Valkyrie Restored: A Valkyrie Rising Novel, page 1
Valkyrie Restored
A Valkyrie Rising Novel
TB Mann
Heart Sisters Publishing Inc
Copyright © 2023 by TB Mann
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Ebook ISBN 978-1-9990671-01-2
Paperback ISBN 978-1-990671-07-4
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Printed in Canada
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Published by Heart Sisters Publishing Inc
Visit at: www.tbmann.com
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Disclaimer
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Contents
Author’s Note
About the book
1. Elin
2. Hurrit
3. Elin
4. Arran
5. Elin
6. Hurrit
7. Elin
8. Elin
9. Hurrit
10. Elin
11. Arran
12. Elin
13. Elin
14. Arran
15. Elin
16. Hurrit
17. Elin
18. Arran
19. Eli
20. Hurrit
21. Elin
22. Elin
23. Elin
24. Hurrit
25. Elin
26. Elin
Other Valkyrie Rising Books
About the Author
Also by TB Mann
For Allyson Lindt. You are a fabulous author, an amazing co-writer, and most of all, a great friend. Thank you for inviting me to play in your world.
Author’s Note
This book is written in Canadian English which is a horse of a different colour. It isn’t American English, nor is it British English. Instead it is a mishmash of the two along with some French thrown in. What we spell in British English vs American English also changes on where you grew up in Canada and when. So sometimes it will be toward and sometimes it’s towards… whichever flows better off the tongue—there’s that French influence.
So enjoy the ride!
About the book
Blurb
Memory loss can be a blessing or a curse… I just haven’t decided which.
Five years ago, I awoke in a Greek hospital with no memories except for a name, Elin, some numbers, and a restless urge to search for something. Since then, I’ve travelled the world looking for a place where I can finally rest. BiFrost, Manitoba is where I find home.
Or maybe it is just my sexy, married neighbours, Arran and Hurrit, that make me feel that way. They own a charter service for hunters and fishermen, for people who want to explore. And boy do I ever want to explore.
As we draw closer, secrets need to be shared. Ones that can either make us or break us. The problem is… I don’t even know my own.
But when all is revealed and the dust settles, will the relationship we forge be one of the casualties?
Valkyries Rising is a #WhyChoose series where the heroine doesn’t have to pick just one mate. In these pages you’ll find strong heroines who don’t back down, and shifters, gods, dragons, and other immortals who love them and fight by their sides.
1
Elin
Flashes of light burst before my eyes, blinding me. I dropped my head, blinking furiously to clear the black spots from my vision as tears streamed down my face. My heart raced, matching each beat to my blinks. I needed to see. People were in danger. For the moment I didn’t know who or why, but every cell in my body screamed with impending danger.
A sonic boom, louder than any thunder I’d heard, sounded off to my left. The ground rumbled and heaved below me, threatening to topple me off my feet. Before I could I throw out my arms to stabilize me, my wings—wings?—snapped out, giving me the added balance I needed. What the hell…?
I didn’t get a chance to finish my thought before I heard my name being called. Panic laced the deep, gravely voices. I wasn’t sure if they were audible or in my head because I felt the sound travel through me.
“Here,” I called while screaming it in my thoughts before taking the second to decide if it was a good idea. I didn’t know where I was or what was happening. Yet my body kept responding even as my mind tried to figure out what in the world was going on. This was nothing like my life, or what I remembered of it, but the rusty, coppery scent of blood, the light film of dirt that mingled with my sweat, and the stench of things burning made it seem all seem so real.
“Did you hear that?”
“It sounded close,” the second male voice responded. My mind screamed to run away from the sheer violence that resonated from their voices. But as with everything else, my body had different ideas. The sound of each individual voice sent a bolt of lust through me, but together… together their animalistic growl had me clenching my thighs as tingles ran down my spine.
Large, rough hands brushed against my wings while grabbing me from behind, closing around my biceps as if they were no bigger than twigs. This despite the muscle mass that I was proud to have developed after waking up in the hospital just over five years ago without any clue as to who I was. It wasn’t like my body belonged to a body builder, but I was strong and toned under the added weight curtesy of the medications for my headaches and weird seizure-type events.
“There you are. We thought we’d lost you. Are you injured?” The faint Scottish burr in my ear did crazy things to me. I wanted to lean back and rub myself all over the hulking body I knew stood behind me. It would be something like a bear using a giant tree to scratch their back fur.
