Gideon's Promise (Sons of Judgment Book 2) (19 page)

“Gideon?”

He ignored his mother. His gaze was fixed on Valkyrie's wide, blue eyes.

“What happened?”

She jerked back, but he tightened his hold. “Release me, Maxwell!”

Rather than comply, he grabbed her other arm and ripped back the sleeve of her coat. Also stained with blood.

“Valkyrie! What happened?” His mother moved as though to assist, but Valkyrie wrenched away.

“There is nothing ... I am fine.”

“You are not fine,” Gideon growled. “You are hurt.”

She glowered at him, tugging down her sleeves. “That is none of your concern.”

Gideon temper crackled to life with a vengeance. “Want to bet on that?”

Octavian moved to Gideon's side and settled a firm hand on his shoulder. His cool gray eyes remained set on Valkyrie.

“They look painful,” he said evenly. “Mom can help you—”

“I am fine,” she stated sharply. “I don’t need help.”

“Let me guess, you're not allowed to heal them until your lord and master forgives you your crimes.” Gideon smirked coldly. “What did you do this time, Valkyrie? Were you not fast enough?”

“Gideon, that is enough!” his mother snapped, appalled.

“Strong enough?”

“Gideon!”

Gideon stopped, but it wasn't because of his mother. It was because of the cyclone of emotion in Valkyrie's eyes. It had been so long since he'd seen them that he was rendered speechless. Part of him hadn't thought she was capable anymore.

“I did nothing!” she hissed and he was struck by the tremor that shook her voice.

Spearing him with a look of absolute loathing, she snapped on her heel and barged through the kitchen doors. Gideon watched them clack noisily shut.

“That was uncalled for, Gideon,” his mother reprimanded. “I expect an apology next time you see her.”

With a disappointed glare, she followed Valkyrie out of the dining area.

“Was that necessary?” Octavian demanded.

Gideon wasn't listening. He was still replaying Valkyrie's last words to him,
I did nothing.

To some, like his mother and brother, and even Imogen who was still sitting at the table watching the show with wide eyed interest, the statement was a simple fact spat in a moment of heated anger. But Gideon saw it for what it was ... an omission. She wasn't punished for anything
she
did. She was punished for something
he
did.

“Mother fucking son of a bitch!”

Octavian ceased speaking at once. Imogen squeaked and clapped her hands over her mouth.

“Bastard!”

A crashing bang followed his snarl. It took him a second to realize he had upended a table and pitched a chair across the room. It lay in a broken mess of splintered wood across the floor.

“Gideon!” Octavian grabbed him before he could break another chair.

“He did this!” he roared, wrenching free of his brother to whip around. “He punished her because of what I did.”

Octavian narrowed his eyes, confusion wrinkled his brow. “Who—”

“Arild Devereaux,” he spat the name as though it were something foul. His entire body trembled with rage. His heart cracked wildly as his adrenaline skyrocketed. “That little bitch must have gone running home to tell Arild what I did, so of course, Valkyrie has to take the punishment he can't give me.”

“You don't know that,” Octavian rationalized calmly. “She didn't say—”

“And she never will,” he cut in with a growl. “He has them all brainwashed thinking it's an honor to be beaten bloody.”

“My dad used to tell us of the four gates,” Imogen said, pulling their attention over to her. “He used to say Arild Devereaux was Satan himself and we should never journey to the west no matter what.”

“Can you go see if Valkyrie needs anything?” Octavian asked when Imogen fell silent. “Please?” he added.

Imogen gave a nod and hurried from the room, leaving Gideon alone with his brother.

“I want to kill him,” Gideon said. “I want to rip out his throat and watch as he drowns in his own blood.”

Octavian frowned at him. “Let it go, Gid.”

“Don't!” Gideon hissed, jabbing Octavian in the chest with a finger. “Don't tell me to let it go when I went to hell for your mate. I fought for you. I fought for Riley. I never once asked for anything.”

“Don't you think I would do the same? Don't you think I want Arild's head for hurting Valkyrie? I do, but there is a way to go about doing it without challenging the entire clan.”

“Like what?” Gideon shot back.

“Like keeping your head down and putting a plan into place. Don't be stupid. Let us help you.” He grinned and punched Gideon in the arm. “We're not going to let you have all the fun.”

