Infinity Unleashed (17 page)

Deliberately ignoring her insult, I sighed with relief. “I knew it. Mom’s alive.”

Gunner rolled her eyes. “Uh, yes… What the hell’s wrong with you?” Her eyes narrowed. “Still confused,
little
Valkyrie?”

Gunner was irritating as both a raven and human. My mouth tightened. I didn’t like the way she said
little
. It was as if she was relegating me to the kid’s table on Thanksgiving.

“It’s still fragmented,” I responded sharply. “But it’s coming back… slowly.”

Göndul leaped from the tree. She winked at me saucily as she wiggled her body with wings spread wide before disappearing. “It will take time for everything to come back. Be patient with yourself.”

“You should know by now that I don’t know how to be patient,” I responded quickly. Especially when I knew that my memories held the key to the mystery that surrounded me. My fingers gripped the railing tensely. “Mason told me Mom was dead, but I knew in my heart that it felt… too contrived.”

Göndul shook her head. “Nasty business that Mason. Trying to kill Kara is inexcusable.”

Gunner grunted. “I never liked him.”

Göndul rolled her eyes. “You don’t like anyone, Gunner.”

My eyes narrowed. “He tried to kill her? He said it was Boulder and Torch.” I felt sick with rage.

“Mason’s so damn desperate.” Gunner snorted. “Boulder and Torch? I hate those wolves, but that’s fucking ridiculous!”

Göndul pointed in Gunner’s face. “I happen to like them.”

Gunner twirled her knife, looking at Göndul cynically. “I know… especially Torch.”

Raising a brow, I responded. “Uh-huh… and that means…?”

Göndul shot Gunner a dirty glare. “Nothing. Just a difference of opinion when it comes to wolf-shifters.”

Gunner batted her eyes prettily. “Just one wolf-shifter…”

“Grow up! Can we get back to Mason?” Göndul rolled her eyes before looking at me solemnly. “The Mason situation is kind of sad. He’s fighting a losing battle against the Immortals and he knows it.”

I leaned forward anxiously. “Do you care to fill me in on what I missed?”

They just stared at me.

“I have the right to know, given the fact that my whole life has been a fucking lie.”

Gunner rolled her eyes. “For fuck’s sake. Will you just get past this? You’re not the first girl in the world to find out her life’s a lie,” Gunner said sharply. “The reality is that Mason cannot be trusted.”

“Tell me something I don’t know. He drugged me. That doesn’t exactly put him at the top of the trust list.” I looked at them suspiciously. “After all these years, why can I see you now?”

Göndul smiled at me proudly. “Because it’s time. The Valkyrie in you has been awoken. Something they wanted to stop, but you outsmarted them.”

Gunner shook her head with dismay. “It’s about damn time. Years we’ve been waiting for sleeping idiot over there to wake up.”

I wanted to wrap my hands around Gunner’s neck and squeeze. Nothing changed, whether in raven or human form. Gunner was my equivalent of a big bully. Ignoring her, I looked at Göndul.

Göndul shushed her with her hand. “Will you grow up?”

“So only I can see you?” I asked.

Göndul smiled sadly. “Only a Valkyrie can see beyond the spell that has been placed on us by Glen. This is our human shell. The raven is our curse.”

I held my breath when I saw the enforcers patrolling the grounds approaching hard and fast. They looked at me with disgust before walking by Gunner and Göndul.

Göndul trailed her fingers across their shoulders. The enforcers shivered, looking around with narrowed eyes before walking off.

“See?” She laughed huskily.

“That’s amazing. I’ve never seen them so scared.” Would I end up cursed like Göndul and Gunner? “How did you wind up cursed?” I asked.

They both froze, giving me blank stares before Gunner responded. “We don’t have time for twenty questions, Infinity.”

I arched a brow. I hit a sore spot for both of them.

Göndul pulled back her hair with shaky fingers. “Gunner is right. Time is running out on your little vacation in tiger paradise. The New York Council has sanctioned a team of nine to retrieve you tomorrow.”

I sighed with relief. “Thank goodness.”

Göndul continued. “This is no time to relax. You must prepare to defend yourself. Not all of the nine can be trusted.”

“You mean they plan to kill me,” I stated flatly.

Gunner’s fists clenched. “Exactly, and this you cannot allow. The Valkyries
need
you alive.”

