My fingers ached as I clawed into the tree I was hiding behind, leaning around it to catch every word until my neck complained from the angle it was twisted. A tap on my shoulder made me jump and I bit down on my tongue to keep myself from crying out and giving myself away.
Jules glowered at me and crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s not polite to eavesdrop.”
I grabbed my chest and sucked in gulps of air. “Jules, don’t do that! You just about scared me to death.” I narrowed my eyes. “And what are you doing here, anyway? Seems like I’m not the only one eavesdropping.”
She waved away my accusation. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is Tyler is suffering and he doesn’t want my help.” She sighed and the blooms that had opened around her neckline drooped. “Tyler has it in for you something fierce, I’m afraid. You’re going to have to talk some sense into him. If you’re not going to open your eyes and see how much he cares for you, then you need to set him loose. Stop stringing him on.”
I balked. “String him on? What are you talking about?”
She rolled her eyes and twirled a vine around her finger. “Oh, come on. I saw how you were looking at him when he was telling you all about his heroic exploits. He’s just a Valiant, you know. Negotiating with Freya and Odin are not tasks to be taken lightly. If I could see that there’s something between you two, then Tyr saw it as well.” She leaned in and hooked my blouse with a finger, pulling me in until I smelled the pungent jasmine of her warning. “As a Huldra, it’s against my nature to want to cause someone pain, but the only way you’re going to get Tyler mended is if you truly break him. Don’t lead him on. Cut him free right now. Take the next step with Will and show Tyr that there’s no chance you two are ever getting back together.”
Dizziness washed over me. When had Tyler and I ever been together?
A clash of metal on metal broke me free of Jules’ trance. Twisting around the massive tree trunk, I clawed at the bark and spotted Tyler and Will face-to-face in battle. Their swords blurred and light flashed when their blades crashed onto one another. I screamed and launched myself out into the open. I had to stop this. What if Tyler killed Will? It would be all my fault.
Both Tyler and Will startled at my cry, blades poised above one another sending sparks flying over their faces. They parted and Will laughed. “Val, what’re you doing here? I told you that Tyler and I were going to work it out.”
Tyler rested his blade over his shoulder and glowered. “You wanted me to train him, right? That requires fighting, and lots of it. He needs to attune himself with his nature or he’s going to burn up from the inside.”
Embarrassed, I realized that I’d totally misread the situation and now I’d revealed that I’d been crouching in the woods listening in on a private conversation.
To my surprise, Jules appeared and beamed with an innocent smile. “It’s my fault. I didn’t trust you two and I got Valerie to come break you guys up. I’ve seen enough death in this forest and there’s no way I’m going to let two Valiant kill each other.”
Will relaxed at the excuse, but Tyler didn’t seem to buy it. “Well, I’m just training him, so there’s nothing to worry about.” He tilted his head. “Are you guys going to let us get to business or are you going to make us sit out here all night?”
I threw up my hands. “Whatever, Tyler. Just make sure you don’t hurt him or you’re going to have to answer to me.”
He grinned. “I’ll be counting on that.”
Leanne
I was completely and utterly drained, both physically and mentally. Three days of non-stop training and Will still hadn’t been able to best Tyler. Not that I expected a newly fledged Valiant to be able to defeat one of Odin’s best, but it still made my stomach pitch every time Will came into the house soaked with sweat and fresh trails of golden blood streaking across his face and chest.
“You don’t have to do this,” I pressed him after yet another night of this nonsense. “This has to be Tyler messing with us. Beating you up can’t be how you master your powers, much less how you learn to take on a mortal form so we can get you back to a real life.”
Will grinned and wiped away droplets of sweat with the back of his hand. His hair clung to his forehead, but he laughed as if delighted with every moment of this torture. “I know you think it’s crazy, but it’s actually helping. I feel…” he searched for the word, “I hate to say it, but like I have a purpose.”
I gripped his hands. “You mean getting ready to kill your mother? That’s not your burden to bear.”
