When she was done eating, she rested her head back and closed her eyes, murmuring, “We need to sleep.”
“Yes.” He finished the mead, rested his head back as well and allowed his eyes to drift to her.
She truly was the most stunning woman he had ever laid eyes on. From her tanned, freckled skin to her full, well-curved lips to the gentle, feminine angles of her lovely face.
Jackie might be attractive with her blond coloring, but she didn’t compare to Cybil. Not in the least. The woman next to him had looks that embraced the heritage of not only the Celts but her Native bloodline, the Sioux. A very interesting mix that he only understood because of their mental connection.
An ancestry of fierce warriors.
His eyes wandered her face as she drifted off to sleep. Her thick, black lashes fanned across her cheeks, and her lips parted slightly. A fresh surge of lust blew through him as he imagined kissing her again.
Then far more.
Heidrek wanted to pull her onto him and feel her sweet, tight heat around his cock. To see that desperate look she wore when he didn’t move fast enough, and when they struggled to get closer. He fantasized about pressing his lips against hers when she cried out in pleasure. That sound belonged to him, and he wanted it over and over again.
He wanted to own her in a way he barely understood.
And he wanted her to own him as well.
He took a deep, measured breath and worked hard not to pull her against him. Hours went by, half the night, as he struggled to keep his hands to himself. She said she wanted distance between them, and though her reasoning was good, he knew there was more to it than that. She didn’t want to get hurt despite hearing his thoughts.
Why didn’t he just tell her that he no longer wanted Jackie? That he desired her and only her. But he knew why and it was simple. He didn’t want to get hurt either. Yet he suspected it might be too late for that based on the way he felt. She had given herself to him for the greater good. She had ignited things in him.
More than even he could have anticipated.
There was a new feeling of awareness, an eagerness to use his magic that hadn’t been there before. It was almost like the energy he felt in the midst of battle. Pure adrenaline. His senses seemed to be changing as well. Becoming far sharper. If he wasn’t mistaken, he could hear a storm rumbling across the sky on the other side of Scandinavia.
His eyes had nearly slid shut when the roar of the waterfall seemed to increase, and thunder shook the ground. He snapped to awareness only to find everything caught in perpetual slow motion and Cybil still sound asleep beside him.
The waterfall had slowed to a crawl and lightning flashed within. First a face then a body started taking shape within the water. Towering, ferocious, as tall as the waterfall, it was a bearded warrior holding a hammer.
Thor.
Heidrek knelt on one knee and lowered his head in respect, stating his thanks for the god’s presence. He might have felt ignored by Thor all these long years but knew better than to voice it. The land of gods and men were far apart, and he had long ago accepted that.
“You have angered many in my realm, offspring,” came a deep, echoing rumble within his mind. “Now it is time to rise up and embrace what you are meant to be if you hope to save your people.”
He kept his head lowered and his voice respectful. “Yes, my Lord.”
“Look at me, Heidrek Sigdir, son of Raknar.”
So he did, not shying away from the searing, powerful eyes of the god. Thor’s gaze was assessing as he judged Heidrek. Because that’s exactly what it was. A god seeing how much of himself was in a mere mortal. Something he imagined Thor had done hundreds of times with others. Because if nothing else could be certain, it was that he had likely spread his seed far and wide upon Midgard, Middle Earth.
The god’s eyes narrowed, and lightning shot through his body. “You have embraced me but keep your heart closed.” His lips thinned. “Unlike most, you do not think you are special because you possess my blood.”
“I am no better than the next mortal man,” Heidrek said.
Eyes still narrowed, Thor contemplated him, not particularly impressed. “Be careful how humble you are, offspring. It will not suit you well against your new enemies.”
Heidrek had no chance to respond before Thor roared and slammed down his mighty hammer on the rock at the base of the waterfall. The sound was so loud he swore the ground would split in two. So he leapt to protect Cybil only to find her gone. His eyes covered the cave, but she was nowhere to be found.
