by T. G. Ayer
Fen took a step toward Loki, but Thor touched his arm, enough to make the Ulfr general pause and think.
Loki shook his head, so self-assured, so confident. "You see, my son, you will fall with all of the Aesir, and I will survive. I have chosen my side, the side of the winners of this war."
I'd had enough. "Quit with the riddles, Loki. I think we've waited long enough. Talk." The words came out more of a growl against my parched throat.
"Well, Valkyrie, you won't like what I have to say."
"Thank you for your consideration, but why don't you just go ahead and tell us, and we can decide for ourselves." I lifted my chin enough to back up my big mouth.
Anger flitted across his swirling eyes, but he backed down, the muscles in his arms bunching. He had nowhere to go, no escape from his chains. "Ragnarok is upon us. And if you think Odin will prevail, you're sorely mistaken. The gates to Midgard have been opened and the Kings of Jotunnheim shall rule Midgard at the gates of Ragnarok."
"Okay, so in English what does that mean, exactly?" My voice dripped with sarcasm and scorn. What the hell was wrong with me? I dared to provoke this raging god. Despite my confidence that his chains were sturdy enough to keep me safe, the possibility always remained that he would stop talking. And then probably do something deadly to me.
But I sensed that Loki wanted this stage. Had wanted it all along. He had moved all the pieces one at a time to get us where we were right now: at his mercy, as he explained what the hell was going on in the Nine Realms.
"It means, little flightless bird, that you and your kind—all your little Valkyrie friends—are going to die. The frost giants have been in Midgard for a long time, building, learning, amassing their armies. And the genius of it all was that we used you, my little friend. You were the key, dear girl. The weapon we used to smash Odin's army to all corners of the Nine Realms. You gave us the power to kill all those Warriors. And now you have no time left."
Melodramatic much? But this time I held my tongue.
His words touched me so deeply, my heart pumped harder, thundering against my ribs. I struggled to breathe, only because I knew he spoke the truth.
"Ragnarok beckons. Can you not hear the sounds of death in the air? Can you not smell the blood of the dying and the dead?"
Loki spun on his heel, addressing the room. Triumph swirled green and mauve in his blazing eyes, and in the strong set to his shoulders. He threw his arms wide. "Be prepared, brothers, Asgardians. It is the end of Asgard. And the end of Odin."
Those words were enough to break my spirit.
And my heart.
Chapter 46
Loki's words and their grim truth wrapped around me like a blanket of frigid cold, covered in shards of ice that ripped at my flesh and tasted blood.
I shivered.
"We have heard enough of your ravings, Loki," said Thor. He nodded to the Warriors holding on to Loki. "Take him to Asgard. The All-Father shall decide his fate."
Loki went quietly, his head held high, a gleeful smile still emblazoned across his handsome face. I'd always seen glimpses of a happy, cheerful soul in those multihued eyes, but now the darkness within him had taken over. And what it left in its wake wasn't pretty.
A weary body weighs much less than a weary soul, but both are great burdens to bear. I hunched over, leaned against Aidan, offering what little comfort I was able to give him. How would he feel now that he knew he was actually related to the god Loki? The same god who'd tricked us, manipulated us and put a poisoned dagger into his own grandchild. I couldn't bear to think about that.
Movement across the room drew my attention, and I looked up as two Warriors began to lead the doctor away. But the enigmatic doctor stalled, bringing the Warriors to an abrupt halt. "Wait. I have something to say to my son."
Aidan glared at him, and so did I. Who did he think he was, claiming Aidan as his son? He'd practically killed Aidan with a phone call to his goons. And now he had the gall to call him on his blood relationship?
Aidan waited, silent and stiff with fury.
Dr. Lee's eyes shimmered green and purple, and I couldn't help thinking how alike he was to his trickster father. "Whatever happens to me, Aidan, I hope you know that your mother and sister are safe." His words were reassuring enough, yet his ominous tone sent a shiver up my spine. I couldn't help thinking I'd heard a hard edge in those almost comforting words.
