Sucking my lips in, I start to cry a little harder and the rain begins to fall a tad harder as well. Aaric looks directly at me as soon as he feels the raindrops touch his skin. He dips his chin, his eyes never leaving mine, not until I give him a nod with my own head.
Inhaling a deep breath, I will my tears to stop falling and thankfully, they do. The rain stops as well and when it does, Aaric’s gaze finds mine again and I watch as his lips twitch into a small smile.
Chapter Thirty-Four
LIV
I hold my breath as Aaric thrusts the ax forward. Then, as if it is as easy as cutting a tablespoon of butter, he slices up Fiske’s back. I hear the man scream, it’s so loud that my body jerks. There is a moment of silence after he’s cut him open and I let out a sigh of relief thinking that it’s over.
“It is not finished,” Hillevi whispers. “He has passed out, but he must be conscious for the ceremony.”
“Konungr,” Runa calls out.
Aaric turns toward her, and I do the same. Runa has her hands up and there are three witches who have theirs up as well. It looks as if they’re in a witchy standoff.
“Shit,” I breathe.
She hums, then laughs softly. “Do not worry overmuch, Quest is on his way.”
Then, as if right on cue, he appears. The men cheer at the sight of him, no longer scared of the gigantic beast. Instead, they are happy to see him. Slowly, he lands right in front of the three witches who are in the middle of their faceoff and so focused on that, they don’t sense his appearance.
Runa speaks, her voice is louder than usual, her arms straight out in front of her, her palms facing the witches.
“If you do not stand down, my dragon will end this here and now. The draugr will be free and we will ensure that he is sent to one of you,” Hillevi interprets.
There’s a moment of silence, I hear Fiske moan, and the witches flick their gazes over to him before they turn back to meet Runa’s. I watch as they all gulp. Their eyes widen, their lips tremble and they nod their head.
Who would have thought that a big ass dragon and a demon would scare the shit out of a group of three witches? I snort. The fact that any of this seems plausible and even normal at this point is comical. I can never go back to New York, not anymore, it would seem so dull, so lifeless, so boring.
Runa doesn’t put her hands down, instead she continues to murmur her spells as she stares at the witches. Thankfully, they keep their hands to their sides and just stare straight forward. There is another moment of silence, Quest snorts and a plume of smoke comes out of his nose.
Aaric shouts and all of the attention shifts back to him again, him and Fiske. He reaches forward, putting his ax in the opened wound and I watch in horror as he splits each rib bone from Fiske’s body, opening them up as if his insides have been flipped around.
I can see all of Fiske’s organs and hear his agonizing scream with every single move. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, Aaric reaches for Fiske’s lungs and places them on either side as if they are wings.
“The Blood Eagle,” Hillevi states as Aaric shouts.
The men erupt in shouts and cheers, their roars have to be heard from all over the island. I stand slack-jawed at the sight in front of me. My husband’s brother, a man possessed by a demon, but still his brother has been, for lack of a better word, tortured.
However, I should not be feeling what I am feeling in this moment. He wasn’t right, he was possessed, I should be happy that the demon is gone.
“We leave before the sun sets,” Hillevi translates. “Runa, can you bind them for that length of time?”
“Já, Konungr,” Runa answers.
“What about the body?” I ask, turning from Fiske’s bloodied body to face the seeress.
She shakes her head once. “He will remain as a sacrifice. He will not gain entry into Valhalla,” she informs me.
My heart cracks a bit at the sound of that. Fiske wasn’t that nice to me, granted, I only knew him when that bitch possessed him, so I like to think that under other circumstances, maybe he was an alright guy?
The men start busting out the ale, thankfully that wasn’t destroyed by Fiske when he came through on his little rampage, a rampage, I will add that he didn’t even attempt when he was surrounded by an entire army, instead, he picked on two men.
Apparently, the demon was a lazy fucker and a pussy.
Aaric makes his way toward me, after shaking many of his men’s hands, giving them hugs, and taking drinks from their cups with a roar and a cheer.
“Víf,” he rumbles.
Shifting my gaze to the side, I watch as Seeress slips away, toward her own man, dragon, beast, whatever he’s called—her Quest.
“Husband,” I breathe.
He takes a step toward me, blood, guts, paint and dirt are smeared all over him. He reaches toward me, cupping my cheek with his hand. “Have I scared you?” he asks, his voice low and gentle.
“You should,” I whisper.
“But?”
My lips twitch into a small and sad smile. “You could never scare me, Aaric, not when you are doing nothing but protecting your people—protecting me.”
He hums, reaching for me, and wraps his arms around my thighs. I let out a gasp as he picks me up and carries me toward the tent. We aren’t noticed by the men, or if we are, they don’t say anything.
The noise dies down a bit after we’re inside. Aaric lowers me down right in front of the bed. Licking my lips, I look up at him, I don’t know why, but I want him right now. Not only do I want him, I need him.
“I killed my own brother,” he murmurs.
“You killed a demon, Aaric. Fiske was gone long before today.”
He nods his head, lifting his hands and cupping my cheeks. “Gunnar and Hagen, they are gone?”
The words are said like a question, but the way he’s watching me, I know that they are not. Tears fill my eyes again. I nod my head. “Hillevi just told me. I didn’t know what happened, I hid as soon as I heard a commotion.”
He gulps, nodding his head slowly. “You did well, víf,” he exhales. “You saved yourself, you saved our child.”
Lifting my hands, I grip his wrists as I close my eyes slowly, then reopen them. “What happens now?” I ask.
His lips twitch. “Now, I celebrate that I cast the draugr back down to the underworld.”
“Then?” I ask breathlessly as I think about him celebrating, specifically, with me.
He grins. “Then we go on our raid.”
“Can we go home?” I ask. “I need to tell Sylvi about Gunnar.”
He nods his head. “Quest will take you and Runa home. We still need to complete the raid for winter, it approaches. Then, I will come home to you, víf.”
“Okay,” I breathe.
AARIC
Not bothering to unhook the back of her dress, I reach around and grasp the fabric at the back of her neck before I tear it apart. Liv gasps, her eyes widening before her chest starts to rise and fall with her panting breaths.
The dress falls to the ground, her undergarment is next, although this time she doesn’t allow me to rip it apart, instead she quickly tugs it down baring herself for me.