“Cybil?” he said into her mind. “Where are you, woman?”
When she whispered, “Here,” his eyes shot to the waterfall. Thor was gone, and she stood close to where his hammer had fallen, staring at the ground.
“Step away from there, Cybil.” He headed in her direction. “It is unsafe.”
He closed the distance quickly as her ghostly Fianna warriors surrounded her and she crouched. They let him pass as she stood, turned to him and held out the most glorious sword he had ever seen. The thick blade was shades of leaden gray and silvery blue. The hilt and pommel were thick, gilded gold.
“This is for you,” she whispered with pride in her eyes. “From your god.”
His gaze fell to the blade. Steam rose off of it, and lightning flashed up and down the metal.
“Take it, Heidrek,” she murmured. “You need to take it.”
He nodded and reached out only to jolt awake at the sound of Kjar’s voice. Groggy, he blinked and tried to gain his bearings.
Had he been dreaming?
When his vision finally cleared, it was to see his men standing over him with respect in their eyes. What was going on? His eyes flew to Cybil only to find her gone.
“Where is she?” When Heidrek leaned forward, he realized he held something. His eyes fell to the sword Cybil had tried to give him.
The blade created by Thor.
“The gods have shown you great favor,” Kjar said softly. “That is a very special sword. A warrior’s blade born of the gods.”
This was why his men were acting so strange. They thought he had been blessed by Thor. Maybe he had. Maybe not. Right now his long lost relative was the least of his concerns. “Where is Cybil?”
Bjorn crouched next to Kjar and clasped Heidrek’s shoulder, his voice gentle. “She is gone, Cousin. Both she and Jackie have vanished.”
Chapter Ten
“OKAY,” JACKIE SAID, eying their tight confines. “Any thoughts on where we are now, Cybil?”
Cybil shook her head, totally discombobulated. One second she had been dreaming about a sword, the next thing she knew, she awoke here with Jackie of all people. If she were to guess, it appeared they were in a small cave below the floor they had been on previously. The waterfall roared past them in what felt to be a tomb no larger than a small bedroom.
She walked to the edge and peered down the best she could considering the raging water. The drop was endless. So she peered up. That looked endless too.
“Heidrek, can you hear me?” she said within the mind.
Nothing.
She didn’t feel his essence at all.
“Cybil?” Jackie prompted. “Thoughts?”
“Not really. The last I knew I was sleeping beside Heidrek. Now I’m here.” She frowned. “What about you?”
“After I woke up, I ate then crashed close to Bjorn and Matthew in case something happened again.” Jackie shook her head, frowning as well. “In case they needed resurrecting.”
“Right. That.” Cybil leaned against the rock and eyed Jackie. “Thanks for saving Bjorn. That was impressive, and I’m really grateful.”
“You don’t need to thank me. He’s my friend.” Jackie eyed her as well. “They all are.”
“Yes, I heard. That’s great.” Yet something about it irked her. Scratch that. She knew exactly what, and it had nothing to do with resurrecting or Jackie being friends with the Vikings.
Or at least all
but one.
Aggravated yet again by her jealousy, she went back to exploring their meager, dismal surroundings. It was cold and not a place they would survive long dressed as they were. “We need to figure a way out of here.”
“Agreed.” Jackie joined her by the waterfall, peering up and down. “What do you suppose is at the bottom of this?”
Cybil was surprised by Jackie’s assertiveness and the lack of fear in her eyes. The woman she remembered had been far mousier.
“Heidrek, can you hear me?” she tried again. Still no response.
“He’s close but can’t sense us in the least,” Jackie said.
Cybil frowned at her. “Who?”
“Heidrek.” Jackie’s eyes met Cybil’s before she began searching the cave more thoroughly. “I can speak to him within the mind too.”
Wonderful. Yet she remained curious. “Erin covered some of what happened to you guys in Scotland, but there wasn’t a lot of time for her to go into detail.” Cybil felt along the walls for vibration, to sense how thick they were and how close they might be to another cave. “Regardless, it sounds like you all had one hell of an adventure.”
