by Renee Jordan
Pull away. Stop him. Don't stare into those green eyes. Remember Magnus. His strong arms, his wild mane of hair, and his passion. Magnus loves you. He was the man you chose. Not Loki. Magnus.
She walks in beauty, like the night
of cloudless climes and starry skies;
The lines of the poem Magnus had quoted to me. I clung to them. So we had a stupid argument. Couples have them. It meant nothing. But this kiss. It would change everything. It would not be a stolen kiss like the first one.
I would be a willing participant. I would give myself to Loki if I crossed that line. I would surrender to my body's desires. Lust wasn't love. Just because I wanted to be taken by Loki meant nothing.
Just because I loved Magnus, wouldn't mean I would loose attraction for other guys. It just meant I wouldn't act on those attractions. If you loved someone, you couldn't betray their trust. If I loved Magnus, I wouldn't kiss Loki.
“Stop,” I gasped, my hands pushing on his shoulders, forcing back his lips. “No. I'm sorry. I love him.”
Loki sighed. “He doesn't appreciate what he has. He will only take you for granted. I would worship you. I would gift you the stars and the moon. You would be my queen.”
“I'd rather just watch the stars and the moon cuddled up to Magnus.” I scrunched away from him.
It was hard. He was sexy. Literally a god. It was so hard to reject him, but I had to. I would not betray my love.
A sardonic smile twisted Loki's lips. “Damn. And I'm still going to help you.” He let out a bitter laugh. “Never fall in love with a woman already besotted with another man. It's a long, twisted road to walk.”
“Sorry,” I repeated. What else could I say?
“It's fine.” Loki's smile grew less bitter. “It was nice pretending I could have you. And...thank you for believing in me.”
I reached out and gave his hand a squeeze. “We can still be friends.”
Loki laughed. “The great consolation prize. Friendship.”
“What's wrong with friendship? I am only friends with the very best. You should be honored I'm picking you.”
“So honored.” Loki gave me a mocking bow. Then he glanced down at the Sun's Tear. “You cannot face the Thief alone.”
“What is he?” I asked, studying the grayish bulk. He was so disgusting, with fat folds of skin and his walrus-like tusks.
“A giant,” Loki answered. “A very dangerous creature.”
“Gerdie is a giant,” I pointed out. My former boss at the Boar Coffee and Cafe and was a tall, beautiful woman in her middle-years. “She doesn't look like...that.”
“Not all giants are equals,” Loki answered. “Like people, some are good, and some are bad. And the Thief is rotten to the core. The Thief delights in slaughter and chaos. He loves to watch blood spilled on the battlefield. He prefers others to do his work for him.”
“Like when he sent Fenrir to kill Odin?” I should have let the wolf kill Odin.
Loki nodded. “I will lure the Thief off. Can you handle three bikers?”
My sword appeared in my hand and I stood up in my silver, if mud-stained, armor. Loki's smile grew. “Beautiful.”
I blushed. “Yes, I can handle the bikers.”
My stomach twisted. These were the men that performed the drive-by today, but they were still humans. It seemed so wrong to fight them. Kill them. I took a deep breath. It was their lives or Magnus's.
I was disturbed by how easy the choice was.
Maybe I wasn't all that different than Magnus. I was a Valkyrie. Death was my gift to Magnus. Love, Death, and Life were what I offered. Only Magnus would get Love and Life. Everyone else would have to settle for Death.
Why couldn't you be here, Magnus? I don't want to fight without you.
“Okay,” Loki said. “When I lead him off. Count to a hundred, and then charge down there.”
I nodded my head.
“Oh, I almost forgot. I made this for you.” He pulled out a bag made of white felt stitched with red runes.
“Thanks?” I asked in confusion as he handed it to me.
“You can put the Sun's Tear in it. It will hide its glow.” Loki let out a chuckle. “It's kind of...obvious. Plus, it burns hot. Even for you, the chosen one.”
“Yeah, okay.”
My armor clinked as a shiver ran through me. My blood chilled. My heart raced. The rush of an impending fight gripped me. Why was fighting so scary and exhilarating all at the same time?
