“Tyr…I…”
He scrubbed a hand through his hair, so hard she heard the rasp. “When you came to me that night, Hunter? When we were…together, you know I would give anything to undo what happened?” And yet, they hadn’t been together. Not like that. Not ever like that. No, they’d been together for another reason entirely, that fateful night.
“You know that, right?” His eyes, along with his voice, were pleading.
Hunter paused This was what she’d wanted her entire life. Him, weak and begging, preferably on his knees before her. All of his defenses down, nothing left of the invincible god he’d once been. And then? She’d wipe that arrogant smile right off his face. And she’d enjoy every wicked moment of it.
Except now that the moment was here, it felt empty. And all of her vengefulness, all of her hatred, the culmination of everything seemed ugly. “I don’t understand what happened. I was just so angry…so angry…that night I met you at the circle.”
“Aye. You were. Angry and beautiful and utterly captivating. But still…mortal. Which is why I thought to bed you and go on my way afterwards. Which is the only reason I let you get too close.”
“While all I wanted was to put my knife through your heart.” She still, to this day, remembered it. Felt the slick, easy slide of the blade between his ribs, into his chest cavity, as she drove the hilt home. She’d tasted the cool satisfaction of revenge. She’d locked eyes with him at that very moment, whispering, “For my father, my brethren, and my blood.” Before yanking her knife free while his blood coated her hands.
Oh, the feeling had been glorious. Until a second later, when a burst of energy surged out of his body, knocking her backward against a rock, snapping her neck. Still, she’d savored vengeance.
Just not long enough.
“And you did. Get your revenge.” Pride flashed in his eyes for a second before he tamped it back down, and she thought she must have imagined it. “But I couldn’t let you die, Hunter. It wasn’t in me to let such a magnificent creature die.”
She shook her head as his quiet pledge echoed around the chamber. “You should have. I’ve lived an abnormal life.”
“You’ve lived an extraordinary life.”
“According to an immortal, perhaps.” She had to shake this melancholy feeling and get on with what she’d come here to ask. God knows she’d waited long enough for it. “But I’m only human, Tyr.”
He scoffed. “You haven’t been human for a thousand years.”
“No, I haven’t.” She stared up at him. “What am I, Tyr?” In all of her scenarios, all of her imaginings, she’d never once imagined this. That they might talk. Just talk. About that night. What their choices had done to them for all these years.
He blinked in surprise. “You are Hunter Wallace. Daughter of the last chieftain of the Picts. Captain of the New York team, and one of the finest trackers I know.”
“I came here because I hate you,” she said softly. “And I came for my final piece of revenge.”
Just as softly, he whispered, “If you shove that sword in my heart tonight, Hunter, you might get what you came for.”
A quick fear shot through her, even as she shook her head back and forth. “That’s not… You misunderstand me,” she stammered. “That is not what I came here to do.” She drew her brows together in confusion at the sudden tangle of feelings that assaulted her. “I didn’t come here to kill you.” True, she still felt a kernel of hatred. Maybe she always would. But seeing him, being this close to him, hatred faded away.
Tyr circled behind her. “What did you mean when you asked, what you were? Surely, after all this time, you know? What does this thing inside of you feel like?”
She sighed. Of course he’d wonder. Despite everything, Tyr was, first and foremost, a warrior, with the weight of the world on his shoulders. She was yet another problem on his doorstep.
Hunter turned, countering, “What happened that night, when you brought me back to life? What did you do, exactly?”
“I can’t tell you.” Hands on her hips, she glared until he finally explained. “I used some half-remembered magic to heal your body before your life spark faded completely. The spell, mixed with my blood, should have taken nature’s energy from the earth, and transferred it to you, restoring your life. But I didn’t get it right, not the words, nor the order in which I performed it. Add to that, you recall where we were?”
She shuddered. “The circle. Which had been a sacrificial site centuries before. Atrocities were performed there. Awful, pagan things.”
