Authors: Kristi Jones
"He what?"
"He was standing in front of a young girl aiming an AK-47 at
his head, and he laid his weapon down. He's the bravest
—
no, he's the only truly brave warrior I've ever seen."
"So all the more
reason to mark him."
"
Gustel
, you know what Valhalla has
become. I don't want to send him there. He's young. He deserves a full life. He
deserves what we can't have."
"Is that what this is about?
You pining
away again to be mortal?"
The question stopped me. The truth was, I didn't know. I'd lost my
drive in the past few decades, lost my taste for my job. It happened with the
old-timers often enough. But we both knew I was too young to be having such
feelings.
"I don't think that's it. I think it's him."
"If you mark him, you could claim him for a mate,"
Gustel
said in a quiet voice.
"If the Progeny
Rules didn't exist, maybe."
"But they do exist."
"So it's not an option."
"Maybe you'll have a girl."
"Maybe I won
’
t. I'm not ready to make
those choices,
Gustel
. That much I think you can
understand."
My sister tilted her head as if considering, then gave me a hard
punch in the shoulder.
"Agreed."
We could say no more, but the air between us was pregnant with
unsaid things. Odin has big ears and a wide net. And even if Odin couldn't
hear, neither one of us wanted to say it out loud, what it meant to choose a
mate.
“So what are you going to do?”
I turned my back to Jess and whispered the words. “I
could go see
Skuld
.”
“
Are
you crazy?
”
Gustel
said, her voice rising
sharply.
“
You can't do that."
"It's
the only solution I can think of,
Gustel
."
"But
you
’
ve never strayed from the battlefield, Sabrina. It
’
s dangerous. Besides, how would you even find her?"
"Who's
Skuld
?" Jess asked, moving toward us.
"She's
a witch," I said, "a very powerful witch."
"Uh,
no offense, but I don't think I want to meet any more witches today."
"We
are not witches,"
Gustel
said. "Try to keep
up, mortal. Anyway, you
’
ll never find her. And you don
’
t
know what it
’
s like out there. Things have changed.
”
“
It
just so happens," I said, glancing at Jess, "that
Skuld
is at
Hohensalzburg
."
"You're
kidding."
"
Hohen
what?
”
Jess asked.
"Don't
interrupt,"
Gustel
said, keeping her eyes on me.
"He'll have to help you, of course."
"No."
"You
know he will, so stop being coy."
"But..."
"Sabrina,
you can't hear what she has to say. You know that."
"Uh,
Sabrina..." Jess said.
"My God,"
Gustel
said, rolling her eyes at me, "how many
times do I have to tell you do not interrupt?"
"I
just thought you might want to know there's a convoy coming," Jess said,
pointing a finger toward the horizon.
"Dammit."
A line of vehicles was speeding our way, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.
"What?
What's wrong?"
"It's
Death," I said, handing Jess his pack. "We have to go.
Now!"
"You'll
have to camouflage yourself,"
Gustel
said.
"But be careful out there, okay? There are dangerous immortals in the
world of men. Stay sharp. Stay alert. Now go. I'll be the decoy."
"
Gustel
, no."
"I'm
faster than anybody, you know that. It's what these wings were built for."
"But..."
"It'll
be fun. Now go. We don't have time to argue."
I had a
sudden desire to hug my sister, but she put me off.
"Go,
Sabrina. You don't want to lose your delicious boy toy, do you?"
"Hey,
I'm nobody's boy toy," Jess said, indignant.
"Do
you ever stop talking?"
Gustel
said,
exasperated.
The cloud
was getting closer. I could smell
It
now. Death was in
the air.
"You
can go stay at The Nest until you
’
re
ready to face
Skuld
."
"Do
you think the enchantments still hold?"
"Of
course they do. Why wouldn't they?"
The
enchantments surrounding our ancestral home had been in place for over a
thousand years.
"And
Sabrina,"
Gustel
said, grasping my shoulders. "Be
kind to
Skuld
. No matter what she
does.
You do not want to make an enemy of her."
"Oh,
by the gods..." I said, feeling a wave of panic wash over me.
"There's
no need to panic, Sabrina. Worst case scenario, you mark him, and you're
done."
She held my
gaze. We both knew that there was a great deal of danger. There was
Skuld
for one. And Death had
Its
own allies. "What's done is done, Sabrina. The thing to do now is to make
it right."
I knew what
she meant. She wanted me to mark Jesse now. Mark him and take him. He'd be safe
in Valhalla. Death had no admittance there. And I'd be doing my duty.
"I'll
see you soon."
"I
hope so,"
Gustel
said pointedly.
I gave her
one quick tight hug, and then she popped her wings. Even as I released her,
Gustel's
skin turned gray. Her arms became pointed wings.
As she transformed herself into an F-15E Strike Eagle, a cloud of dust spun
around her, and she took to the blessed air.
The sand
stung my eyes. Jess crouched down low against the raging wind.
