Damn. All her best ideas . . .
Dualtach the Witch eased his way into the hall, staying in the back. Again, he wouldn’t help Erin, but he wouldn’t help the princess, either. He was just there to enjoy the party like the other attendees.
Erin knew she needed to focus if her plan was to work. Something she knew she could do, when it was important. Betty had taught her during her early battle training that one of the best ways for Crows to stay focused during a fight was to center on something that pissed them off. For Kera that was usually the injustice of things. For Chloe, it was people’s stupidity, which caused her to miss another book deadline her editor did not want to fucking hear about. And for Jace, it could be anything. The tiniest thing set that woman off like a hand grenade.
But Erin didn’t allow herself to get pissed too often.
She didn’t let rage “sing through her veins” the way it supposedly sang through Betty’s . . . until Erin saw Stieg Engstrom, descendent of mighty Vikings and warrior of Odin himself, chained up like a dog. Even worse, she knew he’d allowed it for her. He wasn’t going to leave without her. He’d let these bastards treat him like a goddamn pet. In the hopes that she actually had a plan.
That was the anger she focused on.
* * *
Princess Uathach stood, raising her hands to silence the room. Stieg looked back at her, but her brother yanked that leash again to stop him. Apparently he didn’t want the pet to eye his sister.
Stieg hoped that whatever Erin came up with included killing this guy. Because he really hated the elf.
“Friends, I am so happy you’ve all come this evening. It’s been a long time since we’ve had such grand entertainment. Tonight, we will again witness a wonderful, but I’m sure tragically short”—the audience laughed and cheered—“battle between our reigning champion, the dear sweet Princess Seanait, and one of Odin’s whores, a Valkyrie!”
Stieg was surprised that the princess still believed Erin was a Valkyrie. The witch they’d met apparently had kept his mouth shut. What shocked Stieg most was that the screaming banshee elf trying to get to Erin in that pit was a fellow princess. Even if she was a dark elf, she was still royalty. Yet Uathach and her brother had turned her into this mad thing for their amusement.
And if they treated their own like that . . .
Christ, we’re screwed.
* * *
Erin took in and let out several breaths, her back pressed hard against the cage, her arms spread out and holding onto the bars. She crouched down, as ready as she was ever going to be and watched as one of the princess’s guards pulled the mad She-elf close to him.
Another guard took hold of the back of her muzzle while the first guard placed his hand on the metal clasp that secured the leash. Like the guys who had to turn the key at the same time to open doors around a nuclear bomb, the two guards nodded at each and, at the very same moment, released the She-elf from her bondage.
Moving faster than anything she’d ever seen, the She-elf charged toward Erin, but before reaching her, she dashed to the right and up the cage. She ran up the side of the cage. Something Erin couldn’t do without help from her wings.
Erin tried to keep the female in her line of sight but she moved so fast . . .
Her hair gripped from above, Erin was yanked away from the bars and thrown across the pit to the roar of the crowd.
She slammed face-first into the opposite bars, her right cheekbone breaking on impact.
Landing on her back, she looked up in time to see the She-elf jumping down on her. Erin rolled away and tried to get back to her feet but a kick sent her spinning across the pit again.
Well, this wasn’t working out as she’d hoped. Nope. Not at all.
Fuck.
* * *
Stieg watched in horror as the She-elf tossed Erin around the pit the way Brodie Hawaii tossed around loose bones she dug up in the Crow’s backyard. And while he watched every muscle in his body told him to go to Erin. To help her. But that would put him in the cage with her. All the elves would have to do was close them in and wait for them to starve to death.
If he started a fight outside the cage that would still leave Erin trapped inside. All the guards would have to do was stick her with a spear.
So he gritted his teeth and did the impossible. He waited.
Erin hit the roof of the cage before dropping back to the ground. The She-elf was still playing with her.
With the crowd roaring, she walked over to Erin as the Crow desperately tried to get back to her feet. Stieg watched Erin struggle, his entire body getting tight as panic began to sweep through him.
Wild-eyed, the She-elf reached down, grabbed Erin by the shoulders and lifted her up in the air. Erin flailed in the air for several seconds, but Stieg remembered a time he’d made the same move on Erin once. He hadn’t planned to snap her back against his knee like the She-elf was clearly intending to do—although he’d thought about it at the time—instead he’d only attempted to throw Erin in the Bird House pool. But before he could toss her away, she’d—
With the She-elf holding Erin over her head by gripping her shirt, she lifted her knee up and began to pull Erin down. That’s when Erin used her gymnastics training to flip forward, every muscle working to yank her away from the She-elf.
The crazed elf stumbled and fell to the side. Erin kicked her onto her back and did another front flip, both of her feet slamming into the She-elf’s chest.
The crowd roared in approval, drowning out the She-elf’s screams of pain as they realized the “Valkyrie” would be giving them a bit of a show.
The She-elf pushed Erin off her chest, but before she could get back up, Erin kicked her in the side, sending her flipping across the pit floor.
Erin went after her, quickly and expertly grabbing the female from behind. She squatted down behind her and used that damn sleeper hold on the She-elf as if it would be as effective as it was on a human.
