Erik raised his own gun to point at my chest and I felt a hand push into my back until we stood a foot apart, the barrels of our guns digging into each other’s flesh.
I spied Clarice and Julius aiming their own weapons at each other and Miles and Warren promptly did the same.
“What do you want?” Erik snarled, his right eye ticking with his fury at the situation.
The air swirled beside us and Idun stepped out of it, her golden skin gleaming beneath a silvery dress of leaves that was near-transparent. Her feet were bare as she silently approached us, the press of her power pounding through me like blood in my veins.
She ignored Erik, sliding her finger under Julius’s chin and angling him to face her. “My slayer, how close you are to killing a Belvedere. You must hunger for her death greatly,” she purred but there was a mocking edge to her tone that racked my heart with fear.
“Don’t do this,” Julius snarled through his teeth. “Take me if you must, but leave Clarice.”
Idun’s upper lip peeled back and her canines grew to sharp points. “Is this what you desire, traitor? Fangs on the women you covet?”
“No.” Julius shook his head, but his brows were pinched together as he battled with some emotion inside him.
“Then you won’t mind pulling that trigger,” Idun said lightly, her fangs disappearing and her lips pulling into a warm smile. “Go ahead, prove yourself to me, slayer. I have gifted you everything you need to kill vampires and now I lay one at the end of your weapon. Why haven’t you fired yet?”
“Julius,” Clarice begged as if she feared he was going to shoot her. But he wouldn’t. I was certain he wouldn’t. Though Idun could force him if she wanted to.
A tense moment passed and Julius made no move to pull the trigger on Clarice. Idun turned sharply away from him and fear blossomed through me as she approached Erik and I instead.
“Lovers in sinful bodies,” she whispered, her nose wrinkling. “Montana Ford...where is your twin? She holds a very precious item of mine. A stolen trinket. A ring that doesn’t belong in the hands of mortals.” She slid her fingers into my hair and as her beautiful dark eyes locked with mine, I fell under her spell, my mouth moving with the words I didn’t want to give. “She’s in the stable.”
“Well let’s hope she comes here soon.” She smiled broadly then lifted her hand before my chest. Fire burst along my veins like poison coursing through every inch of me. I screamed and screamed, lost to the agony as she drove a thousand needles into my organs at once.
The attack stopped abruptly and I found myself exactly where I’d been before, still holding the gun to my husband’s chest. Erik’s face was contorted with abject rage. I could see him struggling with the binds that held him, but it was no good. We were trapped.
I gazed into Erik’s eyes, desperate to make a plan, but what could we do? His hand trembled around the gun that pressed to my heart and I wished I could soothe the fear I could sense in him.
Two terrible fates were all I could see ahead of us. One where Callie returned Idun the ring and she killed us all anyway. And one where Callie didn’t get here in time and Idun made us pull our triggers. Either way, I couldn’t see a way forward that didn’t end up with us dead.
Chickoa leapt between us, pulling a grenade from her pocket and hurling it into the passageway just as the gunfire started up. She screamed as bullets tore through her and Fabian dove forward, knocking her aside before a bullet could find her heart.
Magnar kicked the heavy, metal door shut and a mighty blast exploded through the tunnel beyond. Fabian’s phone was ringing and ringing but he ignored it as he held Chickoa’s unmoving body in his arms.
I rolled upright, my heart pounding as I tried to catch my breath. I gripped Fury’s hilt, reaching out to sense for any vampires close by and relief spilled through me as I failed to locate any besides Fabian and Chickoa. The grenade had ended them all.
Chickoa took a shuddering breath, her eyes snapping open as she came around, healing from her wounds. She stared up at Fabian for half a heartbeat in confusion then shoved out of his arms, hissing angrily.
Fabian’s face dropped and he pulled the cellphone from his pocket, finally answering it.
Magnar offered me his hand and I let him pull me upright as Fabian had a brief conversation with Clarice.