His expression went somber and I sucked in a breath when his light dimmed, his features dwindling into a familiar visage of a mortal boy I’d given my heart to.
Will stared back at me, all trace of his Immortal life gone. Only the streaks of drying blood lined his face and chest to remind me that he had a different life now. “Like I said, Tyler is helping me. We won’t have to stay here much longer.”
I couldn’t help it. Seeing him like that drew me in with an undeniable pull. My lips were on his and parting for him. At first he was stunned and his hands that had somehow found my hips squeezed, then he moved and deepened the kiss, bringing me in close as if he wanted to inhale me and fill his entire existence with me.
The door slammed open and I jumped away from Will, finding Tyler glowering from the doorway. He appraised me, then Will. “Good,” he said at last. “You’ve finally gotten control over your mirage. I’ll be able to move onto the next step of our plan.”
I released the breath I’d been holding, but my chest felt tight. “What plan?” I asked, my voice wavering.
Tyler tried to pretend that he wasn’t affected by what he’d just seen, but pain spiked behind the lights of his eyes. When guilt threatened to make me want to comfort him, I clung to what Jules had told me. I couldn’t be selfish. This was what I needed to do in order to help him. If I let Tyler know that I still felt the connection between us, he’d never heal. He had to move on from me, just like Will did. I didn’t dare think about what my life would be like without either of them, but it was the right thing to do. My love was forbidden, even if Tyler tried to tell me otherwise. I highly doubted that Freya had made an exception for any of her Valkyries, especially for me.
Tyler drew in a deep breath before speaking, as if he was struggling against drowning from the unseen sorrow in the air. “Will has informed me that his mother is Baldr’s latest ally. I’ve already spoken to Odin and confirmed Will is more effective on Earth taking care of that new problem.”
“And Freya?” I asked. “Does she still want me to come home?”
Tyler stiffened. “I’m not permitted to talk to her directly. Not after…” He shook his head as if clearing away a bad memory. “Odin talked with her about that. He agrees with me that you’ll do more good here since this is a unique situation.” He glanced at Will. “Will’s progress is impressive. I don’t think his training would be going as well as it has been if you went home. Even Freya has to realize it’s because you’re his anchor. If you leave, then Will is just going to regress. So, for the time being, Freya is permitting you to stay here, but that comes with a cost.”
“What cost?” I asked, wary of any bargains he might have made on my behalf.
Tyler’s light flared before he adopted his mortal form, dwindling into something so familiar that all my anger slipped right out of me. “When this is all over, I’m to dedicate my service to the Valkyries permanently,” he said, his voice having lost the eerie Immortal hum. “Will can replace me. He has the strength and the darkness to handle higher doses of Odin’s power.”
My eyes went wide. Tyler was trying to pretend he was doing us some sort of favor, but he’d neglected to acknowledge that this “bargain” meant I’d never see Will again… and Tyler would go right back to being my protector. Convenient—and a recipe for disaster. Didn’t my mother understand I couldn’t be around either of them? Maybe she thought that Tyler was the safer choice.
I didn�
�t have a chance to complain. He jerked his chin towards the doorway. “Let’s get going. Now that Will can appear human, we need to move.” He turned and stomped towards the door, pausing to speak over his shoulder. “We go to New York. We have an ally there who will need protection when Leanne makes her move.”
Tyler left, leaving me alone with Will and the tension that strapped around my chest like a straightjacket. As crazy as this was all getting, a room with padded walls was starting to sound appropriate.
“Who’s Leanne?” I asked.
Will cleared his throat. “My mother.”
New Beginnings
Out of all our Immortal powers, I imagined that it would take an army of Norn to stand in our way. However, of all things, money was actually an issue. We couldn’t just super-speed our way up to New York and we didn’t have the cash for gas. Our quest wasn’t sanctioned by Freya—simply tolerated—so we were on our own. No using her forged books. No special lawyers or mysterious inheritances, much less rewritten memories. Getting a job was out of the question, so that left one sad option.
