Valhalla Page 5

  I stood up. "It’ll what, Mother, kill me?" I pulled my shirt up, revealing my unmarred torso to her. "Many have tried to kill me and look," I ran my hand over my smooth, tight, skin, "not a scratch."

  She looked past me and spoke softly. "I know that you fell in love with him."

  "Beau?" I asked, shocked that my mother would think that I loved Beau.

  "No, the potential that you went to the Highlands for, the Scot, Bhreac, and I know that he was lost to the other side. Your heart will never truly heal the loss of him, but someone else will come along and fill that gaping hole that you feel now, trust me."

  "Don’t be silly, Mother. I only knew Kerr a couple of weeks. I was foolish to marry him." Even I knew this was a lie. I loved Kerr from the moment I saw him and would until I took my final breath.

  My mother laughed and then smiled. "Linnea, it only takes a moment to fall in love, and even the shortest of love affairs can stay in your heart for a lifetime."

  "You sound like you speak from experience, Mother."

  "I do, now go and finish up this run, then when you return home, take some time, and mend fences with your friend Beau. He meant well, and now that he is in the favor of the elders they may be willing to make an exception to their rules for the two of you."

  I turned and headed out of the room. I wasn’t going to discuss the idea of marrying Beau, it was preposterous. My mother was right on one thing. I was overdue for some rest time. I’d been burying myself in work since I’d lost Kerr, and she was right about Beau, not in the sense of marriage, but that I did need to work things out with him. As much as I hated to admit it, he’d done what needed to be done. Kerr was lost to me, and to our cause, forever. Knowing this made it hurt more. It wasn’t supposed to hurt still, it had been a year—it should have felt better, right?

  I walked into my room and headed for my wardrobe. I stood in front of it and put my palm on it. "Rome, 351 AD," I said softly. I opened the door and found it full of the clothing I’d need to blend in. After my experience in the Highlands, I’d returned home and bewitched my wardrobe to produce costumes suitable to each time frame I traveled to.

  I reached in and pulled out the white knee-length tunica. It seemed shorter when I put it on, but it’d have to do. I didn’t want to be mistaken for a whore again. I grabbed hold of the white stola and draped it over myself. It went to the floor and was slit up the side. I had a hard time getting the shoulder clasps done, but managed. I glanced in the mirror and shook my head at the high waisted dress--it wasn’t very flattering. I pulled out the golden cords and wrapped them around my body. They served two purposes—they slimmed out the unflattering garment and gave me places to tuck my weapons. I put the palla back in the wardrobe, a shawl would normally do, but I needed the red cloak, it would better hide the sword that I took along. I slipped into my sandals and stood back to admire my handiwork.

  I frowned when I saw my waist-length black hair flowing freely. From what I knew of Rome, which wasn’t much since it was to be my first trip there, the women wore their hair up. I wasn’t very good at doing anything with hair above and beyond brushing it. I said a quick chant and hoped for the best. I opened my eyes to find my hair piled high on my head. It was curly now, and long ringlets fell loose down my shoulders and back. I didn’t have much faith that this hairstyle would hold up through the portal, but I went ahead with my mission anyway.

  I glanced down at the parchment in my hand. I looked for a Roman soldier named Gregorios. He was twenty-three and had been rumored to have supernatural gifts. My jaw tightened when I read this again. I had refused to go on any more hunts for gifted recruits after Kerr. Gregorios was to be my first in a year. According to my paperwork, I’d find Gregorios in the battle of Mursa. He was more than qualified in the bravery department and the speculation that he possessed special gifts only added to his appeal.

  I’d become very focused on the mission. I wanted to prevent the Apocalypse from coming and I wanted to defeat evil, but most of all, I wanted to take out my frustrations on any demon I could, and I knew that they’d be crawling all over this recruit—revenge would serve just fine cold.

