Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
I reach for more Light, pulling it into me. The nimbus around me expands.
The Forsaken hisses and jumps backward before it touches him.
"Come near me again, and I'll burn you and every one of your buddies to ash," I growl. "Either take the deal or don't, but don't play with me. I'm not your toy."
"We want all souls touched by shadow."
"No. You take only the souls of those mired in darkness, those who have committed heinous crimes and failed to seek redemption." Dax told me those souls spend eternity in Helheim in torment, paying for their crimes. If they're going to pay anyway, they can pay once and be done. And, for once in their existence, they can be good for something. They can help stave off the dark until we find a way to defeat it once and for all.
"Roaming souls are fair game."
"Then the Forsaken aren't to claim a soul until a Valkyrie has been given an opportunity to ferry it across the Veil."
"And the Fae?"
"Touch the soul of a Fae and every Forsaken I find will be burned out of existence," I hiss. "The same goes for anyone with Valkyrie blood. They belong to me."
Something moves deeper in the house. Another Forsaken? I'm not sure. With this one blocking the door, it's hard to tell. But they're up to something. I don't think they have any intention of taking this deal.
Crap.
Maybe it is time to fight, after all. I kind of hoped we could avoid that, at least for now. At least for a little while longer. But I can't force them to accept my terms. I can't force them to cooperate. All I can do is try. For the Fae. For Abigail. And for the nameless Valkyrie still yet to be called.
"Any other demands, Valkyrie?"
"Just a few," I say, trying to keep him distracted long enough to figure out what's going on behind him. "Free Genevieve and Jessa and agree to leave the living out of this. Humans have no place in this fight."
"And yet you're so willing to offer up their souls. Including your father's."
"He damned his own soul."
The Forsaken laughs again, that same rasping laugh that makes my soul quiver. God, it's a terrifying, emotionless sound.
I glance over his head again, watching as shadows move back and forth. What are they doing?
"I also want you to leave Abigail and Eitr alone."
"Is that everything?"
"That about covers it," I say reluctantly, still not sure what they're doing in there. But I'm out of time to figure it out. I brace myself for whatever they're about to spring on me, prepared to burn this Forsaken and his friends out of existence.
"Good."
Even though I know it's coming, I'm still caught off guard when he moves, throwing himself to the side. I release a blaze of Light, expecting to see a room full of Forsaken behind him, waiting to grab me.
Instead, the Light flows harmlessly over Genevieve and Jessa as they come flying out of the door. They crash into me, knocking me to the ground. My head cracks against the cement, a burst of pain ripping through me.
The power I was holding slips from my grasp, flowing back into the well in my soul. I rip through the barrier I erected to keep Dax at bay, flinging open the doors of my soul as the Forsaken grab me, dragging me into the house.
The last thing I see is my father, slumped against the floor in a pool of blood.
Chapter Thirteen
Dax
Waves of pain and fear hit me out of nowhere, so intense they freeze the blood in my veins. Rissa. Ah, Gods. Rissa.
"Faster," I growl at Malachi. I want to peel the skin from my bones and howl in rage. My mate, the keeper of my soul, the Valkyrie I love, is in danger, and there isn't a damn thing I can do. I've never felt more helpless. I've never felt more like killing. "Drive faster!"
"I'm already doing ninety, Dax."
"They have her," I groan, raking my hands down my face. "She's hurting!"
I don't have to say anything else. Malachi hits the gas, and the speedometer shoots upward.
I start praying to every God I can name.
Odin, guide her.
Thor, protect her.
Tyr, give her strength.
Please, please, don't let her die.
Chapter Fourteen
Rissa
Icome awake with a jolt, my head pounding. I slowly peel my eyes open, only to come face to face with my father's lifeless body. His eyes are open, staring at nothing. Even in death, he looks terrified. Blood pools around him, soaking through his clothing.
A wave of sorrow whispers through me, though I'm unsure if I grieve for him or for what could have been. What should have been had he been different. Judging by the smell of alcohol in the house and the sunken, sickly pallor to his skin, he never gave up the whiskey. Judging by the state of the house, at least what little I can see of it from where I lay, he never gave up the alcohol-fueled rages, either.