The Last Valkyrie Series Complete Boxed Set

by Karina Espinosa

  I’d pushed Kara too far. She charged for me, her sword in hand. The sword across my back was a prop, so I reached for the daggers in my boots. Hildr jumped in front of me, her whip uncoiling from her wrist as she slashed toward Kara, disarming her within seconds.

  “Enough, Kara!” Hildr yelled. “Father let her in. We will hear what she has to say.”

  I’d been too busy sizing Kara up, that I hadn’t noticed the subtle changes in Hildr. She’d grown since I last saw her. She wasn’t the meek and mild girl she’d once been—she was a leader. And one who could stand against Kara.

  Kara fumed as one of our sisters picked up her sword and handed it to her. She snatched it from her and sheathed it. “Someone close the gate!” she screamed and spun on her heels. “Follow me,” she called over her shoulder. It was the only indication I would get that she was willing to listen.

  Hildr took my hand, patting it and giving me a warm smile before letting it go and following Kara. I followed tentatively behind them, looking back once before they shut the golden doors behind me, sealing me inside Valhalla.

  The Hall of Valhalla was massive and housed and trained every single valkyrie who walked through its doors. It was a labyrinth in which one could easily get lost in if they didn’t know better. It’d been so long, but I still remembered every nook and cranny of the place. Hence why I was surprised when we weren’t going in the direction of the arena or common room. It seemed like those would be neutral grounds for Kara. Instead, we headed north toward the tunnels, and my stomach sank.

  The gray concrete walls were narrow and lined with lit torches and there was still a chill in the air that could freeze one’s bones if they stayed down there long enough. This place plagued my nightmares long ago, and Kara knew it. Hildr didn’t know because she’d received proper training at an appropriate age, unlike me. These were the tunnels and rooms where I’d learned to fuck every day after my combat training. I dreaded this part until I grew to like it—until it became second nature.

  Although it was empty and every valkyrie was up top, I felt like I could still hear echoes of moans and grunts filling the chilled air. It took everything in me to hold myself together and not show the emotion on my face. The tight space was meant to rattle me and give me a case of claustrophobia. I had to remember this was a past life and I wouldn’t let Kara break me. If she was doing this, it was because she saw the cracks in my shields and she thought she had an advantage. I couldn’t let her win.

  “I thought this would be a suitable place to talk,” Kara mused. “Its private, quiet, and if I recall, it was one of your favorite places, Hrefna.”

  There was the bait.

  I smiled. “Yes, I remember. I was but a young thing when I had my first threesome in that room right over there. You remember, Kara? You pulled me out of training to bring me here for the first time.”

  “Your first time was a threesome?” Hildr blanched and looked at Kara.

  I shrugged. “I thought every valkyrie’s first time was like that.”

  Kara’s nostrils flared. “Well, we didn’t come here to reminisce, did we?”

  I smirked. “No, we didn’t. But since I have your attention, there is something we need to discuss.”

  Hildr’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t just come home, did you?”

  I shook my head. “Midgard is in trouble, and they need your help. I can’t do it alone. There is an evil coming, and it plans to wipe out the whole realm. It’s already started with fires and raising the dead. I don’t know what’s next, but—”

  “Hrefna, we do not fight human battles. We never did,” Kara said. “We only collect their souls and bring them back to Valhalla.”

  “She has a point,” Hildr agreed. “I don’t understand what you’re asking of us.”

  I flexed my hands at my sides with irritation. “What is the point of training for combat if we don’t use it? All we’ve ever done was sit on the sidelines, and now you’re doing even less. This is your chance to make a difference and be the warriors we are destined to be.”

  Hildr furrowed her brows and nibbled on her bottom lip. Kara’s face was in full defiance mode. She didn’t want to agree with me no matter how much truth I spoke. Because I said it, it was a no for her.

  “All of Midgard is in danger. What if this evil spreads? Will you continue to stand by?” I added. “Will you turn a blind eye to Asgard?”

