The Valkyrie Novels Box Set, page 17
part #1 of Valkyrie Series
Would I even need more time? The look on her face said she was more likely to toss me out on my behind than believe me.
“I know it’s hard to believe,” I said. Then I remembered Fen hiding in the shadows. Before I’d figured out a plan I was on my feet and pulling the door open, whispering to the shadows, “Fenrir, how do I show her my wings?”
Fen growled. “You want to do what? Have you lost your senses?”
“Is somebody out there, Bryn?” Ms. Custer’s voice floated to me. Although concerned, she still gave me privacy.
“How?” I whispered insistently through gritted teeth.
“Just believe.”
“What?” That was the most ridiculous thing I’d heard.
“Tell her and she will see,” Fenrir said. “And be quick. We still have your Retrieval to complete.”
I stared at the shadows. What Retrieval? He hadn’t read out a name. I opened my mouth to ask him about it, then clenched it shut. Time to think about that later. Ms. Custer was waiting inside.
I shut the door but didn’t return to the living room. By the door was probably the best place to be in case she came at me with her broom. Best place to make a quick getaway. “Bryn?” Her footsteps padded across the floor and she squinted at me.
“Mom, I’m a Valkyrie,” I said. “From the Norse legends. The women with the wings who take the dead Warriors to Valhalla. Look at me. Closely.” I stared at her, willing her to see me in my true form. Not knowing if it would work at all.
When her eyes widened, darkening from rich brown to deep black, I suspected trouble. She stepped closer, and then the door was at my back. Maybe this had not been such a good idea.
“Oh my Lord. Oh my Lord,” she whispered over and over, almost under her breath, like a prayer. Her eyes ran over me, head to toe then toe to head and back again. She reached out and touched my chest where the chain armor lay curved to my body. Her fingers traced the threaded links.
She gaped at the armor, the helmet, my face. When her eyes rounded even further, I knew she’d seen my wings. She gasped and whispered. “Let me see.” I turned around, allowing her to examine them. They fluttered in tandem with my nerves.
“Now you see?” I said. “This is what I’ve been trying to tell you. It’s what Aidan knew, too.” I turned back to face her.
“Is that why they were looking for you? Did he tell them?” Her eyes hardened, still harboring a deep hatred for the thugs.
“No, I don’t think so. But he was sent here to find me.” His betrayal still tore at my heart. “The book they were looking for had a bunch of information on my father and the experiments he was involved in.”
“Experiments?” Ms. Custer’s eyebrows shot up.
“About eighteen years ago a burial site was uncovered in Sweden. When they examined the grave, they found wings like mine, something they were unable to explain. Some of the archaeologists swore they’d found a Valkyrie and took samples of the DNA to verify it. My father was the head geneticist. He performed the DNA tests and told them it was normal human DNA.”
“And he lied?”
“Yes. He knew what he had. My mother was on the clinic list for IVF, and he spliced the DNA with her fertilized embryos. The Valkyrie DNA took over. When I was taken to Asgard, I had to go through a process, like a transformation, where my wings grew. I wouldn’t have received my wings at all if I weren’t a real Valkyrie.”
“So who took you to . . . Asgard?”
“A Valkyrie who was sent to fetch me.” I smiled, needing to reassure her that everything was okay. “Her name is Sigrun. I wish you could meet her, but she’s busy, on a mission right now. There’s something else I wanted to tell you. It’s Brody.”
“What about him? Did they take him? Oh heavens, they took him?” Grief filled her face again. Instantly she looked twenty years older, the lines of her face deeper, more pronounced.
“Yes, they did take him. The golden aura was a sign, telling me I was looking at a Warrior of Valhalla. Only a Valkyrie can see the golden glows. He’s safe and well, and he’ll live forever as a Warrior in Valhalla.”
I didn’t want to tell her about Freya and her demands or the impending war. It didn’t seem fair to heap sadness on her when she’d been given good news. Her little smile confirmed I’d made the right decision.
“Will you see him?” She searched my eyes, desperate for an affirmative answer.
