Page 493 of Flirting with Darkness

The kitchen mystified him. It was where he’d found the water, and some boxes with pictures of food on the front, but it was mostly filled with strange, shiny things. There was more glass here than in the rest of the house combined – including one of the black glass screens.

It was in a silver upright chest that he found food he recognised, though the door seemed to want to suck itself shut every time he opened it. This chest had its own light inside, illuminating a glass jar of preserved fish, and several kinds of vegetables, too. Enough to feed Astrid for several days. More, if she could eat some of the things in the boxes with the pictures.

Best of all, he found a box of necklaces, and chose a gold chain to thread through her ivory wolf charm. While braided cord might fray and perish, gold endured without tarnish. He tucked it into the pocket of the jacket he’d claimed for himself. He’d give it to her later, when she woke.

He settled down on one of the enormous padded chairs, and, for the first time since that fateful night, he did the one thing that was all he’d sworn he wanted – to guard and protect her.

But as he watched her sleep, he wanted more. Another kiss, the feel of her body pressed against his, their limbs tangled together as she moaned his name, louder and louder until…

Fenrir closed his eyes. He dared not join her in the bed, though every fibre of his being begged for it. He’d sworn to be her protector, and that’s what he’d do: protect her. Even from his own dark desires.

9

Fenrir had to admit Astrid looked far finer in her stolen clothes than she ever had in his leather tunic. She’d chosen a red woollen dress that clung to her curves in all the right places, ending in a skirt so short he’d have called it a tunic, if it wasn’t most definitely a woman’s gown. Beneath it, she wore finely woven leggings, most of which were covered by leather boots that came up to her knees. Over it all, she’d draped a midnight blue blanket, studded with stars, fastened with a wickedly sharp cloak pin that would double as a weapon if they were attacked.

Watching her brush and braid her hair did alarming things to his nether regions. Things that made him drape his makeshift cloak across his lap to hide the evidence. Any man would be lucky to have her, and he was lucky to be her protector. Every time his thoughts strayed into the realm of dreams, where she might make him more than just her protector, he had to remind himself how lucky he was the way things were.

They filled a bag with food and water, which he insisted on carrying, even if he would consume none of it, and set off along the wagon trail that led away from the cottage. He’d seen neither horse nor wagon at the cottage, but the wheel ruts confirmed the existence of a wagon, even if there were no hoofprints to be seen. Perhaps the rain had washed them away, so that only the wheel ruts remained.

They followed the wagon tracks until they ended at something stranger than anything they’d yet seen: a stone road.

“Have you ever seen such a thing?” Fenrir asked.

Astrid shook her head, but she appeared thoughtful. “There are stories about invaders from the south who built stone roads like this, long ago. But I never heard that invaders came so far north, or that they were still invading. The stories I heard say some of our own people followed the invaders home and conquered them, taking their lands for their own. Perhaps they came back, and brought the stone roads with them.”

She did not know how much work went into making a stone floor, let alone an entire road, or one as smooth as this. The number of men and materials, and the time it would take to build such a road…one that ran as far as he could see in every direction…this was a marvel, the like of which he had never seen before.

How long must they have slept for such a thing to be done? A century, at least. Maybe more.

“Look, Fenrir, there are lights!”

He followed her pointing finger. There were, indeed, lights, growing larger every moment, until they were so big and blinding he could scarcely see the hulking shadow behind them. A monster as big as a longhouse, moving so fast he could scarcely credit it.

And Astrid stood directly in its path.

Fenrir shouted a warning, begging her to move off the road, but perhaps she did not hear him over the beast’s roar as it charged. Fenrir didn’t think – he raced onto the road, his only thought to push Astrid out of the beast’s path.

But he was too slow. The monster crashed into them, sending them both flying through the air, until they crashed to earth and everything went black.

10

Fenrir had fought in many battles since the day he’d been cursed into his current form, but this was the first time he’d actually hurt after one. Whatever that monster was, it was more than a match for him.

Thankfully, when he opened his eyes, it was nowhere to be seen. He began to breathe a sigh of relief, only to realise he couldn’t see Astrid anywhere, either.

Had the monster stolen her?

Fury rose up within his chest. If it had, he would hunt it to the very ends of the earth, and make it give her back. If he had to slay the beast in the process, so be it.

He would follow the road until he found its lair, and…

Moonlight glittered on a midnight blue cloak, lying in a crumpled heap by the side of the road.

Fenrir flew to her side, rolling her over so he might see her face. Heavy and limp, like she was sleeping, with a trickle of blood dribbling out the side of her mouth.

“Astrid?” It came out as a whisper at first, so he repeated her name, louder and louder, until he was shaking her shoulders hard, so her head flopped from side to side, yet she still did not wake.

Only then did he think to feel for her heartbeat.

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