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“And destroy others.”
In the next breath, Sofia’s eyes turned glassy, her voice soft and sultry. “Release me, and I shall make it entirely worth your while.”
Stefan loosened his hold, a drunken grin on his face.
“Stefan, don’t listen.” I wavered on my feet. The pull of lust glamour was heady, thick and almost impossible to avoid if a heart did not belong to another. I was devoted to Ari, yet even I felt sluggish, like I was forced to wade through tangles of swamp weeds.
Calista was closer than me and unaffected by Sofia’s glamour as though her heart was claimed. She snatched the scroll and sprinted from the cottage.
“No!” With a swift kick, Sofia shoved Stefan away. He shook his head, confused, and rubbed the sides of his skull.
Sofia moved swiftly, born of the forest, she was accustomed to being light on her feet. She sprinted after Calista. I sprinted after her.
Calista made it to the longhouse. She barreled through the doors. Blood fae guards near the doors looked befuddled and unsteady.Damn, Sofia. She was casting her glamour to anyone nearby.
“Sofia, enough,” I shouted at her back.
“This is for all of us, Saga,” she wailed as she slammed through the doorway. “For everyone.”
My heart raced. Calista was twenty paces ahead and aiming for the room where Ari slept. Sofia quickened her pace and followed close behind. She caught Calista by the hair before crossing the threshold and dropped the storyteller to the ground.
“Don’t do this,” Calista said, trying to fight off the huldra. “I need to destroy it, let me destroy it. This isn’t the story, it’s not the st—”
Her words were cut off when Sofia’s claws extended. The feral, more animal side of the huldra claimed her, and she sliced her nails over Calista’s face. Blood dripped over the girl’s brow, she tried to hold tightly to her scroll, but failed.
Sofia took hold, paused for a moment with a delirious sort of gleam in her eyes, then rushed into the room.
I jumped over Calista on the ground and hooked my arms around Sofia’s middle. Together, we fell to the floor.
“Get it from her, Raven Queen.” Calista scrambled back to her feet and ran for Ari on the bed.
Sofia thrashed and clawed at me. I tried to drag her hand from beneath her body. I’d snap the damn bones if needed.
“Open your eyes, Ari!” Calista cried, slapping his cheeks. She hummed between breaths. “Help me get him free, Whisper. Help me! Open your eyes, Ari!”
Sofia’s boot slammed into my ribs. The harsh tang of blood coated my tongue, and my grip slackened enough, she slipped out of my hold.
Shouts came from the hallway. Sofia rushed to the door and bolted the lock in the same moment heavy fists pounded on the wood.
“Saga?” It was Niklas. “Saga, Stefan is saying insane things. What’s going on?”
“Never open the door, and you’ll . . . you’ll have pleasure beyond—” Sofia tried, but I hobbled back to my feet and used one of Gorm’s books as a bludgeon against her head.
I coughed against the pain in my ribs, but took hold of her hair before she could run for the open flame. Calista burned the tales when a true twist was written. Sofia knew it. We all did.
Hand on her braid, I tugged. The force and desperation of our movements caused us both to falter on our feet and fall forward.
“What’s wrong with you sods?” Niklas’s muffled voice came. “Get back here and give me a damn key.”
Sofia kicked at me, teeth bared. “I will keep them all away, Saga. As long as is needed. Let me do this and it will save them both.”
My heart broke. “We cannot steal the lives of others, Sof. We can find another way.”
Her eyes burned with a rage I’d never seen before from the sweet, playful disposition she’d always kept. “You might find a way. Bracken is alreadydead! I will bring him back. He will . . . he will be born again. We both will be and we will meet, even if he is not a king, I will find him. I will tell him, this time, I’ll tell him.”
Tears soaked her cheeks and she made another attempt to reach the candle. I clung to her legs, desperate to hold her back, but every kick, every slap weakened me a bit more.
“Open your eyes,” Calista pleaded with Ari. “Bleeding hells, wake up! She’s tossing you back.”
