Page 45 of Viking

I shake my head and try to move, but the brunette wraps her hand around my throat from behind in a vise grip. “Come on, baby. Don’t you want to play with us?”

A cry escapes my throat as I claw at her hands and then the blonde picks up the bottle and grips my chin, forcing my mouth open. She pours the liquid down my throat. It burns, and I choke, my stomach heaving as I try not to keep any of it down. It tastes much worse than the blessed wine laced with Devil powder given to us before ceremonial rites, or the bitter root we chewed in secret by the water’s edge at bath time to prevent conception.

“Take it, bitch. Take it all.” The blonde cackles as she pours, the brunette too, and then the hand is gone from my throat and the blonde screams as she drops the bottle. I suck in air, but I cough and my stomach convulses, expelling all the liquid I just ingested.

The blonde screams as her friend is thrown across the room, her head cracking on the edge of the bar. Her body falls to the floor, her neck twisted at an odd angle as blood pools on the ground around her.

Viking turns to the blonde and grabs her by the hair. She screams and clutches at his forearm. “I’m sorry, please? Please don’t hurt me. We were just playing with her.”

“The fuck is going on here?” Niko says, coming up behind Viking.

“This tired, seedy cut slut tried to drown Arie in a bottle of cheap vodka, that’s what.”

“Fuck.” Niko tilts his chin in the brunette’s direction. “And her?”

“She held her down while Lana poured.”

Niko sighs. “You keep killing my girls. I’m gonna have none left for my brothers, Vike.”

“You swore she’d be safe here.”

“She is,” Niko nods. “Now. Look, I can’t predict what my fucking club whores are going to do every second. How the fuck was I supposed to know they’d get jealous of your bitch?”

Viking wraps his free hand around Lana’s throat and slams her body against the bar. His hands squeeze, and Lana’s fingers scrape and claw at his forearm as her face turns red.

I choke on my tears. My throat and stomach burn, and I can’t hold myself upright any longer. I try to leave, to get as far away from this room and the rage in his eyes as I can, but I stumble and trip on the stool, sliding to the floor instead.

Viking looks at me over his shoulder, his expression still one of fire and liquid steel, and then there are suddenly two of him.

“She needs to pay,” he says through clenched teeth.

“And she will.” Niko places a hand on his shoulder. “Just not here. Take your girl back to your room. I’ll handle the whore.”

Lana whimpers. She doesn’t move or try to get away. She just lies there, bent backwards over the bar, sucking in deep, rasping breaths. Her eyes meet mine, pleading. Tears leak out of the corners, trailing black marks across her face, and I laugh. I don’t know why, her pain isn’t funny, and yet, I can’t stop laughing at how messed up everything got. I killed Adella. I killed my best friend, my Sister. I stabbed the Prophet, and my actions got her killed. They should have run with me. I should have died that night on the cliff. Let the guards shoot me. Then maybe Adella would still be alive.

“The bitch is mine. I’ll deal with her once I’ve dealt with Arie.”

My laughter stops and I hiccup, a sob tears free of my throat as he walks toward me and helps me to my feet. His skin is hot against my palms, and I lean my head against his chest. The world tilts on its side as he lifts me into his arms and carries me from the room and up the stairs.

“It’s my fault she died.”

“It’s not your fault, little siren. They hurt you.”

“Everything hurts me. Why is the world full of so much pain?”

“I don’t know, darlin’. We’re just lucky, I guess.”

“I want to do what she did ... to you.”

He chuckles. “You wanna hold me down and drown me in liquor?”

I rest my head against his shoulder and close my eyes. “I want to take you in my mouth.”

He’s quiet and then he kicks open the door to our room and my stomach churns with the motion. “You’re drunk.”

“I ache, all the time ... for you. Sometimes the pain is so unbearable, I fear my heart will give out.”

He lays me down on the bed, his scent engulfing me, and I snuggle deeper into the pillow.

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