But Stieg noticed that Erin had only one arm around the elf’s throat. She’d used her free hand to grip her opponent’s wrist.
And that’s when he understood exactly what his tricky little Crow was doing.
* * *
Erin held onto the She-elf’s wrist for as long as she could, then she was flying again. Rolling across that damn pit and slamming into those damn bars when she reached the other side.
Before she could get up, the She-elf was on her, pinning her to the ground with her legs and her weight. She leaned over her. And for one terrifying moment, Erin thought the female was about to kiss her. Although it would not be her first kiss from a woman, she would actually prefer such a thing with a female who’d actually bathed in the last ten thousand years.
As full-on panic began to set in, the She-elf got impossibly close and asked in a hideous whisper, “You’re not a Valkyrie. What are you?”
Erin stared straight into those yellow-gray eyes and replied, “I’m a Crow.”
The She-elf leaned back, her insane laughter ringing throughout the hall, drowning out the entire crowd cheering for Erin’s death. Then she was back. Too close again, unfortunately, as if she was on the verge of the most life-altering orgasm, “Ohhhh, this is going to be so. Much. Fucking. Funnnnnnn.”
Oh, shit.
What had she done?
* * *
The princess leaned forward. “What . . . what is happening?”
“Nothing,” her brother answered. “She’s insane.”
“She’s talking to her.”
“No, she’s not. You’re being paranoid.”
No. She wasn’t. Stieg knew what Erin had done. The same thing she’d done to him when he was unknowingly sitting with the Four Horsemen. She let the She-elf see.
The skill taught to her by Betty had somehow cleared the She-elf’s mind. Sort of.
The prince was right. She was still insane, but something told Stieg this might have been the insane she’d been for a long time.
Dark Elves weren�
�t known for their calm natures.
The She-elf grabbed Erin by her throat and got to her feet, lifting the Crow with her. The move seemed to calm the princess down and she relaxed back into her throne.
With one move, the female tossed Erin into the back of the cage and ran toward her, screaming. Erin caught hold of the She-elf’s arms and slammed her into the bars. Fully caught up in the action, several guards leaned in to yell encouragement, and that’s when both females moved.
Erin turned, lifted her hands, and finally unleashed a load of flames in a wide circle, forcing the guards to drop down or be burned to the bone. While Erin distracted them, the She-elf caught hold of one of the guards and yanked him against the bars three times until blood poured from his head. She reached down and yanked the ring of keys he had tied to his belt. Other guards tried to make a grab, but she was as fast sane as she was crazy.
Seanait charged across the pit. Spears came through the bars. Erin turned several of them to ash, and the others the She-elf deftly avoided by dropping to her knees and sliding across the dirt until she reached the door.
“Stop her!” the princess yelled, getting to her feet. “You fools! Kill her!”
That’s when Stieg knew . . . now.
* * *
Erin stopped her flame in time to see him lift his head and look at her. She’d been afraid that being treated like a dog might set him back a bit. But no. He’d just been waiting for her. She saw it in his eyes. In the way he straightened his shoulders.
And the way he broke the chains that held him.
In one move he got to his feet and turned to face the one who held the leash. The prince.
“Uathach!” the prince screamed, calling for his sister, but it was too late.
Stieg gripped the leash and yanked the elf royal forward until he could ram his entire fist into the male’s mouth and down his throat. When he yanked it out again, it was covered in blood and he gripped muscle and cartilage in his fist.
The princess wailed in terror and pain, even as more guards and soldiers surrounded her. Even the crowd was ready to fight for her. That is until Stieg threw back his shoulders and unleashed his wings.
In an instant, the crowd’s attitude changed and several yelled out, “A Raven! Run! Flee!”
But as some began to run away, Erin stepped out of the cage and with the dark She-elf standing slightly in front of her, Erin unleashed her own wings.
The princess pointed with one hand while gripping a guard’s shoulder with the other. “A Crow,” she said softly at first. Then, howling, “A Crowwwwww!”
Panic set in and everyone was running.
Erin hadn’t even done anything yet. Good Lord. What had her ancient elders done in the elf lands to gain such a reputation? She just had to know!
The dark She-elf picked a dropped spear off the ground, broke it over her knee, and slammed the point into the first guard who ran by her. With the spear still sticking out of his belly, she yanked the sword from his hand and cut off his head and a good part of his shoulder.
With clear, but brutally cold eyes, she faced Erin. “You ready to kill everyone?”
“Actually, we were just going to leave, so . . .”
The She-elf raised one brow.
“It’s just . . . we’re kind of on a schedule.”
“Do you really think they’ll let you go? Do you think she will let you go after your Raven killed her brother?”
Erin couldn’t help but smile a little. “But . . . he started it.”
And for the first time ever, Erin heard Stieg Engstrom laugh.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The hall had cleared out except for Stieg, Erin, and the dark elf princess.
“They will not let you go,” she continued on, ignoring the shared moment between Stieg and Erin. “Even now, their troops are gathering to strike us all down. You have only faced their guards. Their soldiers are a different thing all together.”
