by PJ Friel
Beside me, Trygg stirred uneasily. I could only imagine the turmoil he felt right now. This argument between father and son was a near duplicate of the one he’d had with Mordechai, minus the plotting mother. If history repeated itself…
“Fuck you.” DG’s voice shattered the thrall we’d all been under. “You may have neutered our people, but you won’t do the same to me. I decide my fate, not you!”
“Not anymore.” Icy resolve replaced the earlier pain in Mordechai’s voice. “I am the leader of this clan and your disobedience will no longer be tolerated.” Mordechai raised his hand, motioned to Bart.
It happened in the blink of an eye. One moment Mordechai stood in front of DG, the next he lurched backwards into the shadow plane, a set of hands gripping his shoulders.
No hesitation, I jumped.
I might not like what he’d done to Trygg, but the man had come when I called, was willing to kill his own son to keep humans from becoming prey to monsters. I couldn’t let him die at the hands of one.
“Bryn, no!” Trygg yelled.
The dive into shadow knocked the mask loose from my head and sent it skittering across the floor and back into the light. If I left shadow to grab it, Mordechai would be dead by the time I got back.
He was already in trouble, gasping for air and clutching his stomach. His face was alarmingly gray and etched in panic. Have to get him out! Jerking as hard as I could, I broke the hold the Svartalf had on him. We stumbled backwards and I course corrected, heading for the opening.
With a pop, we broke through the divide and I shoved Mordechai into the light and away from danger.
“Mask!” I yelled.
Trygg had already picked it up in the seconds I was gone and he tossed it at me.
Our gazes locked and the love I saw there stretched for a millennia. His eyes told me that no matter what happened, no matter where I ended up, this man would find me.
I caught the mask. “I love you, Trygg.”
A hand snatched me back into the rip.
CHAPTER 56
TRYGG
Mordechai lay sprawled at my feet, not moving. His face was colorless, the light in his eyes fading. “Medic!”
Jace ran to my side and dropped to his knees. “Oh, shit. This is Svartalf poison and I’m at half power after bringing Bryn back. I need juice. Give me your hand.”
I reached out to Jace before I even considered the ramifications. All I knew was that Mordechai was dying and as angry as I was at him for what he’d done to me and was doing to people I considered friends, I still owed him a debt.
When Jace latched onto me, it was like a vacuum attached itself to my gut. I dropped to my knees and blinked against the darkness encroaching on the outer limits of my vision.
Probably should have asked some questions before volunteering to have my soul hoovered.
“Kill them all!” DG yelled.
“Shit,” Grimm muttered.
All hell broke loose around us, DG’s Jotuns against Mordechai’s. Grimm and Harry shielded Jace, Mordechai, and me while I tried to keep from passing out.
Jace’s hands glowed so bright, I had to close my eyes. Or maybe it was to stop the room from spinning. I wasn’t sure which. All I knew was that Bryn was in a place where I couldn’t reach her, most likely fighting the Svartalf’s deadliest assassin. The Bani. Eamon Duff. If something happened in there, I’d never know.
Oh, god. I’d never know. She’d disappear out of my life. I’d never see home in her eyes again. My berserker’s pain-filled howl echoed inside my head.
“Easy, Trygg,” Jace whispered.
I opened my eyes and stared at him. His hands trembled and he looked at me with pupils so blown there was only a tiny sliver of blue around the edges.
“What’s wrong?” I squeezed his hand.
“I need you to keep the chaos restrained, man. It’s powerful, but destructive and it’s harder for me to channel into healing.”
He could have been reciting baseball stats, as calm as he sounded. I envied him that calm. I was a wreck inside, which was the problem. I nodded sharply, but then Bart, my friend and second-in-command, took DG’s knife to the side, five feet away from me. I half rose and snarled. My gums itched and I was ready to tear that son of a bitch apart.
“Trygg,” Jace warned.
The look he gave me locked me in place, but then I remembered the Glock Bryn had given me. I drew it from my waistband at the small of my back and took aim at DG.
