Valkyrie Divided (Pyralis Book 2)

by Brandy L. Cunningham

  Heavy rain drops flicked my face, and I opened my mouth, allowing them to settle on my tongue. As I closed my mouth, I savored the taste of it, opening my senses. The residue of magic was woven into the water, and I had my answer. This storm was created by a Witch. My next question then, was why? Why was a Witch creating such a storm? Lifting my gaze to the trash strewn streets around me, I listened closely. Nearby, a street sign hung precariously from one remaining bolt, and as the wind howled past it, the sign rocked, creating a constant squeaky melody. Tuning that out, I listened closer.

  Whispers rode the sweeping wind, unintelligible, but there nonetheless. They floated to my ears, and I could tell they were many. Closing my eyes, I called forth my internal grid. It locked into place effortlessly, giving me a view of the city and any beating hearts within it. I was mildly surprised at the amount of beating hearts I found here. Deepening my concentration, I focused harder. A cluster of heart beats directly below me pulsed brightly, and I knew that I stood over the caverns of Draikais. Sending my attention away from them, I followed the next largest cluster of lives.

  They were about twenty yards from me, also below ground, and I knew they were in the chamber leading to the secret entry to the Draikais. Their unique signatures confirmed that they were non-human, and I zeroed in on them, my legs pumping fiercely as I sped toward the sewer entry. They were looking for the Draikais. My eyes snapped open, and before long, I had dropped down into a manhole, my booted steps echoing quietly through the cylindrical tunnel. I ran faster and faster, the shallow water becoming a wave around me from the velocity of my movement.

  At the white door, I didn’t pause. I reached out, ripping the door from its hinges and tossing it behind me. Stepping through, I took in the sight around me. Over one hundred Others filled the chamber, and near the entry, I could see the tale-tale signs of a skirmish. Some of the beings in the chamber had noticed me, and they faced me, uncertainty marring their features. I didn’t want to leave them any question as to what side I was on. I smiled, my body fading to soot, and my eyes glowing red. I could feel the shifting of bones as my skeletal wings rose behind me, hovering over me like another being entirely.

  With my dark powers stirring inside of me, I called them forth. It was time I learned to harness this force, and use it for my own needs, not the needs of others. Hurtling fireballs, I hit several of the beings gathered nearest me, their faces displaying shock as their bodies lit with flames. They screamed and writhed in pain, catching the attention of the rest of those who had gathered in this dank chamber. All eyes seemed to be on me, and I felt my wings shift behind me, impatient for violence.

  A handful of what I assumed to be Trolls rushed me, and instantly, my wings acted, sending their sharp boney tips piercing into the bodies charging me. A sick gurgling sound echoed through the cavernous room, and I watched as the five Trolls who now stood impaled on my wings stared at me in disbelief. Yanking my wings out of them, I watched their lifeless bodies’ slump to the ground, blue-black blood pooling around them. Lifting my eyes to the others, I asked, “Anyone else?”

  In the farthest corner of the room, a familiar face looked up at me. A slow smile spread across her wide lips, and her silver eyes regarded me with gratitude. Inclining her platinum blonde head, she acknowledged me. I returned her smile with one of apology. Celosia turned back to the Vampire she’d been fighting, resuming her stand-off. My own gaze returned to the Trolls who had halted before me, and I called out, my voice echoing off the cement walls.

  “Those of you who value your life will surrender. If you chose to fight, you will find nothing but death here.”

  I felt a shift in the atmosphere, and a newer dark presence materialized behind me. Groaning, I turned very slowly, prepared to face this new adversary. The black cloaks that fluttered around him were familiar, and as I looked into his glowing white orbs, I relaxed my stance.

  Inclining his head to me, he grinned, his skin pulling back over wicked fangs in the gaunt face. “It’s good to have you back with us, Daughter.”

  I read many unspoken messages in his eyes, and as I shifted back around, I caught the flicker of his scythe. Facing my enemy once again, I huffed in amusement as I watched many of them drop their weapons and kneel on the hard gray floor.

