Chapter One - Ketill
Steam billows in huge, gushing plumes from the train hurtling through the Scottish countryside, and if I weren’t currently balanced on the roof, I might even think it was a pretty view.
Rain slices into my cheeks as I stare down the three men opposite me, their bulky forms shrouded by rumbling storm clouds.
Wicked flashes of lightning spear through the boiling sky, lighting up their scowling faces and the claw tattoo slapped across the middle one’s cheek. My mouth curves into a taunting smirk as I push aside my leather and fur coat to show off the prize they’re desperate to steal back, bulging inside the bag slung over my shoulder.
An unnatural yellow flares in each of their hungry gazes.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” I shout, with just enough mocking smugness to make the tattooed man in the middle step forward; his lips curling back to reveal sharp teeth.
“Give it back, Ketill!” he growls, soaked to the bone yet managing to stay upright on the slippy, rattling surface.
“Nah, I think I’ll keep it for now, pussy cat,” I goad, releasing my coat so it covers my prize. “But hey, if you wanna try,” I wink, “then by all means, it’s your funeral.”
Without warning, the tattooed man charges with a growl lost between the metallic screams of a two-hundred-ton steam train slicing through drenched valleys.
He raises his hand like he’s about to slap me. But unlike human nails, each of his fingers is tipped with hooked claws sharp as daggers.
Grinning, I dodge the tattooed fucker so he falls flat on his face, then swing on the second man who thought I wouldn’t notice him hiding behind his buddy. My right hook collides with his cheek, sending him stumbling over the edge with a startled yell, only saving himself by catching hold of the railing running along the length of the train.
“Gotta do better than that, pussy—oof!” I grunt as I’m tackled by the third fucker. My head bangs against the steel roof, knocking the little sense I had left out of me.
When he goes for my hard-won prize, my instincts rear up.
Fangs elongate from my canines, and he lets out a cry as I shred them down the side of his face, his gamy blood splatting across my tongue. The fucker goes to scramble away, and I help him along with a hard shove that sends him flying off the train, his yell trailing after him.
I bolt upright just in time to see the tattooed man shudder like he’s stepping through a waterfall. His limbs crack and twist, his face lengthening as his clothes sink into his body while fur bursts through his skin.
Where the huge piece of shit stood a second ago, a large, muscular spotted leopard now snarls in his place.
“Shit!” I curse, dropping back down as his massive body lunges forward. Narrowly missing my head as the weight of that beast lands with athudbehind me.
Chuckling, I flip up, spinning to face the leopard. Yet only to find thick steam chugging from the train’s chimney.
I hold out my arms to keep my balance, my gaze darting between shadows waving in the plume.
“Come out, kitty.” I run my tongue over my lips, gathering up the last drops of blood from his friend. “I’m still hungry for a bite.”
The big cat sprints from the clouds, and I dodge to my right, sucking in a sharp breath when the tip of claws rakes across my stomach—slicing my black T-shirt open and causing hot blood to run freely.
Luckily, the wound knits itself back together within seconds.
“You’re gonna have to do better than that—whoa, fuck!” I bite out, using my core strength to keep upright, then shoot a look behind me to find the fucker I clocked hanging off the side of the train, and his fist around my ankle. “Don’t you dare…”
“Give us back the egg, Ketill,” the man shouts from where he hangs.
“Lemme think about it.” I pivot, slamming my foot into his face.
But his hold on me was a strong one, and as the train glides around a bend, his hold remains strong as he’s flung off the side of the train, and me along with him.
‘This is the least relaxing train ride I’ve ever had,’ I think, as I fall into darkness.
Chapter Two - Thomas
This has to be themostrelaxing train ride I’ve ever had.
After a gruelling year of university in Tokyo, I decided to splurge on a little getaway to visit one of the oldest structures in Scotland, something I’ve been dying to tick off my bucket list ever since I heard about Skara Brae, a prehistoric village off the coast of Sandwick, in Orkney.
