Page 68 of The Serpent’s Shadow

At the end of the day, I was happier Corym would be safe with the Lepers than in constant danger at Vikingrune Academy.Gods knew I already had too much to focus on to worry about him—namely, my safety and getting back to the academy unharmed.

I wished I felt relief at returning to Vikingrune Academy. If I belonged nowhere else in this world, it was there. I needed to spread the word, somehow, that the Hersirs and higher-ups had been lying to us. The elves weren’t all bad. I wasn’t sure how that would play out, or what kind of trouble it would get me in, but it seemed like the good kind.

With every footfall that brought me closer to the windswept hilltop where the academy sat, my muscles grew tenser, my shoulders stiffened.

We had left Isleton immediately after parting ways with the Lepers Who Leapt and Corym in their midst. The five of us avoided villagers as we headed for the eastern mountain, then veered north along its base and gained the rocky crags leading to the underground tunnels.

During our first hour of walking uphill, slogging through the dark caves, it dawned on me this was the first time I’d had all four of these men so close to me, in one room.

It wasn’t a joyous or momentous occasion, sadly. Everyone was deathly, eerily quiet, lost in their own respective thoughts. Heads bowed, tired, putting one boot in front of the other.

When I started to feel the impending dread washing over me in our second hour of dark travel, and my body tautened, it was Grim Kollbjorn who put a calming hand on my shoulder. In one swift move, he eased the knot. I gulped in a deep breath, glancing up at him with a small smile.

He smiled back at me with a tiny nod, and for some reason it nearly brought me to tears. I had so badly missed those little gestures—the quiet stoicism of the bear shifter, the kind smiles given only to me, the protectiveness of his presence. I hadn’t realized what I had with this mountainous man until he wasgone, and then I’d been too wrapped up in simplysurvivingto give the nuances of our blooming relationship much thought.

Gods, Vini,I thought with a sniffle, wiping my forearm over my nose as I looked away from him back to the ground.When did I become such a snotty sap? The villagers at Selby would eat me alive if they saw how a simple kind gesture from a man buckled my knees now.

Then again, I had been through a lot with this particular man in the short time I’d been at the academy. From our first meeting at orientation—intensely drawn to the loner giant who was a head taller than everyone else—to our nightly strolls through the woods in the center of campus; our tryst out in Delaveer during the full moon a couple months back. The way he protected me against Sven and his Torfen siblings . . . riding him in his bear form like I was some barbaric shield-maiden of legend.

The list went on. Whereas my bond with Magnus had formed over an intellectual likeness—stealing away to study in Mimir Tomes, learning about our histories, celebrating those wins with ravenous heat neither of us could deny—my time with Grim was based on action and few words.

I think I prefer it that way, with him. I hope we can get back to that, so long as we’re all safe.I didn’t even know what he’d been doing the past month, but I was dying to know.

There was also the small nagging of guilt I felt when I looked up into that chiseled, bearded face. He had just seen me kissing another man in front of everyone. A renegade elf, no less, who was universally hated by our people.

And still, Grim had shown no disrespect, no jealousy, no hate toward me or the elf in question. His tiny smile and head nod showed so much about who he was as a person, and it spoke to his love for me.

With my confidence lifting as I thought about my past victories with these men—two of them in particular—we made it to the end of the tunnels that led to the ladder.

Our necks craned to stare up at the dark grate closed above the ceiling, casting down an outline of faint light. Outside, afternoon was upon us, the sun was out, and it was the middle of the week. Students would be in class, the term winding down as winter waited on the wings with an icy breath.

For what it was worth, the autumn on the Isle had been mild and breathtakingly beautiful. I would know, too, since I’d seen much of the Isle—almost the entire west side leading up to the Selfsky Plains past the Niflbog—during my time away.

“We ready?” Magnus asked in a low voice.

“Ready for whatever pops its head out of that hole, draug,” Sven answered.

The bloodrender lifted a brow. “It’s going to beourheads popping out of that hole, wolf.”

“Then let’s not lose them.”

With that, Magnus moved to take the lead at the ladder, but Grim barred him with an arm and stepped in front to go first.

I furrowed my brow, noticing the relieved flash of thanks dash across Magnus’ pale features. The grate was heavy, and he looked ready to collapse. He wore a Vikingrune tunic he’d stolen from a dead man, but even the tattoos lining every inch of his arms looked faded and wrong.

What’s going on with him? Did he exert that much energy bloodrending during the battle?

The ladder creaked and groaned from Grim’s heavy weight. He slowly climbed to the top, took a deep breath, and pushed the lid aside.

His head jerked as blaring light beamed down on him, the bear hissing from the suddenness of it. A light was on in Mimir Tomes’ storeroom, and after being trapped in near pitch-blackdarkness the past few hours, we all felt like vampires beneath its glow.

No sword waited to behead Grim as he climbed out of the floor. My heart picked up its rapid rhythm, worried as I picked at my nails and bit my lip.

The wait was agonizing. Eventually Grim motioned down for us. Sven climbed next, then me, then Magnus, and finally Arne.

Within minutes, we were in the familiar storeroom of Mimir Tomes. Alone, with only our thumping hearts making any noise. We helped each other to our feet and wandered through the shelves packed with brooms, buckets, and cleaning supplies.

It was comical how slowly we walked, heads poking around every corner as if we expected a closet ninja to pop out and alert our presence at any second.

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