Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 41683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Cold dread settles in my stomach like a lead weight. So this is what that bastard meant when he said by the time we found the one they were holding, it'd be too late. They intend to kill her.
Nei. Not today. Not any day.
"Please be careful," Tori pleads, her fingers twisted up in my shirt.
I press my forehead to hers, breathing her in. She still smells like the sweetest honeysuckle. If I live another millennia, I'll never tire of that scent. Never.
"Always, little Valkyrie," I vow, my voice a quiet rumble. "I have you to protect now. I won't fail." My lips curve into the simile of a smile. "I promised your parents, remember?"
She bites her lip, sorrow reflecting like diamonds in her sapphire blue eyes. "I have a bad feeling, Reaper. I don't know what it is, but ever since Abigail started screaming, I feel unsettled in my soul. My bones are cold." She shivers, pressing herself closer to my chest as if she intends to forge us into one being. "Promise me you're coming back."
I crook a finger under her chin, forcing her to meet my gaze again. "I vow to you, I'm coming home, hjartað mitt. Nothing will keep me from you. My soul is yours. I will always find my way back to you."
She shudders and buries her face in my chest, clinging to me as if she's trying to commit every part of me—every whisper of breath, every beat of my heart—to memory. Her arms tighten around me as if she's afraid that I'll evaporate if she lets go even an inch.
"But what if you don't?" Her fragile voice is a mere scrap of sound.
A soft laugh escapes me despite the seriousness of our conversation. She flinches slightly at the sound, but her question is laughable to me. There is no force in the nine realms capable of keeping me from her.
"Then I'll rise from whatever hell I'm banished to so I can find my way back to you," I promise her, meaning every word. Nothing stands between a Fae and his mate. At least, nothing stands between this Fae and his mate. Gods have mercy on the souls of anything that thinks to try.
Her arms loop around my neck as she draws me down for another kiss. It's desperate, consuming—a love forged in fire and tempered by fate. As her lips move against mine, she flings the doors in her soul wide open, allowing me unfettered access to every thought, every emotion. They roll through me in a riptide—every raw piece of my Valkyrie…mine.
"Come back to me," she commands, speaking directly to my soul. "I command you to come back to me, Fae."
Before I can say anything, she flings herself out of my arms, putting distance between us. Tears roll down her cheeks, threatening to break my heart. Or perhaps that's the knowledge that, for the first time since I rescued her, she let me into her soul without reservation, sharing every corner of it with me. And every single corner of it blazed with my name.
"I love you," I rasp, striding from the room before I lose the will to leave at all.
At the door, I glance back at her one last time.
Her sapphire eyes anchor me like a beacon…a reminder of what I've pledged to protect, and a promise of what waits for me when I return.
Chapter Twelve
Tori
With the safehouse virtually emptied of warriors, it's far too quiet. But Damrion rallied everyone, the urgency of the situation demanding a full-scale response.
I spend hours pacing the halls with Abigail and Rissa, waiting for word. It trickles back to us slowly. Daric, Stephan, and a healing Garrison were left to watch over us, and neither of the three are particularly eager to tell us that the Fae still haven't found anything.
After the third such call, I can't take the oppressive weight of silence inside the safehouse anymore. It feels crushing. Or perhaps that's the weight of fear sitting on my chest.
I know Reaper swore he'd be back, but I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. Every hour, the chill inside my veins grows.
I hurry upstairs to the bedroom I share with Reaper, only to stop in the doorway, unable to cross the threshold. I don't want to go inside without him. It's our room, our sanctuary. Without him, there's no warmth. It's just lonely.
I cross my arms and lean back against the wall, closing my eyes. I'm so tired, but my mind won't shut off long enough for me to sleep. I wouldn't try even if it would. Until Reaper and the others are back, I'll be wide awake, waiting.
A shuffling sound comes from Abigail's room, drawing my attention. I thought she was still downstairs. Did I miss her coming up?
I push away from the wall to go check on her. She hasn't slept either. If anyone needs it, she does. Her vision was brutal. But both of the men she loves are out there right now, scouring the city because she sent them. I understand her reluctance to sleep.