That Anthony might have known Shannon was more than just human.
That he sought comfort and understanding from Erica.
Still, she knew they had strong feelings for one another. She just didn’t know if they were platonic or not.
After Anthony died, she discovered how close Cameron was connected to the afterlife. So she worked through her grief by helping and directing him. She hired him at the funeral parlor and taught him everything she knew. She entrusted not only living, grieving people into his care but recently deceased spirits as well. And that was a lot of responsibility.
“No, Shannon, Anthony never said why you were in trouble,” Cameron continued as he wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. “But just look. You were.”
Suddenly, Matthew released a low growl and was nearly on Cameron with a blade before Kodran blocked him. “Stop, Cousin. Right now.”
Cameron shot to his feet and shoved Shannon behind him to protect her. It somewhat surprised her considering how massive these Vikings were. But he was a good guy, so maybe it shouldn’t shock her all that much.
Matthew blinked several times, his eyes flickering between Cameron and Kodran before he appeared to come to his right mind, muttered, “Loki’s balls,” and strode away.
Kodran’s eyes met Shannon’s, and he shook his head. “So Matthew’s decided he wants you, after all, has he?” He sighed and sheathed his blade. “That’s a shame.”
Caught up in the drama, it took her a few moments to realize Matthew had been acting out of jealousy. Again.
He didn’t like Cameron being so affectionate with Shannon.
“What are Loki’s balls, Mama?” Emily asked, reminding her that her daughter was, thank goodness, still a little girl in many ways.
Before she could answer in a fashion that would maintain Emily’s innocence, Kadlin gestured at her own groin and said, “It’s what hangs between a man’s legs. Loki’s legs. A different set-up altogether than what we women have.”
“Seriously? Not cool,” Shannon muttered and scooped up Emily as she shot the Viking woman a disappointed look. Kadlin, however, didn’t seem fazed as she focused on Cameron with avid appreciation. It seemed she liked him defending Shannon.
“It’s okay, Mama,” Emily said. “Don’t be mad at Auntie Warrioress Kadlin. She’s just not used to being around children I guess.”
Shannon sighed, scowled and promptly set out to push past the whole unfortunate incident. “I think it’s time to get some rest.”
After she tucked Emily into the furs Matthew laid out for them earlier, she went back to check on Cameron, just in case Kadlin had let lust overcome her. It seemed all was well. In fact, Cameron wasn’t fending off Kadlin, but they were sitting together talking softly. Well, that was a good sign she supposed.
Shannon was about to lie down beside Emily, who had already dozed off, when Matthew’s words whispered through her mind. “I am sorry I overreacted. And I’m sorry I cursed in front of Emily.”
She should acknowledge him then join her daughter. That would be the wise thing to do. Instead, she asked Sven if he’d keep an eye on Emily and made her way deeper into the cave, toward where she sensed Matthew was.
Though she should not be able to see because it was so dark, her vision had always been especially good at night. Soon enough, she came to a small dimly lit cave and found Matthew sitting on a rock ledge. He wore no shirt or shoes as he dangled his feet in the water and stared aimlessly at a jagged-edged blade.
She recognized that look. No doubt, she had worn it a hundred times after Anthony died. But Matthew’s was even more haunted because his son was missing.
Shannon pulled off her shoes, rolled up her pants, sat down beside him and put her feet in the water. While she knew there were hot springs around here, she was still surprised by how warm it felt. The light that lit the cave was coming from the water. Like a low watt lightbulb, it dusted the cold, gray rock with little sparkles of warm light.
Matthew didn’t say anything for several minutes—all of which she kept her eyes averted so she wouldn’t gawk at all those muscles—until he at last spoke.
“I am sorry, Shannon,” he murmured. “I have kept Håkon at a distance for so long, that it seems I forgot how to be around a child.”
“It’s okay,” she said, her voice just as soft. “Emily is, well, more grown up than I thought. But more discretion would be appreciated.”
Matthew nodded, his eyes still on the blade. “That sort of thing will not happen again.”
Shannon eyed the dagger. She knew it was the one Tait and Lauren recently had. And Bjorn and Samantha before that. They referred to it as the Gungnir blade, but it wasn’t just that. It was far more. A mysterious but crucial piece to the very beginning of her dragon ancestry in America. And though Matthew hadn’t told her straight out, she knew Tait had handed it off to him. That he and Lauren now felt it was part of Matthew’s story and most likely Shannon’s.
She held out her hand toward the blade. “May I?”
He nodded and placed the hilt in her hand. Warm from his touch, it was lighter than she anticipated. She ran her finger gingerly along the edge, trying to envision her tiny sister using this in battle. It was hard to picture but apparently she had been vicious. A real expert.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered and was about to hand it back when images started flashing through her mind. Lauren and Tait’s burning ash tree. The fiery embers that forged this blade. Three stunning women. Seers. Daughters of a man who rose up in her mind. Massive, with tattoos curling over his shaved head and tiny braids hanging from his goatee, he looked directly at her. She knew who he was.
Kjar.
The man who was supposed to have Håkon.