“No, Trygg. Please. My responsibility.” Mordechai’s voice stopped me.
I froze, but not because he put any influence into his words. He was allowing me to choose. I snarled and dropped the Glock beside him on the floor so he’d have something to protect himself with while his body came back online after Jace was finished. Going from death’s door to fit as a fiddle was a shock to the system.
I didn’t need the damn gun because if I wasn’t going to shoot DG, then I sure as hell wasn’t going to shoot any of his men. They were innocent in this, as far as I was concerned. No free will meant no culpability.
My gaze flicked to Jace and I bounced on my haunches. “Hurry up.”
“Sixty seconds.”
I counted them off in my head as Bart moved slower and slower. When I hit one, Jace released my hand and I flew across the room, talons first, straight for DG’s throat. He dodged to the side and I skidded to a stop, whirling around to block the knife he thrust at my back.
“Not surprised you’d go for the back.” I slashed down his chest and five bloody rivers ran from his pecs to his abs.
Bart dropped to his knees and I yelled medic for the second time tonight. Jace staggered to his feet, but was quickly engaged by one of DG’s men. I thought I’d have to step in, but he grabbed the guy by the throat. One bright flash of light and his attacker dropped to the floor, unmoving, face bloodless, dead. Jace was back to normal then, no longer staggering.
Holy shit. That motherfucker was terrifying. Drained the life-force right out of that guy.
DG’s knife flashed and I twisted at the waist, taking a slice across my pec rather than the shank in the heart where he’d aimed.
We circled together, both of us looking for an opening. “Gonna end you then that old man while Eamon is dissecting your girlfriend into little pieces for her daddy.”
As I lunged for his throat, a wave of magic and blinding light washed over the room. For the second time tonight, I was completely immobilized.
Fucking runemasters must die.
CHAPTER 57
BRYN
Blood flowed black in the shadow realm. I knew this because I was bleeding from half a dozen slashes to my torso and arms.
So was the other guy—Eamon Duff, the Bani.
As consolations went, it wasn’t much of one, but I’d take what I could get. I didn’t want to die in this place, but I didn’t want to leave him alive in here either because I knew he’d come back for me.
This guy would never stop coming for me. The tenacity of the Bani was terrifying.
My biggest advantage in this fight was the five puncture holes in my opponent’s gut. Pretty sure those were courtesy of Trygg. Once again, my man was keeping me safe. Now, I just had to outlast my opponent and not get mortally stabbed myself.
You can do this.
He swept my feet and I jumped. Instead of landing back in the same spot, I came down five feet away, in the path of one of the fighting couples—me still in the shadow plane, them on the material. My question of whether I could pass through them was finally answered.
No, I could not.
I hit one of them hard. The Jotun didn’t appear to notice, but I was thrown to my knees and barely missed getting stabbed in the face. Instead, the Bani’s dagger gouged my mask and the next breath I tried to draw, never came. He’d damaged the rune inscription.
I ripped the mask off and threw it at my attacker’s head, giving myself a moment to jump to my feet when he lurched backwards to dodge it. I r
an, ignoring my oxygen-starved lungs. As much as I didn’t want to let him survive, I was out of options. I had to escape to fight another day.
On the material plane, I saw a ripple of energy spread from the far corner, then everyone around us froze in place. Just as I dove for the opening that would spit me out into the oxygen-rich environment I needed, the rip sealed. I skidded across the floor on my back like I’d wiped out on an ice rink.
The Bani sauntered toward me as I lay there, clutching my throat and gasping for breath. There was no rush to kill me now. If he didn’t make it, I’d oblige him by dying all on my own. My gaze went to Trygg. He’d never know what happened to me. I’d never get to kiss him again, never feel his arms around me.
I thought of the woman in red on the bridge. I’ll see you soon. So, that’s what she meant.
My executioner's eyes crinkled. He smiled, enjoying his victory as he dropped to his knees beside me. I grabbed for his mask, but he straddled my waist and pinned my arms under his knees. Didn’t matter. I was too weak now to offer much resistance. He clutched his dagger in both hands and raised it above his head.
