Daughter of Rage and Beauty
Berserker Academy Book 1
by Amy Pennza
Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance
Print Length: 290 pages
Publisher: Scribble Pretty Books
Publication Date: November 4, 2019
The sagas claim you can’t fight fate. I’m determined to prove them wrong.
They say your twenties are supposed to be the best years of your life.
Clearly, they don’t know what they’re talking about.
Because right now, my life is in shambles. As the daughter of one of the most powerful berserkers in the world, I should be taking my place among the noble guild of berserker assassins. By now, I should have mastered my emotions and conquered my rage—all the better to use it as a weapon when called upon to kill.
But I’m not just Harald Berregaard’s daughter. My mother was a nymph, which makes me a magical mutt. When I was born, my father thought I might possess the best traits from both races.
He was wrong.
Now he’s shipping me off to the Berserker Academy, where the unofficial motto is “graduate or die.”
Nice, huh?
With the stakes this high, I can’t afford to get distracted. Too bad the academy’s headmaster keeps showing up at the most inconvenient moments, reminding me how much I suck at magic. And fighting. And basic conversation.
It doesn’t matter that he does it with a smile. Or that his eyes fire silver when he’s amused . . . or aroused. Hauk Sigridsson has his own problems. He’s not going to be one of mine.
On the other hand, he’s offered me a way to accelerate my studies and make it out of the academy alive. I just have to help him steal a priceless rock and defeat one of the most powerful immortals to have ever lived.
No big deal.
I’m in way over my head, but I’m determined to survive. They say you can’t fight fate. I’m going to show fate exactly what I’m made of.
“Are you sure you want to take that?”
I turned at the sound of Hauk’s voice. He pointed to the staff, which I’d tucked through a loop on the side of the backpack he’d given me.
“Yes.”
He grunted.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He propped his foot on the edge of the coffee table and did up the laces on his hiking boot.
I held back a sigh. Apparently, he was determined to pretend last night hadn’t happened. After Asher left, I’d gotten a few hours of fitful sleep on the sofa, my mind whirling with worries of Hauk, my unpredictable powers, and the upcoming quest. Around dawn, Hauk had emerged from his bedroom and set about making pancakes.
“You should grab a shower while you can,” he’d said, his back to me while he poured batter onto a griddle. “I want to set out for Radegast’s territory as soon as possible.”
Breakfast would have been a perfect opportunity to clear the air. Instead, he’d placed a heaping stack of pancakes in front of me, then started telling me what to expect once we reached the Ural Mountain region where Radegast made his home.
So we hadn’t talked about it, and it was obvious he didn’t want to. Asher’s warning about the attraction between us being a dangerous distraction was foremost in my mind.
But how was I supposed to bring it up when Hauk was seemingly dead set on shoving it under the rug?
Worse, what if he regretted it?
I looked at him now. “You don’t think I should bring the staff?”
He tucked the ends of his laces in the top of his boot and lowered his foot. “I didn’t say that.”
I waited for him to elaborate. When he just moved to the next boot, I gritted my teeth. “Do you think the staff is dangerous? Is that it?”
“Unpredictable,” he said without looking up.
Yeah, well, so was I. Maybe that’s why it liked me so much. I chewed my bottom lip as Hauk worked over his boot. I couldn’t share what Asher had said about the staff. Something told me Hauk wouldn’t like knowing I’d invited a Fae into his apartment without his knowledge.
“It followed me here,” I said. “I don’t think I could leave it behind if I wanted to. It might just keep showing up.”
He straightened. “It might do,” he said, his accent thick. “We’re heading into an area filled with strong magic. That kind of power can have an unforeseen effect on magical objects. I’ve worked with a sword my whole life. I haven’t handled much wood.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, the ten-year-old boy in me roaring to the surface.
“But,” he said, his gaze going to my pack, “I see your point. For good or ill, the staff has bonded with you, probably because it senses your dryad side. We’ll just have to hope it behaves itself.”
Asher’s little show with his glamour and the phantom sun must have teased out my dryad side a little more, because Hauk’s words made a rush of protectiveness wash over me. I went to my pack and picked it up, then swung it over my shoulders. The staff fell into place alongside my thigh.
