Page 88 of Dream Reaper

While terrible curses exploded from the dark elf, Brynja shot a glance at Roar.

“Cover your ears. You don’t need to hear this.”

But the lad ignored her, jumping up and down and shouting, “Tie him up good.”

The dark elf’s muscles strained as they wrenched his arms behind the small of his back and began to wind the chain around his wrists. It took their combined efforts to hold him down while he kicked and tried to ignite fireballs in his now-pinned hands.

Ava clamped her armored hands around his to smother any flames he tried to toss at them. She could feel the heat, but the thickness of her dragon hands protected her from getting burned.

You’re welcome.

When Talos’s chains were finally secured around his wrists. Brynja grabbed the extra length and stooped to wind it around the elf’s ankles too. He kicked and thrashed, the curses growing more labored but no less foul. Jerrid plopped down and sat right on his legs so that Brynja and Finnr could get his ankles bound up tight.

By the time they were done, the poor, wretched elf looked like a trussed bird ready for the cooking pot. Finnr even fished a grungy kerchief from his pocket and gagged the prisoner with delighted flair. Talos fired daggers with his eyes before they flopped him back onto the ground, face down in the dirt.

They all sat back and exchanged glances. Brynja and Finnr grinned—this must be the most fun they’d had in camp in a long time. But Jerrid sat down on the ground and braced his elbows on his knees, looking completely wiped out.

Ava sank down beside him. “Now what?”

“The gag was a nice improvement,” Brynja said to Finnr, wiping her hands on her pants as if she had just finished a dirty, dissatisfying chore.

“Very nice,” Roar’s mother agreed, coming up behind them to put a restraining hand on her son’s shoulder.

He squirmed and tried to sneak closer to Talos, but she tightened her grip with the grimace of a warrior about to do battle.

Struck by inspiration, Ava perked up. “Can we put him in my closet?”

Brynja snickered but shook her head. “Honestly, I would be more comfortable if he wasn’t so close to the camp. It was good enough for you, but I don’t trust him not to set the fortress ablaze.”

That stung a little.

I still don’t like her, Dragon agreed, rumbling so loudly that her chest felt as if it were reverberating from within.

“The cave?” Finnr asked, cocking his head to one side. “What do you think, Siri?”

His wife pursed her lips and nodded. “I like it. Gets him farther away from the camp.”

Ava wondered where this cave was as she pressed a hand to her chest bone with a frown, trying to still the reverberations. When Jerrid shot her a suspicious look, she smiled innocently and dropped her hand. She didn’t want him thinking for one minute that she couldn’t control Dragon.

If he took it into his mind to separate them by force, who knew what would happen. The three of them had become hopelessly entangled, and she wanted time to stew about it before she figured out how to separate them.

Who says we have to be separated? I think this new arrangement is working out really well…

Ava shook her head, exasperated. Once again, Jerrid glanced at her with that furrow between his brows, thoughts churning behind his eyes as he stared at her. Quite intently.

“I agree that the cave might be the best option,” Brynja was saying in a hushed whisper to Finnr.

As Jerrid continued to stare at her, Ava’s stomach fluttered dramatically, and Dragon sniggered. She wished they were alone so that she could tell him off, but she wasn’t about to adopt Jerrid’s peculiar habit of “talking to himself.”

It was bad enough the girls thought he was a little crazy. The last thing she needed was for them to decide she was still a threat and trussing her up beside Talos in this cave.

I’d eat her before I let that happen.

Ava jerked at the thought, turning her face away so Jerrid couldn’t see her expression. The very thought of Dragon eating someone made her stomach turn. No wonder Jerrid always got his knickers in a twist when Dragon started talking about eating people and things.

It made all the difference when you were the one who would have to be party to the horrific event.

After she smoothed her expression, Ava turned back to the others.