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

to pieces with an axe. Her trembling hands caused the shield to rattle against the deck of the ship.
    Through her haze of fear she thought she heard Alrik call her name, and the urgency in his voice coaxed her to again peek over the edge of the shield. He was on the other ship, swinging his axe like a madman. Selia felt the bile rise in her throat as he brought the axe down on the shoulder of a dark-headed man, nearly cleaving him in two. The man's body crumpled onto the deck. Alrik put his foot on the man's chest and freed the weapon with a sickening jerk, then dashed to the side of the ship and threw his leg over to clamber down.
    " Run, " he yelled. She was confused for a moment until she saw one of the men from the merchant ship had already climbed over and stalked toward her with determination, gripping a dagger in his hand.
    She screamed, dropping the shield, and ran as fast as she could in her husband’s direction. He was back on the dragonship, and she was only a dozen steps away from him when someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her off her feet. She was still carrying the arrow, and she stabbed blindly with it, feeling an unexpected sense of satisfaction as the point made contact with the man's thigh. He yelled at her, jerking the arrow from her hand, and threw it onto the deck of the ship.
    The blade of the dagger pricked against her throat, and she stopped struggling. Her captor called out to Alrik in a threatening voice. The man probably did not intend to kill her, but instead to hold her hostage as a way to free his ship and the remaining lives of his crew. Unless he panicked and pressed too hard with the dagger. Selia held still, barely breathing.
    Alrik stopped mid-stride with the axe over his head. "Do not move," he said to her. His voice sounded ragged, as though his fury made it difficult to speak. The pressure of the dagger bit deeper into her flesh, and she knew she couldn't move even if she wanted to. The sailor spoke to Alrik again, louder this time, and there was fear in his voice.
    Alrik nodded at the man, then bent as if to lay his axe on the deck. The tension of the blade against Selia's throat eased somewhat. Then with a movement so quick Selia would have missed it if she had blinked, Alrik pulled something from his boot and threw it at them.
    There was a rush of wind, then the awful sound of metal sinking into flesh, just above her head. The man's body shuddered behind her. He staggered backward a few steps before he collapsed onto the deck of the ship, dragging her with him.
    Alrik reached them in three long strides. He pulled her free, forcing her head back to peer down at her throat. "Are you hurt?"
    Selia shook her head. She saw the man out of the corner of her eye, lying on the deck with a dagger protruding from his face. He was still alive, making a gurgling noise she knew she would never be able to extract from her memory. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and cover her ears until the battle was over.
    But Alrik wiped at her neck, rubbing a droplet of blood between his fingers where the blade had nicked her, and bellowed with incoherent fury as he grabbed his axe. He ran for the dying man, then with one brutal swing chopped off his head. He held the severed head up by the hair and roared, causing the Finngalls—still fighting on the merchant ship—to shriek out their battle cry.
    Blood spurted from the headless body as the dead man's hand twitched against the deck of the ship. The foul stink of his blood and excrement filled Selia's nostrils.
    Her field of vision narrowed and faded to black, with the war cry of thirty Vikingers ringing in her head.
    She awoke to a scraping sound, long and persistent, vibrating the floorboards of the ship beneath her. Judging by the voices and laughter outside, the battle seemed to be over. Had she fainted? She had never fainted in her life, but perhaps witnessing one’s husband lop a man’s head off was a legitimate reason to do