by Anne Schlea
“We knew she didn’t come back here after the raid, but we weren’t sure she hadn’t gone to her nest.” Antonia carefully maneuvers herself as a leader in the vampire nation. Kristoff recognizes it as a smart move. The valkyrie are all warrior women. It’s logical to think they would respect a female leader more than Zartan’s method of follow me or be left behind.
“It’s unfortunate.” Britta acknowledges Antonia with a bow of her head and a slight smile. She knows exactly what Antonia is up to. “Stephanie would be a great help.”
“I need to gather my men.” Zartan touches Antonia lightly on the arm and dips his head to her, a show of submission before the valkyrie. It seems he, too, can play the game of dominance. “We can give you rooms in our home if you would be our guests.”
“No, we will rest elsewhere.” Britta bows to them both as thanks. “We appreciate your offer. It shows trust that you would allow us in your home while you sleep. We will return in two hours to discuss our search.”
“Let me show you to the door.” Antonia smiles graciously at the warrior women, gesturing for them to follow behind her to the front of the mansion. She gives Kristoff and Zartan one more parting glare and exits the room with the valkyrie behind her.
Once Zartan feels it’s safe to speak he turns to Kristoff, his head shaking with sympathy. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“What was I going to say?” Kristoff stares down his host. It’s useless to deny the connection he has to Runa. Zartan is mated. He understands what happens between two creatures when blood is shared. He’ll understand all too well the gripping terror of knowing something is wrong coupled with an inability to get to her. “To admit I drank from her would admit something unacceptable to her people. Valkyrie do not have relationships, you know that. They do not give blood lightly. She could be punished for our actions and I didn’t want that.”
“How recent?” Zartan seems to be measuring him, determining the severity of the situation when they find Runa. Her sisters will try to take her away, he knows that, but how hard with Kristoff try to stop them?
“Recent.” Kristoff looks at the ground, his body sagging. “To answer your next question, decades. No, that’s not true. Longer than decades. We’ve been discreet, her sisters don’t know, but consistent. It’s been going on for a long time.”
“I wouldn’t have told anyone.” Zartan’s voice drops low with compassion, his hand coming up to rest on Kristoff shoulder. Bonded vampires are notoriously territorial about their women. “I could have started the search days ago if I’d known.”
Kristoff nods. He feels like a weight has finally been lifted from him. He hadn’t realized until now how desperate he was for someone to listen to him – to take him seriously. It’s hard for a feudal overlord to accept he needs a friend.
“Whatever happened with Runa’s none of my business.” Zartan squeezes Kristoff’s shoulder then lets his hand drop back to his side. “You are my brother in blood and war, I swear to you we will find her.”
“Thank you.” Kristoff doesn’t bother to hide his gratitude behind a rough exterior. He needs an ally in Zartan right now, the idea she might be hurt is crippling. The idea she might die scares him to death. “She’s alive, I know that much.”
“You said you took her blood.” Zartan watches his reaction carefully. “How much?”
“It wasn’t that long ago, but we’ve been very careful, and I’ve only taken small amounts in case we came up against her sisters. The last time was the day before she went missing.” Kristoff closes his eyes and concentrates on that small glimmer that tells him Runa’s still alive. “When she was first missing, she was angry. The connection was much stronger then, but I don’t keep close tabs on her, so I didn’t pay attention. I thought the anger was because of what we found when we rescued Aiden. She didn’t take it well; the women being hurt. I thought she was going to level the building when we first broke through the door. Then later, it was like she went to sleep and never work up. She’s there, but not conscious. I don’t know how else to explain it.”
“That’s okay.” Zartan claps him on the back. “Keep focused on that glimmer. If she’s awake, she should be able to feel you looking for her. You’ve given us enough to start on. I’ll call my maji and see if we can use what you’re already feeling to strengthen the bond.”
