Dead Embers (6 page)

I had the sense to pretend though, and just stared ahead
calmly as if her magic had won me over, the way it worked on all her other
thralls. I waited for her to appear, knowing there was no sense upsetting her
by revealing how little power she had over me, not when I relied on her to keep
Aidan safe.

Freya stepped onto the dais, materializing from shadows to
corporeal form in a matter of seconds. Her little magic trick failed to
surprise or disconcert me; I'd been treated to Freya's appearances and
disappearances before.

"Come forward, child," the gentle voice beckoned,
and a smile twitched at her lips. She dazzled the eye, no less beautiful than
the last time I'd seen her, when she'd taken Aidan from Odin's hall and
promised to find a way to help him.

"How have you been, Brynhildr? I believe you have fared
well with your training."

The normalcy of her questions threw me. The goddess was
making small talk with me, and yet I knew she would gladly end both Aidan's and
my lives without blinking a single one of her gold-tipped eyelashes. Small
talk? Really?

Oh, I'm excellent, my lady. Except for the part about
missing a boyfriend because some ungodly god decided it was good sport to
poison him and have him carted off to Hel.

"I have, my lady." I had no choice but to maintain
a certain civility, since she happened to be the only one who could possibly
cure Aidan. When she planned to get around to it, I had no idea, but I had to
hope. And I had to behave.

"You are here to see him, I assume?" Freya moved
toward me, silken silent grace. I could see how men fell in love with her on
sight. Worry and a twinge of jealousy rose in my throat like bile. I had to
admit I hated the thought of leaving Aidan here with her when I returned to
Asgard. What if she found a cure and he regained consciousness, and what if he
fell in love with her and didn't want me anymore? When confronted with this
vision of beauty and manipulation, I suspected few men could resist.

Besides, Aidan and I had barely had much opportunity for a
normal relationship. In fact, we'd spent the better part of ours apart, with
Aidan either dead, dying or in a coma. My heart hurt to even think about it.

I answered her question with a nod. "I promised I'd
come to see him."

She laughed, soft and slightly mocking. "Do you really think
he heard you, my dear?"

"Studies say that coma patients can still hear the
people that speak to them," I replied, keeping my tone as flat as
possible, even though every instinct made want to scream at her.

"Ah yes. The doctors of Midgard. Perhaps there is some
truth to that, Brynhildr." She inclined her head and said no more. Was
that a dismissal? Had she just provided permission for the visit? I wasn't
sure.

A movement at my side stirred warm air against my skin, and
I turned to meet Astrid's blue gaze. Great. I now stood face to face with the
one person I'd prefer to avoid.

And by her dark scowl I guessed she was no more pleased than
I at our reunion. The stunning, blonde, blue-eyed ideal of a Valkyrie hated me
with an undeniable and yet unfathomable passion. Hated me for something I'd
apparently done in a previous life. A life that I still found hard to believe
in.

Good thing she'd disappeared off to Helheim with Freya. Best
place for the goddess's pet. I was glad I hadn't seen her in Asgard at any point
since Aidan had been sent to Hel. I don't think I could have controlled myself.
Her snitching had enabled Freya to blackmail me into finding her necklace. I
blamed Astrid. If it hadn't been for her malignant interfering, Aidan would've
been just fine, training in Valhalla instead of lying unconscious in the middle
of this dead realm.

Astrid suited this cold world, with her icy eyes and her
pale emotionless face. She suited her mistress too. Both beautiful, both cold.

"Come." The word fell like an icy crystal from
Astrid's lips.

Feathers fluttered behind me, and I swallowed a sigh of
relief knowing Hugin remained with me. Annoying as he sometimes was, the
enigmatic bird gave me comfort. And he was my only ally here.

I met Freya's eyes and bowed my head in a polite farewell,
releasing my gritted teeth only when I walked off. Astrid led me through a
doorway much smaller than the main entrance to the hall, and stopped almost
immediately to swing open the first door on her left.

"He is in there. You may stay as long as you wish, but
do
not
touch him." Then she left in a flurry of cool lavender fragrance.