I moved closer to Fabian, trying to listen in and sighed with relief as I heard her confirming that everyone else was with her at the truck.
“Sounds like we might have dealt with all of them for now,” Fabian muttered as he ended the call and replaced the phone in his pocket. “Let’s go and meet the others before reinforcements arrive.”
I allowed myself a smile and headed after Chickoa as she moved through the stables.
“Thank the gods my horses are all out to pasture,” she muttered as we moved between the empty stalls towards the exit.
The moon hung in the starlit sky outside and the faintest hint of blue lit the horizon as the sunrise approached.
I could just make out the truck on the far side of the valley where all of our friends waiting for us. A desperate need to reunite with my sister spilled through me at the sight.
We started to run for it and I gasped as a heavy presence washed over me. I stumbled to a halt as the ring’s power flared and I drove my will into it, struggling as the deity searched for us.
Magnar caught my arm, tugging on my chin to make me look at him as I struggled for breath. The ring drew on my own strength as the powerful entity threw all of their efforts into finding us.
“Stay close,” I gasped and Fabian and Chickoa moved nearer to me with fearful looks in their eyes.
“Who is it?” Magnar asked, his gaze filled with fury as the gods tried to involve themselves in our lives once more.
“I don’t know,” I breathed.
I gritted my teeth, slamming every ounce of my strength into the ring until I forced the deity back. The writhing power was pushed away and I sucked in a breath as I sagged against Magnar.
Tinkling laughter floated across the valley and I noticed a glimmer of light spiralling away from us towards the truck.
“Idun,” Magnar growled and my heart plummeted as I realised where she was going.
Our escape had driven us away from the others and the ring’s protection no longer covered them.
“Montana!” I cried, tearing out of Magnar’s hold and racing down into the valley.
Fabian swore as I sped away from them and they were forced to chase after me or be left vulnerable too.
The sloping hill leant me extra speed as I tore back towards the farm house which was beginning to burn in the centre of the valley.
My boots splashed through the stream and freezing water sprayed over my legs. I waded through it, the water climbing to my thighs before I clambered back out the other side again.
We raced between a flock of startled sheep who wheeled away from us in terror, bleating their objections to our passage as we started up the other side of the valley towards the farmhouse.
“Wait!” Magnar called but I couldn’t slow. My sister was out there and Idun was well ahead of us already. I felt his fingers brushing against my elbow as he attempted to grab me and I wrenched my arm away as I upped my speed.
“Stop her,” Magnar snarled and a rush of footsteps came for me just before I was tackled to the ground.
Fabian flipped me over beneath him, catching my arms and pinning them above my head. I tried to knee him in the balls and he grunted, forcing his legs between my thighs so that he could keep me in place.
“Get off,” I growled. “I have to help them!”
“It’s too late,” he replied darkly and my heart plummeted in defiance of his words though I knew the truth of them.
“Let her up,” Magnar said firmly and I looked beyond Fabian as he moved to stand over us.
Fabian grunted before heaving me to my feet but he kept my wrists locked in his grasp.
“We have to be smart about this,” Magna
r breathed.
“How?” I asked desperately. The fight went out of me and Fabian slowly let me go.
Magnar beckoned us forward and we followed him towards the house.
Chickoa’s eyes glimmered with emotion as more smoke spiralled from the windows on the far side of it and a few hungry flames began to lick along the wooden beams.
Fabian gazed at her for a moment and shot away from us. I gasped as he moved beyond the safety I could offer with the ring but Magnar caught my arm to stop me from following.
“What the hell is he doing?” I hissed.
“Probably saving his own ass,” Chickoa replied in disgust as Fabian wheeled around the side of the house and out of sight.
“Whatever it is, we don’t have time for it,” Magnar growled as he moved along the wall of the farmhouse, heading for the far end so that he could look out.
Fabian shot back towards us. His clothes were singed and his face was smeared with soot but he held something firmly in his hand.