Chapter 2
Kristoff watches the office building, a single story, cookie cutter building located inside an office park in a rundown section of Atlanta. It’s late, there are a couple of cars in the parking lot, the streets around the building deserted. He hopes the cars don’t belong to humans because humans aren’t going to survive the night in this building.
It turns out Runa’s sisters showing up was beneficial to his cause. They’d scoured the city high and low for Runa until they settled on this office building. Her energy signature, small though it was, resonated from the back office of this building.
After they determined where she was, however, they were hands off.
“Runa is a warrior.” Reagan told Kristoff when he confronted them about leaving her held captive. “It is her responsibility to free herself.”
With that, the valkyrie had strode out of the room on the heels of her sister Torhild. He cursed in Russian, his nerves frayed and his temper raw. As much as he hated to admit it, he was going to need backup.
“Torhild is the dominate valkyrie here.” Britta, Runa’s other sister, spoke quietly with her eyes on the door. “She does not permit us to help Runa. I am sorry.”
“I thought valkyrie were solitary.” He does his best to hold his tongue and his temper. There’s no need to upset the one being actually trying to help him. “Yet you let Torhild tell you what to do? That doesn’t sound solitary to me.”
“It’s complicated.” She lets out a frustrated breath and looks toward the door her sisters disappeared through. “I will meet you there at sunset. This must stay between us, there are consequences for breaking the word of Torhild and she says no.”
Kristoff bowed his head to her in thanks.
Now, waiting in the parking lot for both Britta and some of Zartan’s men to back him, he’s seriously considering walking in there alone to get Runa. God only knows what they’re doing to her inside.
“Screw this.” He throws open the door to his SUV and strides across the parking lot. Before he reaches the door, Britta pulls into the lot on a sleek motorcycle.
She dismounts, her blond hair tied back in a tight braid. A leather jacket fits close around her shoulders. She nods to the door. “You take lead; I’ll clean up behind you.”
Not wanting to wait any longer, Kristoff starts toward the front door, pulling his Glock out on the way. He really hopes there aren’t any humans inside, because if there are, they’re about to get a fast introduction to his hidden world – one they likely won’t survive.
Chaos breaks loose as soon as he clears the front door.
A dozen nosferatu, lost in a game of cards, jump up. The table flips over, spilling cards and money across the floor as they reach for the weapons holstered to their belts. Clearly the guards, and they weren’t doing a good job. He’d sat in that parking lot for ten minutes before exiting his vehicle. They should have picked him up before he got to the door; if they were his men, he’d have them dead.
The nosferatu don’t stand much more of a chance. Kristoff unloads several rounds into the first two and Britta drops two more in a matter of moments. She barely slows, moving past him to a doorway where more soldiers are starting to arrive; the remaining eight falling quickly in a burst of electricity that she waves their way.
“Down the hallway.” She jerks her head in the right direction, her eyes never wavering from the nosferatu in front of her. “I got this.”
He doesn’t question her, instead taking the hallway to his left. Two more nosferatu come out of doorways. They don’t look like soldiers; they look more like paper pushers. He doesn’t worry about their profession. He shoots them
both, his silver laced bullets effectively killing each with one shot.
At the end of the hallway is a door. Unlike the rest of the open doors on the hallways, which lead into a variety of offices and storage rooms, this one is closed and has a glass window. Through the glass, he can see Runa.
He tries the handle, finds it locked, and before he can think better of it, the door is on the floor. There’s a pain in his fist, he’s sure he’s broken some bones, but the pain vanishes in the fury to get to his female. He stalks toward Runa, looking frantically around the room, trying to decide where to start.
She’s unconscious on a bed, dressed in a hospital gown, and covered by a light blanket. Her arms and legs are held in place by soft, hospital style restraints, another of which crosses her shoulders to hold her to the bed. A mass of metal wires, electronic cuffs, and machines are attached to exposed skin – her wrists, her neck, and her feet that are sticking out of the blanket.
