Page 56 of Into the Isle

“Grim . . . he’s a different animal altogether.”

I furrowed my brow, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees. She had my full attention now. “Spill the tea.”

Dagny rubbed the back of her neck, glancing away nervously. She wasn’t good at hiding her emotions. I knew hesitance when I saw it. “Let’s just say there’s a reason he’s a loner, Rav.”

I blinked. “Let’s say more than that.”

Dagny walked over and sat on the couch next to me. She looked over her shoulders to make sure the coast was clear, then leaned in conspiratorially. “Something big happened last year, during the combat finals.”

My heartbeat picked up. I wasn’t sure why I was so interested or entranced with the topic. I hadn’t even known Grim before tonight. Perhaps it was my want—no, my incessant need—to make friends and be accepted here. To be considered an equal. Of all the people I’d met so far, Grim Kollbjorn had been the only one to treat me like an equal, rather than an afterthought or a nuisance.

Dagny stood from the couch.

I grabbed her wrist before she could walk away. When she looked down at me, I said, “You can’t just stop there, girl. The hell!”

She snickered. “I didn’t take you for a gossip, Rav.” Her eyebrows bobbed. “Might you have a bit of a crush on your huge, strapping savior?”

Gods, she didn’t even know what I’d seen once Grim shifted from a bear into a human. When she said “huge” and “strapping,” she didn’t know the half of it.

My cheeks burned pink. “What? No!”

It was much more than a big dick that kept my interest with the bear shifter. I mean, that didn’t hurt, but he was also more interesting than most men I’d met. Him and Arne both.

Though Grim talked little, he said much. Offering to escort me through the woods if I needed his assistance at night? It hadn’t been a condescending “You can’t protect yourself, so I’m going to do it for you.” He had been embarrassed to even ask. In some ways it was . . . romantic? Chivalrous?

I couldn’t put my finger on it. Part of me was awestruck I couldn’t stop thinking about him nearly an hour and a half after the incident in the woods. Men typically didn’t stay in my mind that long, which was how I knew he was something special.

Dagny sat again, facing me full-on. She put her hands on her lap and leaned forward. “Grim killed another student last year, Rav.”

My stomach dropped, eyes fluttering in shock. “W-What?”

Dagny nodded vigorously, as if she was pleased to part with some of her juicy gossip. “Everyone knows about it, so it’s not some big secret. It was, uh, traumatic, to say the least.”

“How?” I choked out.

“It was during the final combat trial. If you’re asking ‘how,’ literally, it was with—”

“Why?” I blurted, amending my question. “Other than him protecting me, he seems almost . . . peaceful.”

Dagny snorted like it was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever said. When she noticed the look on my face, that I wasn’t joking, her face grew serious again. “Well, that’s where the rumor comes in, you see. Word is that Grim Kollbjorn is a berserker.”

I scoffed, shaking my head. “Those only exist in stories. We’re all berserkers if we’re pissed enough.”

Her hands flew up to her ears, palms out. “I’m just telling the rumor, girl. Don’t shoot the messenger.”

My brow creased with wrinkles as I tried to reconcile that news with the man I’d just met. Could it be possible? I mean, he was vicious in combat, yet he didn’t show any sign of losing control like a bloodthirster of legend.

“Look, I don’t know the guy well. He scares me because he’s so huge. I hear he’s uncontrollable. He has a state—a trance, if you will—that’s ultraviolent and untamable.” Her wrist twirled in a circle. “These rumors get more ludicrous the deeper they go, of course, as all rumors do.”

My head reeled, snapping my neck back. “You mean there’s more?”

“Well, I heard that after killing his opponent, rather than simply incapacitating him like he was supposed to, he . . . he . . .”

I leaned forward, heart rioting. “Spit it out, Dag.”

“He ate his opponent’s flesh. Feasted on his blood.”

My jaw dropped. “No.”

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