Free Odin's Shadow (Sons Of Odin Book 1) (9th Century Viking Romance) by Erin S. Riley

at Selia, just once, and she took a step backward at the sight of him—a Finngall warlord in full battle array, with his sword at his hip and his axe over his shoulder, preparing to plunder a ship and most likely murder its crew.
    She had a momentary sense of recognition, as though remembering a dream. An icy wave of fear shot through her body and she felt an overwhelming urge to run away. But there was nowhere to go other than overboard.
    They were approaching the other ship at a shocking speed. It was fat and solid, a direct contrast to Alrik's lean, predatory dragonship. Most likely a merchant vessel such as the one her father owned, the crew of that ship would be sailors, not warriors, and completely unprepared to fight the fierce Vikingers.
    She was wrong. Sailors or not, the men from the merchant ship were not going to sit and wait for the dragonship to overtake them. One of the Finngalls cried out—a word she didn't know—and they all looked upward and raised their shields. She looked up as well and saw what appeared to be dozens of sticks flying through the air. Why would the sailors be throwing sticks at them?
    Arrows. She crouched down and covered her head. Seconds later she felt an arm go around her just before she heard the sound of something thumping against wood, directly above her body.
    Selia opened her eyes. A shield blocked her from the arrows, and she recognized the forearm around her waist as Alrik's. He picked her up and deposited her in the stern of the ship, with the rail at her back.
    The look on his face bespoke fury as he gave his men orders to ready their bows. They notched their arrows, awaiting Alrik's signal. He called it out, and the Finngalls let their arrows fly to rain down upon the merchant ship.
    Alrik turned back to Selia, his eyes glittering behind his helmet, as she shrank against the side of the ship. He cursed as he set the massive shield in front of her.
    When she made no move to reach for it, he grabbed her arm, nearly pulling it out of its socket. "Hold this, and do not move from here." Then he left her.
    The shield was made of a thick slab of painted wood, with a metal band around the perimeter. It was too heavy for her to carry—she couldn't have moved from the spot even if she wanted to. There were two arrows sticking out of the shield on the other side, and she tried to pull one out with which to defend herself if necessary. But they were sunk deeply into the wood. Those arrows would have killed her if Alrik hadn't blocked them. But now that she had his shield, he had nothing to protect himself.
    Should she even care if he died? His death would free her, after all.
    She cowered behind the shield as another volley of arrows rained down upon the deck. The ship lurched against a wave, causing a loose arrow to roll close to Selia. She grabbed it, but found she couldn't hold the shield upright with only one hand. She wedged the arrow between her knees where she could reach it quickly if she had to.
    The dragonship pitched again, harder this time, and she nearly lost her grip on the shield. She peered over the top and saw they were alongside the merchant ship. The Finngalls had thrown grappling hooks onto the larger ship to board it.
    The merchant ship sat higher in the water, and she spotted several of its crew members above. They had dark hair and dusky complexions, and were speaking a language she had never heard before. But the fear in their voices was unmistakable. One of them made eye contact with her, then shouted something to the others. She ducked back behind the shield with her heart pounding in her ears.
    There was an explosion of noise and movement as the battle began. The very air seemed to shake with the clanging of metal and the thudding of shields, along with the grunts, curses, and screaming of men. The screams were the worst—although Selia refused to look at the carnage, her imagination provided the horrible image of men being run through with a sword or hacked