Not sure what to do, Kristoff’s eyes follow the wires to a computer terminal. He sits down, pulls up the screen, and sees enough information to make his blood run cold. The computer is drawing energy out of Runa – effectively using her as a battery.
She’s probably powering the entire building, maybe more.
This is how she’s being held captive. If she can’t store enough energy, she cannot fight back. If she cannot fight back, she’s as fragile as a human. The machine is using her own defense system to keep her helpless.
Kristoff’s rage gets the better of him. Not bothering to worry about what each machine does, he walks over to Runa and rips the wiring from her arms and feet. Metal plates, secured around her wrists and ankles like shackles, are broken and removed before he can think about the potential consequences. Mid-task, he notices an IV in her right arm and pulls it out, too.
Wincing, he realizes his roughness and worries he’ll leave a bruise. He forces himself to gentle his hands.
Once she’s free of the metal wiring and plates, he loosens the restraints to release her body from the bed. Finally, he throws the thin blanket off, intent on carrying her from the room.
Again, he stops, this time fighting to not collapse himself.
The hospital gown had been pushed up to her waist. Black bruises, some in the shape of a man’s hand, color the insides of Runa’s legs. Gingerly, he pushes up the gown to see how far up the bruises go. They cover her shoulders and arms, the insides of her legs.
Kristoff pulls the gown down, giving her as much dignity as he can in her unconscious state. He looks away, fearful he’ll vomit, distracted by the sound of voices in the hallway - more shooting and yelling.
Zartan’s men have arrived and are battling with the nosferatu in the hallway, likely headed this direction.
“I’ve got you, nosh.” Unwilling to force the indignity on Runa of letting anyone else see her, he throws a chair through the glass window behind her, wraps her in a blanket, and then jumps out of the window and into the night air.
Gratefully, Kristoff remembers Dinah is visiting inside the city. Once Runa is loaded into his SUV and he’s racing toward his hotel, he calls her for help. Although he’d never been close friends with Zartan’s mother, he needs a female he can trust.
For maybe the first time in his long life, he doesn’t know what to do.
Kristoff can see Dinah waiting in the lobby of his hotel, patiently thumbing through a magazine, as soon as he crosses the threshold. Carrying an unconscious woman, one who’d obviously suffered a trauma, causes quite a stir. The hotel manager sprints to his side but Kristoff shakes his head. “She’s taken ill, but just needs rest. We’ve already seen the doctor, I’ll let you know if we need anything else.”
“Will that work?” Dinah falls into step beside him, her own voice low and calm. Her eyes scan the room around them, looking for trouble. “Or do I need to be on the lookout for the police?”
“I own the hotel.” Kristoff balances Runa in one arm to reach into his pocket for his key to hand off to Dinah. “The manager knows what we are and has worked for me for a long time. We’re fine.”
“Good to know.” Her blue eyes flicker over Runa, nervous and curious at the same time. “I’ve never seen a valkyrie sleep.”
He doesn’t respond, his emotions swinging from rage to fear and back again. With his jaw locked, he leads her to his door and nods. “That one.”
Once they’re inside and the door is shut behind them, Kristoff focuses back on Runa’s face. He finds he can’t look at Dinah, who patiently waits for him to talk. He thinks about the time and that’s what finally pushes him on. He doesn’t know how long Runa will sleep and he doesn’t know when Britta and the rest will show up. Hoping they haven’t noticed that Runa has been moved seems futile. “I need you to help her before her sisters get here…she should have some dignity. I don’t want them to see…and I didn’t want her to wake up and find me touching her…”
Frowning, Dinah doesn’t seem to understand. “I thought you two were…”
Her words trail off tactfully. There isn’t a definition for what they’re doing. They aren’t in a relationship by traditional definitions of the word, but that’s exactly what it is. A very, very complicated relationship.
“I want you to swear you won’t tell anyone what you see.” He carries her to his bedroom. She’ll at least be somewhere familiar when she regains consciousness. Still, he can’t look at the other woman in the room. “She should have her dignity.”