Loki slipped away, walking along the ridge. He had no problem navigating the slope and wove between the pine trees with a graceful ease. Unlike me, he didn't slip and slide and get his clothes covered in mud. My poor, shiny armor had mud caked on my shin guards and more clung to the fine rings of the mail skirt that covered my upper thighs.
There were advantages to being a god.
I peered back down the ravine. The Sun's Tear shone brightly, warming my face. The radiance didn't seem as bright. Was its light fading or was I growing used to the heat? I drank it in. Fire burned inside of me.
The same fire that burned in the Sun's Tear. It called to me. It wanted me to pick it up. I was the only person that could touch it. I trembled, waiting for Loki to make his move. The time seemed to crawl.
How long would it take him to get in position?
I couldn't see Loki any longer. He had vanished into the dark trees. I peered around the edge of the clearing, wondering how he would make the Thief leave. The giant seemed to be waiting for something. His arms were folded, his eyes scanning the woods.
The bikers were bored. They stared at the Sun's Tear in fascination. The bald biker, called Griff, clenched and relaxed his hand. He wanted to seize the stone, but fear held him back.
I wished he would grab it. Then I wouldn't have to fight him and maybe kill him. He could do it himself.
“Well, this is a merry party,” Loki suddenly announced. He was on the opposite side of the clearing, leaning casually against a tree. “I'm hurt you didn't invite me, Thief.”
The Thief let out a growl, his tusks almost bristling as he turned. “Why are you here, trickster?”
“Oh, having fun,” Loki shrugged. “Playing tricks and a satiating an urge to save the world. I know, it's shocking. Why would Loki want to save this miserable place?”
“What do we do?” Griff asked, eyeing Loki.
“Keep a wary eye,” the Thief growled. “Loki loves his little games.”
“Oh, there is never anything little about my games. You should know that, Thief.” Loki stretched his back and then his sides, loosening himself like a runner preparing for a race. “I will have to relieve you of the burden of watching over the Sun's Tear. So just step aside so I might claim it. I think it would look smashing on my wall.”
The Thief lumbered forward. “I am sick of your meddling. I sensed your hand in Utgard. You let the Valkyrie and her little puppy know about Fenrir.”
“Did I foil one of your plans?” Loki shook his head. “I am deeply sorry. It seems that I just can't help butting in where I'm not wanted. And it was a real shame about Fenrir. Great dog. Sad to see my boy die, but...he was a handful. He never listened to his father.”
My eyes blinked. Loki was Fenrir's father?
“Fenrir was just like your son, Thief. Now, what happened to him.” Loki tapped his side. “Oh, yes, I tricked Thor into caving his head in with Mjolnir.”
The giant suddenly charged, his tusks lowered. He bellowed in rage. Loki winked at me from across the clearing. Then he turned and darted into the forest, mocking laughter trailing after him. The Thief crashed through a young pine tree. Wood splintered, and the tree crashed to the ground in the wake of the giant.
I began my slow count to one hundred.
“1...2...3...4...” I counted, my heart thudding beneath my breast plate. I watched the bikers. They milled around the Sun's Tear.
“How do you think the fight's goin'?” one asked Griff.
“The boys are skinning some wolves,” Griff laughed.
I squeezed my eyes closed as I kept counting. Magnus was powerful. He was an Einherjer and a werewolf. He could handle a bunch of bikers. I couldn't worry about him. I have to trust that he was fine.
It was hard. There was a yawning hole opening beneath me, threatening to swallow me whole. Fear. I couldn't afford to be afraid right now. Loki risked his life to give me the opportunity to recover the Tear.
And then I would have to make a decision. Believe Loki and kill Odin, or believe the One-Eyed God that killed Magnus so I could bring him back to life. The craggy, bearded face of Odin rose in my mind. He was grim, dangerous, cruel.
I put my faith in Loki.
“98...99...100.”
I pushed myself up and crossed over the ridge, racing down the slope. My armor clinked around me. My sword burned in my hand, lighting my path. The three bikers turned. A man, his arms covered in tattoos, pulled out a handgun and fired at me.
No fear. My armor would stop the bullets.
I flinched as a hissing bullet streaked past me. A nearby tree swayed, chunks of bark flying from a bullet strike. Griff folded his arms, watching my approach. I crashed down the slope heedless of their bullets. I was a Valkyrie.