  “Don’t say such things,” Kara snapped. “We are safe here. Our gates are impenetrable.”

  That was all the answer I needed. Kara only cared about Valhalla and no one else. She’d let Asgard burn if it meant they lived, and I wondered what Odin would think of his precious valkyries now.

  I looked to Hildr, but she was quiet and deep in thought. I’d lost her too. She might be able to fight Kara, but this was one battle she wasn’t going to win and she knew it.

  “Please,” I begged. It wasn’t my finest hour. “Midgard needs us. They need the valkyries. They won’t survive without you. Please. Do this for me.”

  Kara scoffed. “We don’t owe you anything.”

  “You owe me everything!” I demanded. “I spent almost eighty years away from home because of you.”

  “You made that choice!” She stepped toward me, pointing a finger in my face. “That was your fault, Hrefna!”

  “That was your plan, Kara,” I said calmly.

  Hildr stepped between us, her mouth turned downward and her brows furrowed. It made my chest cave in itself.

  “We cannot aide you in your quest, Hrefna. We’re sorry,” Hildr said. “Come home and stay safe from whatever is threatening Midgard.”

  My eyes widened. All I’d ever wanted was to come home to Valhalla—to be reunited with my sisters once again—but it didn’t feel right. I thought about Will and Charlie. Hell, I even thought about Verdandi in Lana’s body. I couldn’t leave them to fend for themselves. Whatever was coming was something otherworldly, and if my sword was the only weapon that could defeat it, I couldn’t just hide out in Valhalla. It would make me a coward. A coward I was not—not anymore.

  “I can’t, Hildr,” I said without looking at her. “The humans need me.”

  Kara laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re going to choose humans over your sisters?”

  I frowned. “I’m going to choose right over wrong. Just like I did almost eighty years ago.”

  “You’re a fool,” Kara sneered. “And you’ll die for those humans.”

  “Maybe so,” I shrugged, “but it’ll be an honorable death. I guess I should take my leave.” I spun around and moved to exit the tunnels.

  Hildr grabbed my arm to stop me. “Wait, Hrefna, don’t leave so soon. Stay for dinner at least.” She gave me a small smile, and I couldn’t refuse.

  They had a feast in my honor, and I knew it irritated the shit out of Kara. Hildr held nothing back as they celebrated my short return. My sisters knew I’d leave soon, but they didn’t treat me with anything but respect. We ate and recalled memories of war and battle. We spoke of when we were children and the sweet times we had in Asgard. They missed life outside of Valhalla as well. They asked about our father, and I lied. I told them he was well and missed them dearly when, in reality, he probably didn’t give a shit about them.

  I savored the food. The fresh-squeezed fruit juices were sinful to my taste buds unlike any other morsel I’d eaten in the last eighty-years. A few of my sisters wanted to spar in the arena, but I had to retreat and informed them of my time to go. I’d been having too much fun with them. If I wasn’t so embarrassed at my lack of training, I would have. Hildr caught on but didn’t let them push the thought any further. By the time the night was over, Kara fumed, but my rosy cheeks burned brightly from so much laughter. I’d had a great time, and I truly didn’t want it to end. For just a few hours, I’d forgotten my troubles outside of Valhalla.

  “I wish you didn’t have to go,” Hildr said as she, Kara, and my sisters walked me to the gates. “I wish I understood w
hy you were doing this.”

  She was struggling with my need to help the humans. Before it had been because I thought it was what Odin wanted. But now, it came from me. I needed to help them.

  “The humans aren’t as bad as we thought they were, Hildr. There are some good and innocent people. There’s good in the world, we just have to find it.” I smiled and took hold of her hand.

  “You know you can never return,” Kara said. “I doubt Odin will open the gates again.”

  I looked at all the faces of my sisters and knew I didn’t need Odin to open them again. “I have faith that one day you’ll be the ones to open it. When the time is right.”