“Look,” Erin explained, “we have a world to save, so—”
“What do you want, Crow?”
“Want?”
The Svartalfheim princess tossed back her head, long blue-black hair flipping over her shoulder. “Don’t play games with me, human. Every Crow wants something.”
“We need transport. Fast transport. Horses or something equivalent.”
“To get back to Midgard, where you belong?”
“To get to Corpse Shore.”
The She-elf’s eyes widened. “And they thought I was insane all that time. Why would you go there? Nidhogg will not welcome you, Crow.”
“It’s my only option.”
“Then you have no option at all. But . . . it’s a deal I will make. Help me get out of here alive and I will see that you have what you need so you can die a violent and bloody death that you most likely deserve at the claws and fangs of Nidhogg.”
“And thanks for that!” Erin laughingly replied, in her best one day I plan to kill you but right now I’m pretending we’re best of friends! Betty imitation. It was kind of brilliant. Definitely entertaining.
Erin faced Stieg, her fake smile dropping, her laugh abruptly ending. She didn’t need to fake any of that with him, which he appreciated. “You all right?”
Stieg blinked, once again surprised by the question. “Am I bleeding?”
“Not that I can tell.”
“Ooooo. . . kay.”
“Just answer the fucking question!”
“I’m fine.”
“You sure you’re up for this?”
“What’s happening right now? I don’t know what’s happening!”
“I’m bothering to care,” she snapped. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”
“Oh. Okay. Well . . . thank you for that. Uh . . . and I’m fine. I was just waiting for you to make your move.”
“How did you know I actually had a move?”
“Because you’re a Crow,” the dark elf cut in with a nasty sneer. “Once I knew what you were, I knew my revenge would be written in the blood of my enemies in the annals of history.”
Erin glanced at Stieg but what did she expect him to say? What was there to say to any of that?
“Look, lady,” Erin began, “I’m a Crow, but that doesn’t mean I’m any worse or—”
Erin suddenly grabbed the princess by her arm and pushed her toward Stieg. He automatically moved her behind him, using his body to protect her, while Erin used her nondominant hand and caught the arrow that had been flying toward them.
Annoyed, because Erin was in the middle of talking and she hated being interrupted, she used her other hand to unleash a line of flame that turned the archer elves into screaming balls of fire, tearing down the hallway and disappearing into the castle.
“—or better,” she continued on, “than any other warrior.”
Princess Seanait pushed past Stieg and Erin with a, “Yes, yes, I see that. Now, do you mind if we get my bloody revenge underway?”
“She’s so pushy,” Erin complained to Stieg once the dark elf was already across the room.
“What do you expect? She’s a princess.”
“So? I’m from Staten Island.”
Stieg shook his head. “I really don’t know how to respond to that.”
* * *
The uppity dark elf princess had been right. The guards had moved back and the troops had moved in, but they didn’t attack right away. They could be heard down a long hallway, waiting around the corner.
“You need weapons, Raven,” the princess told Stieg.
“I’ll get some.”
“When? When our souls have left our bodies?”
“Up-itty,” Erin muttered.
“We’ll get you out of here,” Stieg promised. “It’s what we do.”
“It’s what Ravens do,” Erin clarified. “Crows just kill everyone in our way. So make sure you watch where you step.”
Stieg’s big hand covered Erin’s entire face. “She’s just kidding,” he said while he pushed her back.
“We’ll take the lead.” He pulled his hand away from a giggling Erin and softly warned her, “Stop fooling around.”
“I can’t help myself. She brings it out in me.”
“We have bigger issues right now than your love of fucking with people.”
Stieg was right. Getting out of the castle would be tough and even getting out of elf territory basically impossible, but their friends were still depending on them.
“You’re right. Let’s go.”
He started to turn away, but stopped and looked back at her.
“What?” Erin asked, thinking something was wrong.
Stieg leaned in and kissed her.
She immediately responded, her arms looping around his neck, the blades still held in her hands. She didn’t realize until that very moment how worried about him she’d been. Kissing him, feeling his body against hers, knowing he was—at least at the moment—alive and safe meant more to her than she’d thought anything could.
So lost in that kiss, Erin didn’t appreciate in any way the dark elf princess leaning in and growling, “Are you two camp whores done?”
When Stieg pulled away and saw the tip of Erin’s blade pressed against the royal’s throat—right by that big artery too—he chuckled and gently chastised, “Erin.”
* * *
Stieg came around the corner and grabbed the first two elves who charged. He smashed one’s head into the stone wall until he’d bashed his brains in. The other he choked at the same time until his eyes bulged from his head and blood poured from his pointed ears.
The shock of the elves’ comrades wore off quickly and their leader yelled for an attack.
Stieg ignored the command and bent down to retrieve the swords the men still had clutched in their hands. Before he could stand, he felt the air shift as Erin leaped over his back, her blade slashing, cutting through an elf’s head before he could even raise his weapon.
She spun away, stabbed another elf in the heart; spun back and as she moved into a crouch, disemboweled a red-haired elf.
The Unyielding Page 29