Page 30 of Luna Cursed

Tor nodded to Ciara. She stepped forward, pulled the dropper from the bottle, and drizzled some of the solution onto Askel's cheek. He shrieked, a high-pitched, panicked sound of pure agony.

"Tell me where Varg and my sister are!" Tor shouted over the noise.

Askel breathed heavily through his teeth. "Your sister is the key to finding Fenris. He'll never give her up even if you find him."

Tor looked more confused than ever. "What does she have to do with any of this madness?"

Askel laughed, a pain-filled maniacal sound. "She's the key to it all, and she's going to help Varg whether any of you like it. She'll bow before Fenris just like the rest of you. You fucking Ulfheðnar disgust me. Serving a god that wants nothing to do with you. He only turned up at that battle with Vili because he couldn't handle the thought of his blood getting more powerful than him. Odin hasn't appeared in centuries and doesn't give a fuck about the wolves."

"And what? Fenris is going to be a better god to serve? He's destined to destroy the world, you idiot. Do you really think he will grant you dumbasses wishes like a djinn? He'll killallof you," Tor argued.

"Lies. He's our true god, and you are all too blind to see it."

Ciara stepped forward with a small silver knife and pressed it to his unmarred cheek below his eye. "You're going to go blind in a minute if you don't give us the information we can use."

"Killing me won't do any good. There's no way for you to stop what's happening. Others in the Ulfheðnar know this. Do you think you're being noble hunting Varg down for your precious council? They won't be in power much longer, you father killing, toothless alpha!" Askel screamed as Ciara stuck the blade into his eye.

Tor looked pale, but she didn't know if it was from the poisonous rant or the torture. She didn't think about it.

"I don't care about any of your political propaganda. Tell us where Linnea is, and I'll make your death quick," she hissed.

Askel bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. He started to chant, and before she could stop, he spat out a mouth full of blood. The curse sizzled the air like a lightning strike.

Tor snatched Ciara, ran towards the opening of the shed, and tossed her into the freezing cold lake. Above her, a large boom shook the sky, turning it orange and sending vibrations through the water.

Ciara breached the surface of the lake with a loud gasp. The shed was a fiery ball of rubble.

"Tor!" she shouted, scanning the water. "Tor!"

Ciara dived back down, searching the gloom. Something gold flickered, and she swam toward it, the bond pulsing. The gold was Tor's long hair. Ciara grabbed him by the shirt and heaved him upwards, kicking hard to drag him to the surface.

"Tor! Wake up!" she shouted. He didn't move. Ciara got him into a rescue position and started to swim him back to the rocky bank. "I swear to God, you better wake up, or I'm going to get so mad."

Ciara bent down and breathed into him. She started compressions when he came to and vomited up lake water. She rolled him onto his side and then saw the blood.

"Fuck, Tor," she gasped. His back was a ruined bloody mess of bits of wood chips from the shed. He must've still been above the surface when it exploded. He had protected her, getting her out of the way.

"Oh, gods, I hate that asshole," he groaned. "How bad is it?"

"They don't look too deep, but I'll need to pick the wood out with some tweezers. You crazy bastard, you could have gotten killed!" She didn't want to yell at him but couldn't seem to stop.

"But I didn't. We are both okay," he tried to soothe her. It only made her madder.

"Can you walk? We need to get out of here," she said.

There was nothing left of the boat shed or her special wolf hurting kit. The car was covered in debris but still started fine. Ciara got Tor into the passenger seat and leaned on the dash, blood staining what remained of his shirt and trickling over the seat. Ciara found her phone and quickly called Arne.

"Ciara? What's happened?" Arne answered.

"Do you still have that fancy plane?"

"Yes, why?"

"I'm going to need you to send it to Uppsala. We got one of Varg's supporters, but Tor… Tor's hurt," she said, her voice cracking. She sniffed hard. "He's okay. Just banged up, and we need to get back to Oslo fast."

"All right, I'll make it happen. Do you have somewhere safe to wait for an hour or two while I get the plane to you?" Arne asked.

"I can sort something out while we wait at the private airport. And Arne? Don't trust the Ulfheðnar."

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