Page 85 of Into the Isle

He looked out from the trees, gazing at the moon in the heavens. “There’s an animal inside me, little sneak.”

“I know. It’s a bear.”

The man’s chest rumbled with a low chuckle. It made me smile, getting him to laugh. I felt like I’d scored a point.

“Deeper than that. A primal fury.”

Berserker. “Where does it come from?”

He shook his head. “Not now.”

Fair enough. I won’t pry. I continued walking. This time he was forced to follow me. I felt like I’d scored a second point, after hurrying along after him the entire time he led our walk though the woods.

“What happened when your beast got triggered?”

“I killed him. It wasn’t pretty.”

I winced. “No. I imagine it wasn’t. And then?”

“That’s it. That’s the story. My friends abandoned me, including your brother.”

I reeled. Grim was friends with Eirik? Damn. Maybe that’s why Eirik wants me to avoid all the men here.

I scratched my forehead. I felt like I was missing something. “Where did the whole cannibalism thing come from? How are you still at Vikingrune Academy after all that?”

“Because I’m a weapon.”

True. And exactly what Dagny said. They can’t afford to get rid of this massive bear shifter.

Slowly, I prodded. “You didn’t answer the first part.”

“I don’t know how rumors start, little sneak. There was a lot of blood during the fight. My eyes were red. That’s all I know, all I remember.”

“Then you don’t know if you didn’t eat him or—”

“Enough.” He stopped, voice stern, and I felt like a scared schoolchild. “I saw Anders’ body a day later, once I was out of my stupor. It was fully . . . intact.”

I bowed my head in shame. I’d gone too far. “Oh. Okay. I’m sorry.” Reflexively, I put a hand out to his arm. “I didn’t mean to make light of it, Grim. I know that must have been horrib—”

“It’s fine,” he grunted, in a way that said it was anything but fine.

My shoulders slumped.

Howling reverberated through the trees, abruptly, and made me straighten like a meerkat.

Grim glanced over his shoulder. “Feeding time for the wolves. It’s time you made your exit, little sneak.”

I nodded dumbly. More goosebumps rose along my arms. The howls sounded far off. I was getting hungry, and I felt like I’d uncovered enough about Grim Kollbjorn for one day. I’d made progress, and I had to be content with that. I just hoped I hadn’t offended him too badly.

I took a step forward toward the cobbles past the trees, and then stopped, furrowing my brow. “You said you had to fight your friend in the final combat trial. If you were an initiate and he was a second-year . . . then why did you have to fight him?”

“Because he was my tutor.”

I blinked, nodding. Makes sense . . .

My head shot up. “Wait. The trial for Combat & Strategy is fighting your tutor? That means I’ll be . . .”

Grim stared at me as I trailed off. With a stern frown, he nodded. “That’s right, Ravinica. You’ll be fighting me.”

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