by Jenika Snow
I wanted to see him again, speak with him. I wanted to get to know Calder. But I said nothing and lowered my head, my hair blocking my view of him as it moved along the side of my face.
Turning to leave, to curse my self-control in this moment, I froze as I felt a light touch on my elbow. I felt his finger scape along my arm, down to my wrist, and to my fingers.
It was just the briefest of touches, light, almost hesitant, something I would never have envisioned from a Viking like him. But my father clearing his throat snapped me out of the haze. I forced myself to walk back to him, feeling Calder’s gaze on me the entire time. I felt like my skin was burning alive where he’d touched me.
And right before he was gone from my view, I looked at him once more and stared at him, our gazes locking, and everything in me telling me to go back to him.
And I wanted to.
Gods, I wanted to.
Chapter Four
Greta
Later that evening
A hand clamped over my mouth had me waking with a start. I made a cry of surprise and fear, but the sound was muffled.
My pallet was in the corner of a separate room, the darkness so thick in this part of our home that for a moment I envisioned I was dreaming.
But I knew this was reality, that the heavy hand covering my mouth was no dream.
Everything seemed so heightened in this moment.
The rapid breathing of a male holding me close to his body.
The smell of wood burning.
The sound of the fire crackling.
But then everything faded, the feeling of my eyes wide, of my lungs seizing, of me not able to breathe in deep enough, all slammed into me.
Then light washed over me, so bright that I instinctively closed my eyes, the pain stabbing right through my head.
I fought, kicked and tried to get out of the hold of whoever had me. My back was to his chest, one of his arms around my middle like a rope, keeping me tethered to him.
I was being moved through the main hall of our home and toward the front entrance.
But I needed to get the attention of my father and brother before I was taken outside and the chances of getting help faded quickly.
I was dragged across the ground, my bare feet moving through mud, the recent rains having everything wet and cold. I was getting farther away from my home, tears running down my cheeks, my vision blurry.
And then I was turned around forcefully, my head cracking back from the force, my eyes widening when I looked into Egil’s face. The moonlight hit him awkwardly, shadows slashing across his forehead and chin, almost distorting his appearance. His eyes were narrowed, his lips curled.
“You’d do best to stay silent.” It was all he said before he lifted me up and onto his waiting horse. He climbed up a second later behind me, wrapping a thick arm around my middle, keeping me close to him.
I opened my mouth to scream, but he slammed his hand over my mouth hard enough the sting had my eyes watering even harder.
“Make a sound and I will make sure your family pays for it tenfold with pain.” He leaned in close, my entire body tense, my skin puckering from fear. “Your father should’ve taken me up on my offer, Greta. Now he gets nothing, and I get everything.” He kept his mouth right by my ear. “And make no mistake, I’m going to get everything.”
My fear spiked but I said nothing. I had no questions on whether Egil would hurt my family.
I knew he would.
As we started riding off, I looked over my shoulder at my home, the one I’d grown up in, getting farther away. And as I knew my future was uncertain, that my life now belonged to Egil, I also thought about one person.
Calder.
How I wished I would have spoken to him more, told him how I felt.
I wished I’d been honest. My heart might have been broken, but regardless, I would have set the truth free.
Now I would never know what could have happened between us.
Chapter Five
Calder
The fear on Leif’s face was clear, tangible. In fact, the whole family looked ready to break, but it was understandable given the fact Greta had been taken. I wanted to destroy something, kill things with my bare hands.
She’d been taken from her bed in the middle of the night, taken from her family by someone who couldn’t have her. And everyone knew who it was.
Egil.
I curled my hands into fists, my blunt nails digging into my palms. My body was tight, the anger moving through me like a ship in the middle of the ocean, a storm raging all around it. I wanted blood on my body, covering my face, corpses littering the ground at my feet.
And I would get my vengeance for the wrongs committed against Greta. I would make him pay tenfold.
“He must die,” Leif said, his face red from his anger as he paced in front of the fire.
Greta’s brother, Leifson, looked calm and collected, but in his blue eyes I could see the flames of vengeance burning bright.
I should have claimed her last night, told her she was mine. I should’ve taken her into my arms and cupped the back of her head as I pressed my mouth to hers. I shouldn’t have let her walk away, but I would get her back.
“You’re sure Egil was the one who took her?” I didn’t ever question anyone when they wanted me to hunt and track, but I didn’t want to go off in the wrong direction, wasting precious time, especially where Greta was concerned.
Although I’d find her no matter where she was, no matter how far she’d been taken. I wanted to be sure it was Egil who had done the act, because the man I killed for this would die slowly and painfully.
“Yes, it was him. I declined his marriage offer for her earlier yesterday. And then I’d been alerted by Sven’s young daughter that she’d seen Egil riding away from my home with a woman on his horse. It wasn’t until he heard about Greta being taken that she realized that had been the woman.” Anger and fear covered Leif’s face. “It was him, and I want his life for this.”
