by Shea Balik
Kegan felt a small shiver shake his body as he took in the man’s thick, muscled body. He would definitely be strong enough to hold Kegan in the air as he rode what Kegan was fairly sure would be a nice thick cock hiding behind those pair of jeans.
Then there were those eyes. The light wasn’t quite bright enough for him to be able to tell if they were black, or a really dark brown. Either way, they seemed to be able to see straight into Kegan’s soul and, based on the man’s frown, found him lacking. He’d almost laughed at the absurdity that his heart actually ached at the thought. Not that Kegan would ever say that out loud, particularly when the man was clearly crazy.
Then again, Kegan could say the same about himself. There he was, having lustful thoughts about some stranger, even as he stood there, sword held loosely next to his body, looking like some kind of medieval warrior.
Still, it was Alaska, in the dead of winter, and this guy was wearing jeans and a sleeveless flannel shirt. No coat, no hat, no gloves, not that any of those items were doing Kegan much good at the moment with the ferocious wind cutting through everything he wore.
The only thing Kegan could give the guy props for, was he was wearing heavy boots. With some places having nearly a foot of snow, boots were a necessity. Kegan only wished he’d been smart enough to put on two layers of socks before he’d left the small bed and breakfast that morning to forge out into the surrounding land to find a place he could perform one of the eight necessary rituals, the winter solstice.
If it hadn’t of been for the stupid solstice, along with his twenty-first birthday, Kegan never would have left his nice cozy room with its roaring fireplace. Keeping on the move had been the only thing that had kept him alive up until now. That was even more important today.
That reminder was all it took to swing him back around to the real threat. Although, it didn’t stop him from asking, “Who the fuck are you and why in the hell are you here?” Then he pointed to the sight before them. “Maybe the question I should be asking is, do you have a death wish? Those…”
Kegan struggled with a name for what was coming toward them, well him, since he had zero doubt their plan was to kill him. Then again, maybe he would be lucky and they were after the stranger stupid enough to stick around. “…Animals are going to kill us both,” he finished lamely.
He knew that wasn’t the right word, but he didn’t have another name for them. Monsters, maybe, but Kegan was fairly sure any self-respecting monster would take offense to being classified with those things. Each one was more grotesque than the last.
Just as he had the night his family had been killed, Kegan could make out various combinations of scales, fur, claws, teeth – can’t forget about those fucking razor sharp teeth – and – ewwwww, was that slime? How had he managed to black this shit out after his brother… Kegan forced himself to forget about the past. The only thing that mattered was finding a way to keep himself alive.
“Animals?” Mr. Huge Ripped and Handsome choked out with what sounded like a laugh. “Please tell me you’re being sarcastic, because those ain’t no animals.”
Pissed to be made fun of, Kegan considered mentioning the double negative meant the guy agreed with him on the animal thing, but the fact was, there were more important things at that moment. Like why wasn’t the strange man running away in terror? It’s what Kegan would be doing if his feet weren’t practically frozen in place as if they had grown roots and were embedded in the ground.
But even as his body shook, partially in cold, but mainly because those… things were nearly upon them, Kegan couldn’t help but be his snarky self as he asked, “Really? Then what would you call them, Mr. Know It All and, more importantly, how do you suggest we not die?”
Kegan knew all too well what those things could do to a person. He’d watched in terror as one of them had sliced his brother open from stem to stern, like he’d been a potato being cut into fries.
Oh great! Now I’ll never be able to eat fries.
Never in his life had Kegan imagined witnessing anything so gruesome, especially involving someone he loved. It had sent him running before those things turned on him.
He’d been all around the world, but apparently, he hadn’t run far or fast enough if they’d managed to find him in the wilds of Alaska in the dead of winter, more than two years later.
“They’re the dogs of the Unseelie,” the stranger spat out. “And to survive, we fight.”
Kegan hadn’t believed he’d be able to take his eyes from what was coming at him, but he did at the man’s shocking statement. “Fight?” he squeaked out around the lump that had formed in his throat at the thought of getting any closer than he already was to any of those monsters.
