Page 6 of Master of Storms
How badly could this go?
1
Now, Iceland
Two goldendrekiprinces alighted on the ledge of Hekla's volcano, oblivious to the assassin that waited below. A golden shimmer surrounded both gildeddrekiand then magic blurred, leaving them standing there in their mortal forms.
Perfect.
Just perfect,Solveig thought, as she nocked her arrow to her bow.
Adrekiwas difficult to kill, but in mortal form they were far more vulnerable. A single arrow might slay one, if it struck its target accurately.
And when it came to revenge, she was nothing if not accurate.
The king of Iceland'sZiniclan, Rurik, hauled on a pair of trousers he took from his travel bag, throwing his golden head back as he straightened.
But it was to the other prince her attention turned.
Marduk.
The lying, honorlessdrekiprince who'd accepted her father's offer of an alliance—with her hand as the prize to seal the treaty—and then fled the night of their mating.
Solveig looked along the line of her arrow.
Its point locked upon her feckless mate's heart as she drew the bow.
And...
She suffered a moment of doubt.
"I will return with Marduk's heart—or not at all,"she'd pledged in her father's hall, and the great goddess Tiamat had heard her oath.
If she didn't bring his heart—preferably in a box—back to her father's court within the year, then she could never return.
Marduk turned, his dangerous amber eyes drifting in her direction as if he sensed danger.
The hard line of his jaw tightened, but it was the quirk of his brow that caught her attention. That hateful, smug, mocking smile that curled over his full mouth.
The mouth that had once kissed her until she was crying out with pleasure.
Those hands that had pinned her to the floor.
All of them belonged to the prince who'd spurned her and made her the laughingstock of her father's court.
Not just once, but twice now.
Suddenly all her doubts evaporated.
Burning with rage, Solveig loosed the arrow.
It arched toward him, glinting in the sunlight. Cascades of dwarven magic streamed from it, magic that could pierce anydrekipsychic shield.
And Marduk caught it, his fist closing around the arrow shaft at the last second before his furious gaze jerked in her direction.
Ragnarök's fires.
Solveig reached for a second arrow, but it was too late, for the king turned too.