Tyr nodded. “Whatever I pulled out of the ground was primitive, and it was evil, Hunter. I should have moved your body, but there wasn’t enough time. Then my blood mixed with the spell, complicating things further. Black magic and blood magic mixed together. You ask me what kind of magic I used?” He spread his hands helplessly. “In truth, I don’t know.”
“Whatever I am now, it’s not normal.”
“That’s not true,” Tyr demurred.
She considered him, chewing her lip. “You are the only person who can undo what was done to me. And give me what I want.”
Face shadowed, he asked carefully, “What are you proposing?”
“You need something. I need something as well.” Her gaze was unwavering. “I would like to make a deal with you, Tyr.”
For years, she’d weighed this. This choice, against the thousand unnatural years she’d lived, and the fifty or so she’d been due had she lived the mortal life gifted to her by nature.
She was tired. Years upon years of loneliness. Outliving everyone she’d ever known. Letting them get close, only to watch them wither away and die. Losing her grasp of time itself, as decades, even centuries raced past.
This past week, during her mad scramble here, she’d tried to come up with a way to solve her problem. And just now, in the meeting, it had been presented to her on a silver platter. A means of maneuvering Tyr into doing what needed done.
“I swear, I will help you trap the creature and then destroy the gateway behind it. Once that is done…” She took a deep, steadying breath, her eyes never leaving his face. “Once the Orobus is dead, you will undo the blood spell and allow me to die.
“Failing that, you will kill me out right.”
Tyr’s heart stopped. Or maybe time stopped. For all these years, the world had been a tolerable place because Hunter had been somewhere in it, alive and breathing. Hating him. Which had been okay too. Except…
He’d never imagined she’d ask this of him. Never imagined she’d yearn for death. Not when he’d worked so hard to give her life and to ensure she kept it. But now, her demand hanging in the air between them, she seemed oddly at peace. For too long a moment he regarded her, never breaking the resolved stare of those intense golden eyes before making his decision.
He didn’t have any intention of keeping his word.
So when she stretched out a steady hand, he gripped her palm and lied straight to her face. “Deal.”
6
Her hand in Tyr’s, Hunter felt a weight slide off her.
Free. She was almost free.
Put the monster back in its cage and then this endless, lonely existence would finally be over. For a moment, she allowed herself the simple pleasure of taking in Tyr’s handsome face. And handsome, he was. With the perfectly carved features of the gods, only marred by a single, faint scar, he was certainly too serious. Definitely too uncompromising. But there was no denying his dark beauty.
She knew his visage, in many ways, better than her own. Had spent hours and hours staring at that beautiful face. Alone, tucked into a cave in the Highlands, just the two of them. When she’d had nothing but time.
Of course, he’d never known.
After the night she’d died and Tyr resurrected her, he left her unconscious on her father’s doorstep. She hadn’t watched him leave, hadn’t spoken a word to him, nor he to her. Just woken up and he’d been gone.
But he’d trapped something
inside of her. Something monstrous.
The next thing Hunter remembered was staring at the side of the mountain, at the smoking crater where her father’s castle used to be. At the piles of smoldering, dead bodies strewn around her. A roiling, terrible energy burned inside her, tearing its way out of her belly. She’d thought at first she was dying, but what she experienced was only her new, horrifying reality. It was weeks, months later before Tyr found her again, wandering the Highlands.
He’d never told her how he’d located her, only taken her far away, to a small, out of the way cave, and kept her there while the consuming darkness ate her from the inside out. She’d begged him, some days, to kill her.
But he always refused.
In time, her head cleared. In time, her mind began to work again.
He coaxed her back to life. Urged her to eat, to bathe, to embrace humanity once again. To shove that consuming blackness down within herself, to control it. To force it to submit to her will. He’d never left her, not once, not in all of that time.