“Sorry,” he muttered, passing the picture frame to Chickoa and I spied the wedding photo which had been sitting on the shelf in her front room.
Chickoa opened her mouth, seeming at a loss for words. Before she could say anything, Magnar cursed and snared my attention again.
His back was to the wall at the end of the house as he peered up towards the drive. I slipped under his arm so that I could look as well and my heart leapt in horror at the sight before me.
My sister and all of our friends stood in a line before the truck, their eyes lit with fear as each of them held a weapon trained on each other's hearts.
As my eyes widened in terror, Idun slipped out of the wind and looked down into the valley.
She was clothed in rustling silver leaves which swirled about her flesh in a tumbling breeze, revealing her nudity and concealing it again endlessly.
“I want that ring!” she called and her voice echoed throughout the valley, making my bones vibrate with the force of her desire. “And if I don’t hold it in my hand within the next five minutes, your friends will start killing each other!”
My heartbeat thundered in my ears and panic washed through me as I turned to Magnar desperately.
“We have to give it to her,” I said, not caring that it would give her power over us again or that it would stop us from ending the curse. The only thing I could think about was my sister standing up on that hill with Erik's pistol aimed at her heart.
“Wait,” Magnar said, catching my arm and pulling me back behind the house. “I have another idea.”
“What is it?” I hissed. Time was running out and I couldn’t see how we could possibly do anything other than bow to Idun’s demands.
“We’re going to need your husband’s wedding ring,” Magnar said fiercely and I turned to look at Fabian in surprise.
He glanced down at the band of platinum which he hadn’t taken off since I’d placed it on his finger at our wedding.
“Why?” Fabian asked reluctantly and the glimmer in Magnar’s eyes made me dare to hope.
“I love you,” I whispered to Erik and his brow furrowed heavily.
“Don't do that,” he growled. “Don't give up.”
“I'm not, but...just in case,” I breathed and a tear rolled down my cheek, dripping uselessly to the ground and soaking into the dry earth.
“No one needs to die today,” Idun said, moving closer, her bare feet seeming to glide across the ground. She brushed away another tear on my cheek and I tried to recoil, but my body was fused in place. “If your sister gives me the ring, you can all go back to your pathetic little lives.”
I didn’t trust the word of this beast. She’d done nothing but manipulate us since I’d learned of her existence. And probably long before then too.
I glowered at her, mustering my strength as I felt my finger curling tighter around the trigger. “You're taking away our one chance at breaking the curse. Andvari needs the ring to pay his debt. Don't you want the vampires gone? Isn't that why you created the slayers?” I demanded.
She tilted her head and her golden hair slid over her shoulder like a living stream. “What could a mortal mind ever do with such information?” she tittered.
“At least tell us,” Julius called. “We're dying for some entertainment here, baby.”
Idun's endlessly dark eyes swung to Julius and a smile crept onto her face which was so hauntingly beautiful I couldn't stop staring at it. “The ring can hide gods from other gods too. And it also allows passage into the holy mountain.”
“You want the treasure,” Erik snarled in realisation.
“Yes,” she breathed and warm air gusted around us, carrying the feeling of her joy at the idea. “The treasure is much more than gold, Erik Belvedere. And with it and the ring, I will rule the entire world.”
“Odin won't be too happy about that,” Warren said, his arms tensing as he strained against his grip on the gun pointed at Miles.
“Even Odin won't be able to defeat me once I have the gods' treasures.” Idun smiled broadly, her gaze wheeling to the valley. “Two minutes left, then we start pulling triggers. Let's hope Callie Ford isn't late.” She grazed her fingers over my hand and slid her palm along the barrel of my gun onto Erik's chest. Hatred spewed through me as she caressed him. “He won't be so pretty when he's turned to dust, Montana. Your sister will be responsible for your husband's demise. How terrible it will be.”