My exultation burst out of my lips in a wordless battle cry, primal and powerful.
“Kill the bitch,” Griff snarled.
Tattoo dropped his gun and changed. The shock of crimson feathers sprouting across his body almost made me stumble to a halt. His tattooed arms became large wings. A cruel beak gleamed in the moonlight, the tip ending at a sharp gleam. The other biker transformed, too, and the pair threw themselves into the air at me.
I swallowed my shock; I had fought monsters before.
I swung with a mighty, overhand sweep. The flames on my blade crackled. My sword crashed into the first were-eagle, shearing through the tattooed biker's wing. The thing screeched in pain and crashed at my feet.
“Valkyrie,” I shouted. I couldn't think of anything else to scream, but I had to let out the excitement inside of me.
I leaped over the dying were-eagle as the other dived at me, talons extending. I thrust my blade out, punching through the transformed biker's chest. His body slid down my sword and crashed into me. Feathers swirled around us as I sailed down the slope.
I dismissed my sword and heaved the corpse from in front of me. The ground rushed beneath me. I had jumped mid-slope and I wouldn't hit the ground until the bottom. I could take it. I bent my legs and re-summoned my sword.
Flames hissed as I crashed to the ground before the Sun's Tear. Griff faced me, his arms folded as he stood over it. “Back up,” I hissed. “You transform, I'll cut you down before you can move.”
“I see why Magnus fought so hard for you,” Griff smiled as I pulled out the felt bag with my free hand. “Magnificent woman. You would have clawed Talon up if he tried to take you.”
“I would have.” My eyes hardened. “And I'll do the same to you.”
He laughed, his body shaking. He had a scar running across his belly. This man wasn't a stranger to pain.
I moved forward, using the footwork Magnus taught me. I held the bag in my teeth as I bent down, my sword pointed at Griff. Always keep your weapon trained at the enemy. I snatched up the Sun's Tear. It was the size of my fist.
Heat seared me. I grit my teeth against the pain. I straightened and retreated. I fumbled to drop the Tear into the bag and keep my blade aimed at Griff. The biker never made a move. The stone fell into the pouch. I pulled the red strings closed and tucked it beneath my breastplate. The bag was a warm lump pressed against my stomach.
“Just stay there and you'll get to live, Griff,” I said as I backed up.
“If you hand over the bag, I won't have to rip you to pieces, Valkyrie,” Griff countered.
I arched an eyebrow. “I didn't have a problem killing your two men. What makes you think—”
He let out a screeching cry, an eagle diving at its prey. It resounded through the trees. His body swelled, his cut and blue jeans bursting into shreds. Coarse, red feathers sprouted. His arms grew longer, ending at thick fists. He leaned forward on them like a gorilla as his body grew higher and higher, looming twenty feet over me.
He looked like the frost troll that killed Magnus, except he had feathers and a cruel beak instead of fur and a wolf's snout. His eyes were red and glowing. “I was given far more than my men, Valkyrie.” He took a step towards me, walking on his knuckles like a giant ape-eagle, the ground shaking with every step. “The stone. Now.”
Chapter Twelve
Magnus
I scrambled to my feet as the Thief seized Poncho and rammed his tusks into the biker's torso. Poncho spasmed and gurgled. The Thief threw him away, and he fell on the ground twitching.
“Fucker!” I snarled. I seized the ax lurking in the depths of my soul.
In a sheet of light, rippling like an aurora, the ax appeared in my left hand. In the same motion, I swung the blade hard at the Thief. Sprays of aurora trailed in the ax's arc. The Thief twisted his bulk and danced away from the blade.
“You picked up Heimdall's weapon,” the Thief growled. “I should have removed it from the field.”
“Your mistake,” I snarled as I leaped at him.
Fighting as a werewolf gave me advantages a human could never enjoy. I was quick. I could jump high. I made the battlefield three-dimensional as I sailed up and swung the ax at the Thief's head as I soared over him.
The Thief twisted. The blade cracked into his tusk. Rainbow light exploded, washing over us. The trees rustled. I landed and turned, parrying the Thief's goring attack. I swung the blade in hard, fast attacks, throwing auroras with every blow.