  The golden doors opened, and a gush of wind was let in as the clouds of Limbo filtered into Valhalla. I knew Odin waited for me beyond the colorless smoke, and beyond that, Verdandi was waiting to trap him.

  I took one last look at Valhalla and the beauty of its lush fields and architecture and wondered when I’d see it again. I took a snapshot and ingrained it to my memory as valkyries flew in the skies above with their different shades of wings. My sisters stood before me, and I swore this wouldn’t be the last time I’d be home. The valkyries were restless; they wanted out. They’d have it one day—it was only a matter of when—and I’d be patient until then.

  “Until next time.” I waved at them and turned to leave.

  “Hrefna, wait!” Hildr ran to me and away from her sisters. For a second, I thought she would actually come with me, but that was wishful thinking. However, she did what I least expected her to do. She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me. I was taken aback and stumbled on my feet. She held me fiercely, and I could hear the murmurs of our sisters. I moved to embrace her in return but froze when she whispered in my ear, “Find the others.” She pulled away quickly and walked backward toward our sisters. Covering her right eye, she mouthed again, find the others.

  My mouth fell open as I walked out of Valhalla and back to Limbo. My sisters thought it was because of the unusual display of affection, but it was Hildr’s secret message.

  What others?

  21

  I was pushed out of Valhalla and into the colorless void of Limbo. The golden double doors slammed shut before the gold chains wrapped around the handles and locked into place on their own accord. I was dumbfounded as I stood there, not entirely understanding what had just happened. I went to reach for the door, to bang on it like I had decades ago when they first sealed, but I heard footsteps behind me.

  “I thought you’d never return,” Odin commented as he came out of a huge cloud and into a clearing before me. “Having too much fun?” Hugin and Munin were perched on his shoulders.

  “We had a lot of catching up to do,” I muttered, my eyes darting from one place to another.

  “I’m sure you did. Almost eighty years’ worth of catching up.” He grinned.

  Odin’s expression forced me back to the present and sharpened my focus. I had to get my mind right and forget about what had happened, or our whole plan would be for nothing.

  I straightened my back and shoulders and tilted my chin. “They asked about you. No need to worry though. I kept up appearances. We didn’t need to break any hearts tonight by letting them know daddy dearest couldn’t care less about his precious valkyries.”

  He chuckled. “Hm … is that really what you think, Hrefna? You have me sadly mistaken.”

  “You haven’t given me any other reasons, Odin!” I exclaimed. “We’re nothing but pieces on a chessboard, and you’ll sacrifice whoever to win the game.”

  Odin placed his hands in front of him, one on top of the other, and calmly shrugged. “How can you play if you don’t even know the game, Hrefna?”

  “All I needed to know is you wanted me dead not too long ago.”

  “Bigger picture!” he shouted. “It was foretold you would betray me and align yourself with Fenrir. I was trying to prevent it. And I failed.”

  “You drove me to him!”

  “Did I really, Hrefna?” Odin tilted his head as he began to walk circles around me. “Weren’t you drawn to him? Isn’t there an unidentified connection between the two of you that you cannot explain?”

  “No,” I lied. How did he know so much about me and Fen? Not even those damn birds could tell him how I felt.

  “Do not blame me for something that was bound to happen with or without me.” He stopped behind me and whispered in my ear, “I might have failed at getting rid of you, but I won’t fail at taking the sword. Give it to me, Hrefna.”

  I whirled around to face him, taking a look at our surroundings as I did so. We were still across from the doors to Valhalla, but I had to get him farther away and into the deep alcove past all the doors to the realms.

  “You want the sword?” I unsheathed the fake one from my back. “Come and get it.” I spun around and ran into the depths of Limbo.

  I could hear the squawking of Hugin and Munin, and their wings flapping as I ran. They’d catch up to me in no time and probably pluck out my eyeballs if I wasn’t careful. Odin didn’t need to run with those two coming after me, so I hauled ass. I’d feel the barrier once I passed it—I just needed to get to it.

