Page 42 of Storm of Desire
Instantly she seemed to realize where his thoughts had turned. A flicker of guilt swept over her face. "No. I'm sorry. I needhelp."
His heartfell.
Of course. The faint swell of hope broke like a tide within him, scraping the shoals of his heart raw. She threw him the merest scrap and a part of him leapt upon it like a starvingbeggar.
Well, he would not be that mananymore.
"Help?" His gaze raked her from head to toe, noting the mud on her cloak and the bedraggled hem of her skirts. "I'm done playing your games, Árdís. I want to gohome."
"I'm not here to playgames."
"No?"The very thought of being her puppet infuriated him, and he forced himself to harden his heart, despite the plea in her voice. Turning, he lifted one arm, gesturing toward the ship, and the rail full of interested sailors. "Then what do you want? Somehow I doubt it's to give my ringback."
"Will you just listen to me?" shedemanded.
"You have five minutes. Convince me why I should helpyou."
"Because you're the bloody reason I'm in so much trouble!" shesnarled.
Heblinked.
"Remember this?" She shook the bracelet at him. "I cannot fly. I cannot shift shape, and I cannot touch mymagic."
"You said you'd remove itsomehow."
"Well, Icannot."
A knot formed somewhere in his gut. "I never meant to trap you likethis."
"And yet, youdid."
"So you want me to removeit?"
"Yes!"
And then she'd be free to soar out of his lifeforever.
Haakon captured her hand, trying to ignore the sensation of her smooth skin in his. He looked down, into her heart-shaped face. It didn't matter how angry he was with her, in that moment, all he could see was what they'd had together. Tormund was right. He would love her forever. There would be no other woman forhim.
But he could not force her tostay.
Swallowing hard, he never took his eyes from hers as he murmured the words of release, "Er þér sjálfráttfararleyfi...."
Light sparked against his fingers. His heart twisted in his chest. Árdís licked her lips, as if to say something, but then heat flared and both of them jerked their hands apart as the links of the bracelet began to stretch, and then snapped back together and fused as tightly as everbefore.
It hadn'tworked.
Árdís tried to pull at it. "Why is it notworking?"
Haakon stared. It had almost broken apart, but something stopped the spell from releasing her at the end. "They were the exact words he told me tospeak."
"And you didn't think perhaps he was lying? You didn't think he might find it amusing to trap adrekiprincess into her mortalform?"
"I wasn't... I wasn't in the best frame of mind at thetime."
She lookedup.
"It was barely a week after I'd discovered the truth. I was angry"—furious—"and I wanted to get the truth from you." He closed his eyes for a moment, hating the depths to which he'd stooped because of her. "I'm sorry. I trulyam."