Gideon was saved from answering when the diner doors opened and Magnus charged in.

“The underworld is in chaos.”

T
en feet of sinewy muscle with skin the color of hot coals. Ivory spikes protruded in arches from its bull-like head. Smoke bellowed from its flat nostrils as he shook the ground with an ever clomping stride. The crowd roared. The sound was thick with the thirst for blood. It coiled in the pit of Gideon’s stomach like sour milk; Valkyrie had to fight that thing.

Then, just when he couldn’t imagine it getting worse, a second figure followed the first. A dironous, demon of iron work with the love of skinning his victims alive and devouring their organs. Black as night with wild crimson eyes and a body made entirely of metal. Unlike the bull, he stood on his two hind legs, reaching almost twenty feet. The appearance of the dironous seemed to surprise everyone, except Arild.

“Two?” The fact that this wasn’t the norm only increased Gideon’s desire to be sick.

“Father.” One of the daughters, Anika possibly, leaned over Arild’s chair. “Begging your forgiveness, but this must be a mistake.”

“Proceed,” was all Arild drawled, gaze never leaving the arena.

Anika leaned back, saying nothing more as a second door opened and Gideon held his breath.

She was dressed in soft, brown boots and miles of beautiful, pale skin barely hidden beneath the straps over her chest that tied around her neck and waist and skimpy bottoms that were nothing more than undergarments. Any other time, Gideon would have moaned in delight at the sight of her with so little on, but this was not one of those times.

She was wounded. Badly. Streams of blood were trickling down her sides, running along her arms to drop like rain onto the floor. Her stance was shaky and she was a frightening shade of gray. Her blue eyes were bright pools against the tense contours of her face. They widened as they took in the monsters watching her. They darted to the podium where Gideon and her father sat, the question in them clear.

Arild rose from his throne and stood looming over the room. “Welcome to yet another sorting. We have a treat for you. My daughter, Valkyrie is vying for her first mark today and as such must prove herself worthy.” He looked to the demons with cool, flat eyes. “You wish to leave hell? You must first kill her.”

“What?” Gideon’s exclamation of horror was swallowed by the roar of exhilaration.

Arild sat once more as the crowd shrieked. The doors were sealed shut, locking Valkyrie in with the beasts hell bent on freedom.

Gideon watched in numb terror as Valkyrie shuffled deeper over the mound of sand. She was unarmed and weak. But she stood with her shoulders squared and her head held high.

The creatures circled her, using a pack mentality to corner their prey. Valkyrie pivoted carefully on the ball of her left foot, leaving her right foot free to strike. Her hands were tight fists and her focus was sharp. But there was pain cutting along the length of her jaw. He could see it in the way her nostrils flared and, as she turned her back to him, he could see why.

The entire length of her spine was a maze of open wounds. The welts ran in haphazard crosses that were split open and bleeding in some places. The clear signs of a whipping. The back of her legs were no better. Red bracelets were cut into her wrists as though she’d been suspended by her arms for a good length of time. The sight of them clenched white hot anger in the pit of his stomach.

The bull charged first. Valkyrie dove out of its path. She rolled over before lunging to her feet. She snarled, low and deep between clenched teeth as she came up, covered in blood, sweat and sand. Her body heaved and shuddered as though she had been skinned alive. She swayed and slammed into the wall, breathing hard.

“Salt,” Arild said when Gideon leaned in to see what was wrong.

Salt. On open wounds. He would have sworn profusely if Valkyrie wasn’t moving, dodging the meaty fist of the dironous trying to mash her into the ground. The arena wasn’t made for too much maneuvering. It was made even smaller when two of the three occupants were enormous beasts over twenty feet tall and weighing clear over thousands of pounds. Valkyrie barely came to the dironous’s hip. But that was also to her advantage. They were too big, too bulky, and there were two of them. Their speed was slow, made slower by constantly bumping into the other. Valkyrie seemed to realize this as well as she took a running leap and slid beneath the wide stance of the dironous. She came up behind him, spun around and landed a solid kick to the back of its knee, sending him forward onto his hands and knees with a screech of metal grinding. Gideon’s heart leapt the same moment Valkyrie did, using the dironous’s stooped body as a platform to dive off and throw herself onto the bull’s back.

