Valkyrie Divided (Pyralis Book 2)

by Brandy L. Cunningham

  “He would tell you to stop, if he knew you would die tonight, in that Lost City you walk towards. He would tell you, if he didn’t want you to die.”

  His words, that voice, my heart contracted. He sounded exactly like he had, and the words he said, they were exactly what Aeron would have said. I hated that my treacherous heart still yearned for him. I was too weak, too stupid to hate him. Hesitating, I hung on the brink of turning. I wanted to see, needed to see, but if I did see him, what good would it do? I had never meant anything to him except a means to stopping this war. Screams echoed from within the large three story building. Screams of terror and torment. Blinking, I made my decision. Without another thought, I sprinted toward the doorway, and toward the palpable evil that lurked there.

  Behind me, I heard a roar like no other, and my name being screamed, “Valkyrie! No!”

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  There are moments in our lives we wish we could go back, and do differently. Had I known what awaited me in that dark building, I still believe I would have followed the same path. Witches were dying needlessly in there. Evil was being unleashed upon our world. I believe I would have chosen to save them, even if I had known what would have happened.

  With the caress of his voice shadowing me, I lunged into the blackened cement structure. Into the very mouth of Hell itself. What awaited me in that cement tomb was eternal death. Inky blackness spread across the cavity of the church-like fingers of smoke as evil left its tomb and lifted its demented gaze toward earth. The second I entered that church, the malevolent spirit of Hell wrapped his fingers about me, squeezing and crushing me.

  Gasping, I tried to fight back. I pulled the celestial blade from my belt, stabbing it into the black cloud around me. Watching in horror, I saw the blade disintegrate before my eyes. My only thought was, oh shit. This is where I die. I guess it was a good thing I was longing for death anyway. The foul spirit wrapped its claws tighter, and I felt my body flare with fire. Rather than pull away from me, the spirit of evil seemed more intrigued by me.

  “You are darkened, and stained by blood. You will come with me,” it’s voice hissed in a breathy monotone.

  Screaming in fury, I flapped my Reaper wings, crying out in anger, “No, I will not!” My wings struggled against the pressure of this immoral personification. The thick cloud of blackness swirled around me, growing incited that I fought back. My fire flared hotter, and I tried to ease my mind. I needed concentration.

  I could feel it, the heat that rose from within my very veins. Outside, thunder rumbled. Witches, male and female, fled past me. Some hesitated, staring at me clutched in the claws of evil. I screamed at them, “Run! Get out!”

  They fled the groaning structure, grateful for the chance to escape. I raged: writhing, kicking, baring my fangs, trying in desperation to free myself from this demonic presence. The thick voice laughed at me. I growled.

  “Go back to the pits of Hell from which you came!” I screamed at the darkness around me. A face emerged with the inky black cloud, featureless except for the eyes and mouth.

  “You will come with me, to the pits of the underworld. You will be my queen!” The malicious laugh that resounded around me made the stone of the building groan. Outside, I heard the roar again that I had heard before my mistake of entering this place. I could not allow him to follow me.

  Trying harder to escape seemed to spur the demonic spirit into action. Like smoke being pulled back into a pipe, the darkness surrounding me began to recede, but I too was being pulled into the pits of Hell. Casting one last long look over my shoulder, the last image I saw was Aeron. He stood, tall and strong in the doorway. On his face, I saw grief. As I stared at him, his body changed. His arms raised, and he burst with flames, the shape of the fiery Fenix stood framed in the doorway.

  At that moment, I knew, it had been Aeron all along. I was Pyralis, and he was Fenix. I no longer had any doubts. He was the half of my soul I was missing, no matter how much I wanted to deny it. And now, I knew that it didn’t matter, because he hadn’t ever truly wanted me. A tear fell down my cheek, its metallic orange color like liquid fire as it slid down my cheek.

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  For the second time in my reborn life, darkness enveloped me. It cradled me in its embrace, holding me, caressing me, as it whispered dark secrets into my mind. I had no idea where I was. No idea if I was dead or alive. My eyes felt open, but I could see nothing at all, except the thick blackness that hung over me. My mind didn’t ramble as it usually did. There were no whispers here, no voices, and no thoughts. Just darkness.

