Death's Daughter

by L. A. McGinnis

  She shuddered.

  “Anything, Celine. I’ll take anything right about now. Even your best guess.”

  After a moment, during which her hand trembled in his, Celine murmured, “He’s way out over the lake. But he feels different to me this time. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say…” Her voice wavered. “That he’s angry.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “Because I can’t seem to pin him down at all. He’s spread out. It’s almost like he’s… I dunno, looking around for something. But there’s so much damn emotion masking his intentions, I just can’t get a clear feel for what he’s up to.” She shook her head. “Rage and searching, that’s all I got. At least he’s not attacking us, right?”

  “That’s right.” Fen kissed the top of the head. “And now you go to bed for a while, angel.” The look he threw Mir’s way said she’d be taking the damn nap, no matter how little time they had left. Mir scanned her face, noticing she did look unusually tired.

  “Thanks sweetheart, you know I wouldn’t have asked if I had any other options.”

  “I know that.” Celine squeezed his arm. “And so does Fen. It’s just…” The smile spread over her face. “I’m not sure how much longer I can help you with this super clandestine spy stuff, Mir. Which is the problem I was talking about.” She beamed her sunny smile up to the wolf before turning it on the rest of them. “We might as well tell him, Fen, everyone will know soon enough, anyhow.

  “So…how do you feel about being an uncle, Mir?”

  Mir closed his eyes, sweat blooming on his face. He wondered if the universe was in on some kind of cosmic joke where he was the punch line.

  A baby? How was he supposed to keep a baby safe, when he couldn’t even keep the rest of them alive?

  As Thor whooped about finding scotch and cigars, and Freyr swung Celine off her feet in a giant hug, Mir felt quiet desperation unfurl. The kind when you know there’s no hope, but the stakes just got impossibly higher. But while a sad, bittersweet joy shot through him, Fen waited—his eyes hopeful and eager.

  So instead of putting all of that into words, Mir simply clapped his hand on Fen’s shoulder and told him exactly what he needed to hear.

  “Hell yeah, we’d all love to be uncles.”

  14

  Trudging toward the looming mountains, Tyr had to admit there was a sort of regal beauty to this place. Punctuated by sharp craggy peaks, they’d almost reached the foothills rising from the edge of the bleak, open plain that stretched out behind them.

  At least it would be a beautiful place to die.

  Tyr stumbled as they made their way over the windswept rubble. Night would be here soon, and he didn’t want to think what the dark brought with it. “Another twenty minutes, Hunter, then we find a place to hole up.” Beyond words, she simply nodded, focused on the long crack along the towering stone wall above them. The goal for the last few hours had been to reach that dark crevice.

  Twenty minutes later, as he hooked his fingers around the edges of a rock to pull himself up another few feet, he wondered if they’d make it through this night. They had to. They simply had to.

  “Almost there, Hunter.” Having her with him was the only thing that kept him moving. Call it pride, or simple stubbornness, he’d be godsdamned if he’d leave her alone out here.

  “Oh, Tyr.” That hint of pity in her voice was all it took for the final burst of adrenaline that pushed him to the top. Fuck if he’d let her feel sorry for him. Fuck if he’d let her think he couldn’t climb to the top of this little fucking hill.

  He felt like a bleached bone carcass left too long in the sun by the time he heaved his broken body up and over the ledge, but by the gods, he’d made it. Hearing her scrambling up the rocks behind him, he worked to keep his breathing effortless, even while he wanted to force oxygen in and out of his lungs like a bellows.

  Hunter flung herself alongside him in the dirt. When her arm crept over his chest, and she nestled into his side, he felt a longing that he thought exhaustion would have wiped out. Damn, even under all the dirt and sweat and blood, she still did it for him.

  “Hunter, we have to get ourselves under cover, we’re too exposed.” Tyr picked up her hand, and it was limp as a fish. She was out. Groaning, he clambered upright. Right now they were sitting ducks. Otherwise known as dead.