My eyes narrowed, noting that she said need, not want. There was a big damn difference between the two.

Göndul looked at me with anxious eyes. “My visions have shown me things to come… blood, death, and sorrow.” She raised her hand toward me in a comforting gesture. “This is your test. Do not fail.”

The sky darkened. The moonlight shone down on them, casting ominous shadows. They looked at each other sadly.

“Our time is up. We must go.” Gunner looked at me worriedly.

My fingers gripped the railing. “Go? You can’t go. I need you.” I wanted to jump down and go with them. “I don’t think that I can do this.” I swallowed hard. “I don’t know what I’m doing.” My fingers trembled. “I know everyone believes that I have this… power, this thing within me, but maybe you are all wrong.”

Göndul sighed. “We are never wrong.” She pressed her palm toward me.

I felt the power shimmering in me, trapped. “How can I even defend myself if I don’t know how to use it? Is it like waving your hands and poof, it’s there?” It was frustrating not knowing.

Gunner laughed bitterly. “Poof? We are not witches. When the time comes, your powers will emerge on their own.”

I arched a brow. “On their own?”

Göndul looked at me serenely. “It’s like breathing. It comes naturally.”

I rubbed my face with frustration. “Oh God, I’m in trouble. Nothing comes naturally to me except singing.”

Gunner’s lips curled up into a genuine smile. “Exactly. When you sing, you feel. You let it flow through you. You know when the note is right or wrong and you adjust it until it feels just right.”

I just stared. I understood what she was saying, but applying it was very different.

“You’ll be fine. We have faith that you’ll do the right thing.” Göndul paused. “Know that, through it all, our strength and love will be with you—always.”

Suddenly their bodies convulsed and wings expanded from their backs, flapping frantically. They grunted as if they were in tremendous pain before a blinding gold light singed my eyes. Blinking, the two ravens croaked before taking to the air.

As I held back the tears, never had I felt as alone as I did right then.

Walking back into the living room, I heard the call of something ancient in my blood… I knew the time was coming near to fight, to rise against my enemies, and I had no intention of losing. Such a heavy burden was placed upon me, but I knew that I was born to fight, to conquer… to rise. I was going to survive.

I plopped down tiredly onto the love seat. My back straightened when I heard the hushed voices of Matt and Parker outside my suite.

“I still cannot believe Nick’s dead. Mason deciding not to avenge Nick’s death is sacrilegious. He’s weak. To think that he will someday lead all tigers as king is some frightening shit,” Matt hissed.

Nick’s dead? Tucking my legs under me, I listened attentively.

“Will you shut the hell up? If anyone hears you, it’ll be both of our asses ripped to shreds,” Parker responded.

“I don’t care. His decisions have been clouded by his obsession with that Valkyrie mutt and our Alpha is no better,” Matt spat. “To send our women away from the protection of our pride is ridiculous. They’re more concerned about protecting that Valkyrie mutt.” He scoffed. “She would’ve been dead by now if it wasn’t forbidden by Mason. It’s like she’s his little pet Valkyrie.”

Parker growled low. “Well, it gets worse. I heard the Alpha planning the mating of the Valkyrie and Mason at next month’s full moon. She and Mason will rule when he steps down from the position of Alpha.”

“To hell we are,” I mumbled under my breath.

Matt’s cold laugh sent chills down my spine. “You mean if the Others don’t kill her first. I have never seen such chaos over one woman. In a matter of hours, her presence has ripped apart our pride and caused the New York Council to break a pact that has been in existence for years. How is that even possible?”

Parker laughed bitterly. “Anything’s possible now. We’re at the top of the food chain, yet we’re taking orders from that fucking vampire. Shit is going downhill fast.”

I heard the hurried tapping of heels across the marble floors. “Move!” Skylar screamed hysterically before the door slammed open with a loud crack.

My back straightened at the sight of a wild-looking Skylar. Her normally well-groomed hair was a cloud of crazy. Her face was flushed. Her eyes darted around the living room before her heated stare pinned me to the love seat.

She was pissed. Shit! This couldn’t be good.

Skylar slammed the door shut, pressing her back against it as her chest heaved. It was as if the door was the only thing keeping her from tearing into me.

“You! I thought that we could be friends,” Skylar screeched, glaring at me with utter hatred in her eyes.