Anger propelled me. It seized me. I had to feast on his blood. Defending myself didn't matter. Only the kill. My attacks grew more reckless. I howled and snarled as the Thief moved with nimble grace despite his heavy bulk.
“You play with toys you couldn't possibly understand, pup,” laughed the Thief as he spun away from my attack and dodged past me, racing towards Rick.
A gun fired. Rick, backing up the road, unloaded his UMP at the Thief. Bullets bounced off the monster's rubbery hide and crashed on the ground.
“Fuck,” Rick snarled as he ejected the magazine and reached for another. “I'll fucking kill you.”
“Fight me!” I howled as I charged up the road after the Thief. He would not kill any more of my brothers. I loped and leaped, crashing into the Thief's back. My ax blade bit into the Thief's shoulder, drawing hot blood.
The Thief elbowed me in the face, throwing me to the ground. Blood filled my mouth. I spat it out as I gained my feet. “Run, Rick.”
“Fuck that,” Rick snarled. The UMP spat bullets.
I leaped again, ax swinging. The Thief turned with lightning speed and punched. Ribs cracked. My lungs burned as I crashed into the asphalt. I rolled down the road and stopped my slide. My breath wheezed as I struggled to rise.
That didn't matter. My anger devoured the pain as I rose.
Motorcycle engines roared, racing down the hill. Fire burned. Big Hoss had fired the brothel and was racing down to help in the fight. He would be killed. I would not let any more blood be spilled. I would protect my pack.
Big Hoss skidded his motorcycle to a stop. “What the fuck is going on.”
“Monsters are real,” Rick shouted and unloaded another useless burst of fire. “And Magnus is a werewolf.”
“Get out of here!” I howled as I raced up the hill. I had to stop the Thief.
The gray arm of the Thief lashed out and seized Rick's neck. “No.”
“Fuck!” Big Hoss shouted and pulled out his revolver. The S&W .50 boomed with every shot, the bullets landing deformed at the feet of the Thief.
“Get out of here,” I howled.
The Thief pivoted and threw Rick at me. My brother slammed into my chest. Bones snapped as we crashed to the ground. Rick rolled off of me, lying limp on the ground as I gained my feet. The rage consumed me.
I raced at the Thief. My vision narrowed to focus only on him. The Thief turned to face me, thrusting his sharp tusks at me. I twisted and ducked, the tusks skimming over my head. I crashed into his stomach, my teeth biting at his rubbery flesh.
“What the fuck, Magnus?” Big Hoss shouted. “What is going on?”
I tore a chunk of foul flesh from the Thief and spat the rotten meat to the ground. “Run!”
My eyes met Big Hoss's. I had never seen my friend afraid. He had rescued me from my stupidity. We had founded the Black Wolves. And now there were only a few of us left. Our brothers lay torn apart on the road. I failed to protect them.
“Run!”
Big Hoss twisted the throttle and roared past us, followed by Thunder and Skids.
The Thief grabbed my shoulders. His hands squeezed hard. Then he threw me away into the trees. “Why are you even here, Einherjer?”
“To kill you,” I howled as I scrambled to my feet.
“While your Valkyrie dies?”
I froze.
Every hair on my body stood up. Fear tugged at me. Not fear for my safety. A name screamed on the wind. My Valkyrie was in danger. I wasn't with her. I wasn't there to protect her.
“Your stupid slut went after the Sun's Tear alone.” A smile crossed his face. The Thief didn't feel the pain of his injuries. Blackish blood leaked down his body. “Griff is tearing her to pieces right now.”
Raven needed me. I wanted to rip the Thief apart. The blood of my brothers demanded the Thief's death.
Raven needed me.
I ran from the Thief, racing to my bike parked down the hill. My anger died as fear took over. My body ached. It hurt to breathe. To run. I had broken ribs. The rage had cloaked the pain. But no longer. The wolf left me.
I became human.
“Run, Einherjer,” laughed the Thief. “You might reach her in time.”
I forced myself to keep going. I ignored the dead. I couldn't help them. I failed them. I wouldn't fail Raven.
I reached my bike. The keys were in the ignition. I kick-started the bike. The engine roared. The Thief's laugh chased me. The screams of my dying brothers whipped at my soul.
I would kill the Thief. He would die by my hands.