The Fire Within The Night (Night Aberrations - Book Two)

by JD Nelson

  “Gross,” Viggo and I muttered in unison.

  Axel stood with a sigh. “I believe that I am starting to see the family resemblance. Good day to the both of you.”

  “Good day,” I said, echoing Viggo again.

  Axel turned back to us, looking bothered. “One Viggo is quite enough, Erin.”

  I smiled. “I agree. So, the next time I want to be a six foot tall male, I’ll choose someone else. How about you?”

  He closed his eyes and seemed to count to ten before opening them. “Forget it. I give up.”

  I watched, bemused, as Axel stalked out of the room. “Wow. Grumpy-pants is in a foul mood.”

  “Ignore him. He’s always in a mood when his king is away.”

  “Yeah, well, Kristian has an uncanny knack for driving me bonkers when he’s in town. Before he returns with his mate, I plan on booking my room in the asylum. You know, before the rates go up.”

  “Make it a double room. I will need someone to wipe the drool off my chin for me.”

  “Deal.”

  Emelie returned after Viggo and I decided to order tea. She was in a complete funk. “Soren is a disconsonant ass.”

  “Nice word choice,” I congratulated. “And?”

  “And, he won’t listen to reason. But then, why would he? I’m a Norn … who can see the future … and knows exactly what’s going to happen … and could help put things to right,” she muttered, sullenly pulling out a chair and flopping down.

  “Why am I not surprised?” I asked.

  “He’s pissed about the harem thing. I mean, beyond pissed. I’ve never seen him so angry.”

  Viggo poured her a cup of tea. “Here. You’re trembling. Both of you just need to calm down. This will all blow over soon. It has to, now that you and Jakob are mated.”

  “Yeah, about that, Erin. What the fuck with the not telling me? I could have been a little more prepared for World War III, if you had.”

  “Chase got me all distracted the night I saw you,” I explained, hoping she wasn’t as angry as she sounded. “I just haven’t had the opportunity to tell you since.”

  “What do you call that thing your neck is holding up, Erin? You can talk to me anytime,” she grouched, pouring copious amounts of sugar and cream into her tea.

  Putting a soothing hand on both of us, Viggo said, “Now, now, ladies. Let’s just try to get through tonight without the idiot males in this house driving us insane. Okay?”

  “Okay,” we agreed, both of us trying not to laugh at his feminine tone.

  “That’s my girls! Now, Erin, the first thing I want to know is what magic spell you put on that ‘paradigm of everything that is good and right’ brother of mine to get him to step foot in the old harem. ”

  “No spells. Believe me, Jakob put up a good fight,” I said, polishing my nails on my shirt. “But, uh … I always get my male.”

  Emelie laughed. “You are a terrible influence on our Jakob. I love it!”

  Viggo nodded in agreement. “As do I. He needs someone like you in his life … before he bores someone to death.”

  “I don’t get it. You guys see him so differently than I do.”

  Emelie passed me a plate of spiced cookies. “I said that exact thing to Viggo after Soren and I were mated. If I recall, he wondered if I had a brain tumor.”

  “I’m still wondering that myself,” I teased. “I mean, Kristian is so hot, and Soren is so ... Soren.”

  She smiled. “He isn’t like that all the time. Can I show you?”

  “Am I going to have to bleach my eyes after this?”

  “No. I don’t think so.”

  Against my better judgment, I let Emelie grasp my hand in hers and closed my eyes. At first, she filled my mind with her pouring over photo albums, mooning over a picture of the mysterious white-haired male that her parents told her stories about. She was more than infatuated. He was her first love. In the next scene, Soren was holding her frail, sick body as he healed her. Then, the vision morphed into a desperate Soren telling her that he would find a way to stop her marriage to Kristian and kissing her passionately as he lay atop her naked body.

  “Liar!” I cried out.

  She laughed, tears leaking from her eyes. “Now we’re even for you not telling me.”

  I stuck out my hand. “Truce? I won’t talk about sex with Jakob, if I don’t ever have to see or hear anything like that horrible, horrible vision again.”

