Viking Claimed (Triad Series Book 4) by Kate Pearce Page B

their rescuers if the opportunity arose.
    Morek notched an arrow as one of the Etruscans wandered away from the watch fire and toward the forest. Within a second the man fell quietly into the lush foliage, an arrow straight through his throat.
    “ Good shooting .” Aki remembered to mind talk just in time.
    “ Thank you. Now I will take out the man by the fire before he becomes anxious for his companion’s return .” Morek suited the words with his actions, and the Etruscan slumped forward like a puppet.
    “ I am not sure you need me here, Morek.”
    Morek smiled. “ Oh, I need you, Aki. Never doubt that. My brother and I knew you were coming to us years ago .”
    Aki frowned. “ How could you have known that when I didn’t even know I would wake up here four thousand years after my supposed death ?”
    “ The Oracle told us on our eighteenth birthday.” Morek slung his bow over his shoulder and beckoned for Aki to follow him down the slope toward the fire. “ She is rarely wrong .”
    “ What exactly did she say ?”
    Morek grinned at him. “ Enough to convince us both to wait .” He crouched down beside the fallen Etruscan and relieved him of his weapons. “ We can speak of this later. Roberts says we are ready to move in. ”
    Eight more Etruscans were dead, and Roberts was somehow feeding into Aki’s head a very detailed map of exactly where each Etruscan was situated compared to Aki’s position. It was quite disconcerting.
    Morek shook his head. “ Roberts is as strange as Ian Mac. Their thoughts are like a machine .”
    “ And what is Ian Mac to you ?”
    “ He’s the First Male of the Oracle’s First Daughter. He came from Earth like you. ” Morek smiled. “ His Second, Willow, is a cousin of mine .”
    “ Ah, so Ian Mac is a super soldier like Kaiden and Roberts and the others .”
    “ Aye.”
    Aki stopped and stepped sharply to his right, going in low and tackling the Etruscan creeping toward him before the man was able to get off a shot. He hung onto the man, bringing him to the ground and efficiently slitting his throat.
    Morek’s dagger flashed and another raider died with a cut-off gurgle. Aki shoved the dead body away from him and went back to Morek who was calmly cleaning his bloody blade on a large leaf.
    They shared a satisfied grin and moved on.
    Roberts’s calm voice came into his mind. Did the male ever get angry? “ All clear so far. We’re down to the last dozen. Four are at your end of the hall, Aki, four at Einarr’s. The rest are inside. Take out your four targets as quietly as possible and we’ll handle the rest .”
    Morek touched his shoulder and they crouched down beside the stone wall. “These men are more dangerous because they are now aware that their compatriots are not coming back. The range is too short for my arrows. We will have to kill them quickly .”
    Aki nodded and took out his axe, wishing he had his old familiar shield rather than the flimsy Pavlovan thing he’d been given.
    Morek winked at him. “Ready?”
    “Aye.”
    They rose as one and ran toward the group of four soldiers. As time slowed, Aki saw the first man turn and raise his weapon. Holding his shield high, Aki lunged in a perfect arc, cutting the man off mid yelp as he sliced his blade right through his neck. Even as the body was falling, he was spinning on the balls of his feet to confront the next soldier.
    His arm was jarred by the force of the bullets pumping into the shield, which to Aki’s amazement held. He kicked out with his booted foot and caught the man in the knee, sending the second volley of shots in an arc that almost caught Aki on the way down. He stabbed the second man through the heart and whirled to help Morek who was rolling on the ground with another Etruscan.
    A shadow behind the dueling pair made Aki look up as another soldier emerged, his weapon firing down at Morek. The soldier screamed as Aki’s thrown dagger sliced through his fingers, making him drop the