Free The Viking's Witch by Kelli Wilkins

brown eyes widened a little, and he shrugged. “No. They are fine. We hung them from their precious church.”
    He didn’t believe him, but right now he didn’t wish to waste time arguing. Odaria was on her own in the gathering hall. “Fine. Then see that nothing does happen to them.”
    He headed back over the hill. There would be time enough to talk with Karnik later. Right now, he didn’t dare leave Odaria’s side for too long. There was no telling what sort of trouble she’d get herself into.
    As he entered the main room of the gathering hall, he immediately sensed that something was wrong. The room was silent— too silent. Sig stood near the open cookroom door with his head bowed.
    “Rothgar, she—”
    He grabbed Sig by the front of his blue tunic and yanked him forward. “What in the name of Thor happened to her?”
    “Nothing. She ran off,” Sig answered, then swallowed hard. “After you left, she went upstairs. A moment later, she ran past us out the main door. We didn’t know if we should stop her.”
    Upstairs? What would Odaria have done up there? He released Sig and dashed up the stairs two at a time. The door to the bedchamber stood open. “Odaria?” He entered the room and looked around.
    Everything in the room seemed to be the same as when he’d left it. Then he noticed the torn chemise lying on the floor. Odaria had taken it off. Did that mean she was running around the village nude?
    He ran downstairs and grabbed Sig again. “Where did she go?”
    “I don’t know. She—”
    “Dammit to hell.” He bolted out the front door and went right, toward the far end of the village. Odaria couldn’t have gone up the hill. He’d just come from that direction, and he would have seen her. Karnik’s men had made their camp near the stone church. Would Odaria go there to seek shelter? He had to find her. If any of Karnik’s men came across her stark naked, they would not hesitate to have their way with her.
    He ran through the village, calling her name. Odaria had lived here her entire life. She would know hundreds of places to hide. She could be anywhere. How would he ever find her? It was his fault that she’d panicked and run off. He’d acted like a beast.
    A thousand terrible thoughts swirled through his mind as he ran. What if Karnik’s men had already captured her? What if, Odin forbid, she’d stumbled into the camp of the berserkrs ? He pushed that horrifying image aside and kept running. If anything happened to Odaria, he’d never forgive himself. Why had he acted so cruelly to her? He had no intention of selling her.
    A shrill scream tore him from his thoughts. Odaria! Within seconds, he’d reached the edge of the village. Fifty of Karnik’s men were standing around the church, watching Odaria.
    She stood near the stone church, clutching his green cloak around her trembling body. Her mouth hung open, and she was staring at something in front of her.
    He looked up. The entire population of the village was strung up in fishing nets and dangling off the sides of the church. The frightened villagers screamed and pleaded for help. He shook his head. It wasn’t a pleasant sight, but netting the villagers had kept them from true harm. Karnik’s bloodthirsty men would be less likely to slaughter them, and he needed them alive for questioning.
    “Odaria, come here.”
    She clutched the cloak tighter around her body. Something silver sparkled in the sunlight, and he saw that she had used his brooch to fasten the cloak closed over her breasts.
    He approached her slowly. Odaria was upset, and he didn’t want to frighten her into running. But why would the sight of the villagers in nets terrify her so?
    As he moved closer, he followed Odaria’s wide-eyed gaze. After a second, he realized that she wasn’t staring up at the church as he’d first thought—she was looking beyond it. He stepped to her side and saw her shoulders shaking beneath his cloak.
    “What is that?” she