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)
"The portal is open," I tell Damrion, Adriel, and Reaper. "It's how they brought me here."
"Nei," Damrion says, shaking his head. "I don't know what they've opened, but it's not the portal. If it were open, we'd know it. We have the last remaining pieces of it."
I consider this for a moment, and then nod. "I think you're right." My gaze flits from him to Adriel. "Whatever they've opened is twisted and dark, a shadow of what it's supposed to be. They need all five Valkyrie to open it fully. It's why they haven't killed any of us yet."
Adriel nods as if he believes the same thing. "Until they have blood from all five of you, they can't risk killing you. If something goes wrong and they lose your blood, they'll never be able to reopen the portal fully."
That should comfort me, but it doesn't. If anything, it only worries me more. They already have blood from three of us. They only have two to go. And Abigail Foresaw the death of Valkyrie. I thought it was mine, but perhaps not.
The Forsaken might succeed. They might actually kill one of us.
A shiver rips through me at the thought.
Reaper notices. He pulls me deeper into his arms, holding me tighter. "Enough," he growls. "Enough talk. My Valkyrie is afraid."
"I'm okay," I lie.
"Nei, you're not." Reaper wraps his strong body around mine, shutting out the world as his lips find mine, offering comfort and a little something more. Hope. "But you will be, little Valkyrie. I won't rest until you are."
Chapter Fifteen
Reaper
Ihold Tori close, my lips never leaving her skin as Stephan makes the long drive back to Seattle, the unconscious Valkyrie on Malachi's lap. He won't let anyone close to her, growling at anyone who tries to take her. We all know what that means.
My Valkyrie burrows into me, whispering my name again and again. My brothers don't intrude. It's as if they don't even exist in this moment.
Yet again, my Valkyrie saved my life, unwilling to sacrifice our love for anything. She didn't just save me, she saved all of us. Her power is exquisite. I've never seen anything like it. I've never felt anything like the Light coursing through her veins. Even now, it sparks and hums, reacting to my touch.
I can't wait to get her alone and feel it rolling over me when I'm buried inside of her. Gods. I ache to feel it like a heatwave scorching me when she's coming undone around me.
"Reaper," she breathes, able to feel exactly what I'm thinking. The connection between our souls is wide open, my every thought laid bare for her to see.
"Just wait, little Valkyrie," I breathe in her ear, nipping at the shell of it. "You'll see."
She groans, pressing her face to my throat.
I chuckle, holding her to me. Even now, she's so shy and sweet. I hope she never loses that.
My eyes drift closed as the Seattle skyline comes into view. We ride in silence, just soaking up the fact that we're together again. That she's in my arms. That we're alive.
"No!" Adriel's broken cry echoes through the van, pulling me upright.
"Gods," Damrion breathes, his voice shaking. "Oh, Gods."
I follow the path their eyes have taken, my heart stalling in my chest. Flames pour from the safehouse, black smoke pumping into the cloudless sky. It's fully engulfed, every inch of it blazing in an inferno.
Warriors rush this way and that, trying to carry the injured to safety, but there are far too few of them.
Stephan squeals to a stop at the curb.
Adriel and Damrion are out of the van, racing toward the inferno before the vehicle even fully settles.
The rest of us follow, rushing after them. Tori's hand is locked with mine, tears streaming down her face as she takes in the chaos.
"Oh, Reaper," she whispers.
"What happened?" Damrion asks Daric.
"The Forsaken," the younger Fae growls.
Adriel grabs ahold of him, snarling in his face. "Where is she?" he demands, shaking the younger Fae. "Where is Abigail?"
I know before Daric even says anything. The truth is written all over his face.
Adriel knows it too. "Nei."
"I'm sorry, brother," Daric says. "We tried to fight them off, but there were too many of them. They took her."
Adriel stumbles backward, his face losing all color, his eyes losing all hope. He crashes to his knees, a broken cry rattling from his lips. The world around us seems to shatter, the last vestiges of his icy control splintering away. The raw, desolate pain in his one good eye is devastating to witness.
Damrion drops beside him, broken in a way he's never been. For once—for the first time in millennia—he and Adriel are perfectly in sync, their pain healing what was broken between them long ago.
A fierce oath spills from his lips as he presses his forehead to Adriel's. "We will bring her back. I swear to you, we will."