Uh-oh, this didn’t sound good. Standing up quickly, I held out a placating hand. I sure as hell did not want to rumble with a crazed tiger, but I would defend myself if she tried to attack.

“What are you talking about?” I whispered shakily.

Her head tilted in a pure animalistic way. “You’re nothing but fucking death and destruction.” She was shaking with rage as tears streamed down her cheeks.

I released a long-suffering sigh before responding with an impatient voice. “You’ve got to calm the hell down, Skylar. This is not like you.” Gone was the jovial, bubbly woman. Now I was trapped in the suite with a raving lunatic.

“You don’t know shit about me. So don’t act like you do.” Skylar wiped her face impatiently. “If you did, then you wouldn’t be standing there with that pathetic look on your face like some damn victim.”

I curled my lip. “Okay, now you’re just being a bitch.”

“All these years waiting for him to finally mate me… Gone… He’s just gone. I should have known something was wrong.” Skylar clawed at her chest. “The empty feeling. The migraines. All bonds with him broken.” Her eyes were wild and feral. “They sent what was left of him in a fucking box. A box!”

I started to walk toward her, freezing at the menacing growl rumbling in her chest. Okay, this was not going well.

“Nick. He’s dead. I’m so sorry, Skylar. Really I am.”

“You can take your unfeeling words and shove them up your ass, Infinity.”

My pulse raced at her confrontational behavior. She was pissing me the hell off. I tried to calm down, but frankly, it was hard as hell and getting harder by the minute. Stepping back, I eased myself onto the plush loveseat, crossing my legs, locking eyes with her.

Skylar’s eyes dilated before she lowered them. A move I recognized as submissive in nature. My body buzzed with strange energy. Now I was in the position of power, and I did not intend to relinquish that control, ever. My ears rang when Skylar’s heart began to beat quickly.

Skylar cleared her throat. “Something’s different about you,” she mumbled under her breath.

Remaining silent, I smiled. Damn right something was different. The exhilaration of my supercharged senses was thrilling. I could hear and smell things that overwhelmed my senses. I could hear the subtle rub of fabric as Skylar shifted nervously. I smelled a sickly scent wafting through the air I couldn’t put my finger on… Wait… It was fear. She was scared of me. It was demented, but I actually languished in her fear and my dominance.

My breath caught when I heard a low growl rumbling in my chest.

Skylar’s eyes widened. “Are you growling at me?”

I uncrossed my legs, clearing my throat. “Apparently, my wolf has picked an awkward time to emerge. However, this is not about me right now. It’s about you marching in here acting like you want to kick my ass.” I arched a brow. “Now is that how friends act?”

“Don’t presume to tell me how to act. Nick was a good man.”

I looked at her sardonically. “Uh-huh.” Yeah right. Mason is a sociopath and Nick was his sidekick. Birds of a feather and all.

She wrung her hands. “He would’ve come around eventually. He would’ve mated me,” Skylar said with a trembling voice.

“Are you trying to convince me? Or yourself?” I responded coolly.

Skylar snarled. “To hell with you.”

I shrugged. “I keep it real. You and I know Nick wasn’t a saint, and he sure as hell didn’t deserve your devotion.” I pursed my lips. “You told me that yourself.”

From the sob story that Skylar told me—when she was saner than she was now—Nick refused to mate her because she was a hybrid. What type of bullshit is that? What was worse was that he had slept with most of the females in her pride. Why in the hell she would even lower herself to hold on all these years, waiting for him to come to his senses, was beyond me. It just seemed clinical and cruel the way he boldly dashed away her hopes of a life together when she was the sweetest person I knew. Skylar was also giving and selfless. She did not have to keep me company when everyone is this compound treated me like a leaper.

Skylar also was patient as she had explained all about the mate-claim rules. Like how there were two types of mates, true-mates and mates. The Immortals bound true-mates together. The most rare mating. Essentially, finding your true-mate was like finding-a-needle-in-a-haystack impossible. And lastly, a mate-claim was only acknowledged under the power of the full moon, binding the mates under the eyes of the Immortals.

I continued. “You also told me that challenges between shifters were fairly common.” Nick just met a shifter who was much more powerful. It was the law of the jungle. The strongest survive. It was harsh but true.

Skylar eyes widened. “He had nothing to do with this dispute over you. They killed my mate because of you,” she screamed at me hysterically.

Skylar was coming unhinged.