Death's Daughter

by L. A. McGinnis

  “Of course”—Future toyed with the heavy necklace at her throat, her fingertips dancing along the diamond—“there will be a price.”

  Danger, danger. Course correction ahead. “Name it.”

  Now there was no doubt the dark-eyed witch’s smile was dripping venom. “You made a bargain with her in the beginning, no?” Everything inside of Tyr knotted up. Holy shit, how could he have forgotten? How could he have missed this?

  “That bargain was made before…”

  Past leaned in as well, her eyes narrowing. “You swore an oath, you’d kill her when the God of Chaos was dead. When this is done, you will keep your word.” The three nodded.

  “That was before…”

  “Yes or no.” Not a question, actually.

  Tyr’s brain scrambled around, searching for a loophole in the language, a footnote, an escape clause. Finding none, he did what he did best, he bought more time.

  “Yes.” No question, he’d never sentence Hunter to death, not right now, certainly not like this. He’d sure as shit not put his woman’s life in the hands of this bitch in front of him. And he’d never, ever take Hunter’s life.

  “We have a deal then, God of War?”

  Tyr flinched. He hated that fucking moniker, especially coming out of the mouths of these creatures.

  “We do.” They hadn’t defeated the bastard yet, and he’d put his money on Loki finding a loophole they could slip out of. Feeling pretty damn smug, he picked up his pack and turned to walk away.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Not that he knew of. He’d come here for one thing and one thing only. Deal done, time to go.

  “You owe us a tithe, immortal.”

  “I brought you fucking jewelry. I thought you chicks liked that kind of shit.”

  “We require something a bit more…organic.” When Past licked her lips and looked him over, head to toe, Tyr shuddered. Aw, hell no. This was what he fucking hated about the Old Country.

  “You ladies want that kind of action, Freyr’s your guy. I’ll send him your way.” The dead-eye stare he got in return said no fucking way. The look he sent them said the same. It appeared they were back to the negotiating table. “Look. This isn’t happening. You want something else from me, you got it.” As the words came out of his mouth, Tyr cursed himself. “But not that.”

  “Hunter Wallace and her near-immortal life.” The dark eyed beauty mused. “You truly believe her longevity is because of the blood magic you cast on hallowed ground?”

  “It was.” Tyr told her flatly. “And I’d do it again.” If only to keep Hunter out of their reach.

  “What if you are wrong?” Future mused. “What if her long life is due to something else entirely? Would you still feel bound to her? Is this guilt pushing you to save her now? Or love?”

  “I healed her and made her into what she is. Not escaping that fact.” But a kernel of doubt began to grow, if only because of the absolute certainty in those black, impenetrable eyes staring back at him. “And I’m here because I love her. For no other reason. You demand a steep enough price for restoring her life. You’ll get nothing more from me.”

  The three put their heads together, keeping Tyr waiting. The woman in the center spoke, one final time. “Then consider your favor granted. But let us leave you with a warning.

  “Destiny cannot be altered. Not by you. Not even by us.”

  Meeting their cunning, exquisite faces, Tyr reminded himself to never come back this way. Odin had been smart to set up a back door, but shit, he’d forgotten where it led to.

  For too long he’d dreamed of coming home, built this place up into some kind of spectacular fantasy, when actually it was a bunch of old, horny women under an ancient tree that probably had Dutch elm disease. This was a dark, ruined world, far from the sun-filled, gilded kingdom he remembered. Hours later, the moment he breached the opening of the cave and burst out into the sunlight, Tyr pulled out the com and called. “How is she?”

  After a slight pause, Mir answered. “Just checked on her. Sleeping but she seems stable. Syd’s with her, and she seems stronger. I don’t know what you did. I don’t even want to know. But it worked. Now get your ass back here. I don’t want to be the one explaining where you are when she wakes up.”

  Throwing everything into the Hummer and turning toward home, he floored it.