“Actually,” I said, “I think it balances the weight of all this gear.” He’d left a pile of extreme weather clothing outside the bathroom door as I’d showered—long underwear, fur-lined boots, waterproof pants, and a thick jacket.
Hauk snapped his fingers. “Ah, shit, I forgot something.” Muttering, he went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the drying rack next to the sink.
I made my voice light. “You forgot to put away the dishes?”
“No.” He glanced up as he filled the glass with water. “I forgot your oath. If you want this quest to count, you need to make a vow to Odin.”
Oh, right. I eyed the water as it bubbled to the top of the glass. “Don’t I have to mix it with my blood?”
“Just a drop or two.”
I swallowed, my stomach doing a queasy flip. “Does it have to be water?”
He shut off the tap. “No. Why?”
“I just . . . Don’t you have anything that could, I don’t know, hide the blood or something?”
He gave me a look like I’d just lost my mind. “It’s a couple drops of blood, Elin.”
“I know.” Great. Now he’d think I was too much of a wimp to take my oath. “Never mind.”
He dumped the water in the sink, then turned to the fridge and opened the door.
“Hauk, I said never mind.”
He withdrew a container of orange juice and shut the door. “Too late.” He unscrewed the cap and poured a healthy serving in the glass. Then he opened a drawer, rummaged around, and slipped something in his pocket.
For some reason, my throat burned. “I wish you’d just let me drink the water.”
He must have heard the tears in my voice, because he rushed over, juice in hand. He set it on the coffee table and put his hands on my arms. “Hey. It’s all right, Elin. You can drink whatever you want. I once took an oath with a strawberry smoothie and a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies.”
I let out a watery laugh. “Really?”
“Thin mints.”
“I love those.”
His eyes twinkled. “I’ll buy you some when we get back. Okay?”
I nodded. Why did he have to be so kind? So wonderful?
He smiled. “Okay. Now, do you want to draw your blood, or do you want me to do it?”
“You.”
His expression turned solemn. “Give me your hand.”
It took me two tries to get my glove off. I shot him an apologetic look. “Sorry. These are tight.”
“No worries,” he murmured.
Free of the glove, I placed my palm in his larger one. Although I knew it was just my imagination, my hand seemed paler than usual, as if all the blood had fled to safer parts of my body.
He closed his fingers over mine and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “Close your eyes if you want.”
I thought that over. “I think I’ll keep them open, but just look off to the side or something.”
“That works, too.” He drew a kitchen knife from his pocket.
I jerked my gaze toward the TV. My heart sped up, and the top of my head grew hot.
“Steady,” he said, his voice quiet but encouraging. He gave my hand another squeeze, then pulled my fingers straight and taut.
A bubble of anxiety rushed up my throat. “Hauk, I don’t think—”
A tiny lick of fire shot across the base of my index finger.
I sucked in a sharp breath and looked down. A line of blood welled from a shallow cut just above the spot where my finger joined my hand.
“You did it,” Hauk said, pride in his voice.
“I . . . did.” Relief washed over me.
Hauk tugged my hand toward the waiting glass. “Quickly, before it clots.”
Gross. I ignored the revulsion that swept me as he turned my palm and held my finger over the glass. One, two, three drops of bright red blood hit the surface, then sank into the juice.
I looked at him. “Now what?”
“Now you say the oath and drink.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.” He handed me the glass.
I took it and stared down at the orange surface. There was no sign of my blood. “I thought it would be more . . . involved that that.”
He shrugged. “Simple is better, I guess. Less stuff to think about. Do you remember the oath?”
“Yes.” Harald had drilled it into me from the moment I could speak. I took a deep breath and spoke the ritual words. “Odin the All-Father, lord of wisdom and death, I undertake this quest in your name. May your hand guide me as I seek to bring justice to one who deserves it.” I tipped the glass back and drank.
“The whole thing,” Hauk murmured.
Still drinking, I gave him a look over the rim. Why did he have to fill the whole damn glass? I didn’t necessarily mind orange juice, but he’d given me half the container.
As I breathed through my nose so I could keep chugging, Hauk gave an approving growl and said, “Skol.”
