Rapture (34 page)

“We
were once, too.”

“Are
you not anymore?”

Raine’s
head rose when there was no response. But once her eyes painfully met Darla’s,
her sister snorted. “You tell me. Look at where you’re at, and where I stand.
If we were family, do you think you’d be there?”

Raine
cast her eyes downward and sighed as drops of her blood splattered on the hard
floor. She’d just been thinking that very thing.

“Darla,”
her father’s voice boomed through the hall. “You weren’t to start without me.”

“I
am sorry, Father.” Darla turned toward Odin, shrugging. “She provoked me.”

Raine
snorted and shook her head, drawing Odin’s and Darla’s attention back to her.
Her father stalked toward her, peering at her eye-to-eye as she dangled from
the heavy chains. “Do you see what your selfishness has wrought?”

She
met his eyes, seeing a flash of sorrow in his gaze before his eyes turned cold.
Or maybe she only hoped she saw sorrow. “It’s not selfish to love, Father. It’s
only selfish to withhold it.”

Anger
flashed across his face just before he struck her cheek. “Darla, Bree,” he
said, and Raine opened her eyes to see the Valkyries stride toward them,
victorious smiles on both their faces. “Summon your sisters. I think it is time
to make Raine an example.”

He
peered down at the whip Darla held and gripped it. As her sisters left the
hall, Odin cracked it against Raine’s shoulder, a spray of blood spurting her
face.

****

Valhalla

Six Centuries ago

Raine pulled Ferox to her, taking his lips in a long, lingering
kiss. It would have to do. Ferox wouldn’t be back for two nights.

“I really should get going,” he said when their lips parted. “I
must go speak with my parents.”

“As should I.”

“I still don’t feel right about sending you to talk to your own
father. It should be I that requests for your hand.”

She peered at him with one brow raised and the other lowered.
“Father would probably rather kill you than accept. It is best that I speak to
him alone.”

Ferox had brought it up about five times before, but each and
every time, she rejected his plight.

“Go to your parents,” she said. “I fear you may have as big of a
battle ahead of you as I.”

He nodded and kissed her again, letting his fingers run through
her hair. “I love you,
Caalia
.”

“And I you. Until the night after tomorrow.”

“Until then.” He smiled and turned away, disappearing through the
portal.

She stood there for a time, her thoughts on her vampire and the
things they’d done to each other over the last hours. When she finally shook
free her thoughts, she walked around the lake on her way to Odin’s hall. Should
she speak to him tonight? Or would it be too late? She didn’t want to disturb
him needlessly, though her heart was pounding in excitement and fear of what he
might say.

No, she would do it tonight. She would go to his hall and see if
he would see her. There was no point in stalling. She’d made up her mind, and
she would discuss it with him.

As she reached the pebbled path, she continued her pace, passing
hut after hut. Some Valkyries slept, while others were awake, talking to others
among the torchlight. It hadn’t occurred to her until a few minutes later that
every single one that had seen her had stared in surprise.

“So, you’ve returned.”

She skidded to a stop and peered to the left, seeing that Odin was
on another pebbled path that intersected with the one she walked on. “I have.”

His visible eye narrowed, and he looked her up and down before he
continued forward, stepping in front of her as he walked toward his hall. “You
will come with me.”

She did as he said, even as she felt his anger wash over her like
a blanket. Odin entered the building, and she followed close behind as he
stalked the corridor and strode into his hall.

“And where do you think you’ve been? I’ve had your sisters
scouring the land for you all day.”

“I’ve been away,” she replied. “Father, I need to speak with you.”

He took a seat in his throne. “Then speak.”

She swallowed, closing her eyes as she inhaled and exhaled one
long, slow breath. “I wish to leave.”

“Leave?” he asked, surprised. “What do you mean, leave Valhalla?”

“Yes.”

Odin clasped his hands together, regarding her silently as she
stood before him. “I am going to ask you a question, and I do expect you to
answer truthfully. Does this have anything to do with the vampire?”

“It does.”

Her father slammed his fists on the armrests and stood, stalking
toward her with his furious glare. She didn’t back away though, didn’t cower.
“What have I told you about males, Raine?” he yelled. “Have I not told you that
they’re passing fancies? Why would you leave us behind for a bloodsucking
leech?”

“Father, I don’t mean to leave perm—”

“Well, you’re not going anywhere. I’ll lock you in the fucking
dungeon if I have to, but you’re not. Going. Anywhere.”

Raine sucked in a breath as her father’s hot breath fanned over
her face. She lifted her chin, and Odin relaxed.

“You know I control the only portal in and out of here,” he said,
much more calmly. “Don’t ever mention the vampire again.”

Raine turned away and left her father’s hall without saying
another word to him. She pushed open the door and hit the pebbled pathway at a
fast clip, curling and uncurling her hands into fists as she bit the inside of
her cheek. She passed several of her sisters, most of which looked at her with
curious expressions, while others didn’t acknowledge her at all. She passed
Caleen, who was whittling down a piece of wood.

As soon as she’d seen Raine, she was up, scrambling to keep up
with her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen that look before. You look like you’re about to
go slaughter something.”

She felt like it. “No, I am just tired. I am going to go to bed.”

Caleen stopped walking beside her. “Very well. Sleep well,
sister.”

