Page 123 of The Last Valkyrie

Chapter 39

Sven

OUR GANG WAS ALL SMILESwhen we returned to Ravinica’s longhouse, despite the dark elf threat on our doorstep. Not only had my bond with my little menace reached painful heights, but I’d also grown closer with these four men. There was no disputing that now, after what we did last night.

When we’d woken up in the late morning, Rav looked so beautiful and fragile in her sleeping state, sprawled naked across the bed. We decided not to rouse her, instead stealing away silently to get some food for our grumbling bellies.

A night of intense orgiastic fun had done something fierce for our appetites.

Now it was closer to afternoon, and we were returning with two plates of fresh food from the best cafeteria on campus from the western end.

Smiling at a joke Arne had told, I pushed open the door to the longhouse with the plate cradled in my arm. Mine was stacked with ham, bacon, eggs, and other savory food. Arne was holding the plate with the sweeter treats, which was appropriate for the dandy.

Immediately when I stepped into the room, I felt the wrongness of it. I halted, my smile fading as the word “Menace?” died on my lips.

The longhouse was empty. These weren’t traditional modern houses with various hallways and rooms, either. If she wasn’t right here in the main room, she wasn’t here at all.

“Fuck!” I yelled, setting the plate clattering down on the table next to the joking note Arne had left her.

The other guys filed into the room hearing my voice. Heads swiveled. It was clear she was gone—the indentation of her delectable body in the bedsheets was the only evidence she’d been here.

Magnus flared his nostrils, anger taking over his usually placid features. “Dammit, Itoldyou we should have woken her to take her with us.”

“We were only gone an hour!” I yelled in defense.

Grim shook his head, a struck, fearful expression twisting his lips. “We said we wouldalwaysbe with her. Even an hour is too long.”

“Where could she have gone?” Corym asked, running a hand through his long silver-yellow hair. “The river to bathe?”

I nudged my chin out the door. “Go check.”

As we exited the house, before Corym could get more than five steps away, I called out to the nearest passing group of Vikingruners. “Oi!”

It was a group of three cadets, one of them clearly an initiate by the scared look on his face when I ran toward them.

“Any of you seen the dragon girl?” I asked stupidly.

They shook their heads, expressions blank.

A female cadet sitting ten feet away beneath a shady tree, reading a book, looked up at my frenzied question. “I did.”

The five of us hurried over to her.

“When?” Magnus demanded.

She shrugged casually. “About an hour ago? Maybe two?”

Magnus threaded his brow. “You’ve just been posted up here . . . for hours?”

Her face twisted with offense. “I like to read, draug. Got a problem with that?”

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