Everything shifted around her, became brighter, and sharper. She was looking into the otherworld. The land of the dead.
“I have Håkon. He is safe.” Kjar held her eyes for a pointed moment then turned and raced up a white mountain with a child thrown over his shoulder, his words tossed into the wind. “And only Emily can find him.”
“No,” Shannon whispered as reality snapped back into place, and her eyes met Matthew’s.
“What is it?” Matthew looked from the blade to her. “What just happened?”
Shannon couldn’t stop the emotions that blew through her.
The sharp relief she felt.
“Håkon really is okay. He’s with Kjar,” she whispered. “But he’s not…here like we are.”
“Where is he then?” Matthew said, his voice thick with emotion.
“Safe,” she whispered as she handed the blade back and somehow knew how to answer. “He’s north.”
Matthew nodded, a new light in his eyes as he sheathed it. “So I am right.”
“Yes,” Shannon murmured and told him all she had witnessed. Everything except for what Kjar said about Emily being the only one who could find Håkon. She felt torn. Though she had felt an unexplainable connection to Matthew’s son, the thought of putting her daughter more in harm’s way frightened her. Because nothing but danger lay north. She just knew it.
“A white mountain?” He frowned. “So it was snow covered?”
“Maybe,” she said.
She noticed that he wasn’t asking further about the specifics of what she had said.
About how Håkon wasn’t here like they were.
He had learned an awful lot today and suffered from years of being haunted. Now his son was gone. So she figured if he wasn’t latching on to every little thing she said right away, that was okay. One step at a time. “You should get some rest, Matthew.”
“Yes,” he murmured. Yet the second she went to move, he grabbed her wrist gently. When he spoke, she realized he had, in fact, processed her every word. Not only that, he must be catching glimpses of what she had seen. “There’s more to this. More to Uncle Kjar having my son. Somehow, they’re in that other place. Helheim.” He clenched his jaw as he struggled to come to terms with that. It s
eemed he also telepathically caught what she hadn’t told him based on what he said next. “Do not put Emily’s life at risk for this, Shannon.” He shook his head. “And don’t put yours at risk either.”
She could tell by the way he said it, the emotion in his voice, that he fully understood why she held back. More than that, he agreed with her. He didn’t want Emily in harm’s way. Even if she could lead him to his son.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, guilt ridden. But she had to put her daughter first. “I just can’t put my baby in that kind of danger.” Emotion thickened her throat just like it had his. “Please forgive me.”
“There is nothing to forgive.” Her eyes widened when he cupped her cheek and turned her head so that their eyes held. “I would not allow you or Emily to be put in harm’s way. Not for anything, Shannon.”
“But he’s your son,” she managed to say into his mind because her vocal chords refused to work. “How can you…”
The next thing she knew his lips brushed hers. It was brief but so profound she lost her breath as he pulled away just enough that their lips remained centimeters from one another. “One of our children is already in harm’s way. Another will not be added to it.”
Shannon barely processed his words she was so caught up in his taste lingering on her lips. Had he said our children? He had, right? Yet she couldn’t focus on that. All she could do was run her tongue over her lips and relish the flavor. His flavor. It almost felt like she could taste what he was made of. And it wasn’t what she expected.
“You used to laugh and smile all the time,” she whispered before she could stop herself. For a flicker of a moment, she could see his smile. Hear his laughter. Then it faded. Long ago. Shannon closed her eyes and pulled away. He had been taken down a path he didn’t deserve all because there was a glitch in the system. All because…
Her eyes shot open.
The cave was gone. The water at her feet vanished. Now she stood on a shore with hundreds of men and women coming together. Vikings with their blades drawn and fury on their faces. Battle raged. Matthew, Sigrunn, Freydis and so many more, fought, determined to conquer.
This was the infamous battle that took so much from Matthew.
Seconds later he vanished, but the battle raged on.
Yet she knew where he went.
It all made sense now.
Suddenly, her eyes were inevitably drawn to what stood out amongst the ferocious warfare and spirits rising from their dead bodies. Someone who did not fight but stood calmly. Tall, dark haired and red eyed, she knew exactly who he was.
Hallstein ‘The Wise.’
The enemy.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered.
“Who are you talking to?” Matthew said.
For a split second, she was standing across from Matthew on a rocky shore with death raining down all around them, then a second later she was sitting beside him again in a small cave. Her feet were still in the water. Everything had returned to normal.
However unintended, he had just given her a glimpse into his past. Yet she saw things he couldn’t. Things he needed to know.
Chapter Six
MATTHEW FELT STUNNED and confused as Shannon wrapped her arms around him. What had just happened? One moment they had been here, the next, part of the battle that had taken so much from him.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she murmured. “Not for a second. Don’t you understand?”
He tensed, unsure what to make of her behavior. While tempted to wrap his arms around her as well, he was feeling too much. Volatile emotions. Violence left over from all the death. His own sense of helplessness.
“Matthew.” She pulled away but kept her hands on his forearms as she held his eyes. “You were somewhere else for a few minutes. You weren’t in this world when it happened.” Her eyes moistened. “You weren’t at the battle but crossed over to the land of the dead when your sister and wife died.” She shook her head. “That’s why you weren’t there to help them. It was never your fault. You didn’t let them down.”