  Chapter 10

  I cursed myself again as I walked past the slave trader for the fourth time. He still tried to get me to purchase one of his slave girls. As much as I wanted to buy them all, I couldn’t. I had nowhere to go with them all. They were too young to come to Valhalla yet, and I couldn’t take that many through the portal anyways. At most I’d be able to get four through it, including myself.

  The man reached out and touched my arm. I looked down at him and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you touching me?"

  "I’m sorry, my lady, I have such a good deal going today on these girls and a lady such as yourself requires lots of care."

  I grabbed his wrist and twisted his hand off me. I was sure that I’d used a little too much pressure, but I didn’t care. The filthy swine was in the business of trading little girls. He let out a small cry and the girl behind him gasped. He turned around and struck her across the face. His hand came back and he went to hit her again. I reached out and grabbed his wrist. I squeezed it hard and felt his bones crushing. He turned and his beady little eyes locked on me.

  "If you ever raise your hand to one of them again, I will kill you, do you understand?" He nodded frantically. I let go of him and smiled. "Good, now answer some questions for me."

  After brow beating—okay, actually beating--the slave owner for a few minutes, I figured out why I wasn’t able to find the battle of Mursa. I was a year too early. I should have guessed after I went over the waterfall’s edge, I had thought of Kerr again and lost my concentration. There was no way that I could wait around here for a year to take Gregorios, and according to all the literature I had, he would not be ready to come with me until then.

  I kicked out at a tiny pebble by my foot and turned to head back into the marketplace. I hit something hard and looked up to find that it wasn’t a something, it was a someone, and he was beautiful. I got lost in his forest green eyes for a moment. I shook my head and smiled up at him. I’d never seen hair so silky and blonde before. It hung loose to his shoulders, and seemed to radiate light out at me. His head blocked the sun, but I could still make out how innocent and soft his features were. They were a sharp contrast to … I turned my head and stopped myself from thinking any further of Kerr.

  "I’m sorry," I said and went to back away.

  The man walking with the Golden-Adonis grabbed his arm and pulled him in the other direction. "Stop staring at her, Gregorios. She’s out of your class."

  I stood still and watched as the man tugged Gregorios down the alleyway. Gregorios turned around two more times before he disappeared. I looked around at the Romans and laughed out loud. Somehow, the Gods knew what they were doing, and they’d sent me here for a reason. Perhaps Odin himself had written this meeting in the stars—I laughed at the thought and set out to follow him.

  I walked down the crowded alley in search of Gregorios. The alley was littered with people and it was almost impossible to move, let alone find anyone. The further I walked, the narrower the alley seemed to be. Finally the crowd tapered off and I found myself standing outside of a brown door. A large man, no doubt a soldier by the looks of his toga, pushed past me and entered. He gave me a sideways glance before passing. The sound of voices surrounded me and I went ahead and followed him in.

  I looked around the large room and knew that I stood in a bar, a pub, a tavern—whatever the hell they called it. From the looks of the women sitting on the men’s laps, it was one that offered more than just drinks, perhaps it was a brothel. I was shocked to see a man fondling a woman’s breast in plain view of the public. She didn’t seem to care. She was too busy kissing a second man to pay notice.

  "Hurry up, Gregorios. I don’t want to be found in a place like this. If my mother caught word of this she’d have my hide."

  "Maxus, old friend, don’t worry. I do not think that your mother would
talk with anyone who frequents this establishment," I heard a male voice say.

  "As much as I would like to believe you, Gregorios, I do not need to anger the woman any further. You are lucky that yours is…."

  "Dead," Gregorios said flatly. "And, I do not consider myself lucky at all. I have no one now."

  "You have your friends."

  "Go get some wine, Maxus, and I will be back out in just a minute."

  "Gregorios, tell me that you can go longer than a minute."

  I heard a loud thump and then saw the man who’d been tugging on Gregorios come walking out of the back hallway rubbing his chin. He made his way past me and to the bar. I took this opportunity to get to know my recruit a little bit better. I was disappointed that he sought the comfort of a whore, but he was a man and a soldier, and he needed a release.

