Read Online Fire and Lies by Angela Chrysler - Free Book Online Page B

survived Jotunheim because I had you bunking with me.”
    With bulging eyes, Kallan dropped her jaw.
    “You—”
    “You told her, huh?” Bergen interjected, pulling back the tent’s flap. Wearing just his trousers and boots, he made his way through the collection of beds. The humored lilt in his voice encouraged Kallan to tighten the grip around her legs and pull her overcoat closer as she grimaced miserably at Bergen.
    Happily, Bergen flashed his widest grin. Dropping himself beside Kallan, he unlaced his boots and tossed them aside before crawling beneath the blankets, paying no mind to the rage that twisted her face.
    Bergen grinned.
    “She didn’t take to the idea then,” he said, shuffling down between his furs and stretching out to face Rune.
    “Not exactly,” Rune said from beneath his arm.
    Bergen widened his smile.
    Kallan sneered.
    “Why are you smiling?  Why is he smiling?” Kallan asked, but Rune only grinned. “Why are you smiling?” 
    With a sigh, Rune afforded himself a moment to prepare for the torrent that would follow his answer.
    “Because,” he said, ensuring his arm remained over his eyes. “We agreed that if you don’t double with me, you’d be doubling with him.”
    A sickly pale coated Kallan’s complexion. Her silence confirmed her protest as she turned four shades of white.
    “Me, personally,” Bergen said, propping himself onto his elbow to better face Kallan, “I don’t care if you freeze to death, but my brother—”
    “You sleep with him then!” Kallan said, grasping desperately to her legs and pulling them deeper into her chest as Bergen burst into a fit of laughter.
    “Fair enough,” Bergen agreed, sitting up. He threw back the blankets. “I’ll leave this bed to you and Ottar, then.”
    Kallan’s eyes widened with horror. “No!”
    As Bergen resettled himself into his bed, Rune exhaled.
    “The temperature is dropping, Kallan. Set aside your pride or freeze.”
    “Perhaps it’s your company she abhors, Rune,” Bergen suggested, propping himself up onto his elbow. A bit of bare chest caught Kallan’s eye. With a grin, Bergen gently caressed the vacant spot beside him. “Come along, Kallan. I’ve had worse. I can forget you’re a Dokkalfr for one night.”
    Kallan sank deeper into Ori’s overcoat.
    “When the snoring gets to you, just kick him,” Rune said.
    Kallan settled her chin back to her knees and she rocked against a sudden rush of cold.
    “What about him?” Kallan asked as the camp outside quieted, leaving Bergen without a partner.
    “Bergen doesn’t bunk,” Rune said.
    Kallan scowled. “Why not?”
    As soon as she asked, Bergen was back up propped on an elbow.
    “I once angered a goddess by denying her my manly pleasures.” Disgust crunched Kallan’s face. “She put a spell on me so I always burn.”
    “Still telling that lie, Bergen?” Rune asked and, with his grin still splayed on his face, Bergen settled back down on his bed.
     
    Quiet settled too quickly over the camp as one by one the men paired off and claimed a bedroll, desperate for the added warmth an additional body would provide. The tent flap opened again, followed by the drag of Ottar’s footfall, snapping Kallan to attention. Her temper flared and she clenched her teeth, forcing her tongue still.
    “Which of you two idiots am I sharing heat with tonight?” he grumbled.
    His apparent exhaustion from the day weighed heavily on him. Bergen snapped his attention to Rune. Rune afforded a peek from beneath his arm in Kallan’s direction. Both awaited her decision.
    “Fine!”  Kallan said, slapping the ground and unfurling her body.
    She threw back the hides of Rune’s bed, purposefully blasting him with the cold night air. Too angry to notice the smirk that pulled at the corner of Rune’s mouth, Kallan shifted herself down beside him, violently yanking the hides over herself.
    Indifferent to the decision, Ottar dropped himself beside Bergen and pulled the blankets