  “Truce,” she agreed, shaking my hand in a business-like manner with a grin.

  “I’m down with sex from either one of you,” Nils said, from where he leaned on the doorframe listening to our conversation. “And with me, you won’t have to be embarrassed about it later when you tell your girlfriends.”

  Emelie rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure that no female would remember having sex with you. You’re pretty much a ‘I’m too drunk to make good decisions’ kind of fuck.”

  Nils smirked at the vulgarity he seemed to bring out in Emelie as he sat at the table. “I’m hurt, Em. It has been but two years, and already you have forgotten how you begged me for my cock.”

  I gasped. “Emelie, you slut!”

  “I was out of my mind,” she said, in her defense. “Freyr cursed me!”

  She was mortified, and I felt bad for laughing, but when something this caliber of hilarious came along, it was mandatory. “And here I was thinking you were so innocent.”

  “Bite me, Erin”

  “Are you sure that you don’t want Nils to do that?”

  Viggo chuckled. “Good one.”

  Emelie gave us an evil glare. “Erin, if you don’t forget everything you’ve heard in the last few minutes, I will tell Soren about you doing it on the harem floor. I’m not even kidding.”

  I sucked in a breath. “You wouldn’t!”

  Nils stopped laughing and stared at me in disbelief. “Oh no, Em. Let me tell him. Just let me find my cellphone first, so that I can take a video of his reaction.”

  Emelie shot daggers at him. “You shut it, wolf! Before I tell your daddy on you.”

  Viggo roared with laughter. “Oooh! Burn!”

  The male we spoke of cleared his throat at the doorjamb. “What is it that you would like to share with me, Emelie?”

  She paled when she realized whose voice spoke behind her. Looking like she’d rather be anywhere else, she turned around to face Loki. “N-nothing. I was just joking around.”

  He nodded. “I see, my lady. Son, have you began Erin’s training?”

  “Relax, father. I’m getting to it,” Nils said, ignoring Loki’s stern expression until he turned his attention on someone else.

  “And you, Emelie? We haven’t much time.”

  Nils scoffed. “Emelie? What is she going to teach Erin? How to knit?”

  An incredulous Emelie stood from the table. The look in her eyes was straight pissed off. But it also bordered on ‘someone ate the last bite of Chicken Parmesan’. “What did you say, mutt?” She spat out the words with hot venom in every syllable.

  Grinning like a fool at the drama unfolding, Viggo was delighted to help jog her memory. “He said that you were incapable of teaching Erin anything but how to knit.”

  Emelie gave a nasty smile to a now wary Nils and snapped her fingers. He disappeared.

  “What just happened?” I asked, taking the tea cup from Emelie’s trembling hands.

  She turned her eerie silver eyes on me and sat with a deep sigh. “I put the dog out.”

  Loki put a fatherly hand on Emelie’s shoulder. “It was deserved, my lady, and indeed, I hope it proved to be therapeutic for you. Fenrir’s personality must be taxing to one so young. I imagine patience can be hard virtue to learn when you are subjected to one so annoying at such regular intervals.”

  Emelie nodded in commiseration. “You are so not wrong about that, Loki.”

  Viggo was beside himself with laughter. “What I want to know is, where is out? You only tremble when you send someone a long distance
away, and you’ve never had a reaction like this before. Come on, Em, where was it? Múspellsheim? Niflheim to visit that hot sister of his?”

  She smirked. “Nowhere in particular.”

  Seconds later, Nils reappeared. Rivulets of melted ice puddled under his four feet as his fur thawed. He seemed to be semi-frozen as he spoke, but all the way incensed. Canines chattering, he snarled in our heads, “Antarctica, Emelie? You sent me to fucking Antarctica!”

  With more of a smile than I’d ever seen him wear, Loki said, “Take form, son, you are destroying the carpet,” and then left the room.