Fear clawed at my heart, but I made sure none of it spilled into my expression. “I know exactly who's responsible for all of this,” I growled and her eyes flashed with a raging storm, more powerful than anything ever conjured by Valentina. “And if you take Erik from me I won't go out of this world without taking you with me.”
“An idle threat,” she said as her features twisted into amusement.
Idun turned away from me and her hair whipped across my face, burning my flesh where it touched. I hissed, trying to jerk backwards but I was rooted in place.
Erik frowned at me, looking so desperate that I longed to tell him it would be okay. But how could it be? We were caught in a trap so powerful the only way out of it was Callie giving up that ring.
Idun sighed as she approached Warren and Miles, gazing between them. “How long have you two loved each other?”
Warren clamped his lips together but Idun drew the answer from his tongue as she curled her fingers into a fist, her power resounding through the air like the beating of wings. “Three hundred and seventy three years,” he croaked, his eyes straying to Miles with a fierce love in his gaze.
My heart twitched as I saw how deeply devoted they were to each other.
“I've adored every day,” Miles breathed and fear scraped across my organs as I sensed he was saying goodbye. “I remember the first day I saw you, working in the fields of some old man's plantation. I thought, I wanna give that guy a real life.”
“You did,” Warren whispered, his brows drawing together as he gazed at his husband with emotion pouring from his eyes.
“Two minutes,” Idun purred, running her hand down Miles's arm.
“I've loved you every day,” Miles said with a sad smile.
“I'll love you all the days after this, wherever we are,” Warren said, his voice cracking.
“Well you've had many lifetimes together. And I always was impatient,” Idun said with a deadly smile.
She raised a hand and my heart splintered and cracked with terror.
Erik roared and Clarice screamed, the noise nothing in comparison to the sound of two bullets exploding from the barrels of Miles and Warren's guns.
The weapons fell, their fingers brushed for an eternal moment before they turned to dust, their remains coiling together in one, final embrace.
“NO!” Erik bellowed, his face contorted in pain.
The earth stopped turning. My ears rang. My mind couldn't process what I'd just witnessed.
Idun started laughing and hatred spewed through my veins like venom.
T
hey were gone. Dead. Cast to the wind. Their bodies scattered around us on a fierce breeze.
I released a guttural sob as tears poured from my eyes. The world was falling to ruin around us. Erik's agony at their loss cut into me like I could feel the weight of it too.
Clarice's screams were all I could hear as I closed my eyes and prayed to Odin with all my heart, with everything I had left, that he would help us.
Callie and the others raced up the hill ahead of me and I gripped my blades tightly as the girl I loved moved to stand before the goddess who was determined to rip us apart.
I concentrated on the power of the ring she’d given me, wrapping it around her securely until the moment I had to pull it back.
Idun was pacing back and forth before the line of our allies as their eyes widened upon seeing us approaching. They were locked in place but unlike the goddess, they could see us.
Julius’s eyes burned with fear and he glared at me, trying to warn me away from here despite the fact that Clarice held a gun to his chest.
I gave him the barest hint of a smile, reassuring him as best I could given our predicament. I’d never imagined that I’d mourn the loss of a Belvedere but what Idun had just done was beyond cruel. I could see the haunted look in Erik and Clarice’s eyes and I would do everything in my power to save my own brother from that fate.
Fabian’s cries of horror had hardened into a desperate desire for revenge and I knew that only his faith in our plan was stopping him from leaping at the deity himself.
Callie looked over her shoulder at me one last time as she prepared to remove Fabian’s wedding ring from her finger.
“I’m here!” she called loudly as she pulled it off.
Idun’s gaze snapped around as I withdrew the protection the ring offered and revealed her presence.
Idun’s eyes widened with lust as she trailed her gaze across Callie, Fabian and Chickoa, noticing them for the first time though they stood right before her. The goddess stepped towards Callie hungrily, reaching out to take the decoy ring as the leaves which formed her dress spiralled around her in a storm of her own desire.
Age of Vampires- The Complete Series Page 163