Page 13 of Alien Viking's Plunder

“ThatI did not understand,” he said.

Just like last time, Josie was astonished how fast her enhancement could decipher another language after just a few samples of it. It almost made it worth the pain of having needed it in the first place. And the horrific cost.

Almost.

She looked him over. His stomach was bruised, he had bite marks on his calf, and his face bore the angry red imprint of the piece of firewood she had thrown. Still,shewas completely unharmed, despite his obvious strength. He had been showing restraint, and Josie had seen enough trouble in her time to appreciate it. Not many men could do that. In fact, not many men could mix strength with a capacity for thinking, like it seemed Bragr could.

No,she told herself.I’mnotgoing to start admiring my kidnapper. I’m going to get back home, and that’s that.

Bragr unwrapped a piece of candy for himself, tasting it with his tongue before making a face. “That’s sweet—”

The ship juddered so hard Josie had to support herself on the floor to not be thrown over.

Bragr was on his feet in a split second, then shot out the door.

Seeing the door open, Josie wasted no time in grabbing the rest of the candy bars and running out into the hallway.

5

- Bragr -

“What is going on?” he growled at the boatswain.

“We crashed into something, Captain,” the man reported.

Bragr frowned. “Here? In the River?”

“It was another ship,” Sigrid the steerswoman said tightly. “A longship, but not one of ours. There it is.” She pointed ahead. “It was suddenly in front of us with no way of avoiding it.”

Bragr knew what it was before he looked. Most of the longships on planet Gardr belonged to the earldom of Hjalmarheim, but not this one.

“TheDead Son,” he stated. “Gornt himself. Not here to congratulate us on our raid, I suspect.”

The other ship was coming alongside and shooting grappling hooks over theKraken.

“It would be a strange way to do it, Captain,” Sigrid agreed, teeth clenched as she tried to keep the ship on course while the other was pulling them closer.

“Signal the others to continue on their way. We’ll catch up,” he ordered. “Get ready to be boarded.”

The signal flags were hoisted and the three other ships raced past at a safe distance, their ropes taut but their sails invisible. The crews hung over the railings, yelling support and encouraging words to him.

His crew calmly readied themselves, joking with each other.

It made him smile. No other crew would be this unafraid when boarded by Gornt and his forces.

Still, he was uneasy. He was carrying a lot of goods now, heavy metals and other plunder. And one small female.

He frowned. Had he locked the door behind him? He wasn’t sure. But he had to check and make sure that Josie was safe.

He walked fast to his stateroom, noticing that the boarding party would enter any moment. They were the usual Gornt underlings, calledskrymtir. They were blood-chilling things, the only ones that would fight for him.

Bragr felt a sting of pity for the former earl of Hjalmarheim, but nothing could be changed now.

As he approached his stateroom, he noticed the door was open. Josie was no longer inside.

He slammed the door jamb with his palm. “Damn!”

She was loose, somewhere in the ship. That in itself wasn’t bad — she would have no way to leave it. But now they were being attacked by enemies, she could easily get herself into bad trouble.

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