Selling the Porsche was bitter-sweet, kind of like saying goodbye but also like giving up the only piece I had of her.
“Sam would have wanted me to keep it,” I protested as I handed Jules the keys. “And she wouldn’t like that we’re selling it to some random guy for much less than it’s worth.”
The stranger leaned against his current ride: an ancient looking thing with flames painted on the sides. I shuddered to think what he was going to do with a Porsche.
“No,” Tyler said, his tone cold but his eyes as full of feeling as they’d always been. “Sam would have wanted you to have enough money for Brooklyn pizza and some new clothes.” He gave me a raised brow and appraised the ragged threads I’d been wearing and rewashing for the past few weeks. I didn’t dare go back to the house to grab some things and I certainly didn’t trust Jules to go through my stuff. It was all probably reclaimed by now anyway. “You’ll want to make a good impression on your new ally.”
I watched Jules totter away and make the trade. Bag of cash—probably drug money—in exchange for the last connection I had to Sam. She’d loved that car.
“Who’s this ally?” Will asked as his arm slipped around my waist. The motion seemed natural, as if we fit together like a hand and a glove. He wasn’t even aware of the shard of pain he stabbed into Tyler’s heart every time he claimed me with his touch. I reacted to him out of instinct, sinking into the warmth of his chest, a secret, disloyal part of me wanting to pull away to spare Tyler the pain.
Tyler sniffed and tried to look indifferent. “You’ll find out when we get there.”
“Come on,” Jules whined as she handed Tyler the keys to our new ride. “You’re going to leave us hanging like that?” She plucked a twig from her hair. She’d struggled morph back into her mortal form and leaving her forest had made her go pale, but she wasn’t about to let Tyler out of her sight. “I don’t like surprises.”
Tyler laughed and got into the driver’s seat. He rammed the keys into the ignition and the car sputtered to life. “You’re just going to have to deal. You’re lucky I’m allowing you to come along, anyway.”
She squeezed through the window and pinched his cheek. “It’s almost as if you like me or something,” she said, smiling. Then she got into the passenger seat and grinned like an idiot. An ember inside of me burned. How could she be so happy? Didn’t she realize how hard this was for me?
Will squeezed my hand, because all of this was way harder than I could have imagined and if he could read my emotions as well as Tyler could read my mind, then he knew I wasn’t handling this well. He waited patiently, knowing that I just needed a moment to absorb this epic shift in our lives.
The stranger who’d bought our car gave me a salute. “Have a nice trip,” he said.
Our Porsche drove off with a stranger at the helm and I felt like a piece of myself went with it.
Sitting in the back of a car that smelled like cigarettes and beer wasn’t my idea of a fun road trip. Will got me some cheese puffs, which my implanted memories said were delicious, and a soda to go with it. Crappy food for a crappy mood, he’d said. I wasn’t one to argue and lamented my mixed feelings with powdered cheese and carbonated beverages.
A six hour drive didn’t sound that long, but half-way in Jules started to sing. It was less a boppy-teen song that I expected from her and more eerie, queen of the wood, kind of music. When I fluttered my eyes closed and listened, I realized that she was leaving something behind too. By coming with us, she risked disconnecting with her forest. If she thought Tyler was really worth uprooting her life like that, literally, then maybe there was something to him that deserved a second-glance.
Will’s fingers sought me out, squeezing the back of my neck in a slow massage. I’d been lulled into a trance with Jules’ singing and hadn’t even realized when I’d slumped into his arms.
“This ain’t no love-boat,” Tyler complained, glaring at us through the rearview mirror. “Do that on your own time.”
Jules stopped her singing and laughed. “You certainly are the jealous type, aren’t you?” She pursed her lips at him. “Were you jealous when you had to go off-world while they stayed here… alone? Oh, come on. You were a little bit, weren’t you?”
Tyler growled and white-knuckled the wheel. “Of course not. I’m not jealous of anybody. I just don’t want to do all the driving while Prince Charming back there gets the girl. I’m not that much of a pushover.”
