Page 28 of The Serpent’s Shadow

“Which direction?”

Arne frowned. He opened his mouth for another rapid-fire response, then thought better of it and looked away.

I knew I was getting closer to the nugget of truth he was hiding—the truth I’d suspected the entire time. I just needed to coax the words out of him.

I cracked my knuckles again.

Arne took one glance at my bruised hands. “I wouldn’t know. Ravinica knocked me unconscious before they left.”

“Ah. There we are.” I smiled at him, as if I’d just brought him into my web. My trap.

I understood Arne could have easily told me the elves had knocked him out, and not Ravinica.So why not bend the truth, since it puts him in such a poor light?

I thought about it for a second, tapping my chin.

Because he feels guilty. Hewantsto get this out.

Arne did not know I too had a civil relationship with Kelvar the Whisperer. I was the interrogation master’s best student.

“There’s a lot to unpack there, dandy,” I said.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why, or how, would Ravinica knock you out if she was being captured by the elves? It makes it look like theyhelpedher.”

“They did.”

“Why?” I spit out, flaring my nostrils.

I’d had enough of the pussyfooting.

He stayed quiet, studying me, and then said, “You’re good at this, Sven. You’re also annoying with your little games and barbs. I’ll agree to tell you the truth as long as you promise not to kill me. My wrists are beginning to chafe.”

There we are.“I’ve already give you my vow not to harm Ravinica.”

“I’m talking about me now.”

I glanced over my shoulder at Grim. He made no motion one way or the other—no nod or headshake. It was evidently my decision. I appreciated the measure of respect he showed me in the moment. Maybe he didn’t want to take the reins. After all, I was born a leader, and Grim seemed more content to follow—much like my pack siblings.

Facing Arne again, my answer came quickly. “Very well. You have my promise: I won’t touch another dainty hair on your pretty skin.”

Arne glanced down through his legs. When he looked up, his good eye was rimmed in red, dewy. “Ravinica knocked me out because I betrayed her. I was the reason the Huscarls were there in the first place, to escort us back to Vikingrune Academy. The elves must have recognized her imprisonment, and her ears and hair, and acted to save one of their own, as it were.”

Every fiber of my being tensed with rage. It took all my power to fight back the urge to shift, rip Arne’s throat out, and be done with this conniving bastard.

But I needed to know more.

“Now we’re getting—”

Grim pushed past me before I could finish my sentence. His huge hand shoved me aside and he stormed Arne and lifted the man and his chair off the ground.

“Fuck!” Arne yelled, his legs kicking. It was the first shout that might’ve alerted others to our presence here.

Grim slammed Arne against the stone wall of his longhouse, sending wood chips scattering.

“Sven!” Arne yelped desperately.

Grim held the iceshaper up by the neck, who was already starting to flush a rare shade of red and purple, losing oxygen.

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