“I was there,” he snapped. “I saw what he did.” The fire of hatred burned in his eyes, and she faltered at the rage in his voice. “He gave no mercy to my mother, and I gave none to him. Or to his daughter.”
A rise of nausea caught in her throat. By the gods, she’d been so wrong about this man. “On the night those men attacked Ingirún—”
A thin smile spread over his face. “I was the first to rape your sister before my men took her. And I watched as they smashed her skull against a rock afterward. I would have done the same to you, but Valdr arrived too soon. I decided I would pretend to be your rescuer instead.”
She stared at him, horrified by his revelation. “But…I thought Geilir and Jokull…”
“They were with me that night. I hired them to help and then sent them away.”
Shock was quickly replaced by fury. Katarina stared at Leif, feeling the anger rise up within her. All those weeks she had stared out at the sea, longing for vengeance, were for nothing.Thiswas her true enemy, the man who had hurt her sister and was responsible for Ingirún’s death. The man she had vowed to destroy was standing in front of her.
She had never killed anyone before. Perhaps she ought to be frightened or wary of it, but instead, she remembered her sister’s sightless eyes and broken body. Leif was responsible for it, and he deserved to die.
Katarina eyed Hrafn, wondering if it was possible to free her brother first, before she attempted to kill Leif. She was not foolish enough to believe she could do this alone. But although she desperately wanted to cut Hrafn’s ropes, he was still unconscious and might not be able to help.
There was hardly any time to act. She might be able to strike out against Leif in the darkness, but if he caught her, she would fail. There was no doubt whatsoever that he intended for her to die this night, along with her brother.
Her only hope for survival was the element of surprise.
