Immortal Enemies

by Jessie Lane

  Liv leaned forward and put her clasped hands on the edge of my desk. “Remember the night you saw the Draugr back in Norway?”

  I snorted, then snapped, “How could I forget? It was probably the night you went behind my back and made plans to have me turned into a vampire.”

  She shook her head in denial. “No. That’s not true. He was there to protect his friend, the other Völva. Helga had summoned the woman to repay a debt she owed to her by helping Helga make a magical object for me. That magical object is why I’m here. Someone has stolen it from me, and I need your help to get it back.”

  Barking out a derisive laugh, I asked condescendingly, “And why in the hell do you think I would ever help you of all people?”

  This time it was Liv who leaned back in her chair. Only she wasn’t trying to act nonchalant or play any games. Her emotions were spelled out for the world to see, right there on her face, as she gave me her answer. “What they have is a magic mirror. The only purpose of that mirror is to keep me alive. As long as the mirror is whole, I stay alive, but if they break it…” Her voice trailed off and she shrugged. “I die.”

  Sitting forward, I braced my hands on the edge of my desk and asked in a soft, menacing voice, “And if I help you get your mirror back?”

  Unblinking, not one ounce of hesitation in her, Liv answered, “Then it’s yours to do with as you please.”

  My freshly resurrected heartbeat sped up inside my chest. “You would just hand your life over to me not knowing what I will do?” I snapped my fingers in the air between us. “I could end you just like that.”

  She sat back in her chair, her shoulders sagging as if the weight of the world were on them, and a weary look settled on her features. She shrugged one slim shoulder. “I’m tired of running, Arne. Tired of hiding. For over a thousand years, I have feared your wrath. I’ve simply reached a point in my existence where if you need to end my life to make up for what I did to you, then do it. That’s what is meant to be then. I refuse to fight it anymore.”

  Nothing she could have said would have shocked me more.

  Just like that, she was giving up?

  Forfeiting herself to me?

  Why?

  What was it about this situation I was missing? Because there had to be more.

  Looking at her askance, I narrowed my eyes in thought.

  I would help her get her magic mirror back… and along the way I would figure out what had brought Liv Nornsdottir to my doorstep in defeat.

  Then I would decide if she would live or die.

  Eleven

  We headed to my house from the office. Little Miss Know It All said I had something in my possession that would help us get her mirror back. I hadn’t the slightest clue what it could be, but I wasn’t about to waste this opportunity to have her here after all this time.

  The car ride was made in stony silence. That didn’t mean I didn’t take the chance to study her out of the corner of my eye from time to time as I drove home.

  She hadn’t changed one iota over the time we had been apart. Her hair was still that shade of ruby red, with loose soft curls falling just past her shoulders. There were no lines around her eyes to show she had aged, and her skin still looked like peaches and cream. Cupid bow lips the color of my mother’s favorite wildflower back in Norway and those bright beguiling eyes.

  It was as if she had frozen in time the same night I had.

  Even though I was technically one thousand, one hundred and forty years old, and Liv was one thousand, one hundred and thirty-eight years old, we looked like the Arne and Liv who had been just twenty-one and nineteen.

  Had her magic mirror done that for her?

  I made note of it as a question I would have to ask her later.

  We pulled into the driveway that led to my closed metal gate, and I pulled my Aston Martin Valkyrie next to the biometric hand reader that would unlock the gate to my home. As I rolled my window down to place my hand on the pad, an indelicate snort sounded next to me.

  Pausing, I turned my head and gave her the evil eye. “What’s your problem?”

  Her eyebrows rose almost to her hairline in mockery. “Fancy car, gated mansion. Looks as if your life has been so hard, Arne.”

  Slapping my hand on the scanner a little too hard, I tried not to wince when I heard a small crack and glared at Liv instead. “And what right do you have to judge how I live my life now?”

  Liv shook her head. “You’re absolutely correct. I have no right at all.”

