Page 64 of Blood of Ancients

My next task needed to be more . . . finessed.

I didn’t want to make Eirik Halldan an enemy, or his three friends. They were worthy opponents, unlike the Lanfens. He was also a Drengr, which meant he was something of a badass himself.

Plus, he was Ravinica’s only sibling shesort ofliked.

So I waited again. Longer this time, staying far away from my mark, trusting my instincts.

Eirik and Damon were around each other often these days. It seemed the elder sibling was showing his younger brother the ropes, which for some reason irked me beyond belief because Eirik hadn’t done the same with Ravinica.

She is twice as worthy as this scumbag.I frowned, realizing,Maybe that’s why Eirik is giving Damon more attention. Because he needs it, whereas Ravinica did not. She hadusto look out for her.

Shame simmered inside me as I recalled I was not one of the original mates to look after her. I was on the other side of that equation, causing trouble. It was guilt I’d always be fighting to rectify, to show her she meant everything to me now, and things had changed.

I trusted Ravinica, Grim, Magnus, Corym, and Arne more than I trusted Olaf, Edda, or Ulf at this point. My own kin.

Scoffing at that notion, I put my ear to the thin cave wall and listened to the conversation on the other side. The foursome was in the cafeteria, eating together. Like nothing had happened. Like Damon hadn’t poisoned his own sister.

I knew from a quick drive-by that Eirik sat with Damon and his two friends, skinny Talmond and big Gertrude.

After finishing their meals—which made my stomach growl, needing sustenance of my own—I swiftly hid when Eirik left the table and went out alone.

Perfect. One gone.

Damon was attached to his two initiate comrades like they were a human fucking centipede.

The trio exited the cafeteria, down a corridor past me.

So much for stealth and finesse,I thought, stepping into the hall behind them.This is as good as I’m gonna get.

“Hey, you ugly fucks!” I called out.

The trio turned, brows furrowed. I stepped forward, closing the twenty-foot gap to ten feet.

Damon was on edge, hand inching toward the sword strapped across his back. “You’re one of my sister’s mates, aren’t you?”

I drew my baton andhurledit in one fluid motion across the gap, before saying a damn word. It whistled through the air, toward those wide-eyed bastards—

And crashed right into Gertrude’s flat-ass forehead with a heavythud.

Talmond’s beady eyes turned into saucers. Damon squealed like a bitch as his broad-shouldered girlfriend stumbled back a step with a loud groan and rolling eyes, wobbling on her feet.

Now, was I in the business of hurting women? Bringing violence to them for undue reasons? No. But this was far from an undue reason. Gertrude was a Lanfen, the youngest of the bunch.

With her brain shaken, I sprinted closer in their moment of confusion and what-the-fuck-just-happened expressions.

Gertrude got her bearings, Damon was drawing his sword, Talmond was skittering aside—

And Ilungedthrough the air, shifting to get under Damon’s swinging sword—only catching my empty clothes as they flew through the air from my momentum.

Then I shifted back into a human, catching my stride on my hands and feet, galloping like a feral monster from the deep.

When I got to the trio, I extended into a righteous uppercut that caught Gertrude square in the jaw and toppled that big-boned bitch right where she stood.

As she collapsed, Damon screamed again.

I rolled under his next sword swing, flailing at me like an untrained lout because he’d just seen me destroy his girlfriend.

I slid back to my clothes, gripped my baton and patrol badge in my roll, and met him head-on.

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