Oh, he’d get that and much more.
“You’ll find her and bring her back, Calder?”
Her father was right in front of me now, just a few feet away, his eyes wide and wild looking.
“You’ll bring me Egil’s head,” he said with rage in his voice.
I said nothing, just nodded. Killing Egil would bring me great pleasure.
“Please, just bring my daughter back.”
“I will,” I said with no emotion in my voice. I reserved that for Greta.
“Bring her home whole,” Greta’s mother said, the worry in her face almost enough to make me feel empathy.
It was almost enough to make my cold, dead heart beat once more. But it had only done that for one person.
Greta.
I looked back at her father, seeing his anticipation as he waited for what I would say, if I would accept. Although I would find her and bring her back at no cost, there was something I wanted, needed desperately. I’d never felt this burning desire before, but where Greta was concerned it was this living entity in me, stronger than even my need to fight to the death when in battle.
“I require one thing as payment.” Her father nodded, already accepting even though I hadn’t said what I wanted. “I want Greta as mine.” Leif looked taken aback for a moment, and I couldn’t blame him.
What I wanted was everything.
“It is her choice,” he finally said.
“It is,” I said. But I’d seen the desire in her face. I knew that she would give herself to me.
“And if she doesn’t want you?”
“Then I bring her home and I leave.” I didn’t admit that I couldn’t let her go. I’d already claimed her as mine whether she knew it or not. I couldn’t walk away from Greta, not when she was the only person to pierce through the wall I’d built around myself, to tame the wild beast inside of me.
Her father was silent for several long moments as he looked at his wife, then at his other two children. When he fina
lly glanced back at me, I could see the acceptance in his gaze.
“Then I accept. If she wants you, you have my blessing.”
I looked over at her brother, wanting his approval as well. He was a little more hesitant, took longer to answer, but finally he gave a sharp nod as agreement. “If she agrees, then so do I,” he said. “Just bring her home safely and make Egil suffer.”
I didn’t say anything else as I turned and left their home, grabbing the supplies that I’d left right outside the entrance and heading into the woods. I’d track them, find her. And then Egil would die slowly by my hand.
Already I felt the beast in me rising, this fury filling me. It was always like this when I went into battle or hunted. But this time was different. This time it was stronger and I knew it was because of Greta, because she was mine even though she didn’t know it.
But once I had her, I would show her what it meant to be claimed by a berserker.
Chapter Six
Greta
We’d been traveling all day, and still I had no idea where Egil was taking me. He said little, but he watched me intently, his gaze raking over my body every time I looked his way. I saw the heat and lust in his eyes, a degree of degradation in the way he wanted me.
I wrapped the blanket more firmly around me and tried to sit as far from him as possible. The fire in front of us burned brightly, the warmth the only reason I hadn’t tried running from him in this moment. Winter was already here, the fall of snow, the bite of wind, enough to have my teeth chattering.
I thought about escaping, or trying to again. It was risky, almost pointless. When he’d stopped to water the horse, I’d run. I’d done everything in my power to escape.
The branches were like claws trying to stop me, scraping along my arms and face.
Even now with the memory, my skin burned.
But he’d caught me before I got far, grabbed me by my hair and yanked me back hard enough I’d fallen onto the ground, my head cracking on a rock.
Then he’d dragged me, the side of my face taking the brunt force of it.
Egil was the epitome of evil.
Although I knew something was off with him, I hadn’t imagined he’d go to these lengths.
He wouldn’t let me go.
He’d use me, break me.
And what could I do to stop it?
Ask for help?
We were far from the village and the chance of a stranger helping me was almost as low as Egil letting me go.
Egil stood and moved toward me, and I cowered slightly. “Eat,” he said, holding the fish he’d just cooked over the fire out to me. The white meat sat on a piece of smooth bark, its skin crispy from the flames, steam rising up from it.
I stared at him, refusing to take what he offered. I’d rather starve to death then take anything from him. I pulled the blanket tighter around me and stared at the fire, ignoring him. Thankfully he moved back to where he’d been sitting, growling out in annoyance.
“You’ll have to eat at some point.”
“I’d rather starve,” I said in a harsh voice. I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. I wouldn’t make this easy on him. “I don’t know what you expect to get from all of this. My compliance? My acceptance?” I shook my head slowly. “I’ll never be yours. They’ll come for me. They’ll find me.”
He showed no emotion, no remorse.
In that moment, I thought about Calder, wondering if my father would reach out to him, use the berserker to come find me. At this point that would probably be my best bet of getting rescued from Egil.
I couldn’t think of anyone else in the village who had the skill to hunt and track like Calder did. I felt myself deflating, this heaviness weighing on me. I tipped my head back and looked at the sky, the stars bright, questioning why the gods would do this to me.
“They can try and find you,” Egil finally said. “But they won’t be able to.”