  If a wolf could have rolled his eyes in exasperation, Nils would have. Instead of following his father’s advice, he shook his coat, sending flecks of ice and water shooting toward us. I screamed and ducked, but none of the slush hit me. Peeking up from the other side of the table, I saw a wondrous sight—Jakob. He stood stock still just outside the doorway, his eyes burning a bright, concentrated green as he held every drop of water and ice motionless in the air—including the ones still attached to Nils. His countenance exuded pure, unadulterated rage. I knew that if I didn’t get him out of here soon there would be words between him and Nils. Many, many violent words.

  Eyes wide, I stepped through the crystalline minefield to stand next to my mate. “Jakob, can I interest you in a night out on the town? I mean, after …” I gestured to the cleaning nightmare waiting to happen. “This is over?”

  If he was surprised at my suggestion, he didn’t show it. He just took out his shifting stone and offered me his arm. “Of course,” He didn’t take his eyes off a frozen Nils. “Emelie, I will hold him still for a minute while you make your way over here.”

  Her evil grin was downright scary. “Be right there, Jakob.”

  I grinned at the childish behavior they were engaging in and felt a streak of pride filter through me. These two…okay, three friends were my family. They were all so different, but they were also the same, and I loved them for it—for all of their quirks and craziness. As I watched Jakob count to three, I knew at this moment, without a doubt, that I would do anything to keep them safe, even if that meant I would have to kill the ones that shared my DNA. There’s nothing like a werewolf’s antics to bring a family closer together.

  We didn’t wait around to see if Nils would retaliate for Jakob turning the tables on him, but we could hear his rage as he screamed, “JAKOB!” in a window rattling timbre.

  Emelie snickered. “Well, that’s my cue to leave.”

  “Chicken!” I yelled at her retreating form.

  Jakob grabbed my arm. “We should go. Now.”

  Grabbing Soren’s car keys from the table in the foyer, I jingled them with a devil may care grin. “I have a better means of travel.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Stealing a car is a better idea?”

  I nodded. “Today, it most certainly is.”

  It was official. I was a terrible influence on Jakob. If I’d been surprised by his acceptance of my wicked invitation to steal a car, that was nothing when compared to the shock I felt as I watched him levitate Soren’s SUV out of Viggo’s driveway, over the cornfields, and onto the deserted highway. It was far beyond anything I ever expected him to do for me.

  “Erin, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” he responded, in answer to my thought.

  I clucked my tongue. “I seem to remember you promising to stay out of my head, Jakob. What happened to that?” My shield was easily kept up when others were around for the sheer embarrassment factor. However, when Jakob and I were alone, I often forgot. I mentioned it to Emelie once. She told me that I forget to block because, secretly, all females want to be heard by their mate. I disagree. I think it’s because I trust him to keep what he finds up there a secret. Besides Em and Chase, who else could I say that about?

  Pretending to be admonished, he replied, “I will endeavor to remember your privacy in the future, my princess, but in the meantime, your chariot awaits.”

  I curtseyed with a slow, sensual dip and slipped my hand into his. “Thank you, kind prince.”

  Once we were safely ensconced in the car and speeding down the highway, I decided to busy myself with changing the presets on the radio to news and Spanish channels to curb my boredom.

  “Erin? What are you doing?” Jakob inquired, observing my in-seat Salsa dancing.

  “Hmm?” I asked, pressing a button until it beeped.

  “Why are you torturing your brother? You know he listens to Classical music.”

  “Actually, I didn’t know that. I haven’t spent much time with him. Probably, because he’s been a dick about ninety-nine percent of the time.”

  “How will you ever learn who he is if you keep avoiding him?”

  I paused in my oh-so malevolent deed and turned to my mate, who was bewildered by what I was doing. “Look, you can be cavalier about what he did to us, and that’s fine, but I don’t have five thousand years of patience built up under my belt. Besides, I’m Soren’s little sister. I’m pretty sure there’s a chapter on annoying him to death in the handbook.”

  A slow grin spread across his face. “You know, I am sure that you are right. Carry on.”

  “You got it.” With thoughts of the other mischief I could get away with in my mind, I continued flipping through the channels.

  After a couple more miles, Jakob asked me what I knew he’d been wondering since we left. “Can you explain why we are stealing your brother’s car, when we could be shifting wherever we like?”

  Shrugging, I leaned back into the seat. “I just need some time by myself.”

