Page 164 of The Serpent’s Shadow

I would make sure it didn’t fail me now.

With a biting voice, I spoke to my broken, tattered elven lover.

“Things will change because I will make them change, Corym. The Taldan Wars didn’t have Ravinica Linmyrr to contend with. But this is a new age. And if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll make people see reason.Bothour people. In this timeline, both the elves and the humans are prosperous.” I tilted his chin to stare deep into my eyes. “It is my oath to you: This time, itwillbe different.”

Chapter 47

Ravinica

IT WAS THE EVE OF SNOWFALL—THEfirst night since the academy burrowed underground to live among the abandoned tunnels and labyrinthine corridors in the mountain.

Word spread among the students that new arrivals had come to the shores of the Isle. Because of the deaths throughout the term—both to students and Huscarls—Gothi Sigmund and Vikingrune Academy saw it fit to send out theWraithlongships to gather a new haul of initiates.

This was a rarity. It hadn’t happened in decades.

My first term had ended, and I’d been here less than a year. My title was officially “cadet,” a second-year student. A big upgrade from “initiate,” and it gave me some clout on campus.

Clout didn’t mean shit when you were freezing your tits off, though. Because gods-damnwas it cold outside.

I understood why we all escaped underground with the turning of the season. The storms and snow were ruthless, and it was only going to get worse before it got better.

It meant I would be spending a lot of time cuddling with my mates. Hunkering down. Sitting nuts-to-butts with strangers, classmates, and anyone else who wanted to annoy me, as we tried to make space for the entire school.

I was going to be forced to make a whole lot of new friends and, potentially, enemies.

Those thoughts were swirling through my mind as I walked through a dusty hallway, squeezing by a pair of students who were moving from one cavern to the next.

Things got bleak here at Vikingrune Academy at winter’s deep. Everyone’s mood was decidedly sour, and for good reason.

It was going to take time to snap people out of the stupor; to wake them from hibernation and get them learning and conversing again.

A shadow appeared off to my side, down a perpendicular corridor, and I thought nothing of it.

I was headed for one of the tunnel-rooms where I knew a couple of my mates would be waiting for me.

“Hello, Ravinica.”

The voice stopped me. It came from the shadow I’d just passed, stepping through the walkway behind me.

The familiar tone, sleazy and sniveling, made my skin crawl.

Slowly, I turned around, eyebrows raised—

To face the smug smile of Damon Halldan.

My younger brother. The same young man I had knocked unconscious in Selby Village, in a moment of rage, to steal his place and attend the academy.

He cracked his knuckles, cocking his head while keeping that shitty, crude smile on his face.

“Long time no see, sister. How’ve ya been?”

To Be Continued!

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