“Who?” It was Killian’s turn to sound unsure, which absolutely broke my heart.
Walking over to stand before him, I cup his face between my hands. I smile down at him and whisper, “You.” I kiss his forehead before releasing him and moving over to the twins and take one of each of their hands in mine. “You two,” stepping back I finish, “Baler, and a man I have only recently met here in the dreamscape named Weylen.”
“Who’s Baler?” Paxton asks at the same time Killian tersely exclaims, “Weylen the fecking vampire?”
“Baler is a viking warrior from Valhalla who is now a Demi-God, I believe,” I quickly tell Paxton before moving my attention to Killian. “And you, what do you mean vampire?”
“Exactly what the dog said, Sweetheart.” Killian releases a warning growl, as a smooth rich voice floats over me in that deep English accent that makes the knees go weak. Turning around, I find a shock of silver hair leading down to soul penetrating ice blue eyes that hold my gaze. “Hello again, Little Mate. I’m pleased to see you figured out the how.”
Forcing myself to ignore the feeling his presence ignites in me, I look away, focusing on the others. “Yes, I can pull you each into my dreamscape through our bonds. But if you’re here, where is Baler? I was thinking of him too.”
“The gruff twat most likely isn’t asleep, yet.” I narrow my eyes on him at that remark.
“You don’t know anything about him. Who are you to judge him?”
“Vampire, remember. Love, I’m in your head. You invited me in.”
Understanding finally dawns, and I spin around to face the others. “So, wait. Can you guys hear my thoughts as well?” They each shake their heads in negations while Weylen lets out a deep dark chuckle behind me.
“They’re not vampires, Love,” Weylen whispers in my ear, sending a tingle racing down my spine. My eyes shut of their own volition. When did he get so close?
A growl sounds in front of me and my eyes snap open. That’s when I realize Weylen’s hands are resting on my hips, his front pressed firmly into my back. All while Killian shoots daggers behind me as he gets to his feet and begins moving in Weylen’s direction.
“Stay out of her fecking head. She hasn’t given you permission to go snooping around in there. If you do anything to hurt her, I swear I will end your miserable existence.” Killian’s tone brokers no argument, and my eyes widen at the evident animosity between the two. Looking over my shoulder, Weylen’s face remains passive and unreadable as he stares back at Killian, obviously not worried about Killian’s clear threat. His thumbs rub small circles into my hip bones, making me want to moan.
Killian’s echoing growl, with Weylen’s chuckle lets me know Weylen is trying to get a rise out of him. Taking a step forward, I move to the twins and clear my throat.
“Look, guys, whatever is going on between you two,” I start, pointing between Killian and Weylen, “you need to get over it. We have bigger issues. Riley is in trouble and she needs help, she just doesn’t know it yet. All of humanity is in trouble and doesn’t know it.”
“What kind of trouble?” my ever-practical Jameson asks from my side.
“The Alastair kind. He’s hunting for her and soon he will narrow down her location and blackmail someone into spying on her. He plans to use her to strengthen himself and take over humanity, rule the world. Become a king.”
“What can we do?” Paxton asks from my other side, taking my hand between his.
“Baler is training with Odin, and as soon as we can, we will leave Valhalla and meet up with you. In the meantime, I will try to get inside Alastair’s mind and glimpse his plans. You guys need to warn the surrounding packs. Alastair and his brother will kill anyone that stands up to them. Do you remember the pack massacre I dreamt of when I was seventeen?” The twins nod. “That was Alastair and his brother.”
Silence rings out around us. Paxton and Jameson seem to be contemplating everything I’ve told them, knowing my history with Alastair. Weylen is studying everyone, seeming unsure of his place among it all. And Killian, well, his pinched face makes him look like he’s sucking on something sour.
“To keep it simple… warn the pack, train them to protect themselves, and help them fight when necessary. We need allies for the coming war. Riley will need an army.”
“I don’t think the wolves will listen to me, Love,” Weylen expresses.