  My darkest, most carnal desires rose to the forefront of my mind. I wanted to fuck. To feel the caress of another against my heated skin. I wanted to kill, to feel the warm stickiness of blood as it oozed from my prey. I wanted to feed off that blood. I wanted to feel someone inside of me, rough, and hard. Like an animal, I growled. I had lost control of my sanity. I paced in the darkness, unable to see, but I could sense.

  There was another nearby. A male. I could sense him. He was strong, virile, and he exuded sex. I could practically taste the testosterone that oozed from his skin. Oh yes. That was what I needed, and when I was done, I would rip the head from his shoulders, and I would bathe myself in the blood of him. I laughed. The sound was wicked, deranged.

  Feeling the dark presence who had brought me here, I waited, unsure what it wanted. Like a caress, the smoke ran along my skin. It whispered dark thoughts to me.

  “So, that is what you want, my beautiful one. I can be what you desire most, if only you would allow me to. You will stay here with me, as my queen, and I will fuck you how you desire to be fucked. You want to feel? I have the power to make you feel.”

  Like knives ripping through flesh, the spirit ran his claws along my back, piercing through my skin Pain coursed through me unlike anything I had felt before. Fire flared to life along my skin, healing the wounds he had created. Gasping, I felt the skin repair itself.

  The thick voice laughed. The sound was like metal grating. “You have not felt pain like that in a long time.”

  My mind snapped open. But, I had felt pain. Pain far worse than anything he could do to me. My mouth remained silent. I was teetering on the edge.

  “Join me, embrace me, my beautiful dark Reaper, and I will see all your desires fulfilled.”

  Darkness overtook me again. Like an animal in heat, I purred against the dark presence. Yes. Desires fulfilled. That was what I wanted.

  The grating metal laugh returned. I felt the dark presence leaving me. I sighed, roaring in annoyance. As I paced my space, I raged. I didn’t want to be caged. The animal inside me began taking over. I raked my nails along the invisible walls that entrapped me. My fangs bit into my lip, and I screamed. An incessant voice mumbled in the deep recess of my mind, and I shook my head, ripping into my own flesh as I tried to scratch the voice from my head.

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  Over and over the process repeated itself. Darkness took control, fueling my anger and desires. The demonic presence would come to me, stoking that fire of hatred within me. He would tease me, promise me things, and then he would leave me alone, to become an animal, to pace the dark space I was caged in.

  Screams raged in the abyss around me, and I liked the sound. The pesky voice that tried to break through only incised me more. I wanted him to leave me alone. I was evil and darkness and hate. I was death and chaos and destruction. The dark presence laughed at me, telling me I was perfect, I was the one he would make his queen.

  I would purr, I wanted that. I wanted to be his queen, to be released from this dark prison, to be free to feed and kill and fuck. Unknown time passed as this endless cycle abounded. Again and again he tortured me, just to watch me heal as I burned. My fire was strong here. It wrapped me in its fiery embrace as I lay alone night after night. Dark thoughts fed my mind, and I remained strong.

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  Pacing my obscure prison, I cried out. The evil presence had not come to me in ma
ny days now. I wallowed in loneliness. I wanted him, needed him to caress me. Why did he abandon me now? Rage filled me to think he may have forgotten me. Then, another voice came. A very different voice. It was not the one I heard in my mind, no this voice was here in my cell with me. Curiosity filled me.

  The dark deep baritone of his voice was…soothing, but in a different way. He didn’t make me want to kill and fuck. He made me want to curl into a ball, and sleep. He whispered stories to me in that voice that became like a lullaby to me. Stories filled with beauty and light. Stories of a woman with eyes like ice. He asked me to remember. He asked me if I wanted to be here, in this eternal darkness.

  First, I told him I did. I wanted this evil, this pain. He told me I had not always wanted this. He told me there had been a time when I had sought love and light and justice. I tried to push him away. Those things, I told him, hurt more than the darkness. I didn’t want to remember those things. So, he too left me.