Then, like always, his sarcasm struck. He blamed his years of trying to deflect his family’s obvious belief that he was a waste of space. Well, all of them but McAlister. His brother had always told Kegan, one day he would be one of the greatest druids to ever walk the earth.
As a kid, Kegan had desperately wanted to believe his brother instead of the rest of his family. After running away to leave everyone to die, Kegan knew McAlister had only said it to try and make him feel better.
But even though that fantasy had died a quick death, his sarcastic wit had stayed with him. Plaguing him as he was thrown out of everywhere from restaurants, to bars, to hotels, and even once, an entire town.
Most likely, considering how huge the stranger was, it would get his ass kicked. Then again, he’d prefer that to being ripped open with his entrails tumbling from his body like his brother.
So, in true Kegan style, he patted himself down, then cocked his head at the stranger. “Damn, I put my weapons in my other coat.” Technically, he still had his gun, but Kegan had never really learned to use it. The things terrified him. Although, in hindsight, not as much as the things coming to tear him apart.
Kegan had no idea what the response would be, but it sure as hell wasn’t for the sexy as sin man – No, he chastised his libido. No thinking about sex when there are things trying to kill him – to toss him a sword and a gun. He quite literally stared at both items as they sailed through the air toward him, only to fall into the foot of snow at his feet.
“They work better if you pick them up,” the guy said with a straight face.
Honestly, Kegan wasn’t sure what he found more odd, that he’d just been tossed a sword and gun as if he would know what to do with either, or that the big brute of a man pulled out another sword like it was no big thing.
“Who in the fuck are you?” No way did normal people carry that much weaponry. Right?
The man grinned, causing Kegan’s dick to thicken, which, in this weather, was saying something since he was fairly certain his balls were so far up his body they might never come out. “Bjorn.” He nodded his head toward the ground. “Now pick up those weapons, dollface. We have some Unseelie trash to take out.”
Dollface? Should he be flattered or offended by the nickname? Then again, time being what it was with these things breathing down their necks, it didn’t seem that important when death was practically staring him in the face.
“I can pick them up, but there wouldn’t be much point since I have no idea how to use them,” Kegan told Bjorn. He really should have practiced shooting his gun. At least then he might have a chance to kill one or two of those things before he died.
“Fucking figures,” Bjorn grumbled. “Druids created the mess, but they can’t be bothered to do anything to learn to protect themselves from the consequences. Idiots,” he grumbled loud enough for Kegan to hear.
“What do you know about druids?” Kegan asked, sure no one outside of their kind knew anything about them. Then again, if this guy knew about the things barreling down upon them, it was safe to assume he’d know about druids.
Hard eyes bore into his, filled with so much derision it wasn’t hard to guess how little Bjorn thought of him. “Enough to know you’ll be useless in this fight.” Then the man tilted his head. �
��Unless you’ve been gifted with your power.”
Kegan opened his mouth about to ask how the hell he knew, but with everything else Bjorn already understood without Kegan saying a word, it shouldn’t be a surprise he’d learned about that too. “I haven’t performed the ritual,” was all he managed to get out before they heard a god-awful roar coming at them.
Freaked out, Kegan didn’t even think, he just ran behind Bjorn, praying the man could defend him. With as many muscles as the man had, he stood a much better chance than Kegan did.
Bjorn scoffed, but didn’t make fun of him for using him as a shield. “It doesn’t matter if you did or not,” Bjorn said as he prepared to take on nearest animal-monster…whatever. “Ryley’s family never managed to perform the ritual, but he got his ability.”
Kegan’s heart skipped a beat hearing that name. “Ryley Duggan?”
Bjorn nodded. “He seemed to be able to use his ability when he was scared.” Bjorn glanced over his shoulder with an eyebrow raised and a smirk. “I would definitely say that fits you at the moment.”
