Viking's Ransom (Viking Ancestors: Rise of the Dragon, #4)

by Purington, Sky

  “They can change for you too, woman,” Leviathan said, right on time as his dragon eyes flared and he looked Tess over with blatant approval.

  “Yes, they can,” Tess purred in agreement, flashing her dragon eyes back at him before Sage stepped in again, shaking her head.

  “No time for that, Sis.” She gestured at Kenzie and Eirik. “They’re getting ready to leave, while you hunker down and stay put in the main lodge.”

  Tess’s eyes slid from Leviathan to Soren. “I don’t mind hunkering down as long as it’s with those two.”

  Leviathan’s eyes lingering on Tess for another moment before he snapped out from under her spell and looked at Eirik and Kenzie. “I will go where you go and protect you the best I can.”

  “You can’t go to Múspellsheimr with us.” Kenzie looked to the shore. More specifically Eirik’s ship “But if you want to come aboard while we’re gone, I wouldn’t be opposed.”

  “We will transport there from our ship then?” Eirik said.

  “Yes,” she confirmed. “It seems we’re going to do things a lot like Shea and Davyn did under the protection of that sail.”

  He nodded. “Will we be sailing then?”

  “I’m afraid it won’t matter if we’re at sea or not,” she replied. “Proximity to the Fortress makes no difference with the worlds the way they are right now. Skáld’s dragons and fire giants could show up anywhere at any time. So it’s probably best to stay close so we can help if the shit hits the fan.”

  “It sounds like shit's already been doing that,” Tess muttered, giving Kenzie a hug. “I'm so damn glad to see you’re okay, Sis. I tried to help you telepathically across the centuries, but I’m not so sure I did.”

  “You did,” she assured, remembering her sister’s supportive presence when she was battling the enemy dragon’s water. “And it meant the world.” She held her sister at arm’s length and cocked her head. “How'd you do that across time anyway?”

  “I'm not entirely sure. It all started happening after I dreamt about the burning tree,” she said. “Remember the one? I saw it years ago back home?” Before Kenzie could respond, Tess continued. “Then I made contact with a guy named Rokar.” She glanced around, curious. “Where is he anyway? I’m curious to see if he looks half as good as he sounds.”

  “He isn't here right now,” Kenzie said, not overly surprised the fiery ash was starting to tie Tess and Rokar together. Something else did sort of shock her though considering the flirtatious gleam in Tess's eyes when she spoke of Rokar. “So you...enjoyed conversing with Rokar?”

  “Yeah, of course.” Tess looked at her a little oddly. “I think he rivals me when it comes to flirting. Total turn on.”

  Everyone glanced at each other in quickly masked confusion because that definitely didn’t sound like Rokar.

  “At least not nowadays,” Eirik said into her mind, reminding her that Rokar hadn't always been this way but more like the version Tess spoke of. So what to make of that? She supposed they would find out in good time.

  “I'm glad you two connected,” she said to Tess because what else was there to say? Certainly not how Rokar really was or the loss he had suffered. She would find all of that out eventually. “Rokar's a good guy. He probably saved my life actually.”

  “Did he then?” Tess said, approval in her eyes.

  Kenzie nodded but had no chance to elaborate before Sven began issuing orders, and everyone started in their consecutive directions. But not before she embraced Tess and Sage to say goodbye. “Be careful you guys.”

  “You too, Sis,” Sage said as they embraced Shea as well. “Both of you.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Shea and Kenzie said at the same time.

  “Shouldn’t I be the one going to the ship with you?” Tess said. “Seeing how I’m your number one?”

  “As I’m sure you’ve heard in this war that’s not cut in stone,” Sage said, eying the warriors coming and going before she looked at Eirik. “Everyone has everyone else’s back around here so Kenzie will be just fine.”

  Tess frowned, clearly not convinced but there was no time to reassure her before they headed for the ship.

  “Just stay with Sage,” Kenzie said one last time, then added for good measure, “and away from Soren.”

