Page 91 of Storm of Desire
Ylve stared sightlessly at the sky. Whendrekidied, their spirits turned into pure Chaos and streamed across the skies like the northern auroras, but nothing of her spirit remained. Árdís had torn it clean from herbody.
It was only so much meat, leftbehind.
"Sweet... goddess," Roar gasped, trying to stuff his entrails back insidehim.
The steely rasp of a sword leaving its scabbard caught her attention. A hand locked around her arm, and then Haakon was there, limping a little. He'd wiped his bloodied nose, but it smeared histeeth.
Árdís flung her arms around him, her racing heart finally settling as she felt the press of his hard body against hers. Relief flooded through her. Thedrekisettled, no longer fighting to push free of her skin. "You'realive."
She'd never been so grateful in herlife.
He squeezed her ribs, and then drew away when sheflinched.
"What happened?" he demanded. "There was this enormous glowing green dragon in theair—"
"Dreki," she corrected fiercely. "And that wasme."
"Are you all right?" He rubbed a hand down her arm, his eyesserious.
"Areyou?"
He pressed his fingers to his temples. "I was doing fine until they hit me with something. It felt like an invisible punch." Hewinced.
"A psychic attack." And she wasn't able to shieldhim.
She could barely shieldherself.
Haakon's fist clenched around the hilt of his sword as he stepped pasther.
"No," she said sharply, catching his hand and forcing him to lower thesword.
"They won't stop hunting you," he said, turning and giving her a look that almost made her shy away fromhim.
"If they have any sense they will," she said, partly for the benefit of Roar and Balder. She squeezed Haakon's wrist. "But if you kill adreki, then my mother will call a blood debt down upon your head. They'll never stop hunting you. Never. And they'll make sure your death is particularlybloody."
He opened his mouth, but she shook her headsharply.
Her ears were starting toring.
"Please,Haakon."
His gaze narrowed in on the blood dripping from her nose, and he gave a short jerk of his head. Árdís sighed in relief as the sword returned to itsscabbard.
She had little doubts this husband of hers—a man she barely seemed to know anymore—could cut adrekidown.
But thankfully, there was enough ofherHaakon left inside this brute warrior to listen toher.
"Perhaps you should see to your bastard prince," she suggested, meeting Balder's eyes. "He looks like he might need some helpbreathing."
Then she reached for Haakon's arm, tucking hers through the crook of his elbow as a ladymight.
He shot her another look, clearly feeling the way she leaned upon him. Árdís didn't dare let her knees shake. The second she betrayed any sign of weakness to thedreki, they'd attack. And she could lose him before she ever got the chance to love himagain.
Forcing herself to put one foot after the other, she let him guide her toward the gravel path. The horses had scattered, and she couldn't see them. Couldn't smell them. Her vision was starting to thin, little white spots dancing through the center of it as they left thedrekifarbehind.
"What was that?" Haakon demanded, hauling her up theslope.
"I don't know," she whispered, or thought she did. "Don't let them see mefall."