I looked back at him, my throat tightening, my mouth drying. He’d said those words with such conviction, such assurance.
“The cabin I’m taking you is in the middle of nowhere. No one knows about it. Not my family, not anyone in the village. It’s mine and was created for you and me, Greta.” He ate a chunk of the fish while staring at me. “You will be my wife, and we will start our life together. That was the goal. That is the goal.” He took another bite of fish and kept his focus trained right on me.
I felt my skin tighten at the very real admission coming from him.
“But your father refused to give me your hand in marriage. So, I took it upon myself to make that my reality.” He tossed the spine of the fish and bark plate away, bracing his elbows on his knees. “Because you’ve been mine for a long time, whether you accept it or not.” He grinned then, the full evil that came from him enough to suck the air from my lungs. “And I don’t need you to accept it, Greta. I just need you here.”
“You can’t just take me from my home, Egil.” Maybe if I tried reasoning with him, reaching out to the side of him that was softer, gentler … if that were even something he had, maybe he’d see the error of his ways. “I have a family. I have responsibilities.”
“Not anymore. Your sole responsibility and concern is me and how you’re going to please your new husband.”
I heard the dark promise in his words.
The silence stretched between us and as I stared at the fire I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream out, fight back, but knew in the end it would be fruitless.
Fighting back is all you have. Do it for your family. Do it for yourself. I looked at Egil again and felt my anger grow. Do it for the life you want with Calder, for the things left unsaid between the two of you.
I thought about Calder and wished I’d told him how I felt. I wished I’d taken that leap of faith and just been honest. Because, look at my situation now. Look at how my future was.
It drained the energy right out of me.
I didn’t know if I would get rescued, so I needed to do one thing.
Take my fate into my hands and rescue myself.
Calder
I crouched low and ran my fingers across the hoof marks in the mud. They were fresh, not even a day old. Although they could’ve been from any traveler, my gut told me it was Egil.
And my intuition was never wrong.
I stood, the winds picking up and blowing leaves along my feet. I swear I could smell the sweet scent of Greta in the air.
The coldness was creeping in fast, the promise of winter no longer a hint, but cold and sharp, like the blade of a sword in battle. With each moment, I felt my anger rise that she’d been taken. I felt the beast in me rise up at the very thought of harm coming to her.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop myself, control the violence when I saw Egil. He better pray to the gods that she was unharmed, that he hadn’t even touched a hair on her head.
I picked up my speed as I made my way through the forest, knowing these parts as well as if I’d lived here my whole life. That’s what happened when someone was a wanderer. They knew the land like it was their own.
I felt determination fill me.
I’d find Greta.
I’d kill Egil.
And then I’d make her mine.
Chapter Seven
Greta
The sound of the fire crackling kept me awake more than the feeling of Egil lying close to me. I wasn’t foolish enough to think he wasn’t at the ready with his weapons.
But even the fear of what he would do to me if he caught me escaping once more couldn’t override my need to be free, to try.
Because a life with Egil was far more frightening than the thought of death.
I slowly, quietly sat up. We’d been traveling for hours, what seemed like days, the time melding together. In this time, I’d thought about my family, how they would be worried about me, the lengths they’d go to bring me home safely.
I thought about Calder, wondered where he was right now, if he was tracking me. If he’d find me.
Maybe it was hopefulness that had me wanting him to come after me. Maybe it was dreaming that he even was.
He knew nothing of me aside from that very short interaction we’d had at the gathering. I was no one to him. Nothing to him. My family didn’t have a fortune, surely not one that would inspire a berserker to come find me.
But still I hoped.
I kept my focus on Egil as I pushed the furs off of me and slowly stood. He faced me on his side, his eyes closed, his breathing even. But I wasn’t fool enough to think he wouldn’t be awake and ready in a matter of seconds. I was breathing hard, a dizzying feeling consuming me, my heart racing.
I started slowly moving away from him, closer to the tree line, knowing he’d probably catch me, but I had to try to gain my freedom. I couldn’t be a prisoner, wouldn’t have anything to do with him. I would reject him every step of the way, even if that was just staying silent and refusing anything he offered.
That was all I could do, and I would do it with everything in me. I looked at the tree line and then quickly back at Egil. He still slept.
Everything in my body was running on high the closer I got to the deep shadows, those thick trunks that would hide me, give me protection.
I held my breath as I took another step, and then my foot snapped a twig in half, the sound echoing, making every part of me tighten. I held my breath as I slowly looked back at Egil. His eyes were open, his gaze trained right on me.
And then I ran, not even thinking about the repercussions, not even pretending like my life was in my hands in this moment.
I couldn’t see much, but I kept my hands out in front of me has I ran. Everything melded together as I breathed hard, blinking as if that would clear my vision, making things more visible. I could hear twigs snapping behind me, the low rumble of Egil as he charged toward me.