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He sighed io”

She nodded “Are we stuck here permanently?”

He shook his head, “As soon as Carl catches up with us, we can leap again”

“And how long will that be?” she asked, listening for sounds of hu from his amulet It remained silent

“Usually around three days, give or take And that o questions,” he said “Are you ready?”

“How do I look?”

He gave her the once over “Doesn’tyou naked”

She rolled her eyes “Are you sure future-reed to marry you?”

“I think you only wanted me for my body” He struck a ridiculous super model pose with one hand behind his head and his hip jutted forward in her direction, and then winked at her

She laughed “Well, it couldn’t have been for your la quite a lot Considering their situation, she was surprised she wasn’t huddled in fetal position, quaking in fear, and sobbing with remorse

He crossed the rooo, saucy wench I have Vikings to lead Villages to pillage”

“Saucy wenches to tame,” she added as she passed him

“Noould I want a tame one?” he asked and swatted her on the rear

She glared at hi himself far too much And despite all her protests, she’d like to enjoy him a little more

Chapter 3

There were seven wo on the botto boat Reece had taken it upon hihtly bound Her ropes were loose enough for her to pull free, but their ruse had to be believable She allowed the curtain of her ever bothersos, in particular the fake Viking standing at the prow of the boat who claimed to know her in the future The oars sloshed in the water rhythid land Lara suspected it to be Norway, but she couldn’t be sure

The wo softly Another wo her coe of the Viking warriors Lara didn’t doubt the captives had lost husbands that day and likely would never see their children again She began to formulate a plan of escape for all of them Lara knew they would have to wait until they reached shore—no one would survive the frigid waters—but surely, with Reece’s help, they could free these women and allow them to return to as left of their families

The sun had set over an hour ago, and a dense fog hugged the shoreline The dragon figurehead projected froht like a htmares Lara sniffed her frozen nose and wished she had the use of her hands to war, her teeth chattering together like a windup novelty toy The baggie clothes she wore allowed for a somewhat insulated layer of air above her skin, and the woht shared

so so cold The hard deck beneath her provided no co in such an uncomfortable position for over a dozen hours

The warrior standing beside Reece at the prow, suddenly shouted, “Lift your oars!”

The oars lifted out of the water in semi-unison and the boat slowed Several ropes were tossed overboard

“Pull her in!”

Splashing could be heard in the water near the head of the boat and the vessel began to move forward slowly, until it scraped across land and came to a complete stop

“Put the slaves to work,” one of the lead Vikings called to the crew

The captives were untied from each other and hauled to their feet A few of the women cried out in protest but were quickly silenced with a backhand across the face Though her legs were cra as if she’d run a marathon, Lara climbed to her feet without assistance, and obediently took the heavy sack someone handed her and passed it to the next person in the chain as they unloaded the boat assembly-line fashion

Once the stolen goods were safely on shore, the huest of the warriors caught the frightened wo them down, handed thehts in the distance

Lara tensed when it was her turn to be hefted overboard The big warrior on the ground caught her easily and started to hand her off to sonize Before she could protest, a faiven off by torches

“That one is mine Take her to my quarters and don’t mess her up Leave that to me”

Lara kneas part of Reece’s ruse, but she couldn’t stop the thread of fear winding itself around her heart, giving her an unsettled, panicky feeling in her sto Lara away from the security Reece offered to the unknown of the settlement in the distance She felt so At least, she would be leaving this brutal world soon The other slaves had the rest of their lives to spend here She had to help the her copped a feel, but she was too terrified to protest and pretended he was accidentally squeezing her breast like a ripean ax Nope, wasn’t going to happen