Raine peered at her from over her shoulder, not stopping her
stride. “Thanks.”

She reached her hut and walked inside, slamming the door behind
her.
She couldn’t leave,
he’d said.
He controlled the only way in
and out,
he’d said.
He’d lock her in
the dungeon,
he’d said. Raine stood in the
middle of her hut, wanting nothing more than to scream at the top of her lungs.
But she didn’t. She breathed out slowly and peered around the hut. She dropped
to her knees and opened the chest at the foot of her bed, pulling out her
weapons and clothes. She still had the pack she’d used during the tournament
and hastily shoved her belongings inside.

Reaching the door, she pulled it open and stepped outside, and
walked into the forest, far beyond their village. She knelt next to the
alexiolus Ferox had given her at the tournament and pulled the pot out of the
ground. Standing up, she headed west, toward the lake where she and her vampire
had spent many nights making love under the stars. The first moon’s light
shimmered over the water as the lake came into view, and she rounded it,
standing only a few feet away from the doorway that would take her from this
place.

Raine sighed, looking out over the expanse of the only home she’d
ever known. From here, she could see the roof of her father’s hall and tiny flames
from the torches that surrounded it.

“You think me a fool.”

She started at his voice, turning to see as her father stepped
from the trees.

“You think I don’t know who has come to you, or the fact that you
left with him?”

“I don’t think you a fool, Father. I do think you cruel.”

“Cruel?” he gaped.

“Yes. You know where my heart lies, and yet you would keep me from
happiness.”

“I would keep you where you belong.”

Raine shook her head and stepped toward the portal, her father
tensing as she did.

“Take one step through that, Raine, and you’re never welcome here
again.”

She froze, blinking at the forest that lay behind the invisible
doorway. He’d ban her for following her heart? Goose bumps broke out over her
skin at the thought of never seeing her father and sisters again. She’d always
planned to come back, at least to visit. Raine shifted the pack on her shoulder
and peered at Odin. “I am sorry to hear you say that.”

She took the final two steps it took to reach the portal, and left
Valhalla behind for good.

Ferox was just inside, pacing back and forth until he saw her. He
was beside her in an instant, enveloping her in his arms. “Are you well, Raine?
I felt your distress and came back.”

She wrapped her arms around his back as her head rested against
his chest. “I can’t go back,” she cried. “He told me I could never go back.”

Ferox’s hand came up and cupped the back of her head. “I am so
sorry,
Caalia
.” Silence stretched between them as tears fell from her cheeks. “Are
you sure you’ve made the right choice?”

“What do you mean?” She looked into his eyes.

“Would you rather stay with Odin and your sisters?”

Raine shook her head as heat flooded her cheeks. “No, I would
rather spend a lifetime with you than to be apart, even if I never see them
again.”

Ferox relaxed. “Alright then. We’ve got some time to waste until
the sun is down in Vampur. What would you like to do to pass the time?”

She bit her lip and twitched her eyebrows at him just before she
pulled him to her. They made love in the quiet abyss as they waited for
nighttime to come in her new home.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Valhalla

Present
Day

“Can
I help you?”

Ally
blinked at the changed surroundings, though that was because of all of the
Valkyries that stood shoulder-to-shoulder, filling the room from end to end,
than from the room itself. There was a single male standing in the center of
the room, who stared at them from over his shoulder before facing them fully
with an angry glare.

“Odin,”
Dellingr said, releasing his hold on Ally’s hand. He offered the god a bow,
sounding genuinely surprised, even though he knew they would see him. Her buddy
had some acting skills, she realized. Ally bowed to the god as well, following
Dellingr’s lead.

Odin
eyed them, his eyes flaring with interest. “Dellingr, isn’t it? And who is
this?”

“My
wife, Alaina.” He placed a hand on the small of her back, and Ally flashed Odin
the most brilliant smile she could muster.

“Alaina,”
he mused. “Gersemi’s Alaina?”

She
blinked. “Yes.” He recognized the resemblance to her mother even faster than
she’d expected. Her mother had once been married to Odin’s brother, Vili, so it
shouldn’t have surprised her exactly. “It is a pleasure to make your
acquaintance.”

Odin
straightened to his full height, his gaze piercing as he looked her up and
down. “You are not my brother’s daughter.” He hadn’t phrased it like a
question.

“No,
I am not.”

“Who
is your father?”

“I,
uh … I don’t know. I’m afraid I have never met him.” She averted her eyes,
hoping that Odin couldn’t see the truth in her expression. Of course she knew
her father. Always had—though she’d thought him her uncle most of her life. In
any case, it was far better that Odin didn’t know she was the daughter of the
Protogonos. From the little bit she’d heard of him, he wouldn’t like the fact
that she was probably stronger than he was. His brother certainly didn’t.

“Shame,”
he said, eyes narrowed. He approached them, bracing a hand against his throne.
“What brings the two of you here?”

Ally
deferred to Dellingr, suddenly unable to speak. When Odin had moved, he
revealed what had been behind him. Raine, strung by her wrists to chains that
reached the rafters. She nearly gasped at the sight of her, her hands curling
into fists as they shook.

Dellingr
wrapped his hand around hers, squeezing gently. “We’ve been traveling from
realm to realm in search of a place we can call home. We came upon your realm
by accident.”