Page 85 of Storm of Desire
And she only felt utterly hollow at thethought.
What if she was right? What if shehadsomehow begun to mate with him? She couldn't feel any link herself, especially not with the manacle on, but what if this wasit?
Don't be selfish.She squeezed her eyes shut. Haakon deserved a long and happy life, even if it cut her heart out of her chest to see him walk away fromher.
Just when she thought she couldn't stand it anymore, adreki'sbugle suddenly cut through theair.
Árdís looked up, and Haakon stiffened as if he felt the tension radiate through her. This was not quite what she'd had in mind when she'd wanted an end to the oppressivesilence.
"What is it?" heasked.
"Shh."
"Did you hearsomething?"
If she narrowed her eyes, she could just make out the bat-like wings of something passing through the sun. It flickered, and then vanished into a bank of clouds. Dread shivered through her, all of the hairs on the back of her necklifting.
Toolate.
"I think we've been spotted," she said, hunting for it through the clouds. A feeling of horror twisted deep inside herabdomen.
Haakon reined Sleipnir in, and the enormous bay snorted. "Adreki?"
"At least one." Hopefully, just a scout. "How far is it to thissvartálfar'svillage?"
"At least fivemiles."
"We could make it."Maybe.
Haakon's neck twisted as he surveyed the area. "Wasn't it you who said you could cover that much ground inminutes?"
"Run," she pleaded. "If we find a town—or a village even—then we have a chance.Drekiare bound by the oath Fáfnir swore at the Althing. We cannot harm humans, not unless they attack us first, or we risk breaking thatoath."
"Bloody hell, Árdís, that was over a thousand yearsago!"
He booted Sleipnir into acanter.
"It was barely sixteen cycles, as we measure time," she retorted, grabbing hold of his waist. "It wasn't that long ago to thedreki. And while my mother doesn't care to play by all the rules, she cannot afford to break that one, or she risks the censure of all thedrekiin Iceland. They'll have to change into their mortal forms if they enter the village, and we might be able to losethem."
Haakon muttered something under his breath that even her sharp ears couldn't catch. Then he began to rein the horsesin.
A cry of pure delight rang out, sending a chill down Árdís'sspine.
That cry said:Yes, run. Give me a goodhunt.
And then a second one answeredit.
"There are two of them." She raked her gaze through the skies as hope died. Maybe they could outrun one, but not twodreki.She caught a flash of shadow moving slightly behind the clouds, as if to surprise them with its presence."No, three!Haakon!"
"We're not going to run, Árdís. We'll never make it in time, and that's what they want. I just needed to find defensible ground. Here," he said, hauling Sleipnir to a halt. "We make a standhere."
A pile of rocks loomed, looking like the sort trolls might hide beneath. They guarded the top of a small hill, which would give them some shelter, though when the predator was in the skies, she doubted the good it would do. Haakon offered her a hand down, before he swung from the saddle, tethering bothhorses.
Above them, the threedrekibegan to circle likevultures.
"You're not the only one with a few tricks up their sleeves," Haakon saidcoolly.
"Oh, you have some mysterious weapon that can bring down a full-growndreki?"