  “You mean the one sticking around to protect me?” Tess winked at Soren who had a blade drawn and by all appearances, seemed determined to stick close to her.

  “Should I be worried?” Kenzie said to Eirik as they headed for the shore. Emily had volunteered to keep her animals safe, so she had peace of mind there. “Because if Tess really is meant for Rokar, sleeping with Soren might not be such a good idea.”

  “Soren will not lay with her in the midst of all this,” Eirik assured.

  “Oh, you don’t know Tess,” she muttered. “She can be amazingly persuasive no matter the circumstance.” Her eyes slid his way. “I suppose the better question is, would Soren sleep with Tess knowing she might be meant for Rokar?”

  “Does he know such a thing then?” he asked. “When even we do not?”

  Good point. Regardless. “I’d just hate to see her stir up trouble so soon.”

  “No more trouble than Agatha likes to stir up often enough.” His reassuring eyes met hers and ignited that fluttery feeling in her stomach yet again. “Soren is a leader by nature. He knows how to think clearly and act well in the midst of lust.”

  She nodded, glad to hear it, but wondered if Agatha truly were anything like Tess. Because Soren’s ex wasn’t a dragon. Therefore, it was safe to say Soren might not be so level minded with what was heading his way. Tess could get a man into bed as fast as Shea, which said something.

  “I am sure Sage will let your sister know what you are facing,” he said, trying to put her mind at ease. “Tess will not be so amorous as she worries about you.”

  “If only that were true.” She couldn’t help but snort. “Tess works out stress in bed.”

  A brow shot up as Eirik glanced back at the Fortress then at her. “Then we can only hope Níðhöggr is steering her in the direction she is meant to go.”

  “Right,” she echoed as they headed down the dock beneath a full moon.

  “I worry for you,” he said softly after they boarded the ship. He cupped her shoulders and searched her eyes. “Yet I know that you must do this...we must do this.” He squeezed lightly. “I will remain by your side every step of the way to the best of my ability.”

  She nodded, pushing down fear before it had a chance to grab hold. Not just fear about what might happen to them, but the looming truth she knew was going to break her heart.

  “We must face it,” he murmured, following her thoughts. “So that we might overcome it.”

  “I know,” she whispered.

  “Do not forget what Hel said,” he went on. “We must fight with our heads not our hearts. We must work together so that we might never be apart.”

  Rather than be daunted by the idea of forever with a man, now it almost didn’t seem long enough. Like she wanted to be with him far longer.

  “Marrying me would be a good start,” he murmured, evidently catching her thoughts as he cupped her cheek. “Become my wife, Kenzie.”

  “Wife?” she whispered, the idea of marriage so foreign she had no clue what to make of it.

  “Yes,” he said without a shred of doubt in his tender gaze. “I have known since I first dreamt of you that you were meant for me. That our dragons belonged to one another. So as soon as we defeat Einnar, marry me. Be with me always.”

  Though she could argue all the same things she had since the beginning—that he only wanted this because he could be close to her, not to mention touch her—she knew that wasn’t the case. It didn’t matter that they had known each other mere days, the blazing love was right there in his steady gaze.

  Yet worry still plagued her. Concern that he needed more time to adjust to his new reality.

  “Whoa, what the hell’s going on?” Shea exclaimed,
her voice suddenly sounding further and further away.

  Though she heard her sister’s concern, all she could see was Eirik as the fiery dragon on the sail blazed in her peripheral vision. Then hot wind began blowing around them before their dragons were staring at each other in a fiery world full of sparks and lava.

  Just like that, they had arrived in Múspellsheimr.

  And they were larger, stronger, different. They weren’t just on their home planet but reliving a moment from their past life based on the love still blazing in his eyes.

  “Will you then?” his dragon asked in the same language she had spoken when she chanted away Ancient Matter. A language she seemingly understood. “Will you flee him and become mine? Mate with me as we should. As we were destined to?”

  Warmth poured through her as he leaned down and rubbed his neck against hers. She had never loved like this. Had never loved at all. Only hated and loathed the dragon who kept her.