Before Kegan could call him the asshole he was, Bjorn attacked when one of those things was just a few feet from them. It took him less than two swipes of his sword for Bjorn to slice its head off.
Kegan wanted to cheer, but Bjorn wasn’t done, not by a long shot. Worse, two of those… Kegan shuddered as one had slime dripping down its sharp fangs, as well as covering its torso, but it was that damn tail that had Kegan screaming like a girl as it came toward him.
“Kegan,” Bjorn shouted. “Run.”
That sounded good to him, but when Kegan tried that, the other creature, who managed to wrap what appeared to be fingers made entirely out of scales with long, pointed claws, around his arm and yank him closer.
Fuck. He was going to die. All those years of running had been for nothing. Just like his brother, Kegan was doomed to be murdered on his twenty-first birthday.
Fear seized him as he stared up into black soulless eyes. Its mouth opened. He shuddered, for it hadn’t just opened, it seemed to come unhinged, growing big enough to swallow Kegan whole. If it couldn’t quite manage that, it had row after row of teeth to do the job, which were getting close enough to bite Kegan’s head off. A mix of dread, panic and mind-numbing terror gripped him even tighter than the monster’s grasp.
One thought kept going through his mind, I don’t want to die. Kegan even screwed his eyes shut and prayed that he would be saved.
A bright light appeared even with his eyelids still closed, then he was falling, the fluffy snow only partially cushioning his body as he slammed into the ground. Stunned, Kegan had trouble moving, until he heard an unholy roar.
His eyes popped open and he looked up to find a slimy monster with a look that promised a long and painful death. What he didn’t see was the thing that had held him just seconds before.
“That’s it, dollface. Do it again,” Bjorn called out as he sliced open another creature before facing the final two that were attacking him.
“Huh?” he said, although he was sure Bjorn hadn’t heard him, nor would he have been able to comprehend anything the man said if he had, for that slimy creature stomped toward him, causing the ground to shake. “Oh fuck,” he whispered as the monster’s expression promised to kill Kegan.
Bile rose up within him as Kegan shuddered when its long arm, with hoof-like hands, struck out. Less than an inch from punching Kegan in the face, it let out another shriek as energy gathered around them strong enough to raise the hairs along Kegan’s body.
Once more there was a blinding light that caused Kegan to shield his eyes. When he opened them, blinking, that slime thing was gone. Glancing around, all Kegan could see were two piles of ashes near his feet.
“What the…” Kegan stared, sure he had to be imagining what he thought just happened. Right?
But before he could try to make sense of any of it, grunts, shrieks, and screams of fury surrounded him and Bjorn. Kegan prayed that wasn’t what he thought he was hearing as he gazed into the distance. That terror he’d been feeling since first seeing those… animals, monsters, whatever, exploded ten-fold as he took in at least twenty more coming at them from all directions.
“No fucking way,” he whispered.
Bjorn pulled him up to his feet and started them running in the direction with the fewest creatures. “You might want to run faster,” Bjorn encouraged as they trudged through the ankle deep snow with patches of ice underneath. “I might be immortal, but I can promise, you aren’t. So, unless you want to die, hurry the hell up.”
Nope. Kegan hadn’t just heard Bjorn claim to be immortal. Nor was he going to ask the man to repeat what he had said. He was done dealing. All he wanted was to soak in a bathtub and forget this day had ever happened.
CHAPTER 3
There wasn’t much in this world that terrified Bjorn, until the moment when one of the Unseelie’s pets had gotten its hands on Kegan. His heart had stopped as he battled harder to kill the rest of the Unseelie hoard so he could save the druid he was sworn to protect.
Except…
As much as it pained him to admit, his need to rescue Kegan went far beyond duty. None of which mattered, for Bjorn refused to be damned by the curse placed upon him a moment longer than necessary. Even if that meant denying the unexpected feelings he had toward Kegan.
Not that any of that mattered at the moment. First things first, he needed to get them as far from the Unseelie’s pets as possible, preferably in one piece. More cackles, roars, and battle cries rocked the air around them.