  I followed the sound of his voice and pressed my ear to the door. I was shocked to hear more than one female voice in there with him. "Oh, Gregorios, we weren’t sure you’d come."

  "I made you a promise years ago, and I’ve honored that, haven’t I?"

  There was a collective "yes" from the group. "Now, lie down and I will begin. I see a few of you are new." He let out a sigh.

  "Oh, don’t worry bout them none, they’re trustworthy. They’ll not tell a soul."

  "Very well, let’s do this then."

  I leaned up against the door to hear better.

  "Will it hurt?" A young voice asked.

  "Just for a moment, then you’ll be good as new."

  I covered my mouth. I couldn’t believe that he was going to have sex with all those girls at one time. I pressed my ear to the door and felt the temperature of the air around me change. A sensation that I was familiar with hit me next, it felt like someone ran the tips of their fingernails all over my skin—it was magic, someone was using magic! I leaned against the door more and felt it give. I fell forward and closed my eyes tight. I really didn’t want to have the image of the handsome recruit screwing several females in my mind forever. I would have to look at him on a daily basis and I was sure that I’d have a hard time if that was etched in my brain.

  "What the…?" I heard Gregorios say.

  "Sorry, I’ve got her," Maxus said from behind me. He grabbed hold of my shoulders and hoisted me up. I managed to keep my eyes closed until I was safely out of the room. "Miss, I don’t know what you’re doing down around these parts, but it’d be wise for you to go home now. This is no place for a lady."

  I smoothed my cloak out and smiled up at Maxus. "Thank you."

  Chapter 11

  I stood at the edge of the waterfall and concentrated on September 8, 351 AD, the battle of Mursa. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. I’d just returned from having spent two days chasing Gregorios around Rome while he visited almost every whorehouse they had. I wasn’t sure if I was more upset with the fact that he’d done that, or that I was attracted to him even though he was a swine.

  I closed my eyes and thought of the date I needed to go to. A year would have passed for him now, and he would be in the middle of the bloodiest battle that century would see. I jumped forward and felt the wind ripping at my sides. I put my arms out and welcomed the pressure, it felt so safe.

  The portal dumped me off in the middle of an open field and that was unusual. I looked up to see Gregorios on his knees, with his head bent down. I looked around him and saw charred bodies. The scent of magic filled the air, and the realization of what he’d done hit me. He’d burned these men alive. I took a step towards him and felt the portal tugging at my back. It did not want to close yet, and that meant that danger came. I pushed out of it and watched as Gregorios looked up at me.

  "You’ve been sent here to punish me haven’t you?"

  I smiled at him and shook my head. "No, you are one of the bravest warriors I’ve ever seen, and from the looks of it, one of the most powerful."

  It took him a minute to understand that I wasn’t here to kill him. He looked up at me and focused on my face. "Your eyes."

  "Yeah, they’re turquoise and are considered plain where I come from."

  "I don’t understand how anyone in their right mind would think you plain."

  I walked towards him and bent down to help him to his feet. He didn’t fight me. He let me guide him up. "I’m a Valkyrie, a Falkyr and I’ve been sent to collect only the bravest of souls, and yours is one of them."

  "Your name is Valerie?" he asked. As soon as the word fell from his lips, I thought of Kerr and the way he pronounced Valkyrie, and I started to cry. Gregorios touched my cheek and came away with one of my tears.

  "I did not mean to make you weep, Valerie."

  I didn’t correct him about my name. It felt good to hear him call me that. "Valerie?" he said softly. I laughed. I hadn’t laughed like that in over a year, and it felt wonderful. I pulled back from him slowly.

  "I’m going to offer you something that I’ve never offered anyone before—a choice. You can choose to come with me to Valhalla and fight on the side of good in a battle for mankind, or you may stay here." I put my hand out and motioned to the battlefield. "From what I know, you were to live through this and live to be an old age." He looked around and then back at me. I heard someone coming and felt Gregorios draw on his power. He moved his body in front of mine.