"Is that a threat?" Aidan asked softly. I puffed a breath of relief. Good thing Aidan had heard the implied threat too.
"Take it as you like. Just be aware that their safety depends on me." All color ebbed from the doctor's eyes, and his expression turned cold and emotionless as he stared at his son.
"Not for long. If it's the last thing I do, I swear I'll get them away from you." Aidan stepped forward, a foot closer to his odious father. I swayed, struggling to hold myself stiff and strong, surprised I had the strength and control of a few muscles. I gripped the edge of the gurney, forcing myself to remain upright, trying my hardest to ignore the living fire that seemed to seep into every muscle and bone vacated by the drugs.
I peered over Aidan's shoulder as Dr. Lee stared arrogantly at his son. He had no response for the passion of the boy he'd raised. Just looked down his nose at him, his smile saying he didn't understand Aidan's emotional outburst and didn't care, either.
The guards hustled the silent doctor away. Aidan turned back to me, his face haggard and shadowed.
"I'm so sorry." I wasn't sure what else I could have said. Sorry seemed so lame now that I'd said the word, but it was all I could come up with.
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Aidan shook his head, his eyes empty, devoid of emotion, which was almost scarier than his father's psycho smile. "I'm sorry that you got mixed up in his pathetic games."
"I guess he must have had his reasons." Follow one lame comment with another. Way to go, Bryn.
"Are you defending him?" Aidan's voice rasped, harsh and angry, the muscles in his arms tense.
"No, Aidan." I gripped his arm, glad for the ability to move my hands at last. "I'm just saying you had your reasons for following his instructions. Maybe it was something similar for him, too. Loki was his father." I wondered if the arrogant man was proud of what he'd done, or just scared. Did he appreciate that he'd lost a son who was so much more than just progeny?
Aidan sighed, and the anger in his dark eyes faded. "Yeah. I had my reasons. My father is holding my mother and sister hostage, holding their lives and their safety over my head. They were the only reasons I followed his every instruction."
My body iced over and my breath caught in my throat. I just stared at Aidan, more unsure than ever of what I should say. Nothing I said now would make a damn bit of difference to him.
I grasped his hand, entwined our fingers, glad the feeling was returning to more of my muscles, making me feel more human. Okay, maybe I should rethink the human part. "We'll get them back," I said. "I'll help you. As soon as we get out of here, we can go and find them."
Aidan touched my face with his fingers, tenderly grazing my cheek. He tucked a matted lock of hair behind my ear. "There's one good thing that came out of all this mess," he said. I frowned, thinking hard, but I came up blank. Then he bent close to my ear and said, "You."
I smiled, and my cheeks heated as his warm breath caressed the whorls of my ear.
A stern voice interrupted our moment. "I think we have held up the Valkyrie long enough. She needs to rest, and I suggest we continue this conversation when she is well."
I searched the room for the person who had such awful timing—Fenrir. My heart tripped as I held his gaze, searching for hatred and anger and blame. I found none. Just a deep sadness, a shadow of sorrow that curved beneath his eyes and lined his face. He looked ruthless. And yet I knew he was in great pain.
Aidan grasped me around the waist and slid me forward toward the edge of the gurney, as if ready to swing me into his arms.
"No, I'm fine." I batted his
hands away.
"But you can barely walk."
Yeah, sure, I can barely walk, but no way do I want to be lifted in your arms like a child, wearing this short, open-backed hospital gown, my bare ass hanging out for the whole world to see. No frickin' way.
I met Aimee's eye as she walked into the room, and when Joshua entered behind her I almost burst into tears. I tried to beckon them over. My attempt more likely ended up looking like a glare or a grimace, but they seemed to understand. Aimee whispered something to Joshua before they both approached me.
