She started to tell them that she wasn’t a witch then decided being a labeled a witch wasn’t such a bad thing if it kept her from getting eaten.
“Ulf!” Skars’ harsh shout had her turning in the other vikings’ direction to see the Olggans had discovered Piper’s hiding spot, maneuvering themselves so none of the Vikings could reach her in time. Terrified, Piper took off running from her crouched position.
“Don’t!” Raine shouted, also noticing Skars and the other Vikings had started swinging their weapons vigorously at the Olggans, trying to make a path toward Piper.
Her warning came too late for Piper.
Raine tried to dart after her, but found herself blocked by the ongoing fight taking place between two other Vikings and a large group of Olggans. Ulf, who was contending with several as he protected Tayla, was unable to reach Piper as well.
Stark fear flooded through Raine when the young girl came to a sudden stop to grab her chest and began to crumple to the ground.
“Piper!” Raine screamed.
Disengaging himself from the fight, Ulf attempted to go to her aid.
Raine felt a woosh of air next to her. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the king spring forward in a leap that put him just inches away from Piper.
“Don’t hurt h—” Raine managed to stop herself in time. “Don’t hurt him! Leave him alone. He’s sick!” she pleaded. “I need to help him.”
The king tilted his head to stare at her intently before turning back to Piper lying on the ground like a lifeless doll.
Ulf went to slide his hands under Piper, but before he could, King Jurzed caught Piper in his sinewy arms then took another leap away from the fighting between the Olggans and the Vikings. His army quickly retreated after him, as if they had been sent a silent message to withdraw.
“Let him go!” Raine screamed after them. With the way clear now, she started sprinting after them, determined not to lose sight of Piper. With her eyes, she tried to keep up with the king until it became difficult to keep track of his position the farther away he got and with the Olggans blocking her view. Raine gave a gasp of frustration when Piper and the king were swallowed out of sight.
Not watching where she was running, she stumbled on the body parts lying on the ground. She would have gone down headfirst if she hadn’t been caught from behind and pulled against Skars’ chest.
“It’s too late,” Skars told her. “Jurzed is gone. We won’t be able to catch him.”
“What do you mean it’s too late? He couldn’t have gotten that far. We have to go after him!” Frantic, Raine tried to throw herself out of Skars’ unrelenting hold. “Let me go!” Struggling against him, Raine could only watch helplessly as the Olggans, with the king and Piper with them, disappeared from eyesight.
Angry, Raine glared furiously at Ulf. “You said you would protect him!”
Affronted, the Viking stared back at her among the bodies he had killed.
Skars turned her around to face him. “King Jurzed will not harm the boy. He was taken for ransom.”
Confused, Raine tried to get her fear for Piper under control. “Why? For money?”
“Neinn, for trade.”
“Trade? What does he want in return? We have no money.” Conflicted about telling him that Piper was a woman and not a boy, she kept Skars in the dark.
“King Jurzed wanted me.”
“Why does he want you?”
“He would have bargaining power over my brother, Thorsen, who is our clan leader.”
Understanding it was a powerplay between the two fractions of aliens didn’t ease her fears for Piper.
“Say…” she delicately tried to find out more, “if you were traded for Piper—I’m not saying you will be—but, if you were, would he kill you?”
Skars narrowed his red eyes at her, but answered her anyway. “King Jurzed wouldn’t kill me. He would bargain for Xioarius if Thorsen finds him first.”
Raine was beginning to think she had actually died in the bombing and was living out her afterlife in an alien version of a k-drama.
“Okay … say … you’re exchanged for Piper, Thorsen finds this dude Xio … ruiu …” Raine stopped trying to butcher the name and shortened it. “Xio is given to him, would you be returned?”
“Já.”
Raine took that as a yes.
“What would happen to Xio?”
“King Jurzed will kill him.”
“Well, that wouldn’t be good for him.” She bit her lip. Did she care if an unknown alien would die because she had snuck out of the vault? “What would Thorsen do with Xio if he didn’t want to trade him for you?”
“Kill him.”
That definitely should ease her conscience. The alien would be dead regardless. Unless Xio was good, and that was why the aliens wanted him dead. Maybe he was trying to save the humans on Earth, and that was why the others wanted to kill him. Raine began building an imaginary picture of this hero from another planet, like she had read about in her numerous romance novels.