Two other hands ran over the tops of my wings, sending fissures of delight to spark along my nerves. Kind of like the electric feeling I got when I used my personal pleasure device. For some reason, as much as I tried, I couldn’t call it by its name, a vibra—. Not even in my thoughts could I finish the word. Thankfully there was online shopping, so I never had to ask for one. Instead I just pointed and clicked. My brain skipping over the word in the menu and above the pictures.
“You seem uninjured. Why did you take off like that?”
“Without us?”
I shrugged, not knowing the answer. In fact, I didn’t know the answer to anything that was happening around me.
“You know we work better as a team,” the one with the Scottish burr who continued to hold onto my arms chastised.
“I, uh…” I began, but flashes of what looked like lightening on steroids flashed through the sky again. The ground shook again as a plume of dirt rose in the distance.
“We need to get back into the battle. They need us.” The owner of the second voice grabbed my hand and started to drag me towards those flashes of light.
“Yes, we can’t leave—” The rest of his words faded under the booming noises and the heaving of the ground. I felt myself falling. This time my wings didn’t protect me as the ground fell away from my feet. And that’s when the world went dark.
The air filled with the sound of a scream. One that came from my mouth as I bolted upright in bed. Sweat dampened my skin.
A nightmare.
That’s all it had been.
Not that it made my ragged breathing any easier or slowed my heart from its attempts to escape the confines of my chest. Black spots danced before my eyes as I struggled to slow down my breathing into a pace that would actually allow air to enter my lungs.
In. Out. In. I continued to focus on my breathing, praying for my tightness in my chest to ease.
My head swam. My body swayed. But then I felt the band loosen from around my chest, letting me breathe deeply. Those first few lungfuls of fresh, sweet air, coming in through my open window, did more to relax me than all the breathing techniques in the world. Nature always seemed to do that for me; calming and clearing my head better than any of the anti-anxiety medications my doctors prescribed.
Without hesitation, I jumped from my bed and hurried to throw on some clothes while simultaneously pulling my long, red hair into a ponytail. I needed to be outside. Out in the woods where I could dispel the lingering feeling of impending doom left behind by my dream.
I threw my head back and closed my eyes as I allowed the fresh breeze to cool my sweat-soaked face. Not even the sound of my screen door slamming shut behind me could disturb the peace of the moment. The remaining vestiges of the dream fled under the light kiss of lake water held in the wind. It cleansed me like an outdoor shower, scrubbing the remnants away.
Slowly sounds of the waking world filled me as the sun rose above the horizon. Not that I could see it. Only the faintest hint of lightening in the dark sky could be seen over the trees surrounding my rural property, like a halo effect. The trees led into a small forest that separated the few houses on the short, dead-end street from the lake.
Valhalla Beach Road. It didn’t matter that the beach part was a little misnomer, it was still close enough to the water to meet my needs. Besides, the name had resonated with me the moment I’d seen it on a street sign a year ago, during my travels through Manitoba.
There
The numbers we’d had a little more luck with. They turned out to be bank account numbers. Multiple accounts. And ones that came with lots of zeros after the one.
As for the independence, well, that became a big pain in the ass for the hospital staff. Instead of resting quietly in bed, allowing them to examine me, I pushed them out of the way, climbed out of the bed, and promptly fell on my ass. I’d love to say I learned my lesson, but I hadn’t. I fought them everyday to do things for myself. I think they held a party the day I was discharged. It was also why I felt no fear wandering through the woods by myself in the dark.
I took another deep breath before crossing the yard to my greenhouse where I kept a few of my gathering baskets. I’d take one with me to gather new supplies for the natural body and cleaning products I produced. One other piece of knowledge that I kept from my life before the coma. Although this knowledge didn’t materialize until I wandered in the woods one day and ran into a tourist who was about to pick a poisonous plant.
The knowledge clicked, slotting into an empty slot inside me, revealing all the holes for missing pieces that I hadn’t even realized I had. Yet it didn’t kill that restlessness within me. I wandered around Greece, staying close to the water. There was something about it that drew me, that soothed my soul and eased the pain from those missing pieces. Yet it wasn’t enough. The water wasn’t right.
I travelled through Europe and then to North America. Along the way I discovered that being near giant lakes kept that urge to wander under wraps a little longer. Yet still the urge hit. It was why I’d found myself—last year—planning to spend a couple of days at a hotel in Gimli, along the shores of Lake Winnipeg. The first morning I left my hotel for a day of exploring, driving further north, but before I went too far, a sign on the side of the road captured my attention.
“Welcome to the municipality of BiFrost.”
