Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
He died as he lived, violently. Painfully. Having never once said sorry for everything he took from me. Not just my mom, but my childhood, and my sense of safety. My trust in people and, for a long time, my belief in love. He took everything and paid for less than I did.
I close my eyes, blocking out the sight of him. I can't think about that now. I have more pressing concerns. Like the fact that I'm in a house full of Forsaken. Dax is going to be so mad at me when he finds me.
If he finds me.
"Do it," one of them whispers. "Before she wakes."
Do what?
"Is the sacrifice prepared?"
"We have his soul."
"Then prepare to open the portal," the Forsaken who spoke to me at the door says.
The portal? What portal? To Valhalla? I desperately want to crack my eyes open again to see what they're doing, but I can't. I can't let them know I'm already awake. But if they're opening the portal to Valhalla, I need to let them do it. It may be the only way back.
I slowly dip into the well, being careful not to draw on the Light inside.
"As soon as it opens, prepare to go through and start collecting souls," the Forsaken from the door says. "As many as you can contain."
Collecting souls? From Valhalla? Why would they need souls from…? Shock courses through me as realization dawns. They don't need souls from Valhalla. They can take those from anywhere. But they need the Bifröst to travel between realms, just like the Gods did. And the Bifröst was destroyed two thousand years ago. The portal in Valhalla was the only piece of it left…and they destroyed it three hundred years ago.
They haven't been collecting souls at their whim for the last three hundred years! At least not any that made it to the Veil. They can't get there without the portal any more than the Fae can get to Valhalla without the portal. They thought they were destroying the Valkyrie when they destroyed the portal, but they failed to consider the broader ramifications. Without that portal open, most of the souls they wanted so badly were forever out of their reach.
"Get the Valkyrie's blood. Quickly!"
Nope. If that's what they need to open the portal, Helheim will freeze over first. If that's why they wanted me so badly, too bad. I'll find a way to open the portal myself.
Footsteps start across the room toward me.
I reach deeper into the well, preparing to grasp every bit of Light I can contain.
"Fae!" one of the Forsaken hisses. "Outside."
Dax! Oh, God. Dax is here.
"Hold them off! We're almost finished here."
I allow the Light to pour through me in a fiery storm as I scramble upright.
"Shit," the Forsaken closest to me growls, trying to dodge out of my way. I grab his arm, watching as he ignites with a whoosh of sound.
He screams as he burns.
The Forsaken take one look at him burning and scramble like mice. Too bad for them. I feel like hunting today. I reach deeper into the well, pulling every ounce of Light I can hold into me. Just like I did in the forest, I let it pour out of me. It spreads across the room in spiderwebs, jumping from one Forsaken to the next.
The front door bursts open as Dax and Reaper rush in, lyststål spinning. They take one look at the Forsaken going up in flames all over the room and jump in to help. Dax stabs one through the throat. Reaper stabs another through the heart.
"Wait!" I cry as Dax advances on the one who spoke to me at the door. "Leave him alive."
Dax nods his understanding, kicking the demon's feet out from beneath him. He falls to his knees, not attempting to rise.
"I told you that I'd burn you all out like your varulv," I murmur, stepping up in front of him. "You should have listened."
"Valkyrie witch," he spits.
"Forsaken scum," I retort, laughing. As if his opinion or his insults mean anything. "You were going to use my blood to open the portal. How?"
He says nothing.
Surprise ripples from Dax. And white-hot anger.
"All those souls that have been roaming for the last three hundred years? They can't get to them. Any that made it to the Veil are still there, waiting to be ferried across."
"Faen," Reaper breathes. "How?"
"They can't travel to the Veil without a portal made for that purpose. They needed the portal they destroyed. They were just too dumb to realize that until they'd already destroyed it."
"We didn't destroy it," the Forsaken growls.
"Ja, you did," Reaper says. "We watched you do it."
"You saw what you wanted to see, Fae. We intended to take the portal. It sealed itself off."
Dax and Reaper share a look.
"The Valkyrie," Dax whispers.
Reaper nods. "It must have been a failsafe. Once the last Valkyrie fell and the portal fell under attack, it sealed itself off to keep from falling into the wrong hands."