And Tyr never knew she sat over him, night after night, in the dark. Half mad and certainly half wild, trying hard to re-discover herself in the tangled mess he’d created when he’d brought her back to life. For all those months, his face became the only thing grounding her to this world. For centuries after, she’d pondered the why’s of it.
Even now, her hand in his, she was still pondering it.
7
The next day, Tyr fought to maintain his focus on the incoming invasion.
The Orobus and Elves and Grim. Oh my.
They were about be hit by a sledgehammer, and they weren’t even close to prepared. But because this whole mess fell in his lap, they would be. No matter what, by the time that bastard arrived, they’d be ready for him. “Where are we? Can anyone give me a solid timetable?”
Loki’s expression tightened. “Yesterday, after I transformed, I flew out and scoped out the incoming army. Even after their losses, it’s still an immense legion. Not very organized, but the first ground troops are only a day out. Thor, where do you expect his main entry point to be?”
Thor walked over, pointed to a spot on the map, then dragged his finger up through the center. “South end of the city. Then straight up the beltway would be my best guess. After that, Lake Shore to Millennium Park, terminating at the circle. Hate to say it, but I agree with Hunter’s initial assessment. He’s coming to gather troops.”
Tyr’s tone turned thoughtful. “If I were in his shoes, I’d secure the entire area around the circle, first thing. Send in legions of Dark Elves in as shock troops to infiltrate the city, then set up a perimeter around the stones. Secure the entire area with patrols.”
“Are we sure about that?” His arms braced wide on the table, Loki focused on the grid of the city map, tapping the place Tyr marked as the most sensible access point. “Could be he’s just coming to kick our asses.”
Tyr had spent most of the night pondering this exact question and come up with only one possibility. He’d like to think he was right. “I’m sure. Look, he needs fresh troops. He took heavy losses during this campaign. Lost plenty of Dark Elves and Grim on the way there and back.” Tyr nodded, almost to himself. “He’s coming for reinforcements. This is the only place he can find them.”
“One benefit is, if the army of the damned is smaller, we’ll stand a better chance,” Balder pointed out, while Fen nodded in agreement. “At least during this initial attack.”
“True.” Loki said, eyes gleaming. “But those odds will only last until they reach the circle. Once they get those portals open and begin emptying the armies from Svartlheim onto this world…”
“It’s over.” Tyr ran his hand through his hair, deliberating. “But he’ll still need time to do it, ground patrols to secure the site, time to bring those armies through.”
“Most likely Hel and her Grim will be used as reinforcements, since she doesn’t rely on the portals to transport her Grim,” Loki added, the map forgotten at the moment. “So our prime objective is keeping that stone circle secure.”
“Can’t destroy it,” Vali reminded them. “Speaking of which, our munitions supply is running low. We need to restock. The military depot is close. And abandoned.”
“Then our objective is to blockade the Orobus from the circle at all costs. Defend the stones for as long as we can. This will push us to our limits, given how stretched thin we are. I could use more soldiers.” Tyr exhaled, the sound more of a groan. “Fen, has Celine seen anything that might give us a timetable?”
The look Fen shot him clearly said yes, asshole, of course she has. But his voice remained even as he said instead, “We need to talk.”
Tyr could guess what this was about.
Resignation in his voice, Tyr waved for him to continue. “Just say it, Fen. It’ll all come out in the end. The way I see it, we’ve got a day left until shit hits the fan.” Tyr spread his arms wide. “Out with it. We’ve got no secrets in this room.”
Fen scanned the table, meeting each and every pair of eyes. “Celine saw Hunter turn into the Orobus in a vision. Mir says she’s capable of leveling a city block, should she ever lose control. She acted aggressively at dinner last night, and then there are the rumors we’ve heard over the years…” Fen leveled his stare at Tyr. “I don’t think she can be trusted. Neither does Mir. So until we’re sure she’s not a threat, I say she goes.” He traded glances with Loki. “Not with my mate, our mates under the same roof. You’re not putting them in danger.”
