Page 47 of Heart of Fire
Rurik was gone? The warmth drained out of her. What had she done or said to him? She didn’t understand. He’d said he... cared for her. Was it all just a jest? Or had Rurik merely been interested in bedding her, and givenup?
That didn’t make any sense. He could have had her yesterday afternoon if all he’d wanted was to bed her. If she were being honest with herself, she wasn’t certain she would have saidno.
Laughter spilled out of the shadows as another man appeared. “Can you blame him? Look at thoseeyes.”
Three men circled her. The words shouldn’t have hurt, but they did. The speaker made a vague sign of thecross.
“You,” she said, recognizing one of them as Haakon’s man, Gunnar. “Get off myproperty.”
“Haakon wants a word with you,” the man replied, holding his hands up in a placating manner. “We’re not here to hurtyou.”
“If Haakon wants a word, then perhaps he should have asked nicely.” Freyja made a feint toward the man on her right as he took a step toward her—the one who’d made comment on her eyes. Fear filled her chest, tightening her ribs around her lungs. What did they want of her? She’d thought Haakon was a man driven mad by loss, but he’d seemed to hold some common decency. Had she beenwrong?
“Just grab her,” the third man ordered. She still hadn’t gotten a good look at his face, though he was taller than the others and something about his presence made heruncomfortable.
“Make one more move,” Freyja told them, knowing she couldn’t hold all three off with her pitchfork, “and I’ll set my magicloose.”
Silence fell. All three men froze. The only noise was Loki yipping and barking madly from where he seemed to be locked within astall.
“You like my eyes?” she told the man who’d sneered at her and made a sign of the cross. “One of thehuldufólkgave them to me, along with the gift of magic. I can manipulate storms, and throw lightning from myfingertips.”
Two of the men exchanged alook.
“She’s lying,” said the taller one, the one who scared her a little. He snorted. “Why would one of theálfargift her withmagic?”
“Don’t call them that,” Freyja murmured. “They don’t like thatname.”
Gunnar muttered something about “there are no hidden folk” under his breath, but it seemed her ruse had worked. He wasn’t going to grabher.
Crossing to the stall, the sinister man reached down and hauled Loki up by the scruff of his neck. “I am done with talking.” He reached for hisknife—
Loki!“No!” The power seemed to flood up from somewhere within her, sending a whirlwind through the barn. Stalks of hay flew through the air, and both Gunnar and the superstitious man backed away from her, facespale.
Freyja summoned heat into her hands, and turned on the man who’d grabbedLoki—
He hauled Loki against his chest, putting a razor-sharp blade to the little fox’s neck. “Use your magic against me, and I’ll cut histhroat.”
Freyja let the power spill through her fingers, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. She could feel Loki’s terror and protective urges pushing against her mind. He wanted to rescue her, though he was frightened of whatever the tall man smelledlike....
“Let him go,” she whispered, swallowinghard.
“Easy, Magnus,” the man with the enormous beard said. “We’re not here to spillblood.”
“We’re getting nowhere without it,” Magnus replied, and his eyes burned as they locked on her. “Release yourpower.”
There was no choice. Her gaze met Loki’s frightened amber eyes. Freyja let the wind and fire fade, the barn falling into silence. “If you hurt him,” she said coldly, “then I will not rest until you are naught butashes.”
Gunnar and the other man grabbed her by the arms. Gunnar’s grip was at least gentle. “You won’t be hurt, I promise. Haakon just needs you forbait.”
Bait? Forwhat?
The other man plunged a hood over her head, and the world faded, her breath refracting back from the black wool and making her feel slightly claustrophobic. Tears pricked hereyes.
“Keep her eyes covered!” Magnus ordered. “If she cannot see, then she cannot work hermagic.”
And Freyja shivered, because how had he knownthat?
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