Trygg!
I screamed his name inside my head and reached for him with everything I had, poured all the love and longing I had into his name until it became an invocation delivered by my soul. Then I willed him to hear me.
A crack of thunder split the silence of the shadow realm.
Suddenly we were falling. With a bone-jarring thud, we popped out onto the material plane behind Trygg. Inside his shadow. The jolt freed my arms and oxygen flooded my body. As the Svartalf arched down to stab me, I bucked hard, kicking him over my head. The dagger popped out of his hands and I snatched it up, jumped on his back, and ripped the blade across his throat.
Blood poured out around him and I fell back on my butt, crab walking backwards.
“Bryn!” My mother screamed. She skidded to my side and pulled me into her arms. “Grimm, hurry up and restrain DG’s men. That spell isn’t going to last for-fucking-ever!”
“Language,” I whispered, going limp against her.
CHAPTER 58
TRYGG
“I love you,” I whispered against Bryn’s ear. I hadn’t stopped saying that since Eugenia unfroze everyone and I gathered Bryn in my arms. I hadn’t stopped touching her either.
“I love you, too.”
I felt her smile against my chest. She hadn’t stopped touching and loving me since that moment either. If I had my way, we’d spend forever just like this...touching, loving, living our lives together.
“What do you think Mordechai is going to do with DG?” Bryn asked.
I sighed and looked up at the ceiling of our hotel room. We hadn’t wanted to return to her place or her parents’ in case the Svartalf were staking us out and we sure as hell weren’t going to my room at Mordechai’s.
To get here, we’d done some spook-level car shuffling to make sure we weren’t followed. As an added precaution, the curtains were open, letting in all the sunshine we could get, and we’d also turned on all the lights in the place.
We both still had knives strapped to our thighs. Sexy wear for the modern Outlander couple. Whatever. I didn’t care what I had to do or what I had to wear. Anything to keep Bryn safe and by my side.
As far as I was concerned, the only thing that would draw us out of this room was Frank’s wake. With Harry’s help, Bryn’s mom was setting up a private service at a secret location. When it was ready, she would call Bryn’s burner phone. For everything else, there was room service and concierge.
I shrugged at Bryn’s question and pulled her tighter against my side. “I don’t know what he’s going to do with him and I don’t care. If I never see either of them again, it’ll be the best life ever.”
She trailed her hand over my chest in a soothing caress. “You and Mordechai were close once.”
“He destroyed that.”
“Maybe think about it a little,” she said, kissing my pec.
“You’re defending him?” I sat up and frowned at her.
“Come back here,” she pulled me down to her and snuggled into my side again. “I’m not defending him. I’m just saying that, after this, I’ve come to realize that not everything is black and white. Sometimes, things are a little grayer than we’d like them to be.”
“He took away my free will, Bryn. I can’t just forget that.”
“No. I don’t expect you to, but maybe you can get past it. Someday.”
Someday.
I’m not sure that day would ever come. I understood Mordechai thought what he was doing was for the greater good, but I didn’t see it that way. He was no better than DG in my book. And what a tangled web that asshole had woven.
Apparently, Naoko was a Ljósalf gone rogue, and had been helping DG. The spell she’d put on the tunnel was a prototype. Once it had been perfected, he planned on using it out in the field.
Dumb luck that Bryn had been outed to the Svartalf by it. Once DG knew that Bryn was the missing Svartalf princess, he’d informed Eamon, whom he’d been trying to entice into joining his little revolution. Until that point, he hadn’t offered Eamon the proper incentive. Bryn tipped the scales and the Bani sent men to her place and her parents’ house.
There was some small hope that Eamon hadn’t told anyone else because of the rush, but we weren’t sure. Grimm informed us that the Valkyries were looking into it. I took that to mean that they were torturing the shit out of Naoko to see what she knew. After they were done with her, she’d be turned over to Eugenia and prosecuted for betraying her people. I had my doubts she’d make it to trial.
