Page 68 of Storm of Fury
“I’mnotworried.” Pushing out of his blankets, he tried not to look like a kicked puppy. “I hope you’re cooking me breakfast.”
“Maybe.” Haakon tossed the boot back. “You throw that at me again and I’m going to toss it in the river.”
“You toss it in the river and I’m going to make you fetch it.”
Haakon laughed shortly. “Well, you are in a mood.” He rolled his eyes. “Breakfast for my prince, as soon as I can cook it.” Bowing several times, he backed away, heading for the supply bags.
“Speaking of princes, have we seen our precious little princeling?”
“Right here,” said a drawling voice behind him.
Tormund spun around, breathing a sigh of relief as he saw Marduk hop from rock to rock on his way up from the river. “Damn it, man. Could you sneak a little less sneakily?”
Marduk laughed under his breath, balancing on one stone as though to defy mere gravity. Dawn light gleamed on his golden hair, which was swept rakishly across his forehead. “My apologies. I sometimes forget you mortals have such terrible hearing.”
Tormund exchanged a look with Haakon. Haakon arched a brow.
“The river?” Tormund asked.
Haakon cut Marduk a look, then sighed. “Tempting. But he did carry us yesterday, and despite his protests, I know his shoulder’s still sore.”
“It’s fine,” Marduk broke in.
Dreki. Tormund shook his head.Almost as prickly as certain redheads.
“By the time we landed, you were flapping like a lame duck,” Tormund said. “And you’re clearly in no hurry to leave again this morning, despite the urgency of your mission. Which makes me think you doubt your wings.”
“I don’t doubt my wings,” Marduk snapped. “But Ishtar is moving. I get a sense of her, and then she vanishes again and it takes me an hour or two to sense where she’s gone. Right now, she’s… gone again. And so I have to wait until I can pinpoint her direction.” His lips pressed thinly. “While I can fly, I don’t think it would do me any good to be flapping around up there in all directions for hours.”
“Gone where?” Haakon asked.
“I think she’s transporting herself via portal,” Marduk admitted. “It’s not something I know a lot about, though it’s starting to make sense why her cave was warded. I don’t think she knows how to shift shapes and flying isn’t as easy as it looks. When we first shift, we start with short flights and wing strengthening exercises.” His gaze hardened. “And Ishtar’s spent her entire life locked away in the dark.”
Physically, she wasn’t the strongest female Tormund had ever set eyes on either. Just looking at her roused all of his protective instincts, though he’d noticed that something about her set Bryn on edge.
It certainly wasn’t jealousy.
“And you never knew she existed?” Haakon handed him a plate of something.
Marduk looked at it dubiously. “Is this—?”
“Don’t ask,” Tormund interrupted. “Best just to eat it.”
“But it smells like—”
“I know.” He winced. “Just eat it.”
Marduk took a careful bite as Haakon handed Tormund his own plate. The prince dutifully swallowed. And then shrugged. “Not as bad as I expected.” He wolfed down the rest of the sausage and then set his plate aside. “No, I didn’t know she existed until Zorja told me.” There was a wealth of loss in those eyes. “But it makes so much sense now. I’ve always had these dreams, as though I was searching for something and I could never find it. I used to wake in tears when I was a kit. And every day felt like there was something wrong. Something…. It’s like this phantom sensation that half of you is missing. I thought it was thedrekimyth about soulmates. I thought I was merely yearning for the other half of me, and that my mate was out there somewhere, but I just hadn’t found her. I thought all maledrekifelt this way.”
Marduk’s head suddenly snapped toward the north-west. “There she is again.” He pushed to his feet. “Are we ready to leave?”
Tormund shoved his feet in his boots and hauled a shirt over his shoulders. “I’ll find Bryn and then we’ll pack. We’d best set out as soon as possible. We’re not the only ones looking for your sister.”
“And we’re the friendliest,” Haakon muttered. “Do we know where those Keepers went?”
“No. Unlike Ishtar, I can’t sense them,” Marduk replied.
“Take your axe,” Haakon called.