  Celosia began barking orders to the other Draikais in the chamber, but her eyes continued to watch the dark specter behind me with fear. I couldn’t blame her. A handful of those who opposed us chose to fight, and we dispatched them quickly. When my eyes roved over the fifty or so creatures gathered in the center of the space, with the spears of the Draikais warriors pointed at them, I wasn’t sure how to continue. Now would have been an ideal time for my army to come in and escort the prisoners from this place, but I realized I had lost my army. My loyalty to them had failed. I had failed.

  With that sad thought in my mind, I moved across the room, coming to stand beside Celosia. She looked up at me, her smile sad. “Welcome back, Pyralis.”

  The deeper meaning behind her words was clear to me, and I knew she must know of my desertion and my descent into darkness. Shame washed over me, and I hung my head. Fingers pushed gently against my chin, forcing me to lift my head. I found her silvery eyes boring into mine, an intense look in them.

  “Bow your head to no one, Valkyrie. We all travel a difficult road these days. Yes, you made mistakes, yes, you abandoned us for a while, but you stand here beside us again, and I, for one, am grateful to you. If not for your help, my sister’s and I would have died long ago, strung up in this very chamber.”

  I swallowed the lump of remorse clogging my throat. I knew her words carried merit, but still, it was difficult to get past the mistakes that branded themselves in my mind. Holding eye contact with her, I asked, “How bad is it?”

  Tilting her head slightly to one side, she shrugged. “Honestly, it’s pretty fucked up. Do you know how long you’ve been lost to the dark side, Valkyrie?”

  Thinking back, I couldn’t piece the puzzle of time together in my mind. Most of my memories from my time in Hell were sketchy, at best, so I shook my head no.

  Celosia’s silvery eyes shifted as she nodded sadly. “I figured as much. You’ve been gone for nearly two months, Val. Byron managed to gain the upper hand, and those of us who still hold a miniscule amount of control over our cities are plagued with days like this. The monsters of Satan don’t seem to stop coming.”

  Chewing my lip, I looked wearily around the chamber, my eyes, now back to their hazel color, scanned the prisoners huddled in the corner, the strong, fierce Draikais warriors, and the overall gore of the blood splattered walls. I honestly didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have any plans, and I didn’t have the slightest clue how things would stand with those who were once my allies, my friends.

  Beside me, Celosia placed a hand on my shoulder, her eyes softening. “Perhaps we should track down your allies.”

  “I’m going to be honest with you, Celosia, I don’t know what good it would do us. Our last encounter wasn’t exactly warm and snuggly.”

  When she grinned back at me, I thought, great, she’s obviously as deranged as I am. What she said, however, caused me to feel even guiltier than before. I felt that her loyalty was surely misplaced.

  “Ah, but you are Valkyrie. You are the Pyralis, the Reaper, and the Vampire who walks in flames! Do you know what they whisper on the streets about you? Do you know the fear the mere mention of your name brings to our enemies, my friend? My father believes in you, and he is not a man easily impressed. He has told me that no matter what struggles you go through, we must not doubt you.”

  For a moment, I had to turn my face away from her, because the absolute conviction, the unfailing loyalty I could hear in her voice, brought a fresh wave of emotion to me. In my heart, I feared I might fail her. I knew one didn’t just walk away from the demons of Hell, and I didn’t want to hurt her. Unfortunately, my thoughts were distracted, when a moment later, a sensation like heat grazing my skin erupted a
ll over my body, followed by Celosia’s words.

  “Damn, that’s gotta be the sexiest man…well…the sexiest, whatever he is, I’ve ever seen. Damn! I mean, the aura around him absolutely oozes wildness, sex, and….umm I just can’t even…”

  I closed my eyes, exhaling deeply. I didn’t need her to tell me what he looked like, because I could feel the heat signature of his touch coming to life everywhere he’d already touched me. God, had he branded me or something? Beside me, Celosia gasped.

  “Damn Val, what in the world is up with you? You’re glowing like a damn light bulb.”

  Moving my eyes downward, I studied the bright light coming from my skin, knowing full well it was the glowing orange of my fiery veins I was seeing. Groaning, I inwardly scolded my body. “Seriously? What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you glowing like you just had world altering sex?” Frowning, I realized how dumb my words were, because duh, I had just had mind-blowing sex with him, but still!

