Viking Claimed (Triad Series Book 4) by Kate Pearce

units.”
    “Like Soreya. Ash and Esca’s mate.”
    “Exactly. This is a Hakron village so you should be able to differentiate between them and the Etruscans.”
    “How?”
    “The Hakron tend to have green skin and they are advanced telepaths and fearsome warriors.”
    “That is good to know.”
    “I’m trying to key into a Hakron telepathic stream to warn them of our approach, but so far they are impenetrable.” His smile was wry. “They don’t react well to my particular brand of telepathy. They think I’m a machine.”
    Aki drew his sword from his shoulder scabbard and carefully checked and cleaned the blade before sharpening the three additional daggers he’d taken from the ship. His axe was always honed to perfection. A whisper of a thought brushed his mind and he looked up.
    Einarr was coming back through the trees with Bevan behind him. They both looked grim as they joined Roberts and Aki.
    “Half the village has been slaughtered. There are bodies everywhere. It is obvious that they cleared a space in the center of the village and set up their rockets to fire at our airship.” Einarr said. “The remainder of the population are either being held captive in the great hall or have escaped.”
    “How many Etruscans did you see?” Aki asked.
    “Two dozen maybe?” Einarr spat on the ground. “May they rot in hell.”
    “Do not worry, brother. If they are not true warriors then we shall not allow them the glory of a place in Valhalla even in death.”
    “Amen to that,” Bevan muttered. “They are using the people trapped inside the hall as bait to get the others to surrender.”
    A high scream reached them and was abruptly cut off.
    “Then the sooner we get this over with, the better. No fucking prisoners. Shoot to kill.” Roberts shouldered his weapon. “We’ll surround them and take them out one at a time until somebody notices and then we’ll have to go in. Agreed?”
    Aki nodded, as did the other two. He was not afraid anymore. For the first time since waking up in this strange future, he had a purpose and a just cause to fight for. He finally felt alive.
    “ Let’s keep everything telepathic from now on in ,” Roberts moved forward. “ And shield because the Etruscans definitely have a telepath with them .”
    They went into the wooded area that surrounded the settlement and began to spread out. The sounds from the village grew louder, a horrible chorus of the dead and the dying that made Aki want to kill the Etruscans with his bare hands.
    A thought slid past him, and Aki’s head went up just in time to see an arrow flash past his cheek and bury itself in the fabric of his shirt, pinning him to a tree. Before he could rip the arrow out, a male was on him, his dagger right against Aki’s throat.
    Aki let out his breath. “ Hakron ?”
    The huge male who had him pinned against the tree arched away until Aki could see his face. He had eyes the color of an angry sky, hair like soot and soft green skin, most of it uncovered apart from a swathe of checked fabric gathered with a belt at his hips. There was a bow slung over his broad shoulder and a dagger tucked into his belt.
    “ We are friends. We come to help ,” Aki said.
    The pressure against his neck didn’t ease, and the knife tip dug deeper, releasing a thin trickle of his blood.
    “ You are not Pavlovan .”
    “ I’m from Earth.”
    “ Ah .” The Hakron male slowly smiled. He had flowers and leaves braided into the left side of his hair. “ Like Ian Mac?”
    “Yes.” Aki was sure he’d heard that name somewhere. “ Our plane was taken down from the sky by the Etruscans in your village .”
    There was a pause, as if the male was communicating with someone, and then the dagger was drawn away from Aki’s neck.
    “ Welcome, Human. I am Morek .”
    “ I am Aki. There are three others here with me .”
    “ I know.” Morek smiled. “ We have you all .”
    Aki allowed the Hakron to take him deeper into the forest. Despite