Juice leaked from the corners of my lips, but I finished every drop. I lowered the glass, breathless.
Hauk grinned. “Welcome to the guild, berserker.”
“I don’t feel any different. Maybe we didn’t add enough blood.”
“No, that’s normal. I never feel anything, either. That comes after the kill.”
Juice sloshed in my stomach. I handed him the empty glass. “At least I won’t get a cold now.” I couldn’t catch human illnesses, but I needed something to distract me from the devastating effects of his smile. Going without it all morning had made me realize just how much I’d come to rely on it.
The awful tension between us had lifted, thanks in part to my squeamishness at drinking my own blood. So at least something good had come from me being a subpar berserker.
Hauk took the glass to the kitchen. Then he went to his pack and swung it around his shoulders. He walked toward me as he tightened the straps. “You okay to go?”
“Absolutely.” I pulled my gloves on.
He looked me over, gaze critical. “Cut feel all right?”
I lifted my hand and wiggled my fingers. “Fine.” I couldn’t ask him to heal it. The wound was part of the ritual. To spill blood, a berserker first had to be willing to spill his own.
“Boots fit okay?”
“Yep.”
His eyes moved to my pack. “You sure you’re okay to carry that?”
“I’m fine.”
“The pack is as big as you are.”
“It’s not that heavy.”
“I could transfer some supplies to mine—”
“Hauk.” I met his gaze. “I’m fine. Really. I’m still half-berserker, even if I suck at fighting.”
His voice was gruff. “You don’t suck at fighting. You got in more than a few good hits on the Dragon Tower.”
The memory of him playing Led Zeppelin rose in my mind, and I smiled. “I kind of assumed you took it easy on me.”
One side of his mouth lifted. “Maybe a little.”
We stood there, smiling at each other in front of his living room window, the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Morning sunlight crept over the balcony and stretched toward our feet.
He reached out and raised my zipper to my chin. “I hope you’ll be warm enough.”
“I’ll be all right.” Warmth spread over my chest, and it wasn’t from the North Face jacket he’d given me. “Thanks for all the stuff.”
“You’re welcome.” He was back to staring at me, his eyes several shades darker than the sky outside.
“Where did you get it all?”
He swallowed. “I got it earlier in the week. I wasn’t sure you’d agree to come with me, but I . . . hoped.”
Because he’d needed a nymph, and I fit the description.
But he’d also said he’d gotten to know me better. And if last night was any indication, he liked what he saw.
Was I ready to take him at his word? To stop wondering and start feeling?
Asher’s voice ran though my head. “Raw, wild energy—the kind that makes blood and passion pump through your veins.”
He’d told me to embrace it.
Hauk cleared his throat. “Well, um. We should get going.”
“Right.”
He continued staring, and for a second I thought he might finally address what had passed between us while he showered.
But then he stepped back and lifted his hands. A portal grew between them, the edges glowing white. He caught my eye. “Ready?”
“We can use a portal?”
He quirked a brow. “Of course. Why not?”
“Harald said . . .” I shook my head. “Just something Harald said.”
Hauk’s expression softened. “You’re not a bad berserker, Elin. Forgive me, but your father can be a right dick when he wants to be.”
That made me smile. “Well, he usually wants to be.”
“Get over here, shieldmaiden. We’ve got a portal to catch.”
I moved to his side and grasped his arm. Between the pack and my warm weather clothing, I felt a little like an expensively dressed snowman. “I’m ready.”
“This one shouldn’t be as bad as yesterday.” He widened the portal more, then dropped his voice to a smooth cadence. “Please return all backpacks and bo staffs to their upright position and remember to fasten your seat belt whenever the fasten seat belt sign is on.”
He moved us forward a step, and the portal took us.
Amy Pennza has been a lawyer, a soldier, and a copywriter. She's worn combat boots and high heels in the same 24-hour period--and she definitely prefers flip flops. Actually, she prefers going barefoot while writing steamy romances about strong women and alpha men with hearts of gold. After years in Tornado Alley, she now makes her home in the Great Lakes region with her husband, kids, and more baskets than any one person should own. (You can never have enough.)