  She turned her head away from me to look out her window as the looming metal gates in front of us opened. Pulling my hand back in the car, I rolled my window up and proceeded through the entrance to my home. Seething a bit inside that she would judge me at all.

  After she had damned me to eternity, should I not at least have the right to try to enjoy it?

  The trip halfway up my long and winding driveway was also made in silence. However, this time it irked me. For some reason now, I wanted her to speak. I also wanted to rub her nose in my wealth a bit more since it obviously bothered her.

  Drumming my fingers on the steering wheel, I decided to poke the bear, so to speak. “You know, as soon as I heard Aston Martin was making a model called the Valkyrie, I had to have it. For sentimental reasons, you understand. Since you denied me the chance to ever meet one in person.” The sound of her teeth grinding against each other reached my ears, and it made me smile. Giving a doting pat to my steering wheel, I continued the charade. “She’s not even for sale in the United States, but I have one. Thanks to a few connections I’ve made over the years, and a ridiculous amount of money, that is. Apparently, you can buy just about anything you want if you have enough money.”

  She snorted as I parked the car in front of my home. We both got out of my Valkyrie, but as I started walking to the front door, it did not take me long to realize she had not moved from her spot. Looking over my shoulder, I raised my eyebrows. “Are you coming or not?”

  Her hands were on her hips, her head tilted back, looking up at my mansion. Lips pursed together, eyes gone a bit squinty, she took it all in. “Compensating for something, Arne?”

  Did she just?

  No, she did not. She did not go there.

  Instead of being childish, however, and whipping out my cock to prove I didn’t need to compensate for a damn thing, I chose to take the high road instead.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  See? I thought to myself. Totally mature.

  Unlocking my front door, I swung the heavy wood and metal portal open and waved my arm for her to proceed me like I was a fuckin’ gentleman.

  Shaking her head, Liv walked past me into the house while muttering under her breath.

  I can’t believe he bought a castle.

  Not willing to let her contempt slide, I grunted back. “I didn’t buy a castle—I built one. There’s a difference, sugar tits.”

  Her eyes blinked at me in surprise, and I couldn’t tell if it was from the information or the nickname. I really didn’t care either way.

  “Sugar tits?” she whispered in surprise.

  Yeah, I was sort of surprised at the slip, too.

  There were lots of names I had thought of calling Liv over the years.

  Bitch. Judas. Destroyer of Hearts. Backstabber.

  You know, just a few.

  Sugar tits had never been one of them. Until now.

  However, now that I was thinking about it, it seemed like a really good weapon in my repertoire for getting under her skin and figuring her out.

  Besides, it was time she met the new Arne.

  I was no longer a simpering little fool who was going to follow her around in hopes of her affections. She had made me what I was, and she could bloody well deal with it.

  Giving her another flash of my fangs and an arrogant wink, I replied, “Don’t get your panties in a wad, witch. Just being personable until I decide if I’m going to smash your mirror to smithereens once I get my
hands on it.”

  A flash of hurt filled her eyes, but I turned my back on her so I wouldn’t have to see it. “Now, what’s this object you say I have that we have to trade for your mirror?” Before she could answer, I felt the need to be especially nasty, so I threw my pointer finger up in the air as I walked forward and said darkly, “If it’s the solid jade dildo I like to fuck my women with, you’re shit out of luck. Those are hard to come by these days.”

  I heard the sharp intake of her breath, as if I had wounded her, but chose to ignore that, too. Without looking back, I waved her forward with my hand. “Let’s go, Norn, I want to get this over with as fast as possible.”

  Her footsteps started following me immediately as we walked through my grand entryway and into the receiving room off the left. Stalking to the built-in cabinetry behind my desk, I opened one of the doors and pulled out my decanter of whiskey.

  I couldn’t get drunk off the stuff unless I was drinking it straight from the neck of an alcoholic, but I still liked the taste of it, nonetheless.

