He was too strong. She was barely holding on. Cold tension slid through her veins, and Silla knew her fear had primed her.
Ketill’s gaze darted to her forearms—glowing where her sleeves had slid up. He sneered. “We’re using galdur now, are we?” Dropping his axe, Ketill vanished into thin air.
Shadow Hound.
Silla wasn’t calm. She wasn’t relaxed. But in the midst of battle, she found herself remarkably clearheaded. There was no space for anything but the here. The now. In a heartbeat, she found the fractured lines of the crevasse inside her. Forced it open. Light sparked from her forearms, hissing in the shield-home’s warm air.
It tasted like winter. Felt like destiny.
Ketill’s invisible form crashed into her, bringing them both to the floor. Silla’s fear channeled straight into her galdur. With a burst of white light, Ketill screamed above her, and he flicked back into view. She shoved him off her and watched in disbelief as he writhed on the floor.
The surrounding warriors roared, and then, it was chaos—Ketill thrashing about; the warriors seizing her arms, wrenching them behind her back; the chicks peeping frantically from their overturned crate.
The cabin door crashed open, a large figure filling the frame, and Silla knew a moment of pure fear. It was Rey as she’d never seen him—a lethal combination of Axe Eyes’ brutal intensity, with the Slátrari’s burning wrath. And in that moment, she knew this man was unmatched. The most deadly of warriors and Galdra alike.
Rey’s eyes were an inferno of rage. Smoke spilled from his palms, curling around his arms and flaring with bursts of embers.
The warriors released Silla, stumbling away, but it was too late.
“Six days,” said Rey, his voice low and lethal.“It was only six days. You’ve all just made a grave mistake.”
“Wait,” pleaded the warrior nearest to Silla, hands raised placatingly.
“How brave you were, five against one,” mused Rey, stepping deeper into the shield-home. Wisps of smoke split in the air, churning like wrathful thunderclouds. “Now look at you, begging. Have you no honor?”
The man fell to his knees, shielding his face from the heat of Rey’s galdur. “It was Ketill! He promised us sólas. ’Twashisplan!”
“Ahh, but you chose to follow him,” said Rey bitterly. “Own your choice.” Embers detonated within the seething smoke, making the warriors flinch.
“Mercy!” begged the man.
Rey laughed, a dark, jagged sound. “I’ll grant you the mercy of choosingyour death. Will you die like a coward on your knees or on your own two feet with honor?”
The man swallowed. Pushed to shaky feet. Retrieved his axe and ran at Rey.
Silla knew she should look away but could not. She watched as the smoke surged at the man with the rage of hungry wildfire. It tunneled down his throat, smothering his screams; swarmed along his skin leaving blisters in its wake. The other warriors rushed Rey and met the same fate. She watched as their eyes bulged. As their flesh sizzled. As they screamed and clawed, then fell to the floor and contorted wildly.
Rey stepped over the nearest warrior’s writhing form, making straight for Silla. Her heart pounded, muscles trembling, and as he crouched, she threw herself at him.
“Thank you,” she sobbed into his shoulder. “Thank you. Thank you.”
Rey’s cloak was off, wrapped around her shoulders. Gripping her chin, he tilted her head left to right, examining her face. Rey closed his eyes. Took a deep breath. And when he reopened his eyes, they burned with anger.
He swallowed, glancing around. Ketill wailed from the room’s corner, face still hidden in his hands. But Rey’s gaze landed on the blond man, neck split wide by Silla’s handaxe. His lips tilted up in the corners. “Your work?”
Silla nodded. “I tried…to keep them…to buy time…”
“You did well.” His eyes met hers. “No one is getting through that door without my say.”
Rey prowled over to Ketill and crouched before him. Ketill must have sensed his presence, for he dropped his hands, revealing his face. Silla gasped. Where her light had landed, angry red craters had formed on his flesh.
“You,” muttered Rey, staring at the man.
“Galtung,” pleaded Ketill. “I did not know?—”
“You did, Ketill,” replied Rey, his voice cold and brutal. “You lured me away. Tried to harm her. And now you’ll die in agony.”
No more death, Silla wanted to scream. No more people dying because of her.