“No, but the vampires will. Alastair isn’t just looking to rule the wolves. He wants to rule the world by making the supernatural known and enslaving the mortals. If we don’t come together, he will win and life as we know it will end and the world will burn.”
A tug at my center signals someone trying to pull me out. “Grace?” Killian’s worried eyes trace my body. I look down to see my form starting to fade. “Wait.”
“I’ll call to you all again, soon,” I say as the tribal lands fade from view and the faces of four of my mates whisk away like the smoke of a long burnt-out fire. Blackness swallows me whole and my consciousness returns to my body.
A high pitch keening noise assaults my hearing as I come to my physical awareness. It isn’t until I feel the unbearable ripping in my back that I register the noise is coming from me.
“What is happening to her?” Baler’s panicked voice meets my ears, sounding underwater.
“She has passed the final test; therefore, she is coming into her last gift. Do not fear son, it will be over soon,” Odin explains.
Feeling an unexplainable need to be outside, I push off the bed under me and I stumble my way to the, thankfully, open balcony. I can hear Baler’s frantic voice calling to me from inside as Odin holds him back.
The pressure in my back builds as muscles and tendons rip and shred, making room for something more. Without warning, like a painful release, something heavy bursts from my shoulder blades. I stumble forward, catching myself on the balcony banister. The weight on my back pulls down on my body and I have to lock my knees to keep from falling forward.
Blood trickles down my back, dripping onto the floor beneath me. An odd twitch in my shoulder draws my attention behind me. What I find has my breath catching in my throat. Looking over my other shoulder, my breath shutters. “W-what?”
“You have passed the final test. You are now a Valkyrie,” Odin states, something akin to pride in his voice. Two large, while bloody they are still beautiful, white wings hang from my upper back.
“Oh, shit. I have wings,” I breathe out before collapsing back into the darkness.
15
Grace
“Do it again,” Odin ordered Baler. I’ve sat in the back of the great hall watching as Baler gathers the cosmic energy around him to open portals to other dimensions. My wings, still heavy weights on my back, tingle every time he gathers enough energy to cause a flicker of a portal in the air around him, like a radar attuned to the magic around us.
Beads of sweat drip from Baler’s brow as he hunches forward, breathing heavily as he steadies himself with his hands on his knees. He’s been at this for hours, Odin pushing him far beyond his limits.
Baler waves his hand, uncoordinated, in Odin’s direction, a gesture of no more. “He needs a break,” I speak calmly from my seat, causing Odin to glare at me from his relaxed perch on his throne. A look of utter displeasure written across his face, as though I’m a buzzing fly that’s annoyed him. I do not turn away from his heating gaze, my own anger and irritation towards Odin has only grown over the last few days and right now, I’m down right pissed the hell off.
Since receiving my wings, Odin has been even more aloof than before; never answering any of my questions, and purposefully leaving me in the dark. Playing his games under the guise of training to prepare us for a coming war. Constantly reminding me that I can’t meddle in my sister’s wellbeing. It’s a game of control and it’s one I’m determined to win.
I focus on my wings, imagining them like my arms. I push out, stretching them behind my back then spread them wide to the sides. I g
ive my body a little shake, feeling like a dog and knowing I look ridiculous. It helps loosen the knots that form along my back and shoulders from carrying the unfamiliar weight. Stretching my arms and neck, I never take my eyes from Odin, a clear challenge but relaxing my body, telling him I don’t see him as a threat. Not anymore.
“Is there something you would like to say to me, Grace?” Odin asks, his commanding voice echoing through the great hall. A smirk quickly ticks up one side of my mouth at the knowledge that I’ve ruffled his unruffable feathers.
“Why, yes. Yes, there is,” I call back. “You’ve been training me for months, Baler for decades, all for a war that we each know is coming. You continue to tell me that I have a key role to play, yet somehow you don’t feel inclined to fill me in on the details, such as the how I am to fulfill this key role. To make matters worse, this war is directly aimed at killing my sister, and the opposing side is being led by the man responsible for my parents’ death.”