  I knew I could not delay the inevitable much longer, and I slowly rotated around until I was facing the entrance into the chamber. Aeron stood there, his face a mask of ill-concealed anger, his hair-which was much longer than it used to be-hung down around his ears, and a dark five-o-clock shadow had grown in over the bottom portion of his face. For whatever reason, that scruffy look only made my body burn hotter for him. His multi-hued eyes bored into mine from across the distance that separated us, and even from where I stood, I could see the glow of the fiery orange ring that encircled his iris.

  With his long, well-muscled legs planted slightly apart, his arms crossed over his wide, chiseled chest, displaying the bulge of his biceps, I had to admit, Celosia was right. Damn, was he sexy as hell. All my womanly parts seemed to hum to life at the sight of him, and my traitorous mind brought back to me all the images of the night I had spent in his bed. Shit. I was so screwed. My gaze locked with his, and I thought to myself, why the fuck is he mad? What did he have to be pissed about? He made no sense to me.

  In my mind, I felt the caress I was familiar with, and it was followed by the smooth sexy baritone of his voice. “Why am I pissed? Are you really that daft, Valkyrie?”

  My eyes narrowed, and I glared at him as I said, in my mind, “Get the hell outta my head!”

  His laugh was low and gravelly, and damned if it didn’t send chills of ecstasy up my spine. “I would love to, but first, you need to get the hell out of mine.”

  “What the heck are you even talking about, Aeron? I am not the one who started talking to you in your head, making you think you were going crazy. You started this…whatever it is, and however it’s even possible!”

  Aeron’s eyes lit up as though they held a flame directly behind their lens, flashing brightly at me. “Don’t act like you don’t know, Valkyrie. You’ve been in my head for centuries!”

  Okay…he was definitely pissed. Ending our inner conversation, I turned toward Celosia. On her expression, I saw interest, and amusement. I started to open my mouth, glanced over my shoulder, and lowered my voice.

  “Can you handle them for a while? I need to track down the allies.”

  Her delicately arched brow lifted an inch over one silvery eye. The corners of her mouth pulled into a smirk. “We’ve got it, Val. Shit, if I had a man as sexually frustrated as that one, and as damn delicious too, glaring me down the way he is, I’d be quick to take off too.”

  Giving her a knock-it-off look, I shook my head. “This isn’t about him. Seriously. I need to find the Fiddler and the others. I need to clean up the mess that our world has become.”

  She gave me an exaggerated wink. “Yah, yah, I got it. Go on then, we’ll see you around Fire Vamp.”

  Spinning about, I stalked toward the doorway, straight up to Aeron, and brushed past him. His arm touched mine as I shoved my way through the opening between him and the doorway, and damned if my body didn’t purr. With a growl lodged in my throat, I took long strides through the dark, dank sewer, and back up to the street above us. I knew, without a doubt in my mind, that he was right behind me. I could feel his eyes boring holes into my back, and my body was attuned to his presence.

  Back on the pavement above the Lost City, wind whirled through the abandoned city, debris lifting in its angry breeze. At the corner, a man in dark clothes leaned nonchalantly against a light pole-which didn’t work any longer-his dark hair spilling around his face. I paused, studying the man, from his black slacks, and black dress shirt, to his long black coat. Inhaling, I tasted the wind, and immediately, I knew who it was. Moving forward, I came to stand a few feet from him. He lifted his face, aquamarine eyes looking at me, and a smile tugging at one side of his mouth.

  “Devyn, what are you doing here?”

  His grin widened. “The others told me you were gone, for good. They said Valkyrian had killed you. I knew there was no way it was true.”

  I was about to reply, when his gaze shifted behind me, and I groaned. Remembering my stalker, I turned half-way. “Devyn, this is…”

  Aeron cut my words off. “No need for introductions, Val. We are well acquainted, aren’t we, Villart?”

  Looking from one man to the other, I watched the waves of tension roiling off of them. Their eyes were locked in some male territorial standoff, and I got the distinct feeling they had a past that wasn’t pleasant. “Okay, well, good. Devyn, can you take me to Rafael?”

  Devyn’s gaze snapped back to my face, and his eyes softened, all traces of animosity fleeing. Inwardly, I wanted to scream and say, don’t look at me like that in front of Aeron! Do you want to die? Outwardly, of course, I was as composed as possible.