  I touched his arm, and felt my body react to being near him. I hadn’t had the desire to be touched by a man since Kerr, and now I stood behind a man that was very much like me—a practitioner of magic. He possessed the gift of magic, the same gift that I had, and it would be rare to find that in someone I was attracted to again, and I knew it.

  "Close your eyes, Valerie. I do not want to frighten you with the horrors that I am capable of," he said.

  I moved my hand up his arm and let my power build. I let the tiniest bit of it spill out and onto him. He spun around and grabbed hold of me. "You have it as well!" He sounded a bit out breath, no doubt from shock.

  I smiled at him and nodded my head. "I’ve never had anyone to share it with, at least no one who understood it and recognized it for what it was."

  Gregorios looked around and then back down at me. "I shall come with you. What do you need to do now?"

  Normally, I would have taken only his soul back with me. He would become corporeal once he set foot on Valhalla’s ground and he would never again age, but I didn’t want to take only his soul, I wanted all of him. I wanted to bring Kerr back with me like this, and would have if things hadn’t turned out the way they did.

  "This also has to be your choice," I pulled his mouth towards mine, and stopped just short of kissing him. "With this kiss, we will forever be bound—linked. You will be considered my equal—my mate."

  Gregorios brought his lips down on mine and I let a piece of my very essence slip into him, and in return, I felt a piece of him move into me. I pulled away from him slowly, not wanting the moment to end. His green eyes closed and his face twisted. He let out a small moan, and tightened his grip on me.

  "What just happened?" he asked.

  "I bestowed upon you the gift of immortality, come, we have to hurry." I could feel the threat of evil looming around us. Their foot soldiers would have sensed the portal opening by now and be searching for me. I wasn’t worried about losing Gregorios as I had Kerr, because now he was an immortal, like myself and they couldn’t turn him into a demon, at least I didn’t think so, but I didn’t want to throw more at him than he was ready to deal with.

  "Come, let’s go."

  I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the portal. He came with me willingly and moved his body into the portal. It wrapped around us both and yanked at our clothes and hair. I pulled Gregorios to me and held him close. His body wrapped around mine and I knew that he tried to protect me even though the portal posed no harm. The pressure on us increased, and Gregorios held me even tighter. With my ear pressed firmly to his chest, I could hear his heart beating fast—and him sighing.

  The wind and pressu
re stopped and I felt the earth beneath my feet again. I opened my eyes and looked around at the beautiful tropical heaven that I called home. "This is Valhalla," I said, still holding onto him.

  "It is beautiful." His eyes moved to the waterfalls and he leaned out to have a better look. I pulled him back to me and laughed.

  "You don’t want to fall over that, at least not just yet. Who knows where you’d end up? You’ll be able to navigate through the portals on your own, soon enough." He didn’t find it as funny as I did, but that was to be expected.

  I laughed harder and turned to see Beau running towards us. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Gregorios standing with me. On all my other returns, including Beau’s, I’d brought back their soul, in a soul-decanter, and once I reached Valhalla they would materialize—become corporeal—they were always nude, and Gregorios was not.

  Gregorios let go of me and tried to push me behind him. His red toga blew slightly in the wind and caught the attention of Beau.

  Beau moved closer and gave me a puzzled look. "You okay, Princess?"

  Gregorios turned and looked at me. "Princess?"

  I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn’t very impressed with my status, and didn’t expect him to be either. Beau moved closer to us and Gregorios drew his sword. I put my hand out and touched his shoulder. "It’s okay, this is Beau. He’s one of the Captains of the guard. He’ll be assisting you with anything you’ll need." Beau made a coughing noise. I looked up at him. "Care to add anything?"

  "Yeah, don’t you mean I’ll be showing him to his quarters, and getting him acquainted with the others?"

  "No, I said what I meant, and Gregorios will be staying with me."

  Beau took another look at Gregorios and then started to shake his head. "You didn’t … no, you wouldn’t." He stepped forward and touched Gregorios lightly on the arm. "Shit, you did."