  Alone, I withered, like a tree without water, like a small sprouting plant without sun, I withered. I was alone, lost, unsure, and scared. I huddled in a ball of flame in the corner of this darkened world where I had been trapped. Memories tried to break into the bleak spaces of my mind, but I pushed them away. I didn’t want to know them. I wanted only the darkness. The emptiness it offered was safer, easier.

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  Again and again, that soothing voice came to me. I was relieved when he came, because it meant I would not be alone, but when he whispered of a man, I became angry. I ignited, burning as hot and bright as I could, until my entire cell was illuminated with flames. I could see it then, the bars that caged me. Overcome with intrigue, I approached the bars of my cell. I seemed to float on an island in darkness, with bars all the way around me.

  I could hear and smell others around me. They too were caged. They too paced like animals in the dark voids we were kept in. I didn’t like being caged. It made me angry. It made me vulnerable. The soothing presence told me there was a way to escape my cage. He whispered the secrets to me, a little more each time he came.

  The dark one finally came back to me. He seemed listless, caressing my body, and seeking my darkest thoughts. I gave them to him gladly. He was impressed. He told me he needed my help. He wanted me to return to the place from where I had come, and he wanted me to become chaos. To become dark destruction and scorch the world with my flames. Purring, I told him I had been waiting for him to ask.

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  At long last, I was free from the confines of my dark prison. Edgy, I could not wait to be unleashed upon the world. The dark one had whispered knowledge into my mind, and I intended to destroy the world. Stepping past the threshold of the building’s doorway that lay in broken fragments around the ground, I surveyed the town before me. A cloak of shadow hung over the city, and trash and bodies littered the streets. All was quiet here.

  Wind whipped through relentlessly, dragging debris with it. It howled down darkened alleys and whistled against the tall buildings. My long deep black hair lifted in the breeze, twirling about as I stood in the doorway. Against my mind, I heard his grating voice telling me to hurry. Stepping forward into the wind, I walked provocatively down the empty street. Not a stitch of clothing covered my body, but I didn’t need it. Calling forth my Reaper wings, I wrapped them around my body comfortingly.

  Fire flared to life, licking its way up my arms and down my calves. Smiling, I basked in the freedom of finally being free of my prison. I didn’t think about the destruction that had happened to my world. I didn’t consider the thousand year reign of shadow. I only thought of myself, and of what I needed right then. I knew he was there, I could feel him watching me. His eyes touched every part of me, and I could almost envision his reaction. He couldn’t believe I was still alive. Couldn’t believe I had come back from Hell.

  Blinking slowly, I sauntered further into the midst of the city. He had no idea what to think about me now. I could smell his fear, and I could practically taste his arousal. Closing my eyes, I savored the thought. Oh yes. This male was exactly what I needed.

  Taking the stairs into the old building two at a time, I advanced into its empty halls. The gray brick of the building stood tall against the whirling wind outside. My smile widened as I reached the second story, knowing full well he followed me. Inside the building, items lay strewn about, as though thieves had ransacked it.

  It was there that he found me. Leaning back against the barren wall of the room, my wings folded across my naked body, visible only through the tatters of their shredded flesh. Appearing in the doorway, he stopped. His eyes trailed over my body in a slow perusal that made my breathing hitch as though it were his hands that touched me instead of his eyes.

  “I never thought I would see you again. How is it even possible that you are here? I saw that creature take you.” Aeron’s jaw muscle ticked as he stared at me.

  Smiling seductively, I ran my tongue across my fangs. “I should like to ask you the same thing.”

  Aeron and I held eye contact for a long moment. Finally, he ran his fingers through his dark blond hair that now hung over his eyes and past his ears. A five-o-clock shadow had begun appearing along his jaw, and the thought of him rubbing it along my skin made warmth fill my body.

  “It’s complicated.” Ah, that was what I thought he might say. Widening my smile, I took a step toward him. Aeron moved a step to the left, eliciting a sultry laugh from me.