  Once I poured myself a glass, I turned and found her standing in the doorway to the receiving room. Rolling my eyes, I motioned for her to come closer. “For the love of the gods, woman, get your ass in motion already.” I pointed to the Chesterfield sofa sitting several feet from the front of my desk.

  Technically, it faced the fireplace in the room, and not me, but it gave her somewhere comfortable to sit while we hashed this out.

  The hurt, and whatever else she might have been feeling, slipped from her face, and she straightened her spine. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to show me that she wasn’t afraid of me and my bad attitude, or giving herself some inner woman power. Either way, it didn’t really matter as long as she gave me the information I needed to know.

  Liv walked briskly forward until she sat in the corner of the sofa, catty corner from me, but facing me as best as she could. Without any preamble at all, she went for it.

  “You have a ring—”

  Because I was feeling like being a flaming asshole, I cut her off. “I have lots of rings, sweet cheeks, be more specific.”

  Her mouth snapped shut, and her cheeks turned bright red.

  Anger? Embarrassment?

  Who cared?

  Taking a swig of my drink, I stared at her until she started talking again.

  “You possess the ring of Ra.”

  This time, it was my back that straightened. “How do you know that?”

  One side of her lips tipped up in a small smile that I had not seen since I was still human. “I think we both know how I know you have the ring, Arne.”

  So, she still had powers. Not completely surprising.

  Right before taking another drink of my whiskey, I grumbled, “Yes, I guess we do.”

  Liv continued, “The person who has my mirror wants the ring of Ra in exchange for it. We’re to meet her in New Orleans for the exchange.”

  Funny, that was the second time I had heard New Orleans today. It seemed as if Alpha Graves had been onto something after all. Downplaying my knowledge, I asked, “Why New Orleans?”

  One of her eyes ticked. Interesting. “I’m told the witches have a gathering there once a year.”

  The way she had worded that was interesting. “You’ve been told… so you have never gone yourself?”

  Giving me a curt shake of the head, she looked away to the dark fireplace. Guess she didn’t want to elaborate on that subject. Whatever.

  Tapping my finger against the side of my glass, I contemplated for a moment. The ring of Ra was a powerful artifact. It had kept Howard Carter safe from all the curses that had protected King Tut’s sealed tomb. Everyone else who had entered that space after its discovery had died.

  The only reason I had it was because it had been given to me as a form of payment by a wealthy English Lord who had needed me to find his missing son. A son whom he had received a ransom note for. If I didn’t find the kid, then dear old Dad was going to have to pay his kidnappers a billion pounds.

  The son had been in Ibiza partying his ass off.

  It was a sight to behold. The young man was covered damn near head to toe in cocaine and knee deep in an orgy of pussy. The pictures I had taken to show the Lord proof of his son’s activities, and that his beloved boy was the mastermind behind the supposed ‘kidnapping’ all along, was all I needed to secure the treasure.

  Oh, and I had dropped the naughty seventeen-year-old off to his daddy, too. Last I’d heard, he was in some reformatory school after a lengthy stay in rehab.

  Getting back to the matter at hand, though, I scrutinized Liv, who still would not look at me. The ring of Ra meant nothing to me. Was it technically priceless? Yeah. Could I get a shit ton of money for it? Absolutely. Didn’t mean I cared whether I had to trade it for Liv’s mirror, though. I would give up everything except my cock and balls to have Liv’s life in my hands.

  No, what I was worried about was why this woman wanted the ring of Ra.

  What was she up to?

  Which is exactly what I asked Liv. Only, it didn’t seem like she had a solid answer. Shrugging, she bit her bottom lip in thought, and then finally looked at me. “I don’t know, Arne, but I won’t lie to you either. She’s not a nice person, and she won’t do good things with it. Since you’re the one who owns the ring, it’s one of the reasons my life is already in your hands. We have until the day after tomorrow to meet her in New Orleans for the exchange. If we’re not there, she said she’ll smash my mirror to pieces on the spot.”

