by L. S. Darsic
“W-what are you?” I stammer
“Babe, how do you not know?” Presley squats in front of me and searches my face. She must have only found confusion there because she sighs and paces some more.
“Presley is a Valkyrie” Finn says “Do you know what a Valkyrie is?”
“Finn, of course she knows what a fucking Valkyrie is. She just didn't know I was one.....I guess” Presley says as she stops pacing and stands in front of me again. Searching my brain I think I have an idea of what a Valkyrie is but how did I never suspect Presley as anything other than human? I look at her and really look at her, she has smooth skin, crystal clear blue eyes, long blonde hair that is to her butt and a body that is lithe and almost cat like. My eyes widen as what they are telling me finally sets in. Holy shit.
“I-I think I know-” I begin to say before Presley blows up
“YOU THINK YOU KNOW?!?!? WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN? DID YOUR SHIT FOR FAMILY NEVER TRAIN YOU?!?!” Presley yells as she paces more
“Presley, calm down” Finn warns
“No. You can fuck off Finn. I've known Alex for almost two years now and she never had a clue what I was! How wrong is that? Not just wrong but dangerous! She is so young and just came into her abilities, she could have been killed if she met the wrong people! I will NOT calm down” Presley says as she points in Finn's face, she turns to me “Babe, I had no idea you didn't know about me. I just figured you were a private person, most nephilim are so I didn't think anything of it. I'm so sorry!” Presley says as she dramatically throws her arms around me as I hear Finn mumble under his breath “fucking Valkyries”
“What is going on in here? Why are you yelling Presley?” Anja asks as she walks into the living room followed by Jace, Xander and Tank
“Oh well, nothing big. We just found out Alex had no idea that I am a Valkyrie” Presley says snottily with a roll of her eyes as if its the most logical thing for me to know what she was.
“You're a....you're a...what?” Anja says with wide eyes. Oh, interesting, she doesn't know either. Good, now I don't feel so dumb.
“Ah, what exactly is a Valkyrie?” Jace asks as Xander nods is head in agreement with the question.
“You've got to be kidding me” Finn swears under his breath
“What? Is this common knowledge or something?” I ask
“Not common knowledge to just anyone, but to our kind, yes” Finn says as he looks over to me
“How the fuck do you not know what I am? Did your parents teach you anything?” Presley demands with her hands on her hips. She is super scary when she is pissed and right about now she looks like she is gonna blow.
“Presley, we have already determined that Alex wasn't given any education, nor combat skills but we didn't know Anja, Jace and Xander were in the same situation” Finn tells Presley in a calm tone
“No shit she had no battle skills. Why do you think I -” Presley begins but then trails off with a snap of her mouth
“Finish what you were saying Pres” I encourage
“No, we need to get going to dinner soon and I have to get ready” she says as she stomps over to the guest bedroom
“What is a Valkyrie?” Xander wonders out loud
“A Valkyrie is an immortal, they are Odin's Maidens, which means they are the warriors of Odin, God of War. Each Maiden is chosen by Odin while they die in battle. Once they are chosen they are brought to Valhalla to be trained, once they are trained, they are returned to earth to be warriors. Presley is a Valkyrie and can be lethal if provoked” Finn explains
“Aye, they love and fight fiercely. I best go attempt to make my sweet Valkyrie in a better mood” Tank says with a wink as he saunters to the room Presley went into.
“Okay, okay, questions....first, how the hell did you manage to become friends with a Valkyrie, Alex? Second, are there more? I wouldn't be opposed to be on the receiving end of the “loving fiercely” part of their nature” Jace says as he wiggles his eyebrows
“GET THE FUCK OUT LAMPIR!” I hear Presley shout and a loud smash coming from the bedroom down the hall. Shortly after we all turn to watch Tank walk down the hall chuckling to himself and brushing glass out of his hair
“Whoa” Jace breathes out
“Finn, I-” I start to say but then there is a knock at the door and in walks Isabelle and Ian along with Percy and Phoenix who come running over to Egypt as she is chilling on the floor by me.
“Hello everyone” Ian says as he walks over to Finn and I.
“Hey, thanks for coming. And thanks for bringing Percy and Phoenix” Finn says as he stands up to give Ian and Isabelle hugs. I stand behind him timidly because I have only seen them once and they have yet to even really talk to me.
“Happy Birthday Alexandra, we are so happy we were able to make it in time” Isabelle says happily as she casually walks over to me and gives me a quick hug. Well, I guess I was wrong about her just like I was wrong about the rest of the family.
“T-thanks Isabelle. Please call me Alex. And thank you for coming” I say as my cheeks turn pink
“Please then call me Elle, Alex” she says with a cute smile which I return to her
“Yes, Happy Birthday Al” Ian says with a smirk
“Al?” I question Ian as he gives me a hug which causes Finn to glare “well since you have everyone shortening your name already, I figure I should go extreme and call you Al”
“Yeah well, Al reminds me of Al Bundy and that is not the kind of sexy I am going for” I say as I wrinkle my nose. I hear Anja and the twins laugh at my reference but the Scotland people all look confused so I just wave my hand in the air and tell them to forget it. Sometimes its hard to remember they might not know the same things we do. I mean come on, who hasn't seen Married with Children? I can even sing the song for them if they asked. God I am a loser.