His clothes
blew against his body, outlining every line, every muscle. Adopting
Gustel's
sky camouflage, I released my wings and reached
for Jess.
"Put
your arms around my neck. And hold on tight."
He couldn't
see me now, but he could feel me. He wrapped his arms around my neck.
"This
is weird."
"What
part?"
He laughed,
shaking his head. "Well, all of it, but I meant having you carry me. I've
carried a couple of women in my time, but never been carried by one."
"I'll
fly slowly, but it won't be like riding in a car with the windows down, so I'll
need to protect you from the wind."
"How
are you going to do that?"
"I'll
use my hair, so it might be a little snug. I can put you out if you'd
like."
"Put
me out?" He said, his voice
rising
an octave.
"Just
to sleep during the flight.
It will
make it easier on you."
"Like
before?"
"Yes,
like before."
He pulled
in a sharp breath,
then
released it. "Okay. Yeah,
okay, do it."
Our eyes
locked. I pressed the silver wings of the Valkyrie to my lips, placed my hand
over his eyes and chanted the spell. At the last moment before sleep overtook
him, he reached up and tangled his fingers in my hair. I felt his body relax.
I kissed
him on the cheek, savoring the salty taste of him, and took to the air.
Chapter Five
It was late
afternoon by the time we finally arrived at The Nest. My ancestral home is a
sprawling castle nestled in the hills above the
Moselle
River. The place was built sometime during the 12th century and was acquired by
the descendants of
Brunhilde
soon after. Over a dozen
castellated turrets rose into the sky. A baron built the great hall in the year
1156, seven hundred years before my birth, and each successive generation added
more rooms and more towers.
We only
used the place during the Time of Progeny.
To keep the
castle from falling into disrepair, we allowed mortals to purchase and occupy
The Nest. When one of my sister Valkyries needed to reproduce, it was
relatively easy to cast a few spells and send the occupying mortals running for
the hills. Mortals are strangely susceptible to the idea of hauntings and evil
spirits.
Jess and I landed
on the tallest turret. Fields of enchantments stretched down to the river, protecting
us from mortal eyes, though this stretch of the
Moselle
was relatively isolated.
The wind
was fierce at this altitude, and I hurried to the iron bound doorway that led
into the bowels of the castle. Cradling Jess in my arms, I bowed my head and mumbled
words of release. The massive door swung open, its hinges creaking. A rush of
stale, moldy-smelling air enveloped us.
I carried
him down a set of narrow stone steps. We came to a landing lined with the
portraits of long-dead mortals who once lived at The Nest. I descended the last
of the stairs and entered the great hall. This room was a large open space with
a vaulted, beamed ceiling and an enormous fireplace that could hold four men
standing tall. The stone floor was laid with moth-eaten Turkish carpets that
had once added rich color to the room.
I laid Jess
carefully onto the expansive carpet before the fireplace.
I thought
about waking him from the sleeping spell, but decided to let him get some rest.
He'd had a difficult day, and tomorrow would most likely prove to be even more
of a challenge to his mortal sensibilities.
Walking
through the gallery, its walls paneled in rich mahogany, I headed for the
nearest bedchamber.
Inside I
found a wardrobe filled with threadbare clothes that had been hanging there for
at least sixty years. I shrugged off my fatigues and slipped on an emerald
green silk evening gown that appeared to date back to the 1930s.
Spring
nights in the Alps were cold, so I flung two coats over my arm, a wool pea coat
with silly large buttons for myself and a long black trench coat for Jess. It
would hide his Army uniform during our trip to see
Skuld
.
There was a
mirrored bureau in the corner of the room, and I moved closer to catch my
reflection. My hair was still pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of my neck.
I loosened my hair and used the ivory handled hairbrush sitting on the bureau
to brush it out, trying to make myself look presentable. I realized, gazing at
my reflection, that I was doing more than that. I was trying to look pretty for
him. The realization made me blush.
I made my
way back to the great hall wondering how I could possibly survive letting
Sergeant Jesse Moran go.
****
When I
returned to the hall, Jess was sitting up, blinking and massaging the back of
his neck.
“
Where
are we?
”
“
We
call it The Nest. It
’
s a castle that my family uses when we need a safe place to
stay. These days it
’
s only used for the Time of Progeny.
”
Jess gave
me a blank look.
“
The
Time of Progeny,
”
I said, arranging thin pieces of rotting wood in the large
fireplace,
“
is the time a Valkyrie spends in isolation during her last
month of pregnancy, just before the child is born.
”
“
So,
you
’
ve
…”
“
No.
”
I pulled a match from the match safe and struck a flame.
“
I
’
ve never chosen a mate.
”
“
But
you
’
ve been here before?
”
“
Yes.
”
“
But
not to have a child?
”
“
No.
”
I shifted the logs in the fireplace, letting the cold air
ignite the flames. When I had a good fire going, I stood and turned to Jess. He
was looking at me with a quizzical expression. Tiny lines crossed his brow, and
his head was tilted in a question.