Page 56 of Storm of Fury
Sirius landedin the clearing and slowly shifted back into mortal form. His arms shook, and every inch of him ached as if he’d overstretched, but it had been a good fight. As much as he’d found himself a new male ever since he mated Malin, sometimes it was nice to let the wild within him out. Sometimes it was nice to watch others flee from him like rats.
“What are you still doing here?” he demanded as the others all gathered around a fire. “I thought I told you to get out of here?” He couldn’t scent the princess. “Where is Ishtar?”
Haakon swiftly filled him in on the afternoon’s events.
“Curse it.” Sirius paced the grass. “Injuries?”
Marduk sat still as Haakon bound his arm to his chest. His golden skin seemed pale, but he wore a disgusted sneer. “I dislocated my wing when I was knocked from the sky. Otherwise I would have gone after Ishtar.”
“Knocked from the sky?”What a weakling.
Marduk glared at him. “There were three of them, and I was forced to defend Haakon, which gave them the higher ground.”
Sirius shrugged, crossing to his travel bag. “There were sixteen in the end. And they squealed like children when I pounced.”
“Not all of us are murderous, vicious thugs.”
“No, some of us are spoiled little princes who’ve never known a day of hardship in our lives.”
Marduk shoved to his feet, amber heat spilling through his irises as thedrekicame to life within him. “If anyone knew anything of hardship, it was the innocentdrekiyou crushed at your father’s bidding.”
Sirius’s temper roused. “I never—”
A hand shoved him in the chest. “Sit down,” Haakon said, in a chilling voice as their eyes met. He turned to look along the length of his other arm at Marduk. “The both of you.”
“If you touch me again,” Sirius told him in a dangerous voice, “I will rip your arm off.”
Haakon raised a brow.
Sirius cursed under his breath and stalked away, pacing in front of the fire. He shook his head. Old habits died hard. “It’s the battle. Rouses the blood. And all my killing instincts.”
It was as close to an apology as he could get without handing the bastard his balls.
“I noticed,” Haakon told him in a dry voice. “Árdís does the same thing when she’s threatened. Tormund is injured.”
He shrugged but couldn’t resist looking toward the giant. Tormund was a loudmouthed fool, but he’d protected Malin during the coup, and that would never be forgotten. “He will heal.”
“He can’t walk,” Haakon replied. “And you’re the healer, they tell me. So do something useful and heal him while I fix this sling that Marduk just ripped apart.”
He was on the verge of leaning closer and saying, “Make me,” when Marduk laughed under his breath.
“Healer? Sirius? How the world has changed.” The princeling shook his head. “Everything is upside down.”
Sirius took a slow, steady breath.
Malin would not like it if Sirius drowned Marduk in the lake.
Malin liked living at court with her father and sister.
Malin would be very displeased if he had the pair of them exiled from theZiniclan for killing his cousin.
Sirius growled and strode toward Tormund. The day’s affairs had him on edge and it had been weeks since he’d seen Malin. He desperately wanted to feel his mate’s arms around him. Which meant biting his tongue and not killing his cousin.
Tormund looked up wearily as Sirius knelt in front of him. Bryn had done her best to bandage his wounds, but the entire side of his face wore a welt of bruises.
“Your eyes are glowing,” Tormund said.
“All the better to see your many bruises. Not so pretty now, you big fool,” he muttered, grabbing Tormund’s face and examining the other side. “It looks like you kissed a fairly large boulder.”