“I’ll try my best.” And I meant it. One of the first things I planned to do when I returned to Asgard was to find Brody.
“Good. You must give him our love. Will you come back and visit?” She patted my hand. She seemed to sense that my time was up. Thankfully, I wouldn’t have to drag myself away.
“I’m not sure,” I said, shaking my head, deep sadness moistening my eyes. “Just one thing. If Aidan ever calls you or visits, tell him I’m gone forever. Just make sure he never comes back. I wish he’d never come here in the first place.”
“Perhaps it was fate?” Ms. Custer said, but I knew she was only being kind.
“No. He was sent here to check if I was a Valkyrie.” I grimaced. “Our fathers were partners at a genetic science center. His dad wanted to eliminate me. Aidan told him I wasn’t a Valkyrie. That the experiment had been a failure. But none of them know what they’re in for.”
Poor Ms. Custer. So much for her to process. The dazed look in her eyes told me I’d overwhelmed her. But she threw her shoulders back and drew me into her arms, wings, armor and all. “You go, honey. Do what you have to, and be safe.”
Our farewell was quick, and I got the sense she would head upstairs to her bedroom and have a good cry. I sighed. At least she knew that Brody and I were safe.
I stepped through the doorway and waited for the lock to click.
“Let’s go,” I said to the shadows.
Chapter 24
We walked into the dark night. Behind us, the lights went out in Ms. Custer’s house. I held back heated tears, unsure if I’d ever see her or Izzy or Simon again. My foster family had been ripped asunder, and I stood helpless in the middle of the turmoil.
Looking back, maybe for the last time, I studied the porch and the swing, trying to etch them into my memory. Trying to ensure I’d never forget where I came from. Where I’d sat hidden behind the rose bush, eating up Aidan with my eyes the day he rode into my life. The stairs I’d raced down that day he’d thought he could just walk straight out of my life without so much as a goodbye. The bush at the corner of the property behind which I’d hidden to watch Aidan and his goons leave, before I’d been whisked away to a place I’d never dreamed existed. To an unbelievable life.
I yanked my eyes away.
Goodbye, Mom.
Sometimes I wanted to just give it up, to just go back home, but Asgard made so much sense and gave me a fantastic reason to exist. For the first time, I had a real purpose in life. Maybe I did have something to thank my father for.
Fen and I passed under the large oak at the foot of the driveway. A movement caught my eye; a curtain swayed in one of the windows across the street. Some things never changed in this neighborhood. Nosy neighbors.
I glanced at Fen, relieved he blended into the shadows. His presence would definitely cause a stir on this quiet street. Hopefully I hadn’t been seen either.
I had to trot to keep up with Fenrir as he strode ahead. “What did you mean by my Retrieval?” I asked.
“That is the reason you have come to Craven, Brynhildr. The reason you are here at all.”
“You called out everyone else’s names and then told them who they would be retrieving. But you didn’t give me a name.”
He didn’t even bother to slow down, just walked on, crossing the street, expecting me to run just to catch his words. “So you thought you did not have a Retrieval to complete?”
“I guess.” Now I felt foolish. “So do we have a name?”
“Wait. Some patience will do you good.” Fen sounded strange, his voice tight and emotionless.
The darkness lay thick and oily around us. Pointless examining his face for clues as to what was bugging him. Even if I waited for the clouds to move and reveal the moonlight, it would probably be of no use. Fenrir was too good at hiding his emotions.
Despite the darkness, I recognized my surroundings. We passed the park where Aidan had sat on the swing beside me and watched Brody. The wind shoved through the trees and the two lonely swings swayed back and forth. Strange and eerie.
We drew closer to the pathway where Pete and his friends had attacked me. My heart clanged in my chest, imprisoned in a steel cage with the memories of my near disastrous experience. I tried to think about something else. Like why were we here, and where were we going? Fen had refused to answer my questions. He continued walking into the trees and along the path until we neared the stream.