  Laid out on his bed, Hunter looked every inch the fairy princess. Black hair fanned out in dark waves over his pillows, those long, sloped eyes closed, long black lashes dark against alabaster cheeks blushed delicate pink. She was alive. Future kept her word after all. His hands curled in upon themselves as his breath shallowed out.

  I am going to have to kill her.

  Hunter sighed and turned on the bed, the sheets wound tightly against her curves. Holy hell, she was alive. Tyr walked over and lowered himself next to her, and instinctively she curled into him, sighed as his arms came around her. “I had the most awful dream.”

  “So did I, princess. So did I.”

  “I was in this terrible, black place. Everything was cold and wet, and I couldn’t find my way out. Then all of a sudden, this woman appeared, and she gave me her hand and led me home. She was beautiful. Long, black hair.”

  “That doesn’t sound so bad.” He was running his hands through her glorious hair, the strands silk between his fingers.

  “That wasn’t the worst part.” Her voice got smaller. “She told me you promised to kill me when this was over.” Her breathing turned panicked as her eyes flew open. “Do you remember when I arrived, and I made you promise me that very thing, Tyr?”

  He’d gone perfectly still as if somehow, if he didn’t move, the words she was about to utter wouldn’t reach him.

  “I wish I’d never said it. I wish I’d never made you promise me that, Tyr. Even though, at the time… At the time, I was ready to be done with all of this. The world, this life, everything. I was just so—tired. But now…” Hunter turned her face up to his, gently kissing his chin and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. “I’m not nearly ready to leave. I want to stay with you.”

  Not your fault. He wanted to say. I did this. He wanted to tell her. I was the one who condemned you to die, not once, but three times now. But he did none of those things.

  Instead, he rolled her underneath of him, feeling her warmth, the lovely sleekness of her skin, his hand following every curve, the way her stomach dipped in, the wetness between her thighs. He nipped and tasted and suckled and bit until he couldn’t get any closer to her. Nor any farther apart. Desperate, he wanted them joined, damn it. Or more accurately, he wanted them to become one. For all their time apart, he’d felt linked to her in a way that seemed unbreakable. Now, connected in the flesh, he’d never felt further apart.

  “Hunter…” His tongue traced a wet path up between her breasts, the salty tang of her something he couldn’t get enough of.

  “I need to take a shower, Tyr. Like now,” Hunter murmured, although she made no move to leave, only shifted to give him better access. Which was all good with him, he thought, cupping her breast, his thumb making small, circular motions on her nipple as it hardened.

  Though in some small part of his brain, he realized he’d been crawling around in a cave all day, and thinking of the way the Fates had sized him up had him feeling especially dirty. “A shower, huh? We can take a shower.”

  The shifting, squirming movement halted. “Okay,” Hunter said, her fingers winding their way along his face, to his jaw, tipping his face up so they stared at each other. “I think I’d like that.”

  Rising, Tyr led her to the bathroom, his version of gray marble minimalism. But the walk-in shower had a long, wide bench, and he had plans.

  Big plans, as Hunter stripped off the t-shirt, and her breasts popped free.

  He turned on the water and thanked Mir for his foresight in installing solar as the steam began fogging up the glass. Grasping Hunter’s hands, he led her to the shower. “In here, and we’v
e got plenty of hot water, so take your time.” Pulling off his ruined shirt, Tyr paused, searching her eyes before his hand went to his fly. “I can wait, you know. Leave you be. You’ve been through plenty these last couple days.”

  Her eyes narrowed, then she slid her panties down her legs and stepped into the shower, the water running in sheets down her back, slicking her hair to the curve of her spine. “There’s plenty of room for both of us in here, but if you want to wait your turn, I guess that’s up to you.” Turning, the wicked smile playing at the edges of her mouth spread.

  The hot water felt heavenly coursing down her body.

  But not as good as Tyr’s hands. Or his mouth. Hunter opened one eye and glared through the fogged-up glass. His murky figure was on the move, and she hoped he was getting naked. Enough with the pussyfooting around. Hadn’t they already decided they’d wasted too much time?

  And then he came up behind her, pressed the full length of that rock-hard body into hers.