“Are we ready to rock?” Presely calls out as she saunters into the room wearing a tight leather halter top and plaid skirt and high heeled boots laced up to her knees. I have to admit she looks bad ass but she also looks like barbie trying to be a goth/rocker chick. It would be funny if I didn't just find out that she could probably murder someone with the heel of her boot.
“Pres, you look bad ass” I say as she walks up and puts her arm around me
“I know, I just bought this today. I had to get something plaid in order to fit in!” She says happily as we all head out the door. I look back to blow a kiss at Egypt but she doesn't even notice we are leaving, she is too busy playing with Percy and Phoenix.
“Hey Finn, your place will probably be trashed and full of drool by time we get back” I laugh
“Aye, I have a feeling you are right” Finn smiles sardonically
We end up at the same bar we went to last night however we are lead to the side of the room where there is a raised area with tables and is roped off with a reserved sign.
“Wow, you reserved this just for us?” I ask Finn as I brush my lips across his.
“Yes, I hope you don't mind. This is my favorite bar here and I thought you would rather be in a relaxed place rather than an upscale restaurant. If you don't want to stay here, I made reservations at two other places” Finn says worriedly
“Finn, I love it. I want to stay here. You know me so well already. I am not the kind of person who likes the fancy snobbish places”
“Good, you owe me a dance later” Finn says as he kisses me lightly on the cheek and heads to the bar.
“You've had a very emotional day my darling” Natalia comes up to me and hands me a glass of wine.
“You are correct there. I didn't get a chance to thank you and Brennus for the stunning ring. I love it and it fits perfect” I tell her as I show her my hand. When she takes my hand I see she has the same exact ring on the same exact finger as well.
“It is lovely on you. It is a family tradition for the women in our family to have one” Natalia smiles brightly
“Ah, thank you for the thought but I'm not-” I try to corr
ect her
“Hush now, you are family. I feel it in here and I always trust my heart” she says as she places her hand over her heart. I am at a loss for words here. She considers me family and I've only known them for a few days. I feel close with them as well, but as family?
“Mo Chridhe' let us not occupy Alexandra's time when she has guests waiting to celebrate with her” Brennus comes up to Natalia and I with a charming smile
“I was just thanking her for the ring. Thank you as well. You all have made my birthday one that I will never forget” I tell Brennus as I give him a hug and kiss on the cheek
“We are so happy to have you here” Brennus says simply with a smile and ushers his mate to the table
Chapter 20
“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight” Finn says in my ear from behind me. I turn and throw my arms around his neck and kiss him like we are the only ones in the room. I pour everything into that kiss to show him how much I appreciate everything he has done for me. I never thought a man who is one of my kind existed like this. And how the hell is he still single?
“Come on beautiful girl, how about you spend some time with Presley while I go and try to talk Tank out of hitting on her” Finn laughs as he sees Tank giving Presley the bedroom eyes. He doesn't stand a chance.
I walk over to Presley and take a seat next to her while Finn goes to the other side of the table next to Tank and sits across from me.
“Pres, I am so happy you are here” I gush, its so nice having another person here that I know from home. It helps make things seem less like a dream that I never want to wake up from.
“I'm so happy your man had Anja call me, clever bastard. You didn't have a clue did you?”
“No, I had no idea. He did the most wonderful things for me today. I will cherish this day” I say as my eyes get teary
“He is a great guy, what a catch! His friend is pretty hot too but I'm not letting him know, its all about the chase, honey” she says with a wink
“Yeah, he will be chasing you pretty hard if you aren't careful. I caught him drooling when he saw you walk out in that outfit” I laugh at her as she looks down at her cleavage and smirks “so when do you go home? Maybe you can wait till I fly home?” I ask hopefully. It would be nice to have another trainer around now that I know what she is
“Ah, what do you mean? Actually, never mind. We are not talking about this tonight. Tonight we PARTY!” Presley yells as Anja walks up with a tray of shots. Oh lord, this is going to be a crazy night.
Luckily Finn ordered me some food because by shot number 3, I am already loud and can't walk a straight line. Once I eat, Presley, Anja and Elle seem to take it upon themselves to make sure we are all good and drunk, while all the boys sit back and laugh at how stupid we act. I am pretty sure at one point I attempted to crawl up on the table to get over it so I could sit in Finn's lap, which he was nice enough to come to me so I wouldn't have to show my ass to everyone. When I am drunk I turn into a brazen hussy and I know it, but the booze helps me to not care. I end up making out with Finn like we were in a private bedroom but lucky for me he isn't wasted and stops me from making more of a fool from myself.
