Page 163 of The Serpent’s Shadow

I had never heard Corym E’tar lose his temper or shout at me with such seething remorse and . . . loathing.

The tears were coming faster now. My mates surrounded me, standing over me.

I said, “You can be with your people now, love. You can join your sister in Alfheim.”

I had known this was a possibility, yet I’d been willing to sacrifice my love for Corym E’tar if it meant reuniting him with his people.

Midgard was not his realm. That much was obvious. He was a stranger here, even more than I was. The people hated him too much, and I couldn’t selfishly keep him to myself if it meant he could be free and safe somewhere else.

All of this had been calculated in my plan, but now it agonized me to realize it was coming to fruition in the worst way.

I swept my hand out behind me, toward the portal. “It’s right there, love. You can go to it and—” My brow furrowed, cutting me off short.

During my lament with Corym, Huscarls had wheeled around me and now surrounded the entrance of the longhouse, facing outward toward us. Nearly twenty of them.

Snarling, I ripped my face forward, up to Gothi Sigmund.

“I’m afraid that is not possible,” he said in his low voice.

“What is this, Gothi? What trickery are you playing at?!” I screamed.

He gave me an unimpressed look, a slight pout to his lips as his arms remained crossed. “This elf has been inside Vikingrune Academy. He has seen our school, our defenses, our lives. You think I was going to let him skip into Alfheim and tell his people everything they want to know about us? What kind of fool do you take me for, young woman?”

My jaw dropped. “B-But you promised—”

“I promised tofreehim from imprisonment. I did not promise to let him leave the Isle.” Sigmund shook his head, beard wobbling. “The elf remains here.”

Shocked, I looked down at Corym, whose head was bowed in grief. He was . . . mourning.

I couldn’t argue with the Gothi. I didn’t have the manpower to fight him. Plus, hehadfreed Corym. Technically, he hadn’t lied to me.

No, he had done what every formidable serpent did: He bent the truth to his liking, showing me fool’s gold instead of the real thing.

I had fallen for it hook, line, sinker. He was the serpent, and I was its shadow—moving and changing on his whims.

The silver lining was that Corym was free. He could still be with me, if he’d only come to reason.

I put my forehead to his again, speaking hushed so only he could hear me. “We will find a way, love.”

“I don’t want to return to Alfheim,lunis’ai.” His words were a whisper. “Not if it’s without you.”

“Then y-you will stay?” Hope rose in my chest. He was speaking to me—he wasn’t scolding me, damning me, cursing me.

“I’m forced to, Ravinica. Always a prisoner. Even now.”

It felt awful to see him like this. Corym E’tar was a prideful elf, not a wallowing, miserable, self-defeated one.

I caused this,I thought with a sinking heart.

“I swear to you, Corym, I’m going to make my people see reason. Don’t you see? This is the only way to mend broken relations between our—”

His head shot up, cutting me off. A look came over his golden eyes. One of pity.

“Oh, you good-hearted, foolish, infuriating girl,” he said, cupping my cheek. “Have you not seen what your people are truly like? You were with me, Ravinica. Youknowwhat humans do. How will anything change, love? You can’t pull hate out of a man’s heart.”

Grinding my teeth together, I fought back the sad tears. Now, they were angry, righteous lines down my face.

He could call me naïve, stupid, silly, anything he wanted. It didn’t change the fact I had resolve that would not be broken—determination that fueled my every desire and hadn’t failed me so far.

---