  Searching the darkness of the shallow cave, there was a chance something lurked in the depths, but since none of his senses screamed at him to run, and with night falling fast, options were limited. Besides, he was still being driven by this overwhelming need to see her safe. Stooping, he gathered her in his arms and stumbled into the darkness.

  Tyr kept his tree stumps of legs moving until he found the back of the crevasse. It was all he could do to put his back against the rock and slide down, arms still wrapped around Hunter. Warm against him, he felt more connected to her than ever, bound together in complete darkness. And when she curled around him, relaxed against him in a way he’d only imagined, his eyes slipped closed.

  He woke to the thinnest sliver of light. Well, that and the hunger pains threatening to gnaw a hole inside of him. He didn’t move a muscle, though. He still had Hunter in his arms, and there was no way he would squander a second of this. Against her softness, even his pain faded away as he took his time, searching every detail of the peaceful face nestled on his chest.

  But as much as he hated to wake her, they had serious problems. Neither of them were going to last much longer without food and water. Tyr ran his fingers down the side of her face, despising the grime and sweat that clung to her skin. The contact sent shocks of electricity up through his body, and he shifted closer, hypnotized as her eyes flickered open, and those gold-flecked orbs darkened when she focused on him. “Good morning.” Tyr smiled, fully expecting her to push away, and was shocked when she simply leaned farther into his touch.

  “Morning, Tyr.” Gods, he loved that dusky, early-morning undercurrent to her voice; it was sexy and rough and made him hard as hell. And since the curve of her ass was currently pressing down on him when his cock jumped, her smile instantly shifted from sweet to knowing. Shit. Moving out from under her, he stood and quickly backed away.

  “You don’t have to leave, Tyr. I kind of liked having you underneath me.” Her face looked innocent as hell, but those words, coupled with that seductive voice…. Hands unfurling, Tyr stopped himself, the beast within him hammering to be unleashed. Yeah, he stopped himself cold. Before he took her right there. In the dirt, in a cave, on the darkest world of them all.

  Hell to the no.

  Hunter was a princess. A chieftain’s daughter. She deserved a castle. A throne. A whole fucking kingdom. And who was he? Definitely not the God of anything, anymore. A no-name nobody. And as injured as he was? A liability, to boot.

  Tyr cleared his throat, his chest heaving, turning so he didn’t have to face her. “Now that you’re awake, we have problems. For one, we need food. And water. I’ll take a look outside.” He couldn’t bear to turn around but felt her gaze boring into him. When she finally did speak, she sounded like she was fighting for composure.

  “I’ve got three protein bars. That’s one apiece. And one for us to split, later.” Her voice turned apologetic. “And only half a bottle of water left.” That was when he heard the tears in her voice. “Oh God. I’m so sorry, Tyr. There isn’t enough. I should have…”

  “Don’t apologize. It won’t do any good, anyway.” Just before he stepped out, he added gruffly, “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for, trust me.”

  The day, such that it was, dawned a slate gray. It was raining in long, slanting torrents, staining everything a shiny blackish-blue. Thank the gods. They needed this water or they wouldn’t survive the day, protein bars or no. Tyr gathered a handful, touched his tongue to it. It was brackish, and tasted like the depths of hell, but it was potable. “Hunter, come out here, we’ve got water.” The flat, closed look on her face as she ducked out into the rain cut his hear
t, but the tears that trembled her lips destroyed him. Telling himself this was for the best, he pulled her alongside him and kept his voice flat and business-like. “Drink as much as you can right now, then fill up the bottles until they’re full. I’m not sure how long this will last. We need to drink while we can, and then we’ll eat.”

  She silently obeyed, and after a couple hesitant sips, turned her face upwards into the rain, letting it mix with the tears spilling down her face as he tried to think about what came next.

  The rain on her face was freezing, but at least Tyr couldn’t see her crying. She’d nearly made a total fool of herself, and the one, single time she’d picked to let her guard down had backfired. And it hurt. It more than hurt. The rejection confused her, and she didn’t know what to do next. She didn’t understand it. She’d felt his desire, knew this thing between them was real. Yet he’d backed away from her like she had the plague.