He left the pathway and ducked into the thick brush. I followed, still curious, and a bit concerned. And maybe a little annoyed with the whole cloak and dagger suspense act. Where were we going? I didn’t ask him though. He’d just ignore me.
Cold air bit at my bare skin, probing beneath the cloak, as we walked upstream toward a smaller, disused bridge. The footbridge had been cordoned off and the split and rotten wood clearly needed to be repaired before some kid broke his neck playing on it.
Dark, waterlogged planks hung from the remains of the bridge, a half-dozen attached by a single nail, like a line of ragged bats holding on for dear life.
Beneath the run-down bridge, fallen wood and beer bottles littered the banks of the stream. Splits of wood, probably hacked off by kids messing around and testing their courage, lay on the rocks in the water, along with a dense thicket of chocolate wrappers and chips packets.
Fenrir stopped at the stream’s edge and waited. He gazed at me, then looked toward the bridge. What was he waiting for? Was there something here I was supposed to see? My heart knocked against my ribs and a sense of foreboding chilled my skin.
The water gurgled and curved around its obstructions and continued downstream until it was forced to curve again. Something dark and solid, like a tree root, jutted partway across the water. No, not a root.
A booted foot.
My heart thudded to a stop. At first, I assumed it was some homeless guy with courage and valor that awaited his one-way trip to Valhalla. But the clothing he wore was too new. Maybe an out-of-towner, going for a walk, had used the footbridge by accident, only to fall off it?
No. If he fell, he’d have been closer to the bridge itself. He lay at least ten feet away from the shadows cast by the ruined wooden monstrosity. More likely, he’d been thrown off the edge of the broken bridge or rolled down the bank.
One foot soaked in the running water, while the other was propped at an odd angle, higher up the bank. Maybe a broken leg. His upper body lay in shadows, hidden by bushes and weeds. I shivered. What would we see? A mangled skull from a gunshot wound, or a perforated chest from a stabbing? Or maybe just a guy, drunk and unconscious, unable to move his broken leg.
One hand lay beside him, outstretched as if he welcomed the night and the moonlight. The fingers were pale, grayed. That solved the drunk and unconscious question. Just one glance at the hand confirmed he was dead.
The rest of his abdomen was encased in a black leather jacket, worn, yet something a confident young guy would pull off well enough. The smoothed leather looked familiar. A lot of boys loved the look, but an icy, ominous fear scrabbled down my spine. I darted a look at Fenrir, but his expression told me nothing.
Despite the sickly sweet odor wafting from the body, I almost ran to him, thrusting the bushes aside. Fenrir didn’t follow. I didn’t notice. The moon hid behind dense cloud cover. I shoved the bushes aside to reveal the man’s face.
That the clouds chose that particular moment to part and reveal the gruesome face of death was ironic and cruel.
The glare of the moonlight was abrasive and cold. It lit up the ridges of his eyebrows, the jut of his classic cheekbone. His face was a marble bust, his body drained of blood and life while I’d received my wings and attained a certain salvation.
While I’d pined for him and hated him in alternate ferocity.
Cold seeped into my veins as I registered that his death could never have been an accident. Not with the bullet hole marring the perfect smoothness of his forehead.
I stared through dry eyes at his face, bloodless and filled with death.
Aidan’s face.
Chapter 25
The cold cut at me. It stole the breath from my lungs. It scraped the tears from my eyes. It ripped the life from my heart. The cold killed me. I stared, unmoving, at Aidan’s alabaster face and stony cheeks. A pale Adonis, carved from night and darkness. His eyelashes curled, provocative even in death.
I sank slowly to my knees. Not caring about the cold, slippery muck on the banks. Not caring that I knelt with one foot touching the frigid water. The stream gurgled on, unaware that it tasted mortality as it passed. Mortality and sorrow.
It somehow seemed right that I sat here, one foot steeped in freezing water, as if I shared in his crossing. Stood with him in an in-between world where he waited for the next stage of his journey.
The moon lay his body bare for my eyes. His milky white hand rested against the black muddy sand. Lifeless. Not warm like when he’d caressed my cheek, not soft like when he’d held my head and kissed me with a ferocity so unlike his gentle embrace. And here, as I sat swaddled by cold and death and moonlight, everything in me cried for him.