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50 of the Best Quotes About Reading
Bookworms have a reputation for sticking their noses in a book and ignoring the rest of the world. If you’re thinking, “well, what’s wrong with that?” you’re definitely not alone. Reading is one of life’s great pleasures — and plenty of people throughout history have fostered a passion for the written word.
In fact, many of them have had a lot to say about bookish pursuits. From the inspirational to the hilarious, here are 50 of the best quotes about reading.
20 Inspirational Quotes About Reading
Have you ever been inspired by a good book? Or maybe just by the joy of reading itself? Here are 20 of the best inspirational and moving quotes about reading.
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.”— George R.R. Martin
“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.”— Jim Rohn
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”— Ray Bradbury
“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.”— Mortimer J. Adler
“Once you have read a book you care about, some part of it is always with you.”— Louis L’Amour
“If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.” — Walt Disney
“Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.” — Fernando Pessoa
“Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new after all.” — Abraham Lincoln
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” — Stephen King
“You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.” — Paul Sweeney
“Some books leave us free and some books make us free.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”— Victor Hugo
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” — Frederick Douglas
“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” — J.K. Rowling
“Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.” —Napoléon Bonaparte
“I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.” — Jorge Luis Borges
“Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.” — Mary Schmich
“Books break the shackles of time — proof that humans can work magic.” — Carl Sagan
“If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books.” — Roald Dahl
20 Funny Quotes About Reading
There’s nothing better than stumbling across a laugh-out-loud moment in a book. When you find a funny line in a story, it’s a little like enjoying a private joke with a good friend. Here are 20 quotes about the sillier side of reading.
“There is nothing more luxurious than eating while you read — unless it be reading while you eat.” — E. Nesbit
“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” — Lemony Snicket
“I always read. You know how sharks have to keep swimming or they die? I’m like that. If I stop reading, I die.” — Patrick Rothfuss
“Luckily, I always travel with a book, just in case I have to wait on line for Santa, or some such inconvenience.” — David Levithan
“‘Classic’ — a book which people praise and don’t read.” — Mark Twain
“Reading one book is like eating one potato chip.” — Diane Duane
“People can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned.” — Saul Bellow
“Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” — P.J. O’Rourke
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” — Groucho Marx
“It’s not that I don’t like people. It’s just that when I’m in the company of others — even my nearest and dearest — there always comes a moment when I’d rather be reading a book.” — Maureen Corrigan
“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” — Groucho Marx
“This is the sixth book I've written, which isn't bad for a guy who's only read two.” — George Burns
“Let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading.” — Lena Dunham
“Books to the ceiling, Books to the sky, My pile of books is a mile high. How I love them! How I need them! I’ll have a long beard by the time I read them.” — Arnold Lobel
“Never put off till tomorrow the book you can read today.” — Holbrook Jackson
“There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.” — Charles Dickens
“From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend on reading it.” — Groucho Marx
“There are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.” — Bertrand Russell
“I always read the last page of a book first so that if I die before I finish I’ll know how it turned out.” — Nora Ephron
“Be certain that your house is adequately and properly furnished — with books rather than furniture.” — Henry Ward Beecher
10 Brainy Quotes About Reading
Bookworms often get a lot of slack about their favorite pastime. But true reading aficionados know that browsing the pages means expanding your mind, your outlook, and even your IQ. Here are 10 brainy quotes about the intellectual benefits of reading.
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” — Joseph Addison
“Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.” — Malorie Blackman
“Reading is an act of civilization; it’s one of the greatest acts of civilization because it takes the free raw material of the mind and builds castles of possibilities.” — Ben Okri
“A capacity, and taste, for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.” — Abraham Lincoln
“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.” ― William Styron
“Reading — even browsing — an old book can yield sustenance denied by a database search.” — James Gleick
“The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.” — Ursula K. Le Guin
“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.” ― Oscar Wilde
“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” ― Charles W. Eliot
“We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.” — B.F. Skinner
What’s on Your To-Read List?
Ready to read? Hopefully these quotes inspired you to fire up your ereader or dig into your to-be-read pile. Whatever you’re reading, know that you’re in good company as long as you’re holding a book (or digital equivalent).
Rune necklace
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