  “Is Einnar not your closest friend then?” she murmured, caught in the memory. “Do you dare betray him like that?”

  “I would betray him a thousand times over for what he has done to you,” he growled. “And I will kill him for it once you are safely away.”

  When he pulled back and met her eyes, he was human though not surprisingly different in appearance. Far different actually. They both were with their scaled, shimmering skin and stronger builds. They were Múspellsheimr’s version of human. Aliens she supposed. How Håkon and Davyn’s enemy dragons must have appeared in ‘human’ form on this planet. Built to withstand the extreme temperatures and lack of oxygen.

  “Be with me,” he said softly as he took her hands and walked backward into a cave until an all-too-familiar scene unraveled. “Your sister saw to this...to give us time...”

  She blinked back tears at the familiar archway and silver roots. At the glimmering water, verdant grass and swirling whirlpool. It could have only been provided by the elves who were allied with Shea.

  Which meant they had been sisters in this life too.

  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered as he scooped her up and carried her into the water.

  “As are you,” he murmured before he set her down in the exact location he had in Níðhöggr’s Realm. “Will you then?” he persisted, his dragon eyes flaring before he brushed his lips across hers. “Will you mate with me?”

  Though fear bubbled up, the strength in his steady gaze and the comfort it leant her, was untouchable. This was what she wanted. This was what she had wanted since the day Einnar took her, and she first crossed paths with Eirik.

  “Yes,” she whispered, suddenly remembering so much as she gazed into his eyes. How she had been captured by Einnar and stolen away to the opposite side of an ongoing war. It was then that she embraced a new persona because it was the only way she could withstand the enemy’s harsh cruelty. His endless torture.

  She became detached, numb and withstood it all.

  Until the day she met Eirik’s dragon and their eyes first met.

  In that singular moment, something flared between them, and though he was one of Skáld’s dragons, his inner beast felt the first spark of love. Something, to the best of their knowledge that only four Múspellsheimr dragons before him had experienced.

  Håkon, Sage, Shea, and Davyn.

  It was then that she started to embrace two personalities. One that could withstand Einnar and another who was allowed to love and be happy. That's why she became a Gemini Dragon in her current life. Her soul still mirrored this life. Likely because of unresolved issues.

  Or unfathomable grief.

  Just as he had in Níðhöggr’s Realm, Eirik steered her onto his thick shaft before they made love as passionately and frenzied as before. Except this time, she felt the power of the water swirling around them.

  The way it coaxed them closer in a way only elven magic could.

  As she braced her hands on his slick, well-muscled shoulders, she kept her eyes locked with his. As her climax built with wondrous, euphoric clarity, she felt their mating process in a way no Earthling dragon ever had. It wrapped their souls around one another until they became a singular, sizzling flame. All the while, the magic of the water protected them and fueled something she never could have imagined.

  Not just an orgasm tore through her with incredible power and pleasure, but something else after he roared and let go. Trembling, lost in his arms, she felt her body coaxing his seed along then the almost spontaneous spark of life inside her.

  The moment of conception was instantaneous in this world.

  She was already pregnant.

  “My God,” she whispered, still trembling. Her eyes remained locked with his as the memory faded. They were Múspellsheimr dragons again and stood where they had when they first arrived. “I’ve never felt anything like that...”

  “Nor I,” he murmured, nuzzling her neck before he ducked down and rubbed his cheek against her dragon’s belly. Against the little one growing there. “It was very fast...and very, very good.”

  “It was,” she agreed, caught by the feeling of the life inside her. Caught by the little dragon, she was already connecting with. “It’s a boy.”

  No sooner did she realize that than another memory began unfolding in front of her.

  One so incredibly sad it was hard to watch.

  Chapter Thirty

  “GO TO GODDESS HEL,” Eirik’s Múspellsheimr dragon urged, as he pulled Kenzie close and enfolded her in his wings just as he had in the Cave Catacombs back at the beginning. Only this time he felt the little flutter of a heartbeat in her womb. A son he would do anything to protect just as he would its mother. “Hel will offer you sanctuary.”