“Fuck me,” Kegan said as he stumbled when the number of beasts doubled.
If he were made of weaker stuff, Bjorn had to admit, he might have hesitated barreling through the fray, but he was a Viking, damn it. The only time he’d allowed himself to be afraid was his first raid.
He wasn’t even going to mention how he’d practically pissed himself when that druid cursed him and his friends. That had definitely been the worst moment of his life, especially when Odin’s voice had rumbled in the sky above them, giving credence to the curse.
Immortal might have sounded cool, but after the first couple hundred years, Bjorn had found out the true meaning of hell. By the time they’d reached a thousand years, Bjorn would have done anything to die, but it didn’t matter how many risks he took, he survived every damn one of them.
“Come on,” he growled out as he grabbed Kegan’s upper arm and practically dragged him forward.
“Are you fucking crazy?” Kegan shouted. “There are at least three of those snot monsters ahead of us.” His whole body shuddered. “I mean, seriously, they are disgusting. Can’t we pick the ones with the scales to fight so I don’t end up with their boogers on me?”
Bjorn was annoyed to find his lips twitching as if they wanted to curve upward into a smile. They’d been doing that almost every damn time Kegan opened his mouth. How he managed to be sarcastic when he was clearly terrified, Bjorn didn’t know, but he was impressed - proud even - and that was something he refused to acknowledge any more than keeping Kegan alive was as essential as Bjorn taking his next breath.
None of it made sense, which was why he knew deep in his bones, he needed to get Kegan to their home in Colorado as soon as possible so he could stay far away from him. No way was he allowing himself to remain cursed when the signs were pointing to the end of their immortality.
He just needed to stay focused and not fall for this smart-mouthed druid. Determined to do just that, he continued to drag Kegan forward. “Changing direction will only give the others time to catch up to us. So, either grow a pair and fight them with that lightning thing you did or stand there and whine while they slime you.”
“What lightning thing?” Kegan asked.
If it hadn’t been for the confusion on Kegan’s face, Bjorn would have thought he was being sarcastic again. But the way his brows were furrowed, and those rosy lush lips were twisted as if trying to fit together two pieces to a puzzle, K
egan had no clue what he’d done to the two creatures that had attacked him.
“Your druid power,” Bjorn barked out over the sudden gust of wind that had nearly swept Kegan off his feet. If Bjorn hadn’t been holding his arm, he most likely would have landed on his ass.
Kegan shook his head even as he struggled to keep moving. “I told you, I hadn’t had the chance to perform the ritual, yet.”
They were getting too close to the Unseelie pets to get into a debate about the finer points of how he gained his powers. “Trust me, you have it, and it’s lightning.” When Kegan looked at him doubtfully, Bjorn, flung his other arm behind them, to where they’d just fought the Unseelie’s minions. “Then how do you explain the two that had attacked you suddenly turning to ash?”
Kegan opened his mouth as if to argue, then shut it. They were less than twenty steps from the nearest beast, when he opened it again, only to shut it once more.
Not having time, and unsure Bjorn could kill enough Unseelie before the rest descended upon them, he shoved the gun he’d previously tossed Kegan’s way into his hands. “Look, you were terrified, those things about to kill you and lightning suddenly dropped from the sky and turned them into ash.”
Bjorn wished he had a better way of explaining it to Kegan, but he could tell by the doubt still shining in those pretty gray eyes, he wasn’t getting through. “Either figure it out, or start shooting,” he barked in frustration. “Because if we don’t find a way to kill these Unseelie before the others get here,” he made sure to point toward the now eighty or more racing their way, “I won’t be able to save you, dollface.”
The moment he used the endearment – again – Bjorn silently cursed himself. He had to find a way to stay objective when it came to Kegan, or he would lose his chance to finally rest in Valhalla. No one, not even someone with golden hair, grey eyes, and enough spunk to be sarcastic when facing death, would change his mind about that.