White Stag (Permafrost #1)(82)

“I healed him,” I said. Let him know how strong I am now. Let him know what I can do. Let him smell the power of the lindworm on me, let him smell the death scent of the draugr, let him smell the blood of the goblins I killed, let him smell the wild and the wind and the anger in my veins, so he knows I’m not the same as I was before.

Lydian raised an eyebrow, interest gleaming in his emerald eyes. “Really?”

“I am a lot different than I was before, Lydian.” My voice was low and soft.

His eyes narrowed. “Oh, I’ve always known you would ruin the world.”

I suppressed a shudder. Lydian would not get to me. He came closer to me with his knives. I was relieved to find they weren’t poison. I kept my bow and quiver slung across my back, knowing they’d be no use in a close fight, and instead gripped the stiletto in my non-ruined hand. Soren was backing off in a different direction, slowly sizing up the many goblins who were about to take him down.

“Where did you get that weapon?” Lydian asked. “It’s the halfling brat’s.”

“I took it off his body.” I spat at him and thanked the gods that, because I wasn’t goblin, Lydian couldn’t tell I was lying through my teeth.

Lydian smiled, his canines poking beyond his lips. I knew that smile. “I didn’t know you had that in you, little girl.”

I bared my teeth. “You don’t know a lot about me.”

He lunged with his knives, and I dodged, tumbling away. I couldn’t let talking distract me; that was exactly Lydian’s goal. Distract me. Anger me. Make sure I couldn’t think. “I know everything about you.” He laughed. “I know everything. The fact you can’t see it is maddening.”

“Says the madman,” I hissed.

His eyes narrowed, and he leaned closer. “Says the one who sees the truth of you.”

I let out a snarl of my own. Yes, that was his plan, and he was doing a pretty good job of it.

He and I danced for a bit; his blades went forward, I rolled in another direction to come up somewhere behind him, him already in position, rinse and repeat. He was playing with me. If he really meant to kill me, then we’d be fighting like we did in the Erlking’s palace; the thought filled me with fire.

Still, I had some tricks up my sleeve. He lunged and I waited a second too late, until his knife grazed my skin. Then I grabbed the hand holding it and twisted hard. The knife tumbled to the ground as I knocked my head back into his, his body now positioned behind me. One of his hands wrapped across my face, groping. Sharp talons made shallow welts as I bit down hard on what I thought was his thumb until the bitter taste of blood was in my mouth. He threw me to the ground with a force stronger than ten men, and I flew back a few meters, tumbling in the dirt. My breath was heavy in my lungs as I regained my bearings, only to see him stalking forward.

“That’s the problem with you,” he said, placing a well-aimed kick in my stomach as I tried to rise. “You and your kind are so delicate. So soft.” Another kick, this time at my ribs. I rolled away, trying to create some space between us. The stiletto had been knocked out of my hand and was lying there, a few meters away. “A simple little kick and your insides explode.”

This time, I saw the kick coming—right toward my chest. Risking it all, I rose and wrapped my arms around his leg, bringing him down to the ground. Scurrying above him, I pressed my fingers deep into his shoulder, where I knew the iron burn still poisoned his skin. He screamed and kicked out, his hands knocking me across the face. The force blew me away and again he rose, seething.

My eyes were blurring as I looked around me. I couldn’t see Soren anywhere. Wildly, I flipped over to search for him. Don’t leave me, don’t leave me.

Before I could find him, Lydian blocked my view and sat down heavily on my stomach. His hand grabbed my chin, squeezing hard until little rivulets of blood ran down my neck.

“See, the problem with you is that everyone thinks you’re so pure. The salt of the earth. That’s what they call it. You amaze them.” With his free hand, he wrapped his fingers in my hair, and I cringed away from the touch. “But I know more than anything or anyone else, Janneka. You are an abomination. You should have died the moment you were born. You and him.”

Saliva mixed with blood as I spat in his face. “The Permafrost disagrees.”

“The Permafrost will die,” he snarled.

“Only if we let you kill it!”

His boots slammed down on both of my hands, forcing them still. “I thought I could save you, change you. I tried,” he said softly. “Really, I did. But you stabbed that nail into my leg, and now we’re here. I’m afraid this is where your story ends. I do apologize. I really did try.”

His claws lengthened into wickedly sharp talons and a shiver rolled through my body. I’d seen the way goblins preferred to kill humans or humanlike creatures; they ripped the hearts right from their chests.

“It’s okay,” he whispered, stroking my cheek with the ghost of tenderness. “It’ll be quick. I promise you won’t feel a thing.”

All I could do was stare as his hand came down.

Then a voice shouted in the distance. “Lydian!” Soren yelled. Lydian stood and turned toward his nephew, and I rolled over, heaving up everything I’d eaten in the past few days. Disgust made my skin crawl.