With that, he pulls back the blanket Runa is wrapped in, exposing the bruising on her legs. He’d pulled the hospital gown down enough to cover her most private areas, there’s still enough showing for Dinah to understand. He hears her hiss through her teeth and then curse, something he’d never have thought gentle, motherly Dinah would ever do.
“Her hair needs washing, there’s something in it, but I don’t think we should try putting her in water.” Dinah gently moves Kristoff so she can stand closer to Runa. “I can clean her up and hide as much of this as possible. Do you have anything I can change her into?”
Wordless, Kristoff opens a drawer and hands Dinah some of Runa’s clothes - work out pants and a soft shirt. She makes no comment but catches his hand with hers and gives him a warm squeeze.
Grateful for her help, he removes himself from the room and closes the door behind him. He doesn’t know how long it will take for Runa’s sisters to arrive, but he wants her to be cleaned up and dressed before they get here. Given their treatment of her, he doubts they will be understanding of her situation now.
Pushing down the urge to throw something across the room, Kristoff looks at the time on his cell phone. As much as he wants to hit something, he’s sure Zartan’s men have finished off everyone at the lab. All that’s left will be cleaning up any leftover bodies and dismantling that machine. He hopes it’s torn to pieces and destroyed.
With nothing else to do, he sits on the sofa and drops his head into his hands. He’s never felt so helpless in his long life. His body alternates between numbness and waves of heat and anger. An enemy without a face is out there somewhere. Maybe he died in the raid. Maybe he hadn’t been there and now lives to hurt again. War is easy, adversaries are easily identifiable. This is so much harder than anything he’s ever known.
Kristoff isn’t sure how long he sits unmoving on the sofa, but he comes to his feet suddenly when the door opens and Runa’s three valkyrie sisters walk in. If Reagan and Torhild know Britta joined him on the raid, they give no indication. All three ignore him, their eyes on the door to his bedroom.
He can see what’s about to happen, something unacceptable. He pushes his way in front of them, blocking their progress to the bedroom. “Stop.”
“This is not your concern, vampire.” Torhild looks at him with her cold eyes. “We will collect Runa and go. She’s gotten herself into enough trouble here.”
“She’s not going anywhere.” He steps up to Torhild, his eyes level and his body braced for a fight. He knows he can’t win
against her, but he’s willing to dye trying if it can keep them from Runa in the other room. He has to buy as much time as he can for Dinah to clean her up. “The nosferatu learned how to drain her power. She needs rest.”
“Rest she’ll get.” She steps closer to him, their bodies almost touching. “With us.”
Kristoff refuses to budge, but he also refuses to hit a woman. Without any warning, Torhild flips her wrist, sending a wave of energy through him. The static charge feels strong enough to stop the heart of a human and is more than enough to bring him to his knees. His legs buckle, pushing him down, but he refuses to move any farther.
Now kneeling in front of the sisters, he summons the strength of his anger and forces himself to stand back up. Once he’s eye level with Torhild again, he glares. “No.”
Torhild, not willing to give up, draws back her arm as if to hit Kristoff. Reagan grabs it. She’s looking at Kristoff with some respect in her eyes; not many vampires can stand so quickly after being hit with a valkyrie’s power. “Stop. There is no need. We can come back once she awakes.”
“You imply there is a right for this vampire to hold dominion over us?” Torhild gives Reagan a withering glance. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.” She studies Kristoff with curiosity, her head tilting to the side like he’s a complex puzzle to be solved. “He fights for her and does her bidding. Perhaps he is her servant. Let us hear what Runa says before you kill him.”
Kristoff carefully locks his jaw. As much as he’d like to stand up for himself, he knows he can’t fight all three of them. He’s lucky if he can fight one.
While Torhild is contemplating Reagan’s suggestion, the door behind him opens for Dinah to squeeze through. She swiftly closes the door behind her, allowing no one to see inside.