Page 107 of Into the Isle

Our foreheads were nearly touching now, both of us looking down at his skin. Touching him sent a shiver of warmth spearing through me, and I only wanted to do it more.

I lifted my head. “That’s . . . fucking amazing.”

His brow furrowed, confused at my response. Clearly I had surprised him even more than he surprised me.

“And the tattoos?” I asked.

“Aesthetics isn’t enough?” he said with a chuckle. “They work in congruence with my bloodrending, in a way. It’s hard to explain.”

“Sounds powerful.”

He shrugged, slowly pulling his arm away from me.

I kept hold for a second too long, and then he was gone, turned back to his table to show me the tattoos on his back. The largest one was a pair of dragon’s wings splayed across his shoulder blades.

It was a brutal, fascinating trait, bloodrending. For each casting to become a permanent part of his body? Forever engraved on his skin, to remind him of what he’s done and what he’s casting? Holy shit. Self-mutilation for the sake of Shaping runes and spells?

It was a wild revelation. He was more of a “leper” than the Lepers Who Leapt. Quite literally.

Hunched over the table, reading his book, his voice brought me back to him. “My runeshaping explains what I’m doing here, to answer your first question,” he said, “and I’ve only got two more hours before the Huscarl shift change happens. So let me work.”

Magnus’ face was a mask of disdain when he looked over at me.

I stifled a gasp. “And . . . what are you working on?”

“Trying to figure out why the fuck I am the way I am.”

Chapter 31

Ravinica

I DIDN’T KNOW WHERE to start my search. I had no clue what I was exactly looking for, other than knowing it was names. The names of the people who screwed with my family lineage and made me the bog-blooded half-breed I was today. The people who besmirched my line and brought shame and heartache to my family.

I didn’t know who my father was. By all accounts, Ma didn’t either. It had been her idea I come here. When she’d been a student at Vikingrune, she never managed to discover the truth of our lineage. I was the next in line to continue that legacy of searching.

For the first time, doubt weighed in my stomach. As I gazed around at the countless shelves filled with books, my task became more daunting than ever.

Should I really be putting so much emphasis on such a futile search? In a search that might end in more heartbreak?

What if I never discover what I’ve come here to find? What if I’m caught during my hunt? What if the answers aren’t even in these tomes?

The questions bubbling through my mind were endless, overwhelming. Panic set in. The starkest thought of all rang through my mind, and it was nothing I’d ever considered before: Is it really worth all this danger and subterfuge just to complete someone else’s mission? To uncover another person’s mysteries?

What is it that I, Ravinica Lindeen, really want?

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