  She scooped more of the sulpher-like water into her mouth, choking the bitter stuff down. If she wanted to survive, this was what was necessary. As was food. As was movement. She had to shove all of this unnecessary emotional baggage aside. This was why she’d always stayed away from people. They only became liabilities, she thought crossly.

  She felt him beside her, she felt him everywhere, she realized, growing crosser and crosser by the minute. Stalking back into the cave, she took the two thin bars out of the pack. Silently, she handed one to Tyr before opening her own, forcing herself to chew slowly.

  “We’re in trouble here, Hunter.”

  Yes, she was well aware of that. In so many ways.

  “This world has no food, and lots of Dark Elves. I was here once, long ago, and I remember there is a doorway up in the mountains. But to get there…” Tyr shook his head, licking his fingers as if savoring those last, final calories. “We’d have to travel a hundred miles. Perhaps hundreds of miles. I don’t even know where we are. I don’t know where we came through. I don’t know where to go.” Suddenly everything made sense. Because beneath those words, she heard so much more.

  I don’t know how to get us back home.

  I don’t know how to save you.

  “And that’s okay.” Strangely enough, despite their dire situation, relief flooded through her. She suddenly felt as if everything she’d ever done had led her to this world, to this moment, to this man. And no matter what happened next, Hunter realized she didn’t want to be anywhere else.

  “You didn’t bring us here. I did. I made the decision, impulsive and stupid as it was. If this is anyone’s fault, then that person would be me.” She felt him move closer and closed her eyes, praying for just a touch. “So don’t blame yourself. Blame me.” A bitter smile crossed her face. “You’ve always said I was a walking disaster.

  “It’s not like you weren’t warned.”

  The rain slowed, and when his arms finally did close around her, pulling her into him, every place they touched, warmth flowed back in.

  “Shit, Hunter, none of this is your fault.” His lips pressed against her ear, causing little sparks of electricity to travel along her spine. “You saved my life with your stupid stunt.”

  “Well. At least we can agree on one thing, I suppose.”

  But leaning back into him, feeling that muscular body against hers, the one she’d thought of for so damn long, she figured if she was going to be stuck here, in the middle of nowhere, Tyr was definitely the person she’d have picked to spend her last few days with.

  They stiffened at the same time as movement across the valley caught their eye. Something had caught their scent.

  More than a single something, as the shadows merged, then formed a solid line, the point of it heading straight for them.

  15

  “Uhhh, Mir, we got a shit show down here.”

  Mir stalked down the hallway, heading for the Throne Room as he listened to Thor’s somewhat sketchy report. “Just tell me what you’re seeing.”

  “Um, okay.” Thor’s voice issued thinly from the little black com unit. “So…if a thunderstorm was on the ground, that’s sorta what this looks like. Plus, if you covered it all in oil and added in a bunch of tornadoes. Oh, and detonated a nuclear bomb in the center.”

  Over the static of the com, Thor added, “And we’ve got tons of patrols down here, looks like Dark Elves skulking around. A group of about ten just passed right by me. Fuck, they stink so bad…”

  “Stick to the report, you’re breaking up.”

  “Yup, okay. The Orobus has moved in off the lake and taken up position over the stone circle.” There was a pause, the crackle of wind, and then, “I’ve got a couple hundred elves, maybe two hundred Grim on-site. And the Orobus is currently the size of three football fields.”

  “Get your ass back here, Thor. Right now.”

  “Roger that shit.”

  Celine rubbed her belly. She’d be showing in a few weeks, but for now, all she felt was tired. And a little sick. And a little hungry, she thought, thinking longingly of ice cream and chocolate. Or strawberries and peanut butter. She wasn’t entirely sure.

  Add to that, this weird mix of nervous anticipation and fear. She was a mess.

  “You ready?”

  Mir had a walkie-talkie in his hand, faint staticky distortion still trickling out of it. At her questioning glance, he quickly flicked the button off before leading her toward the Throne Room. Fen was waiting for them, bristling with hostility. Actually showed a hint of fang when he spotted Mir at her side.

  But he loved her, so he’d go along with this crazy plan.

  She hoped.