"What happened to you guys?" I didn't wait for either one of them to reach me. I just needed to know why my team had abandoned me. But when my two friends drew alongside me, I bit off any admonition that sat at the tip of my tongue. Joshua's swollen, blackened eye, and his wince of pain as he stepped gingerly on one foot, was enough. "Are you okay?"
Joshua grinned, though it didn't mask the anger in his eyes. "Yes, yes I'm fine. Our friend Karl turned out to be on the wrong side after all. After you and Pia left us, he tried to clobber me. Only problem was, he hadn't been trained by Fenrir. No idea how the creep was even a Warrior to begin with. I managed to fight him off and punched his lights out, but he had backup."
"More guards?"
A grimace creased his face. "Yeah, we were right. The whole thing was just a huge setup. Just to lure you inside. You were the target the entire time."
My veins ran with ice. Anger washed over me. Just knowing I'd been a pawn on Loki's board stirred my fury.
Aimee chose that moment to speak, tearing my rage to pieces. "Aidan, I think Joshua might need some help with the computer and the files. I can get Bryn sorted." She smiled, but her words brooked no argument.
"But—"
"I'm fine, Aidan. You go and do whatever techie stuff it is that you do. I'll try to manage without you." I winked at him and smiled. Thankfully, my facial muscles had regained the ability to follow my mental requests, otherwise who knows what the wink would have looked like.
We both watched him leave. "You're so lucky, you know that? He cares so much for you." Aimee held onto me.
I stared after Aidan's departing back, then smiled at Aimee. "Yeah. Nothing's been easy, though. We've spent the better part of our relationship just trying to find each other." I sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if it's all worth the effort."
"Well, what is it they say? Love conquers all, right? You guys will be fine. All this will blow over soon enough." Aimee's encouraging grin almost made me believe her words.
Almost.
But her smile didn't reach her eyes. Something was wrong. Something she wasn't telling me. I held her gaze, but she broke eye contact and glanced behind me as the sound of clinking metal drew closer.
A voice behind me said, "Bryn, I always knew you would be fun to have around. Nothing is ever boring when you are involved." Sigrun rounded the table, arms laden with my clothing and weapons.
I raised my eyebrows. "Are you trying to imply I'm a troublemaker?" I sent her an accusatory glare, but my spirits soared, happy and relieved to see Sigrun.
"I was not implying anything," Sigrun replied.
Aimee giggled and so did I. My flesh tingled as new blood began to make its way into starved muscles. When a Warrior entered the room, a leather pouch in his hand, Sigrun grabbed it, and thanked him.
She handed the pouch to me.
"Here, drink every drop. You need all your strength, and the sooner you recover, the better it will be for you and for all of us, I think." She shared a glance with Aimee that for the briefest of moments was clearly filled with worry. I blinked, and they were smiling again, and I thought I'd imagined it all.
Mead. I didn't need to be forced. Who didn't love the taste of Mead? I drank deeply, reminding myself not to swallow the delicious liquid too fast. Around me, the room emptied and quieted until just Sigrun, Aimee and I remained.
My head lolled forward, energy slowly draining from my body. "Right, time to get you somewhere to rest." Sigrun grabbed me around the waist and lifted me into her arms.
"I can walk, you know," I said dryly, trying to appear nonchalant while my friend carried me in her arms as if I were a baby.
"No, you cannot walk." Sigrun frowned at me, the motherly glare clearly telling me to shut up and stay put. "You are far too stubborn for your own good, Bryn."
I wanted to cross my arms and pout, but still I saw the funny side to it.
"Fine then, have it your way. Just whatever you do, don't you dare drop me." I tried to squelch my teasing smile but didn't do a very good job of it.
A walk down the hall and about six doors later we entered a small single room that passed easily for a standard hospital room, complete with tacky floral curtains and pasty-green bedding, TV remote and numerous machines at the head of an adjustable bed.
Sigrun sat me on the bed, and I flinched as the movement sent a spike of pain up my spine. The pain brought back the memory of the guard who'd kicked me repeatedly. I lifted my arm to touch the back of my head, and a shaft of agony sliced through my shoulder, the pain a million times worse than any kick in the head.
