me in the stomach, souring my mood. Despite Eirik's apparent jubilance at seeing me, after obviously just getting laid and being in a good mood, something darker pulled at my heart.

I couldn't trust him.

I only realized it in that moment, after saying the elves had "let me go." That was not what happened, yet the lie had come so easily and naturally.

Because Eirik—despite all his strength, bravado, and the unorthodox situation with his lovers—was a stickler for the rules. And, right now, I was very much opposed to the rules.

Which meant I was opposed to him.

Eirik was a Drengr—the top-grade of his initiate class, a warrior—because he had pull with the Hersirs. He had pull with the Hersirs likely because of my stepfather, his dad Hallan, who was allegedly a big deal somehow.

I felt more removed from my half-brother right now than I ever had before. It made me feel hollow and sad inside. Grief-stricken, like I was losing . . . well, a family member.

I recalled how excited I'd been to see him emerging from the magical fog of the Gray Wraith , in Selby Village, months ago. I'd looked up to him—admired my elder brother. After two years away from him, and seeing how strong and strapping and commandeering he'd become, I wanted to learn everything about what he'd done, where he'd been.

Now, I felt nothing but a sick sense taking root in my belly when I looked at his smiling face. I trust Magnus and Grim—two strangers before this term—more than my own blood.

It was a sobering notion. If I told Eirik about my planned "rebellion," he would scoff, not understand, or worse, snitch on me.

He was wrapped up in keeping his reputation with the Hersirs. He had the best field-duty for a second-year cadet. He got to sleep his days away mingling and fucking his roommates, and didn't seem to worry about his bog-blood younger sister because I would "figure it out" myself.

Eirik was a friend to everyone and an ally to none.

I couldn't tell him the truth about the elves, or at least what I knew about them. He would turn straight around and tattle to Sigmund Gothi if I wasn't careful around him, or if I gave him information he thought I shouldn't have.

Eirik's brow furrowed after I stared at him in sorrowful disbelief for a long moment. "Sister? Is everything okay?"

I blinked, my eyes burned. "W-What? Oh, yes." I gave him a weak smile. "Everything's fine, brother. I'm just happy to see you," I lied.

He nodded, his smile faltering. "Are you sure you don't want to come inside? Sun's about to go down. I could cook something up and you could regale us with your tale."

My . . . tale? Does he think my time with the elves was just one big hearty adventure? Not a fight of life and death against Huscarls he probably calls friends?

I didn't know what any of this meant about the future between us. The future between my planned obstruction and his Vikingrune toeholding.

Soon, we'll be on opposing sides. You may not know it yet, brother, but it's true. Unless you have a drastic shift.

The hopeful woman inside me wondered if I couldn't somehow change him to our side—get him to see the truth of this place.

Staring into his dark eyes, I knew it was too late for him. Eirik stood by his convictions, however honorable or dishonorable. He thought he was doing what was right by trying to eradicate the elves, like everyone else in this school.

My mission is going to be way harder than I thought, I realized glumly.

"Vini?" he asked again.

I choked back a cough and shook my head, waving a hand at him nonchalantly. "No, no, it's okay, E. You go ahead inside. I think I'm just tired, is all. Can't get my thoughts straight."

"Oh." His brow arched, like he was trying to see through me. Like he didn't believe me and was suddenly suspicious about something. "Then you'd better go and get some rest."

Panic jarred me, and I nodded quickly. "I'll see you again soon, brother." I tossed a wave over my shoulder and turned away before my face could betray how I felt.

I hurried out of there as fast as I could, feeling my brother's gaze on my back the entire time.

Eirik is not the answer to start this rebellion. Not by a long shot.

Gods, what was I thinking coming here?

Luckily, I had other people to talk to about jumpstarting my revolution. People who might be more conducive to listening to me.

Hugging myself as I exited the small copse of longhouses, I shivered with awful thoughts running through my head. I desperately didn't want my brother to become my enemy. How can I stop it, if I go forward with this?

Trying not to think about my brother any longer, and move my mind forward to the next stage of my plan, I escaped into the darkening western woods near his longhouse village and Tyr Meadow.

It wasn't until I made it well out of eyesight of Eirik's longhouse, walking alone through the woods, that tears trickled down my cheeks and I silently started to sob.