Nils helps Bea up. “You all right?”
She nods like it’s already been forgotten. “My butt is a little sore, that’s all.”
I throw my arms around her. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay, really.” She hugs me, patting my back. “I’m fine.”
I release her, looking her over to make sure.
“See?” Nils offers, holding his umbrella over us. “She’s unharmed.”
For now, I think. If there’s a killer at Skallagrim, Bea is in danger too.
I don’t care what Helga says.
“Listen to me.” I grab hold of her shoulders. “You have to be careful, Bea. A berserkr is going around—”
“Duh,” Bea says with an eye roll. “Skallagrim is full of them.”
Nils glances between us uncertainly. “That’s not quite what your sister means.”
I sigh, shaking my head. “Someone wasattacked—”
“Bea!” a group of younger girls calls out, waving wildly.
“I have to go. See you later!” Bea runs off to join her friends, completely unconcerned about the rain.
“You okay?” Nils asks, looking me over.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
My stomach slowly sinks as I watch Bea giggling with her new friends while they all get wet. She doesn’t get how serious this is, how dangerous berserkir are. But I can’t bring myself to tell her the truth about how our parents died, either. If she knew, she’d never be able to laugh like this.
I can’t take that innocence away from her.
Bea is the only family I have left. When she surprised me, I almost hurt her accidentally. If I ever injured her, I wouldneverforgive myself. Until I can get myself under control, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to be around her.
I have to protect Bea.
Even if I’m the one she needs protection from.
CHAPTER SIXTEENAMUND
Edith’s class should be finishing soon. According to her schedule, History of the Sagas is her last class of the week. Father let me leave Hunting Techniques III early so I could keep an eye on her. Despite the rain, I stake out the quad, watching students stream by with their umbrellas in hand, catching snippets of conversations.
“Who are you taking to the Unity Dance?” a student asks her friend as they walk past.
“Can’t believe we have another divination quiz Monday,” someone else says.
No one notices me as I lie in wait, listening. Animals in the wild are more cautious than this. But these students don’t realize they’re being hunted.
“So the argr actually got a girlfriend.”
Argr. The word stops me in my tracks.
Unmanly. It’s what Father called Nils when he got angry. My eyes narrow. The voice came from a group of hunters passing me—and not just any hunters. Dorian and his friends. I listen in.
“Right? Who would have thought,” Michael says. “And she’s hot, too.”