I gasped and moaned as pain filtered into the rest of my body. The drugs were wearing off. It must have been some kind of super drug that had paralyzed me, to take all this pain away too.
And as it faded away, the ripe agony began to return. Fear rippled through me, and I felt odd. Strange. Something wasn't right. The pain at my shoulders was agonizing, and I twisted my neck around, desperate to see what was causing the intense agony that just kept getting worse with each passing minute. Perhaps the goon who'd kicked me had broken my wings.
But what I saw was horrifically worse.
I couldn't breathe. A sob and a moan of horror stuck in my throat.
I blinked.
Then I gave in to the wave of unconsciousness that would take me away from the horror of it all. And as I sank into the depths of dark bliss, I keened in silence.
Behind closed lids, what I saw brought tears to my eyes.
Hacked off at my shoulders. Raw splints of bone. Bared muscle tissue.
My wings.
They'd taken my wings.
---THE END---
Acknowledgements
To my parents – for always being there for me.
To my gorgeous daughters – Dharshini & Dhivya.
To Patti Larsen – the bestest friend ever, aka the word queen.
To Cassie Hart – voted the best butt-kicker and support person ever.
To Kimberly Kinrade – dear friend and author chum.
To the Inklings: Kim Koning, Leigh K Hunt, Cassie Hart, Melissa Pearl and Brenda Howson – writer-girls with passion and heart and undying support.
To my Beta readers - Courtney McDonald, Mina Witteman, Dharsh, Dhivya and Patti – Bryn's personal cheerleading squad.
To the Crazies – my buddies at Evolved Publishing who help to keep me healthily crazy at all times.
To my editor Eric Pinder – for joining me in my travels with Bryn.
To Valerie Bellamy – for her gorgeous print layout.
To Eduardo Priego – cover artist extraordinaire.
To Lisa Couldrey of Couldrey Design – for her simply gorgeous bookmarks.
To my proof readers – Cassie Hart, Kim Koning & Stephanie O'Connell – a squad of eagle-eyes I could not have done without.
And to you, the reader – you are the reason I write.
About the Author
I have been a writer from the time I was old enough to recognize that reading was a doorway into my imagination. Poetry was my first foray into the art of the written word. Books were my best friends, my escape, my haven. I am essentially a recluse but this part of my personality is impossible to practice given I have two teenage daughters, who are actually my friends, my tea-makers, my confidantes… I am blessed with a husband who has left me for golf. It's a fair trade as I have left him for writing. We are both passionate supporters of each other's loves – it works wonde
rfully…
My heart is currently broken in two. One half resides in South Africa where my old roots still remain, and my heart still longs for the endless beaches and the smell of moist soil after a summer downpour. My love for Ma Afrika will never fade. The other half of me has been transplanted to the Land of the Long White Cloud. The land of the Taniwha, beautiful Marae's, and volcanoes. The land of green, pure beauty that truly inspires. And because I am so torn between these two lands – I shall forever remain cross-eyed.
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COMING NOVEMBER 2012:
SECOND SKIN
by T.G. Ayer
EXCERPT:
The cold cocking of guns set my body on fire.
It also did something worse. With mortal fear gripping me, my imminent Change wasn't taking second place anymore. My body churned the fear and my Panther grasped at the visceral power of the adrenalin in my veins.
I ran.
A gunshot echoed around the garden, the sound ping-ponging off the aging brick walls of the surrounding apartment buildings.
I gasped as a blast of searing pain slammed into me.
As a bullet buried itself deep within my shoulder.
DESCRIPTION:
Panther Shape-shifter Kailin Odel just wants to be normal. Leaving her clan, and her Alpha responsibilities, to live with her grandmother in Chicago had been the best thing for her. Only then did she discover her ability to track and kill the soul sucking undead creatures called Wraiths. Now she protected the humans, and had something to be proud of.