Page 124 of The Serpent’s Shadow

“Hell no,” I spit back instinctively. “I’m just . . . surprised we did that, is all.”

I couldn’t believe I had given Sven Torfen my body. Grim was one thing . . . but my bully? The man who had tormented me when I first came here, with his siblings?

What wouldthey, the other Torfens, think of us, together?

I told myself it didn’t matter. What I did with these men was no concern of theirs, just like how what Randi did with Ulf was no business of mine.

I felt rejuvenated after our torrid threesome in the woods, under the shining light of the full moon. Tired, yes, but content. Because Sven had changed. Or else he’d shown who he really was on the inside of that smug, hard exterior. I had cracked him, without even needing to try.

He was as much mine as Grim and Magnus were, now.

I basically had Arne by a leash at this point. Corym was an outlier, a possibility I ached to explore, and by the end of the weekend I hoped to do just that.

For now, I basked in the warmth of these two men next to me, our backs on the grass, leaves and soil coating our skin like the animals we were.

I had never felt so full and needy than with these two men both inside me. I’d never felt so forward and dominant, either, despite having no control of my limbs or body in that moment. It was a surreal experience, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last one.

Thinking about these two, and how our hearts were now entwined, my thoughts started to drift to other things.

The prophecy of Lady Elayina—that Imeantsomething in the grand scheme of everything going on at the Isle. I hadn’t thought of it for a long time, because I’d been so caught up on survival, passing my classes, and falling in love.

Now? It was hard to deny her words. Granted, these were only four men—five including Corym—with fates of their own. But how could my fate not thread with theirs, and the larger goings-on at Vikingrune Academy, when we werethis closeto breaking open a deep, dark secret?

The serpent’s shadow . . .I thought, the voice in my head a trailing whisper. The phrase from Elayina, regarding the prophecy of her people.“The serpent’s shadow will grow . . . to become greater than the serpent himself.”

These men made me greater than myself. I wasn’t selfish or naïve enough to thinkIwas the serpent, yet there was a connection there I couldn’t quite understand—one that was starting to come into focus.

Magnus had also said the phrase, without knowing it had been recited to me by Corym and Elayina. He’d said that, if Vikingrune Academy was a serpent, Hersir Kelvar was its shadow.

Is there a connection there, too?

My thoughts kept drifting, even as my body regenerated and came back to life.

I sat up, recalling my studies in Mimir Tomes with Magnus. The secretIkept, that had little to do with the academy and everything to do with the four mates I had at my beck and call.

I gulped hard, realizing the time was upon me.

Sven stood, and I got distracted by his perfectly sculpted nude form. “Come,” he said, “let us go to the river.”

“Why?” I asked.

Grim got to his feet and helped me up. I felt weak and drained, standing, and wanted to be back on the ground, on my back.Legs spread, so these men can do it all over again and make me feel one with the gods.

“So we can cleanse your body and wash your soul, little menace.”

My eyebrows lifted at that.

“Hm,” Grim grunted, crossing his arms.

“What is it?” Sven shot at the bear shifter.

“I never would’ve thought you knew the meaning of aftercare, wolf.”

Sven smirked in his devilish, smug way. “I may be a proper bastard, bear. But I’m Ravinica’s bastard.”

I smiled.

Gingerly, the men led me out of the clearing. We gathered our clothes but didn’t bother putting them on. I limped, sore, and they took their time, not rushing me. Both of them had been rough with me, and it would take time to recover.

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