But I will not be stopped, oh no, I some how hatch a plan to seduce Finn right then and there. I explain sweetly in Finn's ear, which means I pretty much yelled cause I have no volume control at this point, that I had to use the bathroom and I needed him to show me where it was. Cause duh, I'm drunk, great plan, right? Nope, cause all the obnoxious bitches I am with decide its a great idea if the herd of us all traipse to the bathroom together. Dumb bitches ruined my plan so I sit there and pout until I am dragged away.
“Don't worry beautiful, you can devise a new plan to get me where you want me” Finn whispers seductively in my ear as I gasp and look at him with wide eyes. Damn, he is on to me. Abort mission! Now I need to construct a new plan. Finn must see the wheels turning in my head because he just gives me a light chuckle and pushes me toward the bitches who ruined my fun.
“Thanks a lot asssssssholes!” I slur as I crash into the door frame
“What? Just helping you peeeeeee, you bitch” Presley laughs. Elle is looking at us with wide eyes, she is still not used to the way we talk to each other which I find hilarious. The first time she heard Presley call me a bitch, Elle actually stood by me as if she was going to fight Presley with me. When I told her that was just what we did to each other she looked at me like she thought I was crazy.
“Hey Pres” I call as I am peeing “if you are a Valkyrie hooker, how come you hate all animals except Egypt? Aren't you some nature tree hugger bitch?”
“Fuck off, god you are a dumb whore” Presley sneers as Elle's face pales “I'm not a fucking nymph you fuck-tard. And I love E cause she is bad ass and she is not an animal”
“Oh, well you are dumb” I say as I stumble over to the sink to wash my hands, great come back.
“God, both you skanks are dumb” Anja slurs as she sways through the door to head back to the table where she practically throws herself on Alec and then proceeds to act like he is a stripper pole.
“You Americans are crazy! Hilarious, but crazy!” Elle says as she stumbles past me
“Come on birthday girl, lets get you home and in bed” Finn says from behind me as he wraps his arms around me.
I slowly open my eyes in confusion, where the hell am I? Why do I feel like complete shit? Ohhhh yeah, last night, stupid friends and their stupid shots. God, peer pressure sucks, except I am pretty sure it didn't take much to get me to drink shot after shot, pretty much just putting in front of me was enough pressure I needed. What a great birthday though.
“Oh good, your skank ass is finally up” I hear Presley say as she stalks into the room.
“What crawled up your ass and died?” I sneer at her, that asshole is interrupting my happy memory of yesterday and its not cool.
“Nothing crawled up there, thank you very much. I just feel like shit and I blame you”
“Me?!? How on earth is it my fault that you have a hangover? I have one too you know” I protest
“Well, it was your birthday so I had no choice but to partake in the merriment” Presley points out as she examines her nails. I swear, she has such a weird sense of fault, never hers, always someone else's.
“Presley, leave her alone and let her sleep” I hear Tank yell from the hallway
“Screw you Tank, if I have to be awake and miserable she is going to be too!” Presley yells back and flips him the bird which he can't see but its makes her feel vindicated
“Alright, I'm getting up. Will you just stop yelling!” I demand as I drag myself into the bathroom while Presley stomps back out the door. She has never been a morning person so I'm not surprised she is this surly. I take a shower which makes me feel so much better, then I do just enough to make myself presentable for the day. Wondering out into the kitchen I hear soft talking and smell food, must be everyone else is up as well.
“Good morning” I say happily as I walk up Finn and kiss him quickly
“Good morning to you as well, beautiful” Finn says as he wraps his arms around me
“You guys make me want to barf” Presley moans
“You want to barf because you drank too much last night, dumb ass” I retort and my only response from her is a growl, ha, she sucks just as bad as I do at come backs
I load up my plate and say good morning to Anja, Alec, Jace and Xander who are all looking a little green as well. Glad I'm not the only one.
“Where are your parents, Ian and Elle at, Finn?” I ask when I notice we are missing them
“They headed back early this morning. My father received a call early this morning and had to quickly go back” Finn explains
“Oh, I hope everything is alright?”
“I'm not sure but he called a short time ago and asked that we return soon and he needed to see us” Finn says with a confused expression. Its not sitting well with him that he doesn't know what is going o
n
“We're coming back with you too” Presley says as she points to herself and Tank “I need to see this castle that these guys live in” she finishes with a wink. I am so grateful that she is coming back with us. It will be so nice to have another person I know around.
“Alright, I will go get my stuff together and we can take off” I say as I shovel food in my face. We quickly gather our things and head out the door. On the drive back to the castle Finn is quiet but he brushes me off when I ask if everything is alright. You can see clearly it isn't but not much I can do if he doesn't want to talk about it. We have a convoy of 4 cars in our group. Xander and Jace along with Percy in one car. Alec and Anja with her dog Phoenix in another. Tank and Presley ride together, which I think she secretly was happy to ride with when we told her we didn't have the room. Between Egypt and our bags there is no way we could fit anyone comfortably. When we arrive back to the castle we are greeted at the door by Alec's father, Finn's uncle Brandon, who ushers us to Brennus's office.