  A rush of energy flowed through my veins, making gooseflesh rise on my skin, and I knew I’d passed the entrance of the prison. Verdandi had told me I’d feel it. The ravens flew in and aimed straight for my face. I swung the sword, slashing it in front of me, but two against one wasn’t a fair fight.

  “Quiet,” Odin commanded, and the birds stopped their attacks. “We had a deal, Hrefna. You got your end of the bargain, now give me the sword.”

  “And I said come and get it,” I egged him on. I was inside the prison, but he remained mere inches away from the barrier. I just needed him to take one more step and this would all be over.

  His staff appeared in his hands and he slammed it on the ground. The bars of the invisible cage flickered to life, revealing the prison to him.

  “You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?” He grinned. “I will say, very clever, Hrefna. Imprisoning me would be a better alternative to killing me. I guess I had nothing to fear from my dark raven, after all.”

  “I’ve never wanted to hurt you, Odin,” I said adamantly. “Up until recently, I still held hope that you would one day rescue me and bring me home. But your quest for knowledge has made you crazy!” I jabbed a finger on the side of my head. “The visions you seek come true only because you set them in motion. It’s all because of you, so this cell is the safest place you can be from everyone else.”

  “You think you have it all figured out, don’t you?” He tilted his head, and the motion was so mechanical it made shivers roll down my spine. “You forget, daughter, I’m always ten steps ahead.”

  He put a foot inside the cage and came into the prison. My eyes widened at what he’d done. I inched away and around the borders of the cage. He followed me until he was in the center and I was by the entrance.

  “Do you know what you’ve done?” I gasped as I backed closer to the exit.

  He laughed. “I know exactly what I’ve done. I’m the safest individual in all of the nine realms.”

  His ravens flew around and then landed on his shoulders and whispered in his ear.

  “You know what’s coming, don’t you?” I stepped out of the cage and rested my hands on the bars.

  He smirked. “They don’t call me the All-Father for nothing, Hrefna. I know everything,” he stroked one of his ravens and smiled, “and she’s already here.”

  “She?” I inched closer to him. “Who’s she?”

  “Don’t let him bait you,” Verdandi said as she stepped out of the clouds.

  “I thought I killed you already,” Odin sneered at the Norn. One of the ravens attempted to attack her but bounced off the barrier of the prison. They were trapped.

  “Nice try, Odin.” Verdandi grinned. “I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. You’re not leaving that prison for a long, long time.”

&n
bsp; “We’ll see about that.” He lowered his head.

  I was too stunned to fight Verdandi as she grabbed my arm and started to pull me away.

  “Are you forgetting something, Hrefna?” Odin called out. “My sword.” He lifted his head and peered at me with menacing eyes.

  I wanted to drill him with questions, but I knew it was a lost cause. He wouldn’t tell me a thing, especially after what I was about to do.

  I took off the sheath and threw it at his feet. He wasted no time in picking it up and pulling out the sword. The swoosh of steel was loud, but there was no power behind it. Surprise and anger flashed in his eyes when he realized the sword in his hands was not the Sword of Souls.

  “HREFNA!” he boomed, sending soundwaves past the barrier of the prison, making me stumble backward and lose my footing. “You dare trick me?!” He ran up to the side of the cage and bounced off of the bars. His eyes became huge and hungry for blood as they pierced me in place.

  “It was never your sword.” I stared him down, and his jaw ticked with every word I spoke. “Like you said, you’re the safest person in all the nine realms. What do you have to fear?”

  He huffed. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with.”

  “Care to enlighten me?”

  “Figure it out yourself,” Odin scoffed. “When you’re close to death and desperate, you’ll come running back to me. And the only way I’ll help is if you give me that sword and get me out of this prison.”

  “Don’t hold your breath!” Verdandi yelled as she snatched my arm and dragged me out of Limbo.

  “You’ll be back, Hrefna!” Odin’s voice echoed behind me as his ravens cawed in the background.

  22

  The world was ablaze.