Page 163 of Into the Isle

The Huscarl camp fell into chaos.

“That’s the true culprit!” Ingvus shouted. “Catch that fucking thing!”

The Huscarls stumbled over themselves, trying to ignore the dangerous-looking shadows as Dagny cut away from the building. She didn’t head for me and Magnus, opting to flee in the opposite direction.

I knew my mark, and lurched out from behind the barrel, shifting into my wolf form mid-stride.

Dagny sprinted into nearby trees, taking cover. Huscarls followed after her. Even Hersir Ingvus had abandoned his post at the safehouse.

Its entrance lay empty and unguarded.

I caught sight of the cat and kept low to the ground, staying parallel with her in the trees. She darted into a clearing, ten feet from me, the guards twenty feet behind.

I met her coming from the opposite direction into the glade. She noticed me at once. With a purr, she dropped the keys on the ground.

I grabbed them in my jaws and took off back into the trees. She yowled to draw the guards’ attention, and kept running.

I galloped over my pile of clothes, grabbing my pants along the way and flinging them over my back with my paw. The keys jangled in my teeth.

Bursting out of the woods, I ran straight into the open doorway of the safehouse, barreling down the dimly lit hallway.

I followed Magnus’ directions, streamed past the first five rooms, and found Grim sitting toward the back of a cell, knees pulled up to his chest.

He stood when my canine form pulled up short in front of him and I began to shift back into a human.

His eyes took in my naked body, which I quickly clothed with my pants from the woods. I would remain shirtless until this mission was complete.

Grim’s expression of shock satisfied me. “Torfen?”

He approached the bars.

I wagged the keys in the air. “Let’s go, Kollbjorn.”

“What’s going on?”

“We’re getting you out.”

“Why? You said it yourself, we hate each other.”

I frowned. “Yes. But Ravinica Linmyrr doesn’t. And I fear something is amiss with her.”

Fury splashed across Grim’s face. I took a step back reflexively, noticing the change in posture—the sense his battle-fury was about to take over and the berserk monster was coming out to play. Even I didn’t want to fuck with a berserk bear shifter.

He curved his fingers at me through the bars. “Give me those fucking keys, Torfen.”

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