Page 13 of The Last Valkyrie (Vikingrune Academy #4)

Chapter 13

Ravinica

“YOU GUYS DON’T REALLY think Gothi Sigmund wants to join me in Selby Village so he can kill me, do you?”

We were huddled in the small den of my longhouse in the northeastern side of campus near Eir Wing. Ironically near Astrid Dahlmyrr’s ambushing, and where some other cadets lived.

It was wild to think how far I had come in such a short time. From initiate scrunched together in a tiny room with other women at Nottdeen Quarter, to a prisoner in Corym’s elf camp, to the squalid hovel beneath the academy, and now with my own longhouse.

I had proven myself. Even if the Hersirs hated me—at least some of them—they couldn’t deny me the fruits of my labor. It would have raised suspicion with the other students, after I’d gained their respect by excelling at my studies, beating the initiate tests, unveiling my magic, defeating Grim in single combat, and being one of few people who stepped through the portal to Alfheim while also coming back alive.

To shut down someone as successful as I was, in the students’ eyes, would have set a precedent they couldn’t ever succeed either. That their efforts would be in vain and useless. It could potentially foment resentment and rebellion.

At least that’s what I told myself, and what my mates also believed. In theory, it was the idea that Sigmund and the others were better off stuffing me away in a corner of Academy Hill by myself, where I couldn’t be a nuisance or a rabble-rouser.

Many of the Hersirs remained skittish following the traitorous note Arne had stuffed in the pamphlets during an assembly, which had told of the deceit and lies the academy had spread to gather all the initiates and students there.

So, yes, stuffing me away seemed to suit their needs, but it was only a short-term solution. Because what the Hersirs didn’t realize was they were doing my dirty work for me, bringing me closer to the student body.

Once I had the students on my side, even the faculty couldn’t stop us. There were too many of us. And if I got their support, I’d become an actual threat. We can retake Vikingrune Academy in the name of the students.

We would finally be able to start fresh.

That was my line of thinking, and how I’d been discussing our next plans. Now, things were on hold. We needed to focus on survival before taking down the academy higher-ups. Unless we can bring the jotnar around somehow? Parley—no, it’s foolish. We already discussed that, and look what the damned giants did to us!

As much as I hated it, I needed Gothi Sigmund, Tomekeeper Dahlia, and the other Hersirs for the time being. At least until we saved the academy and were safe once more.

A horrible thought came to me, and I blinked rapidly from the bench where I sat against a wall. My head snapped up, and my mates around the den eyed me warily.

“Uh oh, she has that look,” Magnus said.

“What look?” I scoffed, wrinkling my nose.

Arne chuckled. “The look of a scheme. Cogs always moving in that head, eh, love?”

I stood. “I can’t help if I see deceit everywhere.”

“Well, you’re usually not wrong,” Sven grumbled.

“Hear me out,” I said, putting my palms forward as all five faced me. “What if Sigmund is trying to mitigate his chances of a rebellion by . . . trimming the students’ numbers?”

Their heads reeled.

“That’s treason you’re talking about, sneak,” Grim said.

“No.” I raised a finger. “It’s fighting treason, in his mind. After Arne put their lies on blast with the little pamphlet note, things haven’t been the same since. It could be why the Gothi brought in a new crop of initiates, too. Moldable minds that haven’t had a chance to learn the truth yet.”

“Then why would he bring the new initiates to the battle with the jotnar?” Corym asked.

“I’m . . . still workshopping that. Maybe to give a false pretense, to hide his tracks? Remember, he did put them in the third regiment—the rear guard. Least likely to get trampled on. That way he can say, ‘Oh, look, we’re all equal here.’ When in reality, it was the cadets that took the brunt of the damage.”

“It’s a stretch, lass,” Corym replied, giving me a crooked smile. “Though I don’t put it past Sigmund Calladan.”

Sven said, “It sounds like you’re grasping at straws in a cup that doesn’t exist, menace. Why would he do all that when he can just arrest the people he thinks are scheming against him? Have Steward Jorthyr lock them up, torture them, or use the Whisperer’s mindshaping for answers?”

“Hey, leave my pops out of this,” Magnus said wryly.

Sven smacked him in the shoulder.

“It’s too tidy,” Grim said, catching everyone’s attention. “Sigmund is cunning, no doubt, but even this seems beyond his purview. There’s too much that could go wrong, too many variables. Unless you’re also suggesting he somehow has control over the jotnar or the dark elves?”

I grimaced. “No, probably not.” I scratched the back of my head. Maybe they were right and I was looking for specters that didn’t exist, trying to find a boogeyman for all the problems at the academy.

“Square peg in a round hole,” Arne added.

“You would know all about round holes, dandy,” Sven shot off.

To my surprise, Arne chuckled, which quickly got the rest of us smiling. For all my mates had been through, they were managing to keep it together for my sake, for each other.

It made my heart hurt and my stomach tighten. Oh shit, I’m being so inconsiderate. Sven just lost a damn brother! Even with that being the case, the wolf shifter was acting the most talkative of us. Drowning his sorrows by staying busy, no doubt. Trying to forget about it.

“Let’s circle back to the Gothi’s grand schemes and focus more on the immediate future,” Magnus said, inclining his chin. “To answer your earlier question, I’m not sure if Sigmund would try to kill you in Selby Village, silvermoon. Like Corym said, I wouldn’t put it past him. Which is why we’re going to be there to make sure he doesn’t try anything sketchy.”

The others nodded in unison, sharing eager looks and clamped jaws.

I had my back against a wall, foot propped up on the bench behind me. My guys looked delectable and furious. Just the mere thought of an attack against me was enough to make them go taut, their primal instincts of protection and aggression dashing across their faces.

