Beyond a Darkened Shore(45)

A smile peeked out at the corner of his mouth before he could hide it. “I am not sullen. I only wish my brother hadn’t sent me from the room like a page boy.”

“He did you a great favor. Be thankful.”

He walked closer until he was peering into the stall. “I remember this horse.”

I patted Sleipnir’s neck fondly. “He’s difficult to forget.”

“You weren’t riding him when you tried to kill me.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill you, as I’m sure you well know.”

His gaze met mine accusingly. “I wasn’t a worthy opponent?”

“It wasn’t your skills that stopped me; it was my sister. The two of you must have been born the same year, and I saw only her face whenever I looked at you. I did my best to merely subdue you instead of taking your life.”

Much of the bluster seemed to leave his stance. “We had a sister once, though I don’t remember her as well as Leif does. But I remember well enough, and I know what happened to her.” His hands clenched into fists. “That was why I stowed away against Leif’s wishes. I am her brother, too, and I should have a right to avenge her.”

I touched Arin’s arm. “It’s a terrible thing to lose a sibling.”

“She was murdered by the j?tnar,” he said in a snarl, as though I had said nothing at all. “Her body was the only one that wasn’t just a splatter of blood and gore. They wanted us to know they’d slaughtered her.”

A jolt of apprehension raced through me. “Why would you think that—that the j?tnar wanted your sister to be found?”

“Because it was obvious. She was the only one left. Why do that if they didn’t want us to find her?”

“Yes, but why your family? Why single you out?”

Arin stood a little straighter. “Because my father, and now Leif, are the greatest raiders in the north.”

I could understand how they’d think the j?tnar would challenge them in such a way, but there was something that made me think it was more ominous than that . . . a feeling that skittered up my spine.

“I’m young still,” Arin continued, “but that doesn’t mean I don’t want my chance to defend my own family.”

“It’s a worthy quest.”

Arinbjorn looked almost eager. “Then you’ll convince Leif I should be part of it? That I, as Finna’s brother, also have the right to hunt them down?”

I smiled and shook my head. “You overestimate my influence on your brother, I’m afraid.”

“I don’t think I do. I have never seen Leif treat a girl as he does you. It’s almost like—”

A terrible scream, agonizing in its intensity, rent the stillness of the stable. Arinbjorn and I froze, and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

It came again, a keen ending in a strangled breath.

I ran toward the source of the sound. Just outside the stable, a trail of blood darkened the hard, packed earth. I glanced back at Arinbjorn, who met my look with a grim expression of his own. The blood had splattered the side of the barn, and drops of it pointed the way to a dark corner.

With a cold dread gripping me, I followed the trail, careful to mute my footfalls.

There, in a dark corner, was one of the strange men from last night—the one with the nose like a snake. He loomed over the prostrate body of a young girl, his back to us. I stepped closer, Arinbjorn just behind me. The girl’s hair had broken free of its pins, and it spilled around her. Her soft brown eyes were glassy and unseeing, and with a start, I realized it was Aideen.

A crunching noise brought my attention back to the man. He turned, and in his hands was an arm, torn from Aideen. The hand was curled into a fist; she had fought before it was torn from her shoulder. Chunks of flesh were missing, and I reeled with horror when I realized why. Blood dripped from the snake-nosed man’s mouth, staining his teeth red.

Leif and I hadn’t been sure these men were inhuman, but now it was clear this was no mortal man. Though large by any human standard, he still wasn’t the size of a giant. His monstrous appetite, however, seemed to prove he was, no matter his size. I reached out with my mind but grasped at nothing; his gaze went everywhere but my eyes, and I needed that connection. I spied a nearby pitchfork and grabbed hold. Brandishing it before me like a spear, I said, “Leave the girl, or I will run you through.”

The Northman fixed me with a grim smile. “Why? I think we both know you can do little to stop me. Besides, she is already dead, and her flesh is sweet.”

Behind me, Arinbjorn retched, and my own stomach roiled. This was truly the work of the devil. “I cannot allow you to desecrate her body.”

He dropped the arm with a sickening thud and spread his own arms wide. “Then let us pit our strengths and see who is the stronger.”

Before I could move, the Northman launched himself at me, faster than should have been possible for a man of such size. He knocked me to the ground. I barely had time to raise my makeshift weapon before he was on me again. He landed three blows across my ribs, and I felt the bones bruise but not break. I forced myself to my feet again. Still he avoided making eye contact with me, as though he sensed my intentions.

The Northman circled me like a shark, and Arinbjorn caught my eye, stalking toward him out of the darkness. Abruptly, the man turned, fixing the boy with his gaze. He charged like a bull, slamming into Arinbjorn’s middle. The breath was knocked from Arin in a rush, and he lay on the ground, stunned. I ran toward them, the tines of my pitchfork aimed toward the Northman’s gut. Before it could make contact, he dodged as agilely as a dancer. He used my own momentum against me, grabbing my arms as I ran by and flipping me onto my back.