“I…” he started to say but trailed off as her words sunk in. As he realized what she was trying to tell him. “But I was right there.” He shook his head and repeated, “Right there.”
Shannon wrapped her arms around him again. This time he did the same. It wasn’t anything sexual or romantic. Just a lifeline. A possible light at the end of what had been a very long, dark tunnel. Could it be true? Had their deaths been taken out of his hands? He couldn’t imagine. He had worn a mantle of guilt for so long.
“It’s okay, you did everything right,” Shannon murmured. “I saw it all. You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t let them down. You were there for them.”
“But I wasn’t,” he managed, pulling away before her scent became too much. Before the feel of her against him made everything else vanish. Now wasn’t the time to desire another woman. Furthest thing from it. “They died because I wasn’t there.”
“No.” Shannon shook her head and kept her eyes locked on him. “Death always has a design. A reason. Even if it’s murder. Even if it’s violent. They died because it was their time, Matthew.” Her voice was a soothing balm on his taut nerves. But then her dragon had something to do with that, didn’t it? Her inner beast had a unique way of pacifying aggression and anger. Interesting, considering that wasn’t the nature of the dragon as a rule.
But then Shannon was proving to be a remarkably different sort of dragon. Between seeing Håkon with Kjar and now this, she was something unexpected. Or was she? He couldn’t help but remember how desperate he had been to find her, meet her, after the enemy’s dart had taken him down. Because somehow she had found and released him from that dark prison.
“Tell me what you think,” he finally murmured. “Tell me why I crossed into Helheim in the midst of battle and was not given a chance to defend them.” He shook his head. “And I need more than it was just meant to be. Please.”
Shannon considered him for a moment before she nodded.
She understood.
“I’m not entirely sure, but I can confirm Hallstein was there. So maybe he has something to do with it. But it’s hard to know.” She shook her head, clearly determined to make him pay attention to what she considered more important right now. “I think you should focus on the fact you were there for Sigrunn and Freydis as much as you could be. The rest was out of your hands.” Compassion lit her eyes. “You’re not responsible for what happened. For some reason, you’re connected to another world, and it’s able to snatch you away sometimes. Just like its been taking me lately.”
He sighed and mulled over the enemy’s presence there. One he and his kin had been unaware of until Svala and Sean traveled to the battle during their boat ride of memories. Svala had not even been at the battle yet it seemed she needed to see it to help rebuild her relationship with her mother. She needed to understand that if she’d been at that battle, it would have meant her certain death at Hallstein’s hands.
The man was pure evil.
More than that, he was unpredictable.
“Could Hallstein have had something to do with me crossing over?” he asked because she seemed to know far more about the land of the dead than he did. “Is that possible?”
“It’s always a possibility.” She looked troubled. “But I’ve never heard of anyone being able to cross someone else over like that.”
“But then you’re new to dealing with an evil demi-god dragon,” he reminded.
“True,” she conceded. “So he wasn’t even known to anyone until Cybil first traveled back in time, right?”
“That’s right. For the most part,” he replied. “Though it seems Grant Hamilton might have known something because he warned Naðr Véurr to keep Svala away from that battle.” He shook his head and reflected. “We were told Heidrek had angered certain Norse gods when he helped the MacLomains and trapped a Celtic demi-god in a tapestry. Now we know that our problems started long before that. When the
first dragons from our three lineages still walked Midgard.” He frowned. “What we still haven’t figured out is how Heidrek helping the MacLomain clan is connected with Hallstein.”
She seemed to ponder that.
“Maybe everyone’s overthinking it,” she finally said. “What if the good gods, Thor and his mother, knew what Hallstein was up to and simply saw the whole tapestry thing as a way to connect our tribes again? I think it’s safe to say they knew we’d be more powerful if we came together.” She shrugged and perked her brows. “What if there really are no Norse gods mad at Heidrek? I mean, have you had any confirmation whatsoever of that outside of Thor and his mother saying as much?”
“No.” Matthew kept frowning. “But our gods would not lie to us.” Would they? “And Hallstein is far too powerful. He must have the support of at least one god if not many.”
“Perhaps,” she murmured. “But I’ve been giving this some thought. Reincarnates often carry residual energy from their previous life or lives. If Hallstein is the reincarnate of Bard, one of the first three dragons, who knows what he took with him from that. And if he were only ever Bard and lived no lives in between, then he would have carried even more.” Her brows knit and her lips curled down as she whispered, “Just like you did.”
Before he could respond, she continued.
“What if it’s a dragon thing?” She slanted a look at him. “What if dragon reincarnates have more of a connection to the afterlife than most? Maybe Hallstein is somehow using that to his advantage? I know it’s a long shot, but it might explain how he can show up so easily in unexpected spots without anyone seeing or sensing him coming.” Her eyes widened. “And who knows what powers he can access being so connected to his previous life and Helheim itself.”
Fury of a Viking (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors' Kin Book 4) Page 9