I wanted to eat them up. It was morning, we were refreshed, and the day had just begun. Classes would start again in an hour or so. I’d slept like a rock last night—we all had, snoring and tangling in limbs like a heap of undead.

Undead? Too soon.

“We have six days starting from today before you sail to your home,” Magnus pointed out. “Which gives us little time to make things happen.”

“Make things happen?” I asked.

The bloodrender nodded. “We’ve all talked about it. We have jobs. You’re not going to like them because they split us up. But it’s all we could think to do.”

“Wait, hold on.” I pumped my hands, furrowing my brow. “You guys had a secret cult meeting without me ?”

They chuckled awkwardly, looking a bit shamefaced.

“Judases.” I flapped a hand. “Go on.”

“Well, as you know, I’m joining Corym in Alfheim.”

“Yeah, um, about that. Why are you doing that again? Do you forget there are Dokkalfar out there in the wild, and now freaking giants, too?”

“We’ll be safe, lunis’ai ,” Corym chimed in. “We don’t plan on kicking any hornet nests on the way in. A quick two-day excursion to the portal, two days in Alfheim, and two days back.”

“Tight schedule,” I croaked, feeling a wave of worry.

“You let us handle it, love,” Magnus said. “You have your own shit going on here.”

“I do?” I stood straighter. It wasn’t like Magnus to be so pushy, but I kind of liked this commanding side of him. Reminded me of when I had him beneath the sheets to myself.

Grim stepped forward. “You and I are going to keep our ears to the proverbial door around the Hersirs, Vini. See if we can’t figure out what Sigmund is scheming when he takes you to Selby.”

My face twisted with a devious expression. “Sounds dangerous. I love it.” My expression switched to a suspicious one. “Sounds strangely like you’re trying to watch over me like a guard dog, though.”

“He is,” Sven said bluntly. “Because we’ll fucking flay his fur and skin from his body if we come back and anything has happened to you while we’re gone.”

“ We ?” I chirped. “The Hel are the rest of you guys doing over the next week?”

I didn’t like the way this was going.

Sven said, “My father is arriving on the Isle shortly. He has a meeting with Gothi Sigmund, apparently, which I learned from a note my sister showed me.”

That was a lot to mull over. “Wait, you’re back on good terms with your siblings?”

Sven shrugged. “The ones left anyway. Until they piss me off again. I’m going to head him off at the pass, as it were, and find out what the fuck Da is doing here. Why he’s meeting with Sigmund.”

That must be why the Gothi won’t let us leave for a week. He has his own clandestine meetings to attend.

That was four of my mates accounted for.

I pointed at Arne. “And you, blondie?”

He dusted off the sleeve of his blue tunic, looking away and seeming a bit squeamish. “I’m going to track down Dieter and figure out the Lepers Who Leapt’s part in all this.”

My brow threaded. “Their part ? What aren’t you telling me, Arne?”

“I . . . saw something during the fight. A Leper fighting an academy cadet.” Before I could lose my shit and shout, he put his hands out to calm me. “I know, I know, it freaked me out too. The fact we saw that manbun-having, sister-killing fuckface of a dark elf out there also . . .” He took a deep breath to calm himself, clenching his jaw and then glaring up at me. “If the Lepers are working with the dark elves for some reason, or gods forbid the jotnar, I need to try and sway them from their plans. I’m the only one who can do it, little fox, because of my relation with Frida. If she could convince my old family to join the Dokkalfar, maybe I can convince them to not do that.”

I swallowed hard. “Gods . . .” I trailed off, not bothering to voice my concern. We all knew the dangers of what we were planning individually. I didn’t need to say it.

It just shocked me to find them all so . . . brave. So nonchalant about everything. As if they realized this was what had to happen for our endgame to play out the way we wanted.

Until right now, I’d never realized how many steps were involved in running a rebellion. We were at the intelligence-gathering and ally-finding portion of our plan. Perhaps the most dangerous part, as my guys were going to their respective people to try and drum up support.

“I love you guys,” I said abruptly, feeling the pull tugging at my chest.

That snapped them out of their individual situations rather quickly. Their heads veered over, and they replied with the same words to me, only for me.

I felt tears burn in my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them fall. “Sorry, I just, I need you all to know that if we’re splitting up. In case anything—”

Sven swooped on me first, lunging forward and slamming his lips over mine, shutting me up by squishing my cheeks together with his palms.

I melted into the wolf’s kiss, tasting his pine and fire and lust deep in my throat, tongues swirling together. He pushed my spine up against the wall, tighter, nearly pinning me there.

As I gasped into his mouth, he pulled back with a sly smirk on his face. “We’re not splitting up just yet , little menace.”

“We’re not?”

He looked down at an imaginary watch on his wrist. “No. We’ve still got an hour before classes start. We all need to be very cool and nonchalant about our plans . . . can’t be too tense.”

I picked up what he was putting down, my own glistening lips twisting into a smile. “I know of one way to relieve the pressure, I suppose.”

“Oh, you know many ways, Rav. And we love each and every one of them.”

I rolled my eyes, breathing heavily, feeling his strong chest press against mine. More distractions for him. He should be consoling with his sister and brother over Olaf, yet he’s here with me.

I would give Sven that, because I wanted it just as badly as he did.

“Well,” I said, “the six of us did survive an invasion of giant aliens from another world. And if I’m not going to see most of you for a few days . . .” My smirk deepened and I pressed my lips against his, pushing off the wall to wrap my arms around his neck. “. . . I suppose that warrants some kind of reward for you guys,” I finished with a delicious whisper in the shell of his ear.

He pulled back with a groan, grinning evilly. “Only for us? Come now, menace, we know it’s just as much of a reward for you, too.”

Yeah, he’s not wrong about that.