The beast reared back. Its massive head swung wildly from side to side. Valkyrie seized the horns, hoisted one leg over and positioned herself upright. The bull snarled. It kicked out its legs, slamming its hooves into the side of the stadium right beneath the platform where Gideon sat. The whole thing shuddered, but remained intact.

The dironous climbed awkwardly to his feet and swung around. It spotted Valkyrie, barely clinging on to the back of the bull. He raised a fist. Valkyrie seemed to be waiting for it, because the moment it came down, she threw herself off and rolled out of the way. The fist slammed into the bull’s back, knocking its feet out from under it.

Gideon whooped in triumph. But his victory came too soon.

The bull ambled gracelessly upright and rounded on the dironous. It tossed its head, narrowly skewering the other creature with its horns. The dironous caught each horn in his hand and shoved the bull back. It slid, still unsteady on its feet and nearly trampled Valkyrie. Gideon’s heart gave a jolt of panic. He nearly lunged out of his seat; rules be damned, he wasn’t going to let her die.

Valkyrie shot to the left, rolling beneath the stomping hooves and landing out of harm’s way. She was caked in salt now. It was in her hair, on her skin, and mixing with the blood trickling from the lashes on her back. She was still trembling, but he suspected it wasn’t all from pain.

“Interfering will not help,” Arild stated simply.

Gideon shot him a sidelong glance. “Will you really let her die in there?”

Arild shrugged. “Perhaps. I have no use for a weak warrior.”

“She is your daughter!”

Arild waved a careless hand over his shoulder. “And I have four more to take her place.”

Nerves on the verge of frying, Gideon turned away from the man before he did something profoundly just, like tossing the man into the ring in Valkyrie’s place. He doubted anyone would thank him for it if he did.

Below, Valkyrie was edging along the walls, away from the two too busy with each other to notice her. He wasn’t sure how long that ploy would last, but it was giving her a chance to catch her breath and get the pain under control.

“If you two are finished, perhaps you could return to the task at hand,” Arild shot down.

The two below ceased their scuffling and rounded on Valkyrie.

She was cornered. They had her completely pinned.

Gideon’s hands clenched on his thighs. It was taking all his willpower not to leap to her defense. He knew, from years of fighting side by side, that they could take these creatures easily together. They were a strong, formidable team. But he knew she wouldn’t thank him for it. She would consider it an embarrassment. Plus he didn’t know what Arild would do if he interfered. It could only make things worse for Valkyrie.

So he sat, useless and numb as Valkyrie fought for her life.

The bull charged with a shriek that was more human than beast. Gideon felt his heart slam into his back a moment before the bull crashed into the spot Valkyrie stood. Smoke issued from its nostrils, momentarily obscuring her from view before it cleared and Gideon could breathe again.

In its madness, the bull had not calculated its attack. Its horns had pierced the paneling on either side of Valkyrie’s shoulders, embedding deep into the wood. It thrashed and jerked, but its initial assault had pinned him.

Without missing a beat, Valkyrie moved into action. She dove under and caught the bull in the throat with a punch. While it howled in hoarse fury, Valkyrie grabbed it by the snout with both hands and hauled herself up and onto its head. The creature roared and swung wildly to get free.

The dironous shuffled a step forward. Gideon couldn’t fathom what he was waiting for. But he seemed in no hurry to end the fight, even though Valkyrie was in a perfect position to get killed. Whatever his reasoning, Gideon was grateful for it. It gave Valkyrie time to focus on one at a time.

A sickening crack splintered through the chamber. The crowd quieted just enough to lean forward in their chairs. Below, the bull had ceased his thrashing and had become all but a statue. One horn was still deep in the wall. The other was gripped in Valkyrie’s hand as she rolled off him and tumbled to the ground.

The beast came out of its shock with a shriek that made everyone in the room wince. Fine fractures cracked up the length of the wall, spider webbing across the wood. His horn burst free and he reared back on his hind legs. The front ones kicked viciously at the air before slamming down inches from where Valkyrie lay, ivory horn in hand. She barely managed to twist her torso to the side when the first hoof smashed into the ground.

Now!
Gideon growled in his head.