Jackie leaned against the wall, crossed her arms over her chest and watched Cybil. “Okay, let’s do this then. Let’s clear the air so we can work as a team to get out of here.”
Again, she was surprised by Jackie’s assertiveness. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Cybil braced herself against the wall beside the waterfall, wrapped her fingers into her mouth and released a loud whistle. That was about the only hope they had of attracting attention.
“We’ve only met a few times, but you’ve never liked me.” Jackie kept a steady eye on her. “I threatened you when it came to Erin.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “And now I threaten you when it comes to Heidrek.”
“Okay, I see you wanna do this.” Cybil eyed the tall blond who in her opinion was too anatomically correct. “Erin completely pulled away from me shortly after you came into her life so yeah, I’ve never been a big fan of yours.”
“Ah.” Jackie shook her head, not phased in the least by Cybil’s bluntness. “Did it ever occur to you that Erin might’ve needed to get away from constantly being in competition with you? That sometimes dare-devils need a break too?”
“Not once.” It might be cold but Cybil grew warmer by the moment. So she caught some water from the waterfall and rubbed it over her heated skin. “She loved the competition. We loved it.”
“No, you did,” Jackie said. “Erin might’ve seemed into it, but she really wasn’t. In the end, her competitive nature made it impossible to enjoy the friendship you thought you had with her.”
“How do you figure?” Taken aback, Cybil crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. “You don’t know that.”
“Cybil, I’m her best friend,” Jackie said. “I know.”
Tempted to smack Jackie upside the head, she inhaled deeply and resumed searching out a possible escape.
“I mean no harm,” Jackie said. “Erin does love you. You’re her family.”
When she didn’t respond, Jackie continued. “You’ve always lived on the edge and needed everyone else to as well, and now I know why.” She paused. “You’ve carried a terrible burden for a long time.”
Cybil froze and turned her eyes Jackie’s way. “You’ve spoken to Erin since I’ve been here?”
“No, I spoke with Kjar. Now everything you did, how you acted, makes perfect sense.” Moisture flashed in her eyes before she blinked it away and gave Cybil a level of respect she didn’t expect. “I don’t blame you for pushing Erin and your sisters to the edge when you knew all along they would be safe. When you were protecting them in your own unique way while pushing the boundaries of your own caged existence.”
She clenched her teeth, not entirely sure how to react to the insightful words. Especially considering they came from a woman she had always found so dull. Instead of agreeing or disagreeing, she said, “You’ve changed.”
Jackie snorted and shook her head. “No, I’m just finally who I was always supposed to be.”
Cybil contemplated her for a long moment before she said, “And who exactly is that?”
“Someone who can resurrect. Someone in love. But best of all?” She grinned. “I’m Lady of Hamilton Castle.”
“Lady of Hamilton Castle,” Cybil murmured. “That’s a mouthful.” She leaned against the wall beside Jackie, her interest peaked despite their dire circumstances. “Erin filled me in on her story but not much of yours except that you and Heidrek were friends.” She cocked her head. “It’s hard to believe you’re really married.”
“I am.” Jackie offered a soft smile. “To the love of my life…and a few other lives if you want to get technical.”
“So a Scotsman, eh?” Cybil murmured.
“Yeah. An amazing one. Darach.” Jackie sighed. “And he’s got to be pretty upset about me being gone.”
Cybil kept eying her. “Though I’m sorry you were taken from him, I can’t be sorry that you were brought here to save Bjorn.” She squeezed Jackie’s hand. “I swear on my life I’ll make sure you get home to Darach somehow.”
“Thank you.” Jackie’s eyes held hers as she murmured, “It seems you’ve changed too.”
Cybil’s brows perked. “So you don’t think I would’ve tried to get you home before?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.” Jackie squeezed her hand back. “You have a new level of conviction now. A new sense of self. You intend to figure out how to harness your newfound power and keep your word.” She cocked her head. “You stand alone like always but have moved beyond challenging people to test your boundaries…their boundaries.”
