Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 41683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Damrion slowly turns to look at me, his eyes two fierce golden points.
"They're bringing down the walls. We have to get the Valkyrie out of here before it's too late."
"Helvete," he snarls. "They walls are failing?"
"Ja," Malachi confirms. "It won't be long until the west wall is completely down."
Damrion doesn't even hesitate to make a decision. "Dax!" he shouts. "She must finish this quickly. The walls won't hold much longer."
Dax meets his gaze, surprise flaring in his green eyes. He nods quickly before turning back to his mate. "Rissa, lyseste ljós, you must hurry," he says, urgency in his voice. "We don't have long. Hurry, lyseste ljós."
He doesn't touch her, though. Adriel and Damrion are careful not to touch Abigail as they stand at her side, too. I think they still remember the way the girls screamed as if their souls were being shredded the first time they linked. Dax certainly remembers how Rissa felt in those moments. Their souls are linked. He felt what she did.
"Whose idea was this?" Malachi asks Damrion as the Light around the two Valkyrie flares brighter.
"Theirs," Damrion mutters, his frustration obvious. "We couldn't stop them."
I chuckle at his dark tone. It's been three hundred years since we last served the Valkyrie, but women have not changed that much. "Nei, brother. We never could stop a Valkyrie when she wanted to do something."
"We were lucky they didn't skin us alive for even trying," Malachi adds with a grin.
"Truth."
Tori elbows me in the side. I glance down at her to find her little nose in the air, a haughty look on her face. She knows we tease, and she's not amused.
Gods, she's beautiful when she's annoyed.
Nei, she's beautiful every moment.
Yet again, awe courses through me. She saved me. Healed me. From a bite that no Valkyrie has ever been able to heal. I knew she was powerful. From the moment she opened her soul to me when I first placed my hand on her in that bathtub, I felt her Light flickering like a thousand suns.
But she is far more powerful than I imagined. She's radiant, a dazzling star standing in the face of the Dark. And somehow, inexplicably, she finds me worthy.
Suddenly, a shout goes up outside. "They're retreating! The Forsaken are retreating!"
A murmur of relief rolls across the Hall. Thank the Gods. The bastards are fleeing from the Light like the cockroaches they are.
The echoes of battle fade in the distance as the Light around Rissa and Abigail winks out. The Hall settles into calm stillness.
"Dax," Rissa sighs, her voice weak. "It's done." She sways on her feet.
Her mate steps forward, dragging her into the safety of his arms even as Damrion and Adriel crowd around Abigail, offering her their strength.
"Ja," Dax whispers. "It's done, elskan-ljós."
An hour later, the first vehicles roll out, four Fae warriors riding with twelve of the Blooded in every van, with the injured scattered between. We send them in small convoys, four at a time.
Our convoy is the second to leave, though Damrion and Malachi stay behind to ensure everyone else gets out safely. Tori, Rissa, and Abigail ride in the van with me, Dax, Adriel, Garrison, and Stephan. Daric, Taeral and Keryth, three of the strongest Fae warriors, also ride with us to ensure the Valkyrie have ample protection.
No one speaks for a long time as we race through the inky pre-dawn light. Tori rests her head against my shoulder, her hand wrapped in mine. I run my fingers through her hair, simply to remind her that I'm here. Or perhaps to remind myself that she's here. I don't know, but I can't stop touching her. She's soft and warm and mine.
"What is that?" she eventually murmurs, looking at the tiny bottle in Rissa's hands. A thin sliver of Light floats within it, twisted around itself as if to form a knot.
Rissa freezes and then exhales a slow breath, glancing at my Valkyrie. "I think it's my father's soul," she whispers. "The Forsaken killed him."
Tori slips her free hand across the small space between her and Rissa and gently squeezes her arm. "I'm sorry."
"We weren't close."
"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt," Abigail says.
Rissa turns to look at the Seer, surprise flickering in her gaze.
I sit quietly, trying not to disturb their moment. Dax and Adriel do the same, allowing the three Valkyrie to bond without us interrupting. They need this moment.
My brothers and I have fought side by side since the day we entered Valhalla. We've had millennia to grow accustomed to one another. Tori, Abigail, and Rissa don't have that kind of time. The bonds of sisterhood they must forge will save all worlds, and they have far too little time to forge them.
"You're allowed to love someone who hurt you," Tori whispers to Rissa, her voice soft. "You're allowed to forgive them too if that's what you want to do."