  “Yeah, of course, but, I think I should take you to Valkyrian first. He’s…come a little unhinged since he supposedly killed his twin.”

  Oh, this was just fucking fantastic. So, now I had to placate my brother-who betrayed me, and hid secrets about Aeron from me-this was great. “Wonderful.” It was all I could come up with.

  ͼ ͼ ͼ ͼ

  Walking behind Valkyrie, I knew she was pissed at me, I knew she was trying to run. Why else would she have left my bed the way she had? Seeing her again for the first time after the night of sex we’d shared, it brought a surge of feelings I didn’t even want to contemplate. I already had so much to sort through, so much I’d learned in my absence, that I didn’t have room for emotions too. Yet, here they were, swimming on the edges, making me feel vulnerable and violent at the same time. And now, I found out there was something between Devyn Villart and the woman I claimed as mine.

  Seeing the way he had looked at her, the sensual caress in his eyes, it made me want to rip his fucking head off his fucking body. I could feel the prickle of sensation across my shoulders, the same feeling that accompanied the crimson feathers that would soon erupt if I didn’t get my shit under control. Gritting my teeth, I shoved images of Villart’s blood on my hands out of my mind.

  I didn’t think there was anything real between them, after all, there were few who weren’t taken with my beautiful Valkyrie, but still, it pissed me off. I knew she hadn’t been with another, not since Desmond. Drinking her blood during sex would have told me that, and her body had been unused. She was mine, and only mine, and I was damned well going to make sure she stayed that way, even if I had to chain her ass to me. A smile crossed my mouth. The image of Valkyrie chained naked to me flashed in my head, and a rumble echoed in my chest.

  Val looked over her shoulder at me, one dark brow jutting upwards, and I couldn’t keep the desire I felt from reflecting in my eyes. When I grinned at her, I knew my fangs had descended, and I watched her eyes widen, her mouth slacken, and then, she tripped. Without stopping my stride, I reached down, grabbed her around the waist, and hefted her back up, moving her along. Her hands shoved at mine, trying to loosen my grip and get away, but the feeling of her hip pressing into mine was too much, and I tightened my grip.

  Her eyes were glaring daggers at me, but all I could do was hold her, touch her, and smell her, like it was never
enough. I didn’t think I would ever get enough of her. I felt my arousal growing, even from such a small sensation of her body touching mine. With a growl, I released her, because, let’s face it, if I didn’t, I was going to rip her clothes off and take her right there, on the rough asphalt road. She stalked past me, her movements jerky and angry, and I breathed slowly, trying to calm my desires. Damn, she was sexy when she was pissed.

  ͼ ͼ ͼ ͼ

  I was seething. I couldn’t believe I’d tripped, and face planted like an idiot, but worse, he had to haul my sorry hide up like that, all…smug and serious and typical Aeron. Damn it! Then, as though all of that wasn’t embarrassing enough, he’d had the gall to hold onto me, to keep our bodies touching, and it was almost too much for me. I could feel the fire stirring inside of me, and the wings that lay dormant beneath the surface shifted, hungry for the passion and violence he promised. Clamping my teeth together in anger, I strode past him, hurrying to put some distance between us and hoping Devyn hadn’t noticed that little episode.

  When he glanced back at us, his aquamarine eyes held a hint of amusement, and I groaned silently. God damned it! Vampires had superior senses. The probability of him being ignorant to what had transpired was so low, it wasn’t even worth contemplating. Why was Aeron following me? Why had he come looking for me? I mean, okay, we had sex…great sex…shaking my head, I tried to reel my thoughts back in. Sex with Aeron was far too distracting and I sure as heck didn’t need any distractions.

  As though the thought conjured him up, I heard the screech of a crow, and I glanced up, my steps slowing as I took in the dozen or so large black crows perched atop a nearby village. My steps halted altogether, and I felt the fire heat my skin. I knew what accompanied crows. The wind around us picked up, yanking at my clothes, tugging at my hair, and sending garbage hurtling toward us.

  A laugh echoed through the buildings and alley-ways around us. “Oh, sweet Valkyrie…did you think to escape so easily?”