Her words sounded flattering, but Cybil wondered. Was Jackie fishing to see how independent she actually felt? How connected to Heidrek she really was? Cybil frowned at her thoughts. At how possessive she already was of him.
“Thank you, Jackie.” She nodded and pulled away. “That’s nice of you to say.”
Cybil crouched beside the waterfall and kept looking over everything. There had to be a way out of here. She peered down again. What was at the bottom of this? Could she dive and survive it? She searched her mind but felt no sense of the future. None at all. Since she had sex with Heidrek, and outside of the Fianna warriors and animals, she felt more normal than ever.
Eerily normal.
Save the dream of the sword.
She still couldn’t make sense of that. The voice in her head. Standing over the blade. Knowing it belonged to Heidrek and that she needed to hand it to him.
Jackie crouched beside her and eyed everything as well before she finally said, “You know Heidrek never loved me as much as he thought he did if he was able to let me go so easily.”
Instant, unexpected rage flared inside Cybil, but she pushed it down as she fingered the dagger at her side. The tiny nuances in the handle and how well it would stay in her hand if she…
“But he did love me,” Jackie murmured.
Forget fingering the hilt, Cybil wrapped her hand firmly around it, locked her jaw and kept eying the waterfall.
“And I loved him,” Jackie managed to get out before something snapped inside Cybil.
She leapt to her feet, yanked Jackie up and shoved her back until she slammed against the wall with Cybil’s knife to her throat.
“There it is,” Jackie said softly, not struggling or threatened in the least as her eyes stayed with Cybil’s. “What we should have talked about from the start.”
“And what’s that?” Cybil managed, beyond tempted to throw Jackie over the edge just to see if the waterfall was the way out.
“Heidrek,” Jackie said, adjusting her neck against Cybil’s blade as if discomforted by a mere turtleneck. “He loved me, and I loved him, but it wasn’t how you think. It’s not like that between us.”
Caught by the genuineness in Jackie’s voice, she felt like a fool. What was she doing with a blade to the woman’s neck? What ha
d come over her? Hell. Embarrassed by her actions, her insecurity, and dramatic response, she pulled away, sheathed the blade and decided that one way or another she needed to get out of here.
Now.
“I’ll be back for you,” she promised before she swung over the ledge and started climbing down the notches in the soaked rock beside the waterfall. It was a straight drop with a heavy wind shear but not all that different than the mountains she had scaled before.
Jackie’s face appeared above, and she yelled over the sound of the waterfall. “You’re being foolish, Cybil. And trying to run away from how strongly you feel about Heidrek.” She frowned, her wet locks hanging down as she reached out her hand. “Come back. Please.”
Cybil ignored her and kept feeling out the next foothold then handhold. This was dangerous even for someone experienced. What she didn’t expect was to look up and see Jackie following her.
“Don’t, you idiot,” she yelled, but Jackie ignored her and started down.
Damn woman.
She stopped and waited until Jackie’s foot was right above her before she wrapped her hand around her ankle and yelled up. “This is dangerous. Go back up!”
“Only if you will!”
“Of course, I will,” she said, not voicing how foolish she thought Jackie was being.
But then maybe she had been foolish too.
“I don’t believe you!” Jackie said.
Cybil tapped her ankle gently. “Go!”
Thankfully, Jackie started to climb. More concerned about her welfare than anything else, Cybil didn’t pay attention to her footing as she tried to keep her hand beneath Jackie. And hell if she didn’t know better. A climber never took their eyes off of their grip, especially under such perilous conditions.
So when she lost her footing and started to fall, Cybil didn’t panic but relaxed, focused and tried to grab a notch in the rock, then another, but it was too late. When she realized there was no hope, she pushed off the rock to avoid bruising and started falling.
Down.
Rise of a Viking (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors' Kin Book 1) Page 14