AEgir (BERSERKER WARRIORS #1) - Lee Savino Page 0,5

to me.

My heart thumped once, twice.

From the fog, a bird came flapping dark wings. A raven. The black bird landed beside the warrior’s boot a moment, then flew off.

A sign, for me.

The silver wings of my brooch dug into my palm. I wanted to fly away and follow the raven so bad my bones hurt.

You. The golden-haired warrior seemed to say. He kept his balance on the ship edge even as the wind picked up and tore at the edge of the white pelt he wore for a cloak.

“You can’t—” my would-be protector started, but the lion-headed warrior leapt.

“No—” I choked and grabbed onto the bench just in time.

The warrior landed perfectly in the center of our craft. A jump farther than most men could’ve made, and he rose strong and steady as if he’d been born with the roiling sea under his feet.

I hung on as the boat rocked and threatened to capsize. Danny did the same, almost flung to the bottom of the boat. As it was, his garments were soaked with bilge when he struggled to his seat.

With our attacker’s bulk, I could not see if the force of the boat’s shuddering knocked Dòmhnall’s warriors to the water, or if the warrior struck and dispatched them to the water. A splash and the two members of my escort were gone.

Danny reared up.

“Nay,” I shouted and stood, the rocking boat making my movements more careful than my temper. Seizing Danny’s arm and forcing him to steady me, I clambered between him and the warrior.

I would not see my father’s man struck down by any warrior, ghost ship or no.

As I neared the intruder, a honeyed scent rose, as if I’d open a casket of ale or one of Nanny’s herbed brews. The warrior’s head shot back, his nostrils flaring as if he scented it too.

Up close he was as large as he first looked. I was small as one of the hill folk compared to him. My head only came up to his chest, but my blood was too hot to notice.

I ripped off my veil and tossed it aside, glaring up at him.

“What do you mean by this?”

The warrior stared.

“Who are you?”

A wolf howled, the sound so loud it must be nearby. On the ship. But why? Who would bring a wolf onto a ship?

The Sea Wolf. My mother’s voice came to me. A warrior cursed to sail until he finds the one who can bring him home.

But that was just a story. This was real.

The warrior held out his hand to me.

“What do you want?” My breath came in sharp gusts. “I don’t understand.”

He beckoned again.

“No, lady!” Danny scrambled to his feet. Our small craft shuddered, and I fell towards the warrior. Strong hands caught my shoulders. I blinked into golden eyes, shining with an eldritch light. This was no ordinary man.

“Danny, stay back.” I didn’t look away. Danu only knew how I found my voice. “Go back to my father and tell him…”

I trailed off as the warrior’s longship loomed over us. In another moment we would crash into the ship’s side.

The warrior tossed me over his shoulder. The world tilted and my hair veiled my face. I cried out and got a mouthful of fur from the pelt the warrior wore.

The muscles of his shoulder bunched under my belly—no!—and the wind rushed over my face. Danny’s frightened shout echoing after me, the sound growing further and further away.

“To the north!” someone cried.

“To the north,” voices roared around me. Great whoops and howling as if this was a wolf pack and not a band of men.

Fog poured over the deck. The air was thick, too thick to breathe. The warrior dropped something heavy over my body before heading to the prow of the boat.

He moved with a powerful, swaying stride. This one has spent too much time at sea, I thought before the blood rushed to my head and I slumped to the deck.

When I woke, I lay hot and heavy on the ship deck. Someone had thrown a fur over me. A thick white pelt, like the one the golden-haired warrior wore.

My head throbbed.

“What...” I mumbled, my words garbled. My arms felt heavy and my chest was full of rocks. My head pounded as if I’d drunk a half barrel of Nanny’s best metheglin.

Voices rumbled in the distance before a pair of boots thumped closer.

“Easy,” someone murmured. Something smooth touched my lips and when I thrashed, water spattered my face.

“Calm yourself. ‘Tis only water.”

My