Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Gods. It’s as if I’m being ripped apart, entire pieces of my soul shredded. But it doesn’t even compare to what’s happening to Abigail. She’s in so much pain.
What are they doing to her?
I grasp Adriel's shoulder, trying to anchor us as wave after wave of her pain lashes at us. My soul screams in defiance—in fury. They’re hurting our mate. She needs us.
Bloodlust rises hot and fast—burning through me like a comet streaking through the sky. I grip the table, pieces of wood crumbling beneath my fingers.
"Damrion," Adriel chokes, clinging to my arm as he trembles, his normally pale face gray. "I can't—she's—"
She’s in hell. Whatever they’re doing to her, it’s pure hell.
I whip my head around, looking for Rissa and Tori to demand that they do whatever needs to be done to find her right now. To find the Forsaken who are hurting her so I can kill them—rip them apart piece by piece.
The command dies in my throat.
Rissa and Tori are on the floor, blazing with Light as they twitch and convulse, their mates at their sides.
A vision.
Helheim, take me. Abigail’s sent them a vision. Even in the throes of her torment, she’s fighting.
I practically sob with pride for our fierce, brilliant mate.
Chapter Eight
Adriel
Abigail’s pain is endless, tearing at my soul. Until it stops as suddenly as it started. For one heartbreaking moment, I think we’ve lost her.
Damrion does, too. His body goes rigid, his wild eyes meeting mine. The look of sheer terror on his face breaks me. It’ll haunt my dreams long into the future.
“Nei,” I choke, shaking my head. “She’s alive. We’re still breathing. She’s alive.”
If she were gone, she would have taken us with her. A warrior doesn’t survive the death of his Valkyrie. When a bond is complete between Fae mates, neither do they.
He knows this—it’s been one of the biggest points of contention between us for millennia. Had he let me into his soul all those years ago, he wouldn’t have survived had I died on the battlefield as he thought. He would have died with me.
In this moment, for the first time, I realize that, perhaps, it’s a good thing he couldn’t accept the bond back then. Had either of us died, it would have killed us both, leaving Abigail unprotected. Perhaps the last 2500 years have been our training for her arrival. We fought and grieved and raged. And we survived for her—because the Norns knew she’d need us both. We weren’t running from one another. We were running to her. Always, we were running to her.
Tori whimpers, stirring on the floor.
“Tori, solsken.” Reaper gathers her into his arms as the Light around her and Rissa winks out.
Dax grabs his mate, too, pulling her onto his lap and murmuring soothing words to her.
Damrion and I are at their side in an instant, falling to our knees. Begging for news, any news.
“What did you see?” My voice trembles as I plead for answers—for a tiny sliver of hope. Right now, I have none. She may have masked the bond between us again, but I still feel the remnants of her torment. It tears at the walls of my mind, threatening to send them plummeting—to spill my own torment across our bond.
I thought I knew torture. After seven years in Jotunheim, I thought I understood agony. I was wrong. What the Forsaken are doing to Abigail is far worse than anything I endured.
"Give them space," Reaper growls, narrowing his eyes at Damrion and me as he tries to soothe his mate. Her face is pale, tears drying on her cheeks.
Rissa is in the same sad state, trembling in Dax’s arms. They’re two of the strongest Valkyrie to ever exist, but whatever they’ve seen has reduced them to tears.
My soul quakes in terror.
Damrion presses his arm to mine as if to offer me strength, though I know he shares my fear. I feel it rippling down the bond between us.
"A vision," Rissa whispers, pain evident in her voice. "She sent us a vision of what’s happening."
Dax cradles her in his arms like precious treasure, concern etched on his face. My chest tightens, threatening to suffocate me. I need Abigail back in our arms. They ache for her.
“Oh, Reaper,” Tori sobs, her body trembling in his embrace. “They’re t-trying to break her. They have her tied up and helpless.”
“They’re using dark magic,” Rissa says. “They’re using it like a weapon, hitting her with it, forcing visions on her. She won’t give them what they want, so they’re hurting her.” Tears roll down her cheeks. “She’s not going to give them what they want, no matter what they do to her.”
The soul-damned bastards are torturing her with visions?
My vision goes red with rage. I jump to my feet, a roar of fury ripping from my throat. I can't contain the wrath coursing through my veins. I don’t even try.