Will didn’t respond, but his body went tense under my touch. I sighed and reclaimed my seat, wishing that this thing had a seatbelt. Just because I was a Valkyrie didn’t mean I wanted to smash my head through the windshield when Tyler inevitably crashed paying more attention to me than to the road. “How much longer?” I asked. “This ally of yours better have good food. I’m starving.” I was beginning to regret my road trip snack choices. Apparently powdered cheese melted on my tongue and gave me no sustenance whatsoever.
“We’ve got three more hours,” Tyler said. “Just hold on. Once we’re there, I know a place for dinner.”
I’d expected fast food or something that we could grab on the go before we found a hotel, but I should’ve known better than to underestimate Tyler. Three long, silent hours later, he pulled our sputtering car up to a restaurant that looked more like a mansion. A gate separated the common-folk from the rest of the world.
“What kind of restaurant has a security gate?” I asked.
“One that caters to Immortals,” Tyler said then drove up to the guard post.
“Friends of Dalia,” Tyler said to a flat-faced dude in a suit who didn’t seem very impressed with our ride. After an awkward moment of silence, Tyler sighed and splayed his palm, revealing a flash of a dark rune I’d never seen on him before. My memories fought to resurface to tell me what it meant. Only one word made it through the constriction of Grimhildr’s programming. Heimdall.
“I see.” The guard put away his notepad and pressed a button on the guardhouse panel. A gate lifted, allowing us entrance to the grounds. “Please accept our valet services at the front.”
Tyler nodded and drove through.
We all fell into a hushed silence as we took in the stark contrast of the road basking in the dim light of dusk and streetlights to a white-washed building held up by columns intertwined with moss with spotlights of its own. Four blurry statues towered at the top, the night sky too clouded for me to make out the finer details. Only when the spotlights swept by could I see a familiar spear boasted by a woman dressed in battle leathers.
“Those are statues to pay homage to the gods,” Tyler explained as he eased in behind a luxury car waiting for the valet. Our Porsche would have fit in much better than this piece of junk that was already winning open stares. “I’m guessing you only know about Odin and Freya, but there are four exiles in total that have been able to procreate.”
“Wait a second,” Will said as he leaned
over the cracked leather seat. “You’re telling me the way that an Immortal gets deity status is by having kids?”
Tyler chuckled. “Hey, it might be easy as a mortal, but once you ascend, you don’t have the same plumbing anymore. Creating new Immortal life definitely qualifies for godship.”
I peered up at the statues again as Tyler eased the car into drive and followed the line to the front of the restaurant. Odin sat atop his mighty steed, although he was missing the mechanical arm I remembered him having. I guessed that the Immortals thought it best to leave out that he was more machine than he was man.
The other two statues, though, I didn’t recognize. One was a female with an antique telescope dangling from her hands. The last I tried to catch a glimpse of, but Tyler drove underneath the awning and put the car into park.
We were ushered out of our car and into the crowded restaurant before I had a chance to complain that I wanted to see the fourth statue. I bit my lip once we got inside. It likely would have made Tyler look ridiculous to introduce a Valkyrie who didn’t even know who the gods were.
Low hanging chandeliers lit our path past secluded tables draped with velvet barriers. Immortals apparently liked to dine in peace, and while I could appreciate the concept, I found myself straining to peer through the shadows and catch a glimpse of what kind of Immortals gathered here. Were there more Valiant? Or was there some kind of truce here and I’d find a Norn or two? A shiver ran through me at that possibility. When we passed a table that hummed with feminine laughter, I couldn’t help but think of Sam. Would I find Valkyries who remembered her?
“Here’s your table,” an usher told us and waved us up to the top level of steep stairs. At the end awaited an entire balcony that overlooked the restaurant which I hadn’t realized was oriented in the same fashion as the glowing rune I’d seen on Tyler’s palm.
“What are we doing here?” I snapped as everyone else took their seat.
Valkyrie Rebellion: Valkyrie Allegiance Book 2 Page 5