  As the memory unfolded, he was shocked to discover both he and Kenzie had befriended Helheim’s goddess in this life. A truly remarkable thing considering the goddess kept her distance from this world claiming even in spirit form, its creatures were intolerable.

  Yet it seemed other worlds were well aware of the horrific war between Skáld and Níðhöggr and Helheim was no exception. The two powerful serpents were beginning to draw on other worlds for power whether they wanted to be involved or not. So like the elves had with Shea, Hel had formed an alliance with him and Kenzie to keep informed about what was going on in Múspellsheimr. What the warring dragons might have up their sleeves next. If Helheim was at risk. Ironic really considering Skáld eventually targeted Helheim to aid him in the current war.

  But why had she kept this from him? It made no sense.

  “You will come with me,” Kenzie’s dragon murmured, trembling against him. Not because she feared for her own life, but their son’s. “Do not remain behind. Do not fight Einnar such as he is. His rage is too great. It will give him strength you cannot match.”

  As her eyes met his in question, he realized this was the moment of familiarity he had shared with her at the pine back at the beginning. The moment where he longed to say what she wanted to hear.

  But he couldn’t. Not entirely.

  “I will come,” he assured. “Once you are safely there.”

  What he didn’t say but kept buried deep inside was that he would not come until he had finished Einnar. He would not risk his former friend tracking down his mate and child. Because he would. And he wouldn’t give up until he had her back and the child was destroyed.

  “No, you should come now,” she insisted, but he knew as that memory faded and another unfolded in front of them that he had done what he planned to do.

  This time they watched what happened to their former dragons.

  “Go now,” his dragon roared at her, nudging her along. “Einnar comes, and he will show no mercy.”

  “No,” she cried even as she backed away, knowing full well she had to protect their child. That he must come first. “Come with me now, mate. Do not face...”

  That’s all she got out before a massive dragon plummeted down followed by another.

  “Shit,” Kenzie whispered from beside him as
she stared at the second dragon in horror. “That’s the one Rokar battled. The one that broke me.”

  With its long razor sharp teeth bared in a never-ending growl, it was just as vicious as Einnar if not more so. But not nearly as scarred and gruesome which made him wonder what had happened to it between then and now.

  As the two enemies cornered Eirik’s dragon, he met Kenzie’s dragon’s eyes one last time, pleading for her to flee. Thankfully, though heartbreaking pain saturated her gaze, she listened and launched into the air.

  Soon after, a horrible battle ensued as the two enemy dragons toyed with Eirik’s.

  “You thought to take her from me?” Einnar roared as he and who turned out to be his brother circled and bit at Eirik. “You thought to take my mate?”

  “My mate,” he growled, snapping back at them.

  “He didn’t know I was pregnant, did he?” Kenzie murmured, as she trembled beside him, fearing for him though that life was long gone.

  “No,” he replied, suddenly realizing the truth behind the elven whirlpool. “Elven magic protected your womb...it hid the child.”

  “The child,” she whispered, a strange octave to her inner voice. “A child that’s in my former dragon, not mine.”

  His eyes went to hers as his former dragon continued to fight the enemies. “What is it, Kenzie?”

  Even as he asked it, he felt a familiar flutter against his side...in her current body.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered, her dragon eyes moist. “Am I...”

  When she trailed off, staring down at her belly, they both heard the tiny flutter of a new heartbeat. Their eyes met in a moment of pure joy.

  Kenzie was pregnant.

  Unfortunately, they had little time to enjoy the moment before the pure horror they had suffered in their previous life continued to unfold.

  “Níðhöggr’s dragons are coming, but they will never make it in time,” he said softly, feeling the truth of it to his core as his eyes rose to the sky. To the distant blip that was Kenzie’s dragon. “She needs to fly faster. Harder.”

  “Oh no,” she whimpered from beside him as several enemy dragons launched after her. When they did, it was just enough to distract Eirik. And just enough time for Einnar to latch onto his jugular as his brother took off after her as well.