Page 60 of Blood of Ancients

I frowned. Grim was being difficult. It was a shame, because my rival had always played a worthy good cop to my bad cop. It seemed he wasn’t in the mood this time around.

Raising a finger, I pointed out, “None of the things I mentioned willnecessarilykill him, Kollbjorn.”

He grumbled under his breath, “We leave the half-brother alone.”

“For now.”

“Until Ravinica tells us otherwise.”

“You’re pussy-whipped, bear.”

He gave me an expectant look—always cool under pressure, this one. “What did we just say about not adding more shit to our little sneak’s plate?”

I flared my nostrils.

“Besides,” he said, “you’re just as whipped as I am, little wolf. You just bark more.”

After a brief flare-up of anger rolled through me, I couldn’t help but smile at the bear’s barb.

He was learning from the best.

Me.

The next morning, without Grim looming over me like a mountain with eyes, I enacted my plan.

It wasn’t fully fleshed out. It wasn’t even much of aplanas it was more of avibeof what I needed to do in order to satiate my vexation.

I was wound tight. Ravinica was in no mood to help me with her sweetness and warmth.

After checking on her and finding her studiously reading through tomes, laid up in her gurney, I left Eir Wing Under and wandered the halls and tunnels.

My fieldwork this term was as a patrolman. Every student had to do field duty to make ourselves seem “useful” to the academy.

Mine was essentially a Huscarl-in-training, even though I didn’t plan for asecondto join those useless bastards once I graduated from the academy in another term.

No, after what my father Salos had decided—that I was no longer fit to lead the family pack at Vikingrune—I planned to take him on, stake my claim as the true leader of the Torfen pack.Thatwas my future. Not mindless patrolling.

In order to do that, I needed to send a message to my deceitful brethren, who had landed me in a recovery room right next door to Ravinica’s.

I was playing the long con. Bringing Da down to size was not going to be easy, but I had time on my side. Time to learn, time to scheme, and time to execute.

After a quick breakfast in one of the eastern cafeterias, I set out for Gharvold Hall Under. There, I met up with Hersir Axel Osfen and a few other cadets who were scheduled to patrol.

Patrolling sounded like it would be in the jurisdiction of Hersir Jorthyr, the Warden and jailer, but he had too much on his hands being in command ofactualHuscarls. Not us peewee trainee cadets.

I was fine with it. I got along better with the stout, bald garrison commander anyway. If I saw Ingvus’ face right now after barging into Ravinica’s recovery room and hauling Corym out last night, I might’ve tried to rip it off. So meeting with Hersir Osfen worked in everyone’s favor.

The burly warrior greeted me with a grunt, arms crossed over his rotund chest. “I heard what happened to the girl.”

I resisted snarling at him.

“How is she?”

“She’ll live. And come out stronger on the other side.”

“I’ve no doubt.” Axel tossed me a small smile, scratching his shiny bald head. “That silver-haired menace is a warrioress, sure as I’ve ever seen one.”

A smirk slipped past my angry façade. “Careful, Hersis. That’smynickname for her.”

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