  Fury ripped through me.

  This bitch wanted to kill Liv for a ring?

  Hell no.

  I had not been looking for this woman for over a thousand years just to let some psycho kill her when I had just found her.

  I also didn’t like all the feelings I was experiencing with those thoughts either, so I decided it was time for Liv and me to part ways for the night.

  Throwing back the last of the whiskey, I put the empty glass on my desk and stalked in front of her. Looking down my nose at her, I said, “I’ll think on it tonight, Nornsdottir, and tell you my decision in the morning. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to retire to my suite for the night, so I don’t have to look at your face a second longer than I have to.” She flinched at my words, but I didn’t stop there. Waving my hands at my grandiose home, I kept right on going. “I have ten perfectly good bedrooms in this place. Any of them world work for you, but…” Tapping my finger on my lips, pretending to think to myself, I reveled in her misery for glorious seconds before I finally said, “But you’re going to sleep down here on the couch instead. That way I only have to burn one thing after I smash your mirror myself and you’re long gone.”

  This time she seemed to recoil so far into herself, and the corner of my couch, my now beating heart lurched, and a small part of the conscience I rarely used told me that I had gone too far.

  Something else I refused to examine.

  Ignoring both her hurt feelings and my mixed-up emotions, I walked out of the room without bothering to look back to make sure she would be okay.

  Much like she had done to me over a thousand years ago.

  Twelve

  The next morning, I decided to be slightly less of a dick.

  On a ‘World’s Biggest Asshole Scale’ of one to ten: with one representing the infatuated idiot I had been eleven hundred years ago; and ten symbolizing the murderous bastard who could smash her precious mirror into a million pieces, I was going to try for a six.

  Okay, maybe a seven.

  Or at least that was what I had settled on before I made my way out of my master suite, down the grand staircase and toward the receiving room where I had left her the night before to sleep on a couch.

  If she had slept at all.

  I certainly hadn’t. No, I had tossed and turned in my king size bed under luxurious silk sheets, acutely aware of her being right downstairs.

  This whole beating heart thing wasn’t as great as I r
emembered it to be. My entire body was on fire for her. Hard cock, aching balls, and my fangs were throbbing. The thought of sinking my teeth into her neck and drinking from her had dominated my thoughts.

  Why had I envied my sire Cuno for his mate and beating heart?

  This shit was hell.

  Every fiber of my being wanted Liv with an intensity that was alarming.

  Except for two vital organs.

  The brain she had fucked with by leaving me, and the heart she had broken before making it beat again.

  Pushing those nagging thoughts aside, I entered the receiving room only to find it empty.

  The heart that had just started beating in my chest again yesterday skittered to a panicked stop. Where the fuck had she gone?

  She couldn’t have gone outside. I had set my usual safety protocols through my house’s control panel before I went upstairs last night. It locked all the doors from being opened and slid steel shutters down over my windows. I had the system designed initially to protect me during the daylight hours. No one would be able to break in and get me, and I also wouldn’t have to worry about the sun while I walked around my own home.

  Last night it had dawned on me that the plus side to having that system installed was that once activated, Liv couldn’t get out. Which meant she was in this monstrosity of a house somewhere, I just had to find her.

  I started zipping around my own damn house like a hummingbird on crack. First, I checked the kitchen, but she wasn’t there. Then I cleared the entire first floor out of desperation. Formal dining room, informal dining nook, living room, utilities room, den.

  I even checked the sunroom at the back of the house that was made of nothing but floor to ceiling windows. Those windows were currently covered with the steel shutters, so I was safe from the sun.

  But she wasn’t there.

  Standing in the space, it also reminded me that it was ridiculous that I was a vampire with a sunroom.

  Not finding her in any of ground floor rooms, I raced upstairs and started checking all the bedrooms and bathrooms. She wasn’t in any of those either.