Something in my soul told me to take the exit, so I did. But when I saw the road sign for Valhalla Beach Road, my thumbs prickled. That was it. A settled feeling filled my heart, filled most of those missing pieces, and sent a wave of calmness through me, through my soul.
So when I saw the "For Sale" sign, I didn't hesitate to stop the car, pull out my phone, and call the agent. By the end of the day, I'd signed my name so many times on various pieces of paper that my wrist had swollen, but I didn't care. I was the proud owner of a small, two-bedroom cottage with an attached, heated—something extremely important if I wanted to use it during the long, cold Manitoba winter—workshop, a greenhouse, and most importantly, deeded access to the lake.
The restlessness remained, but it wasn't like it had been. I wasn't being driven from place to place, searching for something that eluded me like before.
Basket in hand, I crossed my backyard, heading to the woods. It had been over a week since my last foray, and I hoped I’d come across a new plant or flower that was ready to be picked. Daisy had been bugging me for some new stock since she’d almost sold all the stock I’d given her.
Despite the increasing light and warmth from the ever-rising sun, the woods remained dim and cool. A welcome change from the heat, dust, and flashes of brightness in my dream. Whenever I spoke about them to my therapist, Diana, she couldn’t understand why they left me so unsettled. I never saw any blood or gore despite knowing they took place in a battle. Nor did I actually see anything that would have accounted for the sheer terror that I always woke up in. Not even my words when I described the feelings the dream brought up could adequately explain it. Her conclusion, along with those of my doctors, said that the terror was a result of whatever brain injury I’d suffered. The one that left me in the hospital without any memories. A quirk. Something the medications were supposed to help with.
With each step, my mood lifted. The cries of the birds, singing their morning songs to each other brought about the first stirrings of joy in my heart. Prairie crocuses continued to bloom while other plant life poked their heads out of the ground. I could still see the occasional mound of snow, but they were far and few between. The warm weather was here to stay and not a moment too soon. It had been a long, cold winter for my first one here, but according to Daisy, the owner of the general store and a new friend, this winter had been mild. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to experience a bad one, but I guess I was stuck. Valhalla Beach and BiFrost had snuck under my skin. It resonated with something within me. It made me calm and felt like home. I’d just have to put up with the winters. And maybe one day I’d even grow to love them. I doubted it, but one could always hope.
And it seemed like the universe wanted me to experience them. By February I’d been going stir-crazy with cabin fever and decided to take part in the time-honoured Canadian tradition of taking a sun holiday. For two weeks, every time I tried to hit purchase on the various vacation packages, the internet went out. Every. Single. Time. I had no issues any other time so… I wasn’t an idiot. I took the hint and toughed it out.
By the time my basket was three quarters full of snippets of green and a riot of colours from the various petals I’d gathered, the gloom had burnt off, giving way to dappled sunlight. For as much as the winters sucked with the cold and the snow, the sheer number of days that the sun shone in winter and summer made up for it.
A rustling sounded off to my left, drawing my attention. Up until now, other than the birds, I hadn’t heard another soul. Curious, I rounded a thicker grove of trees, not remembering them from my other walks and stopped dead in my tracks. It opened into a clearing near the banks of the lake. Hmmm. Where did this come from?
Unlike the rest of the woods, this clearing was awash with colour. Wildflowers bloomed, showcasing their colour. Soft, green grass swayed in the light breeze. What the fuck? It was like the clearing stood in the height of summer instead of early spring.
The hairs on my arms stood on end. A prickle started in the back of my neck. What in the world was going on? If magic was real, this is what I would have thought it felt like. A little like static electricity when your clothes cling to you after coming out of the dryer when you’ve forgotten to use a dryer sheet after losing the wool balls.
The sound came again. Only this time it was louder and closer. The trees on the far side appeared to push apart, admitting a bear into the clearing. A bear!
A bear, larger than any I’d ever seen in a zoo, stood on its hind legs. Solid black against all the colours. It opened its mouth… and roared. The sound reminded me of my dream, undoing much of the calmness I’d achieved. Yet even as my mind raced through every bit of knowledge I had on bears before giving up and screaming at me to run, my body didn’t react. My heart continued to beat as if it didn’t have a care in the world and my lungs continued to take slow, even breaths. Only my brain went into fight or flight mode.
The bear roared again.
2
Hurrit
With no one around, I clamoured out of the lake still in my horse form. No one would look twice at seeing a horse along the banks of the lake, but they would balk at seeing a naked man emerging from the freezing cold lake. Late May was not the normal time for people to go swimming. Not when you could still find places where ice still floated against the shore.