  God. Finally.

  When his hands came around and cupped her breasts, she fell forward, through the spray, one hand slapping up against the wall. But he had a firm hold of her, pulling her back against him, her body making contact with his once more, friction and heat and water ramping up the hunger coursing through her. His cock was nestled between her ass cheeks, his teeth clamped loosely on her shoulder, his fingers playing with her nipples as they tightened beneath his touch, and she groaned. So loudly the sound bounced off the marble. God, did that sound actually come out of her?

  “You feel good against me, princess.” Tyr’s breath exploded in her ear, pushing them both under the showerhead. Walking her over to the bench, he spun her around and pressed her down, until she was sitting, staring up at him, watching the water coursing down his pecs, over those toned, cut muscles, across old scars and still-healing ones. Reaching out, Hunter trailed her hand down the narrow line of hair until she grasped the base of his cock and leaned forward, closing her mouth over the velvety head. His gasp was even louder than hers, and she smiled around the girth of him, taking him ever deeper.

  A twist of her tongue followed the ridge of his head, and he groaned. Another long, hard lick along the bottom near the vein had him making a sound more like a rough purr. She liked those sounds. She wanted to hear more of those sounds.

  His hands tangled themselves in her hair, guided her, then found a slow, steady rhythm as his hips surged forward, pushing him farther into her mouth, her tongue playing along the edge of his head, then the thick vein along the bottom, before she pressed her teeth in, ever so slightly. He surged forward, filling her mouth.

  “Fucking hell.” Beneath her hand braced on his thigh, his muscles trembled as if weakening, and she wondered if he was losing control. Tyr’s grip on her hair tightened, then he pulled her away, his face flushed, eyes dazed. “Godsdamn it, Hunter, I’m going to cum if you keep that up. And we’re not finishing this quickly.”

  Sinking to his knees before her, he lifted one knee over his shoulder, then the other, until she was spread before him, her shoulders settled against the wall. “My turn,” he told her, a devilish smile on his face. And then he lifted her to him and licked straight up through the center of her, sucking her clit into his mouth, rolling his tongue across the nub. Sinking his teeth in, she moaned, the slight pressure causing her to throw her head back with a solid clunk against the wall.

  “Shit, sorry. Gods, I’m sorry.” He dropped her feet to the floor, slid beside her, and rubbed the back of her head, his clever fingers massaging the knot. “Damn it, I got carried away.” As he apologized, all Hunter could do was blink the tears from her eyes as she leaned into his touch.

  Perfect. He was absolutely perfect. Somehow, in all of her imaginings, never had she thought they’d end up like this. So…utterly normal.

  “Take me to bed, Tyr. Make love to me.” For the first time in her life, right in front of her, she had what she wanted. Just the two of them, with the rest of the world locked safely outside. “Right now.”

  “Your wish is my command, princess.” Shutting off the water, he wrapped a towel around her shoulders, gently drying her off before offering his hand. “I’ve been waiting my whole life to make love to you. It’s about time my wish came true.”

  She didn’t know how, or why, but the words settled her. As if they confirmed what she already knew. For both of them, this was the culmination of years and years of wanting. And even though it might not be the first time, this time meant something deeper, something more because now they’d both been to hell and back, seen the other side, and lived to tell about it.

  Hunter didn’t remember standing up, she didn’t remember moving. All she did know was the warm, wet slide of her skin against his as they nipped and suckled and kissed their way over to the bed, the twist of their bodies as they fell against the sheets, Tyr rolling her onto her back, his mouth still attached to hers.

  His clever tongue teased hers, and he tasted good, spicy almost, a mixture of craving and excitement and passion all mixed into one. Hunter opened wider, savoring more of him, and he clasped her jaw with one hand, angled her head, and dove in deeper. Tongues dueling, he finally pulled back, eyes dark, his breathing every bit as ragged as hers.