Before he gets a chance to make some half-assed lame attempt at a rebuttal, I continue on. “And don’t even get me started on the control factor of my dream walking. You tell me to reach out to this Wilder character using the bond I have with Riley, but you have yet to teach me how. I’m floundering out there in the dreamscape without a compass. How am I supposed to use a bond with someone to find him, when said bond is so flipping weak because she thinks I abandoned her. Now, I could help her heal some of the hurt and strengthen that bond again, but you tell me I can’t because I’ll just screw up fate and make a mess of everything… again, controlling. And for the record, I think you’re full of shit. I know I could help her without messing with the fates.”
Baler’s eyes ping pong back and forth between Odin and myself, waiting for a response. When all Odin does is sit there staring at me, I shake my head and turn to walk away with one last dig. “Forget it. I’ll train myself and figure out what I need to be ready on my own. Teach him to portal, we need to be ready.”
Fenrir finds me in the training yard a few hours later trying to figure out how to tuck my wings back inside. I don’t know how I know they can, but it’s a feeling I have. Much like knowing I can shift between my human and wolf forms.
“You are trying to force it when it should come naturally,” he calls as he walks up to stand beside me.
I roll my eyes at him before narrowing them on him. “Did Odin send you out here to try and make nice with me?”
He holds his hands up to stave off my rage. “Not at all. My wolf could sense your distress and I thought we would just come out here to see if we could help.”
I eye him for a moment, looking for any hint of deceit. Not finding any, I shrug a shoulder and ask, “What do you know about wings?”
He moves behind me, inspecting my wings as he says, “Well, I do not have any of my own, but I imagine it much like shifting. When you want to bring out your wolf, you focus on pulling her to the surface. When you’re ready for the shift back, you coax her back inside.”
“So, you want me to think of them as a separate entity, like my wolf? Because they feel more like an extension of me. Like a second set of arms.”
“Okay, so picture your wings getting cold,” at that, he runs his fingers along the bare skin between my wings, causing a shiver to ruffle through them and down my spine, “and you want to pull them back to warm them.” He runs his fingers softly over that spot again, left bare due to the need to alter my shirts in order to accommodate the wings. A shiver races through my wings again as gooseflesh rises on my arms.
Closing my eyes, I picture my wings tucking themselves in and around my wolf. My wolf purrs her approval in my ear, loving the idea of a soft warm place to rest. I stumble forward, nearly falling on my face, as the weight at my back disappears in an instant. “Wow, talk about an equilibrium changer.”
Standing straight, I look behind me to find the wings gone. I mean sure, I could feel they were since it doesn’t feel like something is dragging me down anymore, but you know what they say; seeing is believing.
“Bring them back out,” Fenrir states.
“Naw, my wolf is all curled up, soft and warm. I don’t want to disturb that. I’ll try again later.”
“Bring her out too,” he says with a wide grin. I just raise my brows to that. “What?” A smirk playing along his face.
“You think I can. Bring them both out, together I mean.”
“Why not? They are both a part of you, I see no reason why you cannot use both sides at once.”
I shrug my shoulders again and close my eyes. Hey, girl. Want to try something completely insane? My wolf perks up at that, I knew she had a crazy side too. Smiling, I explain what I want to try and she immediately leaps to the surface. Sending her a mental image, I push my wings as she starts the transformation. The shifts come so much easier and less painful now that we’ve been at this for a while, and I make an effort to shift for her at least once a day.
Once fully shifted, my wolf wavers a moment before she stands tall, her head and back slightly arched. Turning to look back over her shoulder, we spot a large set of white wings. Skipping around in excitement, she practices a few flaps. I can feel her concentration at feeling for the wings, much like feeling for her tail. Wow. Amazing control, I think and she just smirks at me. Yeah, you’re badass.
She tests the wings, bending and twisting them around her body, getting a feel for how to control and use them. It’s a surreal feeling being present in her thought process and feeling how she controls the new limbs. It gives me knowledge in how to control them myself. Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner?