  “Oh, Aeron. Why do you move away from me?” His eyes were watchful, and wary as they followed my movements.

  “What happened to you down there, Valkyrie? You seem different. You are not yourself. How did you get away?”

  Stepping forward again, I nearly purred when he didn’t move away this time. “You do not answer my questions, so I don’t have to answer yours.”

  Reaching out with a hand, I traced my finger down the center of his chest, letting it wander lower and lower. Aeron’s pupils contracted as he fought for control. Closing the gap between us, I unfurled my wings, pressing my breasts against his chest.

  “Do you really want to play fifty questions Aeron, when you could be deep inside of me, living out those desires I see in your eyes?”

  A deep growl escaped his chest, and he surprised me then. Grabbing my thighs, he hoisted me up around his waist, and in a flash, my back slammed into the brick wall across the room. I cried out in ecstasy as Aeron’s fangs sank into the tender flesh of my throat. Running my hands over his shoulders, I wrapped my legs around his waist, grinding against him. Now, it was my turn to growl.

  Ripping at his clothes, I was desperate to get closer to him, to feel him pressed against those parts of me that heated for him. Aeron looked into my eyes, and I saw many things reflected there. I didn’t want any of that. The only thing I wanted was him deep inside of me. Ripping his pants from him with my claws, I moaned at the sight of him.

  He was magnificent. Large and hard and ready. I cried out in need, my back arching, trying desperately to get him closer to me, to get him inside of me. The moment he entered me, I felt the world spin. Pain and ecstasy collided inside of me as he roared above me. His hands roved across my breasts, roughly grabbing as he ran his hands downward. With one hand running over my breasts, and the other igniting a path of fire as he trailed it over my skin, he plunged deeper and it was beyond anything I could have imagined.

  The darkness in me rose along with the other part of me. They were united in the same goal. All I wanted right then was the man fucking me. Over and over, I cried out, like an animal. Want and need and passion flared inside of me. Heat and fire and perfection burned within me. Flames burst along my flesh. My wings wrapped around him, effectively pushing him deeper.

  Aeron released a roar. Buried deep inside of me, he became something else. Flames, dark red crimson and orange flared across his skin, haloing him like the Fenix he was. I didn’t know if it was my flames igniting his body or his own, but as he pressed me harder and harder into the w
all, our fires grew hotter and hotter, surrounding us in an inferno of heat.

  Screaming out loud as my passion climaxed, he drove me over the edge, over and over. Growling, he stared down at me, and I watched as his face relaxed with his own release. Around us, the building exploded as the flames hit the gas line. The blast was powerful enough to crumble the entire building, sending me flying through the air across the darkened city.

  Hitting the asphalt roughly, I lay there for a few moments, letting the flames heal my torn skin. Standing, I heaved in a breath of air as I ran my hand over my body. So that was what it was like to fuck Aeron Nyte. Ecstasy still coursed through my body, but I had other things to do now. I had satisfied my most basic need, now it was time for destruction.

  I knew Aeron would come looking for me, so, I called forth my raven’s wings, shooting up into the dark storm clouds hanging over the city. I had gotten what I needed from him. Now, he was just another object for me to destroy.

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  17

  Servant of Darkness

  Hard cold sleet rained down upon me, bathing the blood from my body. As I stood atop the old cathedral, I searched the deserted town below me for signs of life. I felt the shadow that fell over me, felt the presence of someone familiar to me, yet unknown. Sniffing the air, I smelled the Gargoyle before he approached me. Memories tried to flicker in the void of my mind, but I pushed them away.

  Turning slowly, I stared contemptuously at the gray skinned animal. He watched me with eyes as deep gray as the stone of the cathedral. Eyes that I knew, that I had seen many times. Those eyes were angry as they watched me. Circling each other, we remained in a sort of standoff. When the creature finally morphed to the man, I smiled. He was very attractive. In my mind, however, the one I had lain with surged forth with memories of that night.

  Growling, I shook my head. I didn’t want to think about him. He had satisfied my needs, and nothing more. The man before me scowled.