Until we knew for certain that Bryn’s location was compromised, we were laying low. Day two of our witness protection program and I was more than happy to continue laying low for the rest of our lives. I had everything I needed in Bryn. Although, I’d have to share her with her mom, Dezi and Jace, and probably David.
I cringed at the thought of the police detective. He was still with the Valkyries as far as I knew and their intent was to strip his memories. We’d see how that went when we saw him and gave him the ‘official’ story about his son’s death—Gideon stumbled into a turf war and was an innocent bystander. When FBI agents attempted to arrest his murderer, the man resisted and was killed.
It was the truth, but not the whole truth. I hoped David found enough peace in it to go on with his life.
Bryn and I still hadn’t discussed what I’d done to David at the police station. I wasn’t overly concerned. If she could forgive me for killing her, then I figured she’d probably forgive me for punching David. I might have to do some penance. The thought made me grin.
Bryn rolled on top of me, straddled my hips, and grabbed my wrists, pinning them over my head. “What are you grinning about?”
“Mmm...doing penance for all my sins.” I was already hard and more than willing to pray at her altar.
“Oh, god. Are you into kinky sex games like Jace?” She looked horrified. “I thought that was a Dezi thing, not a berserker thing.”
“The only thing I’m into is you.” I slid inside her and pulled her down to kiss me. “Mine.”
Mine. Mine. I ignored the twin echo inside my head.
# # #
I stood under the starless night, head tilted back, scenting the air. Skye’s scent washed over me, putrid fear nearly obliterating her earthy smell. Rocks dug into my feet, but I ignored the pain and raced on. My Skye needed me.
Ahead, voices shattered the silence, male and female—that bastard Fergus and sweet Skye. My blood ran colder than the air that frosted my lungs.
Run! Save Skye!
“Please, let me go. I won’t tell anyone what you tried to do. I promise,” Skye whimpered.
“Oh, I’ll be doing more than trying.” Fergus chuckled.
The berserker scratched against my breastbone. It wanted out. I was inclined to let it. Fergus was a monster. Who better to teach him a lesson than a Warrior of Odin?
Skye screamed.
I ran faster. Faster than I’d ever run, terrified that it still wasn’t fast enough. The Allfather blessed me, though. When I finally came upon them Fergus was just reaching for Skye’s panties.
“Let her up!” I roared.
Fergus looked over his shoulder and chuckled again. “This is no business of yours, boy. Go back to your whore mother.”
I stood taller, clenched my fists. Fergus was bigger, but I was strong. Unnaturally so. The Allfather had given me the gift and I would use it now. “Not without her.”
A crack of lightning lit the sky. Fergus flinched, but the roll of thunder only fueled my defiance. Fergus may be the laird’s son, but Thor himself—god of thunder and lightning—was on my side. Skye was mine and Fergus had no right to touch her.
Snarling, Fergus lunged and grabbed me by the shirt. “I said leave.”
“Just go,” Skye sobbed. “He’ll kill you if you don’t.”
I growled my refusal. Fergus’s eyes widened and he dropped his hands from me.
Too late.
The berserker burst through my skin and sank its claws into Fergus’s throat. Blood sprayed everywhere and I stared into his eyes as his life ran through my claws. When the light finally drained from Fergus’s eyes, I dropped his body to the ground and turned to Skye, bloody hand outstretched.
“Monster,” she whispered, skittering backwards across the rocks. “You’re a monster, Trygg Mackenzie.”
I bolted up from the dream, gasping, eyes searching frantically.
Hotel in Ohio, not a hillside in Scotland.
“Trygg? Baby, what’s wrong?”
Bryn’s voice washed over me and her touch brought me fully awake.
“Nothing, sweetheart.” I turned into her arms and dragged us both down onto the bed.
“Bad dream?” she whispered into my neck.
I nodded, pulled her on top of me, and wrapped my arms around her. Nose buried in her hair, I breathed in her scent and let it cleanse the final vestiges of the dream.