Page 67 of Blood of Ancients

“Both. I think.”

Okay, this was a little too much intel, too fast. I didn’t know which way to direct my questions. I could tell Randi was feeling skittish talking about all this.

I needed to press her.There might be something I can use here to help Sven. If he can find a way to “exact his revenge,” it might take his mind off Damon for a while, so I can have time to figure out how to deal with him.

“You’re saying Eirik and Damon are both aiding the three Torfen siblings?” I asked in bewilderment.

“The way Ulf tells it, yeah.”

“That’s, um . . . alarming. Don’t you think?”

Creases formed in her forehead. She sat back on her bench, legs crossed, robe spilling in front of her. “Truthfully, I hadn’t really thought much about it.”

Flustered, I threw my arms up. “We don’t even know what in Hel they’re planning!”

Randi was taken aback at my outburst, like I was losing my marbles. “So? Why does it matter to you or me?”

That took some steam out of my forge. “I . . . don’t know. It just seems like something we should be aware of.”

Randi didn’t know the whole extent of my endgame dream of uniting the elves and humans. It was a farfetched plan—not much of a plan yet—and I felt it would make me sound like a crazy person if I told too many people.

But part of leading a “revolution” was knowing the minds of my peers. The Torfens, Lanfens, Eirik, Damon—as much as I currently disliked all of them, they were mypeers.

To amend my statement, I said, “I’ve been caught slipping too many times, Ran. Astrid, Damon, Gothi Sigmund and the portal. Everyone has tried to steamroll me to suit their own purposes. I feel like I need to know what’s going on around me, at all times, to prevent any of that shit from happening again.”

Randi sat with that a moment, nodding slowly, pouting. She tapped her chin, then nodded more decisively. “You’re right, bestie. Being ignorant is not blissful in a place like this.”

I smiled. “Well said.”

“What can we do to find out then? Damon’s a nonstarter for obvious reasons. Eirik . . . you probably don’t want to talk to him. You don’t know the Lanfens. And the Torfens, well, they’re probably on your shit-list after what they did to Sven.”

“Correct on all accounts,” I said, sighing.

The idea was already there, clear as day, though I knew it would be a difficult ask. I didn’t want to put Randi in any danger, or get her involved in something where neither of us knew the risks. We were in the dark.

Only way to get out of the dark is to shove a torch into it.

Randi could be my torch.

Shame filled me; untold guilt that seeped its way into my soul. Shame at my initial thought of wanting to use Randi to my benefit, though I hadn’t even asked the question yet.

I tried to tell myself that it would be toallof our benefits.

So, I asked, “What about Ulf?”

She blinked, lips parting. The cogs in her head spun, and I could see the wheels turning. For a moment, she was silent. Then she said, “I mean, I guess I could ask him.”

I raised a hand to pump the brakes, already feeling like I was asking too much. “I don’t want you to if you think it’ll put you in danger or make things worse between you two.”

“How would it put me in danger?”

“I don’t know. We both just said how we’re in the dark with those guys. What if they’re planning something, uh, sinister?”

Randi blew a raspberry. “Ulf?Sinister? Sorry, sis, he’s too much of a dope. I love him for it, but I just don’t see it.”

Fools are the easiest to turn. The most gullible.

“Well, if you think so . . .”

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