  Even though she still didn’t understand what she was doing here. Even if she could locate Tyr and Hunter in the Dreaming, there was no way to bring them home. So knowing where they were did no good.

  Once the huge doors closed behind them, Mir led the way over to an ornately carved arch between two columns, set in a shadowed alcove of the enormous room. “So when the Tower was being built, Odin created this archway as a portal. He also warded this room, so only he can activate the doorway. He sometimes used this to travel between worlds. And to bring others here.”

  Beside him, Sydney gave Celine an encouraging nod as she picked up the story, “Hel, for instance. But since it’s warded, it only works for Odin because it’s coded for his specific brand of magic. Good news is, we’ve figured out how to manipulate Odin’s wards. Mir can negate them for a short period of time, and once you find Tyr and Hunter in the Dreaming, we can use my magic to bring all of you back.”

  Celine felt the faintest ray of hope that the plan might work.

  “And if Odin gets wind of this?”

  “Balder’s keeping an eye on him at the moment, so we’re good,” Mir muttered. “As long as the scotch holds out, we’ve got the room to ourselves.”

  Fen spread blankets on the floor in front of the archway and fluffed up a pillow, before taking her hand and leading her over. “You’re going to lie down, and you’re going to relax. But at the first sign…any sign at all of the God of Chaos, or any kind of trouble, I’m pulling you out of there. Understand?”

  She rose up to her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “I got this, Fen. I’m getting them out of there.” Her smile turned hard as she pointed to Mir. “But it’s up to you to get us home safely, hear me?”

  “Great. No pressure.”

  She lay down, closed her eyes, and went in to get her friends.

  As always, the Dreaming was winding labyrinth, a world devoid of landmarks. But none of that mattered. Celine didn’t need landmarks. She only needed… “Ahh, there you are.” Who needed landmarks when you had love to follow?

  Tyr and Hunter were twined together with their backs against a wall, both very much alive. All good.

  Celine pushed farther into the physical realm, finally stepping through a thick, ghostly veil onto a rocky ledge overtop a sea of jagged rocks. Somewhere ahead of her, hidden in the darkness, she sensed them. Her feet dragging slightly on the uneven, rocky floor, s
he crept farther into the low, narrow cave, where the air smelled foul and the very nature of the place seemed saturated with evil. All bad.

  They looked fast asleep, and she would have sworn they were, until Tyr’s eyes cracked open to slits. She noticed the knife in his hand, just before Hunter’s head swiveled, and she snapped,

  “What in the holy hell are you doing here, Celine?”

  Ten minutes later, Celine was explaining Mir’s crazy plan.

  The problem was, neither of them were buying it.

  “You cannot be here. You have to go back, Celine.” Hunter was frantic, on the verge of hysteria.

  Tyr doubled down on that order. “You are going back. This is no place for you.”

  When Celine shook her head, Hunter grasped her hands. “You know you can’t be here.” She didn’t break their stare. “You know it’s not just you at risk, Celine. Don’t be stupid. Go home. We’re done for and we’ve made our peace with that.”

  Celine grinned. “Nonsense. Mir and Syd figured out how to bring both of you home.” The grin faded slightly. “There’s just one catch. You’ll need to fall asleep.”

  “This is crazy, Celine. You know how things went wrong last time.” Not that Hunter was wrong. The Orobus showing up right now was the last thing they all needed. But she had to at least try. Besides, she was here. That was half the battle, right?

  “We can make it work. Let me do this, Hunter. Tyr, tell her to quit arguing and wasting time.” Celine looked over at the dark haired god. “We’ve done stuff like this before.”

  Tyr growled. “Nothing remotely like this, Celine. You’ve got to get the hell out of here. And you don’t have much time.” He hobbled to the cave opening, scanning the rocky incline that led to their lair and limped slowly back. “They’re coming and now I’ve lost sight of them. No telling how close they are.”

  Hunter explained quickly as Celine’s heart began to pound. “Look, we’re stuck here, Celine. But you’re not. Get home while you still can. Tyr’s sure there’s a wave of Dark Elves coming. More than we can fight off. So go back the way you came…”