“Damn it. That’s not fair. Maybe she’s not good with people, but Hunter risked her life to bring us intel. She’s willing to fight with us.” Tyr realized his hands grasping the back of the chair were sweaty.
“She was a trusted member of the New York team for over a hundred years. One of Rhiannon’s captains, for the gods’ sake. She’s also the best damn tracker I know.” He would have gone on, but looking around the table, Tyr found nothing but a mixture of suspicion, sympathy, and condemnation on their faces. He sucked in a breath before saying, “Then we put it to a vote.”
They voted. Twice. Since there were six of them, the vote was split, and unless they brought the women into it, it would stay that way.
“Don’t I get a vote too?” Amidst the utter silence, Hunter stepped in, nodding once to Tyr, her face completely unreadable, yet set like steel. How much she’d heard, he didn’t know, but he figured it was enough.
“You know what? I’ll make it easy for you.” She solidly met their stares, one by one, not a hint of hesitation in her gaze. “I say…I go. I was heading out anyway. And I’ll cover more ground alone.” She flashed a too-bright smile. “I’ll be gone tonight. Then you boys can get back to your war games.”
Rounding the table, Tyr caught her arm. “Don’t do this. You don’t have to leave, we’ll work something out.” If he hadn’t known her as he did, he would have sworn her eyes were bright from tears.
“I won’t stay where I’m not wanted. I’ll leave in a few hours, as soon as it’s dark.” She notched her chin higher. “You heard them. They’re worried about their mates. And I can’t say I blame them.” Out of nowhere, she leaned into him, all soft against his hard lines. “But don’t think for a single second I’m going very far, or that our deal is off. I’ll fulfill my end of the bargain.”
Tyr’s eyes slid half closed as he breathed her in.
“And then you’ll be fulfilling yours.”
Hours later, lying on the bed, Hunter was busy despising her weaknesses.
She’d almost done it. She’d almost trusted him. Imagined she might learn to live here, fight this war side by side with him. She’d never, ever learn, would she? She’d been softening around the edges, but that was only exhaustion mixed with this new, hateful sentimentality that kept cropping up whenever she was around Tyr.
It must be this weariness that seeped into her very bones.
She was just getting up when someone knocked. “Come in.” She‘d been expecti
ng Tyr. Hoping for him. If only to tell him to go to hell, one last time. Her eyebrows popped up when she saw who it was.
“I’m pregnant.” Celine slipped in, chin wobbly, and full of apologies. “It’s why Fen’s acting like this. He’s worried. And a little crazy. Once I told him about my dreams, he went into overprotective mode. I’m really sorry, Hunter. I don’t want you to leave.”
Hunter shrugged. “I’m the one who voted and broke the tie.” There was some, small satisfaction in that. Hunter began dressing, jabbed her small knife into her boot. “I’m the one who decided to go. So at least they didn’t make me leave.”
“I heard. Why?” Celine cocked her head. “Freyr says you’ve lived alone for like a thousand years. Is that true?”
“I’m going to shut Freyr up for good,” she muttered. But yes, pretty much. She’d tried to get along with people, she really had. But it had always been too complicated and too messy. “Look, it’s better if I head out. Safer for everyone.”
“I know you worry about this strange power inside you. Do you really want to find out what you are?” Celine’s eyes seemed to grow deeper by the minute, turning into bottomless lakes. “Because I can show you.”
Curiosity prickled. How did Celine know what was going on in her head? Caution, though, kept her tongue silent.
“I can show you because I’m a Dreamwalker,” Celine explained, matter-of-factly, gliding further into the room. “There’s a place I found in the Otherworld. I call it the Dreaming. I can take you there. The answers you’re looking for are there.”
An odd fear shivered though Hunter. “I think it’s really best if you just let me go.” She glanced toward the door, but it was closed. She didn’t remember Celine shutting it.
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