  “Damn it, Hunter, this isn’t going to take very long.” Her hands slid over his huge shoulders, down his arms, then back up, finding each curve of muscle before lightly caging themselves behind his neck. His hips were caught between her legs, his hard-on pressed into her thigh. She moved so they were aligned, firmed her hands behind his nape, her gaze never leaving his.

  “We have forever, right?” she murmured, “Tonight, tomorrow…forever. And this…is just the beginning. So now, please.”

  He thrust in quickly, and her hips bucked, as if of their own accord, taking him deeply, the waves of her orgasm already starting to shiver through her, the muscles of her core clenching hard against his cock. Every hard thrust ramping up the pleasure, every move narrowing her focus to the tightening feeling at the middle of her, the narrowing down to a single point.

  Slipping an arm beneath her leg, Tyr angled her up, then pounded into her, her hands still clasped behind his head, their bodies slapping together. And then she exploded.

  The orgasm ripped through her, Tyr increasing his rhythm, dropping his head to her shoulder, her hands slipping to his shoulders while he rode her, harder and harder until his body froze, clenched, and her name came tearing out of his mouth.

  When he’d caught his breath, he reared up over her, his eyes shining with what she could only describe as reverence.

  “Forever. I like the sound of that.”

  36

  The explosives worried Freyr.

  If the fidiots had left them in the pretty little silver cases, he wouldn’t be half as concerned. But no. They were shoved into flimsy duffel bags, and here he was, wiring the switches to the power sources, then the charges, just waiting for the bright flash of light that told him he miscalculated.

  A munitions expert, he was not.

  The other thing that worried him was the incessant, malevolent drain from the Orobus, poised about fifty feet to his left. The fucker was seriously a black hole of epic proportions.

  Shoving his worry to the side, Freyr reminded himself again, this was all his idea.

  If this little display worked, if it gave Sydney her window of opportunity, then they’d seal the doors closed, and the Orobus would spend the next few days attempting to open them. In the meantime, they’d pick the remainder of his army off, one by one.

  With a little luck, leaving only the Orobus and Hel to deal with.

  He’d take those odds.

  They were certainly better than the ones they’d faced these past months. Winding the last set of wires together, Freyr ghosted to the next location and got to work, hunching his shoulders behind the stadium seats so the squad of Dark Elves patrolling a few paces away wouldn’t spot him. He’d been dodging elves and Grim all around the site, hun
dreds of them, forming a wide barrier around the stones. With the wind blowing in hard off the lake, his scent would be negligible, but the creatures had noses like bloodhounds, and one couldn’t be too careful.

  The plan is solid.

  He kept telling himself that.

  It is not going to get all of them killed.

  He kept telling himself that too.

  One site to another, Fen’s careful, clipped voice running down the minutes into his ear, Freyr planted device after device, dodging the elves patrolling each area, the Grim dripping from the girders and shadows of the underground roads, as he laid a trail of incendiary breadcrumbs along the path he hoped the creature would follow.

  When he arrived at the terminal end, he back-wired both devices before climbing the metal steps to upper street level. Ghosting his way to the lookout position where Fen waited, he surveyed the area, mentally mapping out the sequence of the detonations, and calculating, again, the time it should buy them. If things went right.

  Raising the com to his lips, he took a deep breath. “That’s it. Once everyone’s in position, let me hear you.”

  One by one, they reported in. Celine and Morgane, Thor and Vali, Mir and Sydney. Balder.

  Good to go.

  It took him longer than it should have to tell Fen. “Hit the button.”

  Nothing prepared Freyr for the fear he experienced when the explosions started. As they’d discussed, planned, and hoped for, the Orobus recoiled as the first explosion hit him on his south flank, which took out a handful of Dark Elves and created a divot the size of a house. The next one was close to the water and blew the creature back through the openings of the stone circle, decimating anything alive in that quadrant, reducing Grim and Dark Elves to ash.

  Out of the cloud of smoke, elves ran in disarray while Grim scuttled out of hiding places by the hundreds, only to trip smaller landmines planted over the past few hours, wreaking havoc, and scattering the carefully concentric circles of guards the Orobus had positioned around the stones.