  “I hate to be the one to point this out, love. You are not alone. You see, alone is when there are no others around you.”

  I shot him a baleful look, but there was no real heat behind it. “Thanks for the tip.”

  He inclined his head, trying not to laugh. “Of course.”

  “What I meant, ass, is that I don’t count you as someone else. You’re a part of me. My right arm, as it were.”

  In a surprising move, he pulled the car into the tall grass on the side of the empty road. “Erin, I am perplexed by your choice of words, however, I believe I understand the sentiment.” He smoothed my hair back from my face and kissed me. “I love you, too.”

  “Do you love me enough to tell my brother to leave us alone?” I asked, looking past him to the livid, white-haired maniac standing in the middle of the highway, glaring at us.

  He nodded to Soren and turned back to me. “I should not have stopped.”

  “No, I should have given him an ultimatum. Either he deals with what is, or he won’t have to deal with me at all. I’m thinking now is the perfect time to do that.”

  “Give him time to calm, my love. Nothing can be accomplished while you both are so angry.”

  I slouched in my seat. “You’re right. I’m sorry I talked you into this, Jakob. It just made the situation worse.”

  “I am not sorry,” he whispered. “I look forward to spending time with you.”

  “Tomorrow, we talk to him, okay? Promise me.”

  “I promise.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The next evening, I stumbled downstairs from yet another day without my mate in my bed to find Nils and Viggo finishing up their breakfast in their typical fashion—like they’d never eat again. “Uh, guys, you’re supposed to chew your food before you swallow it,” I reminded them.

  “Good evening, Erin,” they replied in harmony, ignoring my sarcasm.

  I sat and stared them down, not yet awake and feeling more than a little irate at any and everything. “What’s going on?” They didn’t just ignore sarcasm. They picked it apart, stomped all over it, and then gave it back to you ten times as bad.

  “What do you mean?” Viggo asked, taking a break from stuffing his face to pour more coffee.

  “What. Is. Going. On?” I reiterated, holding out my cup for him to fill.

  “Well, Soren and Em are at home ‘resting’, Jakob is using
his kingly manner to convince the elves of the kingdom to drink light elf blood for their safety, and the rest of the motley crew are in the back yard practicing,” Viggo informed me, around a mouthful of toast.

  I wrinkled my nose. “Whose blood are they drinking?”

  Nils laughed. “Don’t worry. Em isn’t supplying the entire kingdom with her blood, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “Well, no. Call me crazy, but I doubt my brother would drain his wife of blood, even if it would save an entire race.”

  “You are right about that,” Viggo said, smirking. “Though, he did give me this vial of her blood for you. He is hoping that her Norn magic will trigger more of your talents when you drink it.”

  “More talents? I don’t know how many more ‘gifts’ I can handle!”

  Viggo patted my shoulder. “Do you want some milk for that granola you are pouring all over the table?”

  I looked down, sighing at the mess I was making. “Are you sure I don’t have the magic to produce my own milk?”

  “Someone is pissy today,” Nils observed.

  “Blow me, wolf boy.”

  He perked up. “Well—”

  Viggo held up his hand to silence him. “Stop. Whatever you are about to say, just stop.”

  “Yeah, Nils. Do I have to remind you that I can sic Emelie on you at any time?”

  “Funny you should bring that up, Erin.” Viggo’s smile was wide as he poured my milk. “Nils just returned from another impromptu trip to Antarctica this evening.”

  I choked on my cereal. “What?”

  “Emelie has been a little touchy lately. Actually, for the last few weeks.”

  “I know the feeling,” I grouched, pushing the cereal away and standing. Just thinking about the battle to come made me lose my appetite.

  “Worried?” Nils asked, getting up from the table. “You won’t be after you train up.”

  “That’s where I’m headed.”

  “Good.” His eyes yellowed, and he bent down to a low crouch. “Are you ready for this?”

  “What—” I started, before Nils half-phased in a blur of motion and pushed us both through the plate glass front window. My breath was knocked out on impact, and I gasped what little curse words I could get out before sitting up and trying to get my bearings.