Aidan lay on a low bed carved out of stone and bordered with
the twisting branch design that had become so familiar to me. A thin layer of
white feathers protected his prone flesh from the cold stone.

I walked to him, knelt quietly beside him. My fingers
reached automatically for his hand, but I yanked them back just in time, my
muscles cramping with fear. Astrid's warning rang hollow in my ears. What would
happen if I touched him? Would it hurt him, delay his cure? I fisted my hand as
my gut twisted.

I may have sounded confident when I told Freya that coma
patients could hear people who talked to them, but right then, as I gazed at
his pale face, longing to run my fingers through his black tousled hair, I
ceased to believe it.

Tears warmed my cheeks, and I brushed the heated despair
from my face.

"
Do not fear, Brynhildr. Freya will be able to leech
the poison from him
." Hugin, all but forgotten, landed again on my
shoulder.

"What? What do you mean, 'leech'? I thought she was
trying to find a cure."

"
That is the cure. Over time, the power of Loki's
poison will fade, and the weaker it gets the easier it will be for Freya to
draw it from him
."

"How does she do it?"

"
The same way she placed the curse on him
."

I swallowed a gasp, recalling the twisting green smoke Freya
had drawn from Aidan's mouth when she'd removed her curse. A curse she'd used
to force me to find her precious necklace. Although I'd grown fond of my amber
pendant, I'd been very happy to be rid of the damned thing. Honestly, if I'd
known the mess the bloody thing would get us into, I would never have accepted
it, never would have worn it at all.

"So what? She spews some fancy Freya-smoke into him and
then sucks it back out again? That's it?"

"
Yes, that is correct
." The bird bobbed his
little head up and down, his emotionless eyes staring, glassy and glossy.

I shivered as I pictured how close Freya would have to be to
Aidan, how close her lips would need to be for her to blow the golden smoke
into him. In my mind's eye, I saw the swirling golden smoke dip and rise and
fill Aidan's mouth. Then it would disappear, followed moments later by a solid,
twisting, almost living black poison that would curl and writhe as it rose from
his mouth again. Not my idea of a pleasant cure.

My shoulders slumped, and I tried to think about something
else.

"Why can't I touch him?"

"
There is no reason why you cannot touch him
."

"But Astrid said . . ." My words trailed into the
shadows as I glared at the closed door. The bitchy Valkyrie had used the big
guns. Well, at least I had a magical bird to tell me the truth.

"
The Valkyrie Astrid has her reasons for the nature
of her hatred. You must pay no attention to her, Bryn. There is far too much at
stake for you to be led off your path by any enemy
."

"Enemy is a harsh word, Blackbird." But he was
right. Astrid was no friend of mine. At least I'd now have my time with Aidan,
no thanks to her.

I crawled closer to him and leaned my arms on the stone bed,
right beside his shoulder. His hair curled at his temple, and I smoothed away a
fat black tendril. The feel of soft, silky hair against my fingers brought a
rush of heat to my eyes. I missed him so terribly. The soft flesh of my fingertips
traced his cool cheek. I shifted so I could link my fingers with his, allowing
my warmth to seep into him, and whispered words into his ears: promises and
memories mixed with regret.

We didn't have much luck in this love of ours. Even as I
thought about it, I wondered if it had ever been love at all. Had it just been
a physical attraction that had held us together so tenuously? He'd come into my
life and then left again so abruptly, breaking my heart into a million pitiful
pieces.

Many weeks and many reasons later, we'd found each other
again, in Asgard, as if destiny struggled to keep us apart. A Valkyrie and an
einherjar
,
a Warrior of Valhalla, destined to fight and die for Odin.

I closed my eyes and held Aidan. Now I just needed him to
wake up and ease my doubts.

***

Who knew how much time had sped by before Hugin's shuffling
and fluttering drew me out of my semi-dreamlike state? I shifted, then lifted
my head. I'd fallen asleep on Aidan's chest. Tears filled my eyes and blurred
his features as I accepted that my time with him had drawn to a close.

"
Come, Brynhildr. It is time we were going
."