“You look amazing, Grace. You are a Pterolycus. I never thought I would see this day,” Fenrir says with awe in his voice and tears in his eyes.
My wolf preens under his praise and awe. Standing tall with her head held high and wings held straight out, in a look at me pose. You are such a ham. I chuckle at her. Though I would never begrudge her the feeling of want and happiness that floods her soul right now.
Determination runs through her mind just before she flaps her wings and crouches down low before leaping into the air. Flapping hard, she makes it a few feet above the ground before her paws touch back down. Not allowing that to deter her will to fly, she crouches low, shakes her wings to loosen them before leaping into the air and flapping hard.
Quick flaps of her wings take her higher and higher into the air. The beating of small wings distracts her for a moment, and she loses a foot in the air before she catches herself and begins flapping again. Hugin and Munin fly up to us, one on each side before they begin flying circles around us. Her squeaks of joy ringing through the air. We can hear Fenrir’s joyful laugh from below us on the ground at the sight.
My wolf’s pure bliss of freedom and joy fills her as the ravens try to play with her in the air. She barks at them and attempts to fly forward to chase after them. She wavers a few times before finally getting her sea wings underneath her and figures out how to fly straight. Let’s get them. For all those times they interrupted in the middle of time with our mate. She growls low in response and takes off after the pair.
After a good hour of chasing after the birds, exhaustion washes through us and my wolf lands back in the middle of the tall grass with a pant. The shift washes over me, and I’m left panting on hands and knees, my wings wrapped around my naked body. That’s useful, I think to myself.
After dressing quickly, I focus on my wings, picturing them wrapping my wolf safely in their embrace. Quickly, they tuck away, throwing me off balancing again. Then I picture them unwrapping and extending like a second set of arms. The transition happens so quickly that I am thrown to the ground this time as the weight pulls me down.
“Now, we’re getting somewhere,” I cheer to the air around me. Slow clapping sounds from behind and above me. I crane my neck around from my spot lying on the ground to find Fenrir still watching me. I’m honestly surprised to still find him hanging out in the field.
“Well done
, my dear. I see you are getting more of a handle on your newest addition.”
“It’s amazing what you can learn from the mind of another when you take a backseat and let them figure it out,” I say, completely serious about that. Fenrir smiles at me before turning and walking away.
Giving my wings a little shake, I open them wide and crouch down low. Funneling strength and energy into my legs and wings, I push off the ground with a hard beat. Flapping hard, I continue to rise higher. Forcing my eyes open, ones I hadn’t realized I was squeezing shut, I find myself maybe a total of two feet off the ground.
Scaredy cat. My wolf taunts in my head with an eye roll.
Growling back in response, I focus on moving up. Looping the tips of my wings at the bottom with each downstroke, then moving them up and back with each stroke up; lifting me higher with each beat of my wings. Before I know it, I can see for miles in every direction. The view of small trees below me, of flowing streams and wildlife brings genuine joy that flows through me and a smile to break across my face.
A chuckle bubbles up from deep in my core, and I scream as I spin in a circle in the air, “This is amazing!” Losing some altitude with the action, I quickly right myself, and regain my balance.
Spotting the palace off in the distance, I angle my body and try to propel myself forward. It takes a few tries, but I eventually figure it out and slowly make my way across the valley, not ready to give up this feeling of the wind through my hair and pure unadulterated freedom.
Bypassing the rest of the palace, I fly straight to the balcony of my room, where I find Baler waiting for me. The look of shock and amazement on his face has me breaking into a fit of laughter. Which of course throws off my concentration and my steady flight.
Landing in a heap, I quickly focus and draw in my wings. In the next moment, Baler has me wrapped in his arms as he peppers me with affection. “That was… amazing, Little Wolf.” The honesty and love in his voice quells some of my laughter as I return his embrace.
Death's Gift: Norse Blessed Book One Page 13