Trees creaked around me, groaning against the grasping hands of an icy wind. Fen moved at my back, his cloak rustling against the brush. He’d been silent, watching and waiting. Mourning a loved one should be a private thing. But I was glad for his presence. Because Fenrir meant life where Aidan’s remains whispered death. Fenrir meant hope and trust, while Aidan was betrayal.
Even in death, I couldn’t forgive him. I’d forced him out of my head and out of my heart. But I still hurt, somewhere beyond the pain and the tears, a place touched by Aidan. Touched for the briefest moment. A place that remembered him. And waited for him.
“Bryn?” Fen’s voice was low, soft.
I met his eyes. Sympathy creased the edges. An apology. “Why didn’t you tell me it was him?” I asked, needing to hear what I already knew.
“At first I did not believe it was appropriate to give you such news with all the other teams around. And then you were concentrating on what to tell your mother.” He hunkered down beside me, his voice still so soft it made me think of a rug, cradling me in its tender warmth. Was his quiet tone out of respect for the departed or empathy for my pain? I didn’t know. “And then it was too late and it seemed best to let you see him yourself.”
Fenrir flicked his gaze away, toward the corpse. Toward the empty shell of Aidan. His corpse still glowed. I registered the aura gradually, as if my vision was blurred, fuzzy. I had to peel back the layers of what I saw, look beyond the body and beyond my grief and anger and longing.
Aidan’s aura was not as blindingly bright as Joshua’s or Aimee’s on the days they died. His brightness had faded, a yellow gleaming where it should have been an eye-piercing golden sheen.
“Why is the glow so weak?” I asked Fen. “Isn’t he Warrior material then?” My question was laced with bitterness, which surprised me. My emotions churned with a complex mix of resentment, anger, relief and hope. Aidan’s death made me bitter. Not hard to understand.
“He has been exposed to the elements since his death. From the looks of the body and the glow, I would say he has been dead a week.” Fenrir looked upward, staring at the moon, then at Aidan’s lifeless body. “But the light fades with every passing moon. He had a while yet for Retrieval.”
Shock sliced through me, icy blades as cold as December. A week. That meant someone had done this to Aidan the day I’d last seen him at Ms. Custer’s house. The day Sigrun had taken me to Asgard.
“But I never saw him glow. I would’ve noticed if he’d glowed like Joshua and Brody.” My voice quavered.
“I believe that his death came early. That perhaps it was not his time. Perhaps he only started to glow after you last saw him.” Fen nodded. “That would certainly explain why his glow is so weak.”
“So now what?” I tried to keep my voice devoid of emotion, tried to put on a professional mask. I think I failed. Fenrir’s eyes, when he looked up at me, were still a mess of pity.
“Now you carry him in your arms, and we take him to Valhalla,” he said.
“That’s it? I lift him up and abracadabra we go to Valhalla?”
“Did you want it to be more complicated than that?”
A wolf howled beyond the tree line. I was about to ask if it was one of our Ulfr when Fenrir raised his hand, silencing me so firmly that I clamped my mouth closed.
A dog barked. Loud and ferocious. Fen glanced up the bank, back the way we came. Somewhere within the brush the dog scrambled and scratched, its high-pitched barks scraping at my eardrums.
A latent growl erupted beside me. I turned to Fenrir and froze. Even the blood in my veins stilled. I remembered why I’d feared this man from the first moment I’d laid eyes on him. He still stood tall, in human form, not a hair’s breadth from me, bristling at the danger he tasted somewhere in the darkness.
A snout protruded from the low bushes. Moonlight painted a tiny pool of silver on the animal’s wet nose. The Labrador came closer. Its whole head now poked from the brush.
Fenrir growled, a primal vibration at the back of his throat that spoke of blood and teeth and mindless fear. And every hair on my body rose in silent salute. I remained frozen, watching the ferociously curious dog and the vibrating wolf-man at my arm.