I rose to my knees and stared at Aidan's beautiful face. A
silent laugh escaped my lips. Wouldn't he find it too funny to know he played
the part of sleeping beauty so well? I bent over him and touched my lips to
his. Maybe I had this silly hope he'd be revived just by the tender kiss. Maybe
I knew it was stupid.

I paused, waiting for something . . . anything . . . to
happen. But he didn't magically awaken. He didn't move, didn't stir, didn't
even appear to breathe. I rose to my feet and stepped away from the stone bed.

Just in time.

Astrid swung the door open, clearly expecting to burst in on
me breaking her stupid rule. She stared at Aidan's silent form, then back at
me, where I stood a foot away from him. A comical expression of disappointment
marred her beautiful profile.

"Your time is up," she snapped. Two bright spots
of anger flamed on her cheeks right before she stalked off, not bothering to
check if we followed.

We did, but I had no intention of running after her just to
keep up. I entered the hall a few moments later, Hugin flying ahead, then
circling back to land on my shoulder.

"Did you have a good visit, my dear?" Freya's
mellifluous voice again sent a shiver rippling down my spine as I neared the
dais.

I stiffened, hoping she couldn't tell I'd shed my tears with
Aidan, hoping she couldn't see my stupid breaking heart.

"Thank you, my lady. I'm honored to be allowed this
visit." I lifted my chin slightly.

"He will be revived, Brynhildr. It will take time.
Loki's serpent poison is vicious. It will, of course, be much better if a more
potent cure is found, but in the meantime we will do what we can." Freya
smiled, startling me. Was she actually trying to make me feel better?

I nodded and lowered my eyes. Better for her to think I'd
been overcome with emotion than for her to recognize the disbelief in my
eyes—disbelief at her attempt to feign compassion.

"I must be going back. Is there anything I can bring
him?" I knew as the words left my lips that the answer would be no.

Astrid shifted beside Freya, who shook her head. "We
have what we need to take care of your Aidan. We will do what we must."

I nodded. "Thank you again, my lady."

Hugin launched off my shoulder and, in a flurry of black
feathers, led me out into the icy bleakness that was Helheim, back to Bifrost
and back to Asgard.

And back to utter loneliness.

Vipers come in all shapes and sizes, and the most beautiful
ones are the most dangerous. Although Freya may have meant what she said about
Aidan, I couldn't trust her. And I certainly didn't trust Astrid. Perhaps I
could go to Odin for help.

I tried to put the whole episode out of my mind, immersing
myself in working out on the training grounds. But the faces of my sparring
partners blurred into images of Aidan, lying cold and vulnerable under Astrid's
and Freya's eyes.

"You know, it's really hard to concentrate on sword
practice when you make a face like that all the time."

The warm, amused voice brought me out of my funk. I spun
around and met the speaker with open arms and a huge grin. Joshua! He hugged me
back as best he could with a vicious blade in one hand. Somehow we avoided
mortally wounding each other with our weapons.

"I've been watching you," he said. "For a
girl you sure can wield a sword." Joshua's teeth glinted a welcome, his
eyes twinkling as he looked me up and down, trying to keep a stern and
threatening mien.

But he couldn't keep the naughty expression off his face,
and I laughed aloud.

"Don't mess with me, Warrior. I'll wipe the floor with
you."

"The mud, you mean?"

"Huh?"

"The mud, not the floor." He poked his sword at
the muddy sludge beneath our feet. Just like the Joshua I'd known back in
Craven, being such a smart-aleck that his jokes went over my head.

I chuckled and swatted him on the shoulder. At least
Joshua's new job and abode hadn't changed him.

"Enough with the pleasantries. Get back to work,
Warriors." Fen strode past and shot the stern warning at us. He kept
walking, but I didn't miss the tiny curve to his lips.

Joshua's smile vanished, though, and the color drained from
his face. He stared after the wolf-man, deep in thought. And only snapped out
of it when I waved a hand in front of his eyes.

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About Fen?"

"Yeah! He's . . . strange."

"Strange as in . . . ?" I glanced over my
shoulder, but the wolf-man was safely out of earshot. Human earshot, at least.

"Don't know . . . maybe it's the whole werewolf
thing," Joshua muttered.