Valkyrie's Kiss

by Kristi Jones

  "Who's Skuld?" Jess asked, moving toward us.

  "She's a witch," I said, "a very powerful witch."

  "Uh, no offense, but I don't think I want to meet any more witches today."

  "We are not witches," Gustel said. "Try to keep up, mortal. Anyway, you’ll never find her. And you don’t know what it’s like out there. Things have changed.”

  “It just so happens," I said, glancing at Jess, "that Skuld is at Hohensalzburg."

  "You're kidding."

  "Hohen what?” Jess asked.

  "Don't interrupt," Gustel said, keeping her eyes on me. "He'll have to help you, of course."

  "No."

  "You know he will, so stop being coy."

  "But..."

  "Sabrina, you can't hear what she has to say. You know that."

  "Uh, Sabrina..." Jess said.

  "My God," Gustel said, rolling her eyes at me, "how many times do I have to tell you do not interrupt?"

  "I just thought you might want to know there's a convoy coming," Jess said, pointing a finger toward the horizon.

  "Dammit." A line of vehicles was speeding our way, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.

  "What? What's wrong?"

  "It's Death," I said, handing Jess his pack. "We have to go. Now!"

  "You'll have to camouflage yourself," Gustel said. "But be careful out there, okay? There are dangerous immortals in the world of men. Stay sharp. Stay alert. Now go. I'll be the decoy."

  "Gustel, no."

  "I'm faster than anybody, you know that. It's what these wings were built for."

  "But..."

  "It'll be fun. Now go. We don't have time to argue."

  I had a sudden desire to hug my sister, but she put me off.

  "Go, Sabrina. You don't want to lose your delicious boy toy, do you?"

  "Hey, I'm nobody's boy toy," Jess said, indignant.

  "Do you ever stop talking?" Gustel said, exasperated.

  The cloud was getting closer. I could smell It now. Death was in the air.

  "You can go stay at The Nest until you’re ready to face Skuld."

  "Do you think the enchantments still hold?"

  "Of course they do. Why wouldn't they?"

  The enchantments surrounding our ancestral home had been in place for over a thousand years.

  "And Sabrina," Gustel said, grasping my shoulders. "Be kind to Skuld. No matter what she does. You do not want to make an enemy of her."

  "Oh, by the gods..." I said, feeling a wave of panic wash over me.

  "There's no need to panic, Sabrina. Worst case scenario, you mark him, and you're done."

  She held my gaze. We both knew that there was a great deal of danger. There was Skuld for one. And Death had Its own allies. "What's done is done, Sabrina. The thing to do now is to make it right."

  I knew what she meant. She wanted me to mark Jesse now. Mark him and take him. He'd be safe in Valhalla. Death had no admittance there. And I'd be doing my duty.

  "I'll see you soon."

  "I hope so," Gustel said pointedly.

  I gave her one quick tight hug, and then she popped her wings. Even as I released her, Gustel's skin turned gray. Her arms became pointed wings. As she transformed herself into an F-15E Strike Eagle, a cloud of dust spun around her, and she took to the blessed air.

  The sand stung my eyes. Jess crouched down low against the raging wind.

  His clothes blew against his body, outlining every line, every muscle. Adopting Gustel's sky camouflage, I released my wings and reached for Jess.

  "Put your arms around my neck. And hold on tight."

  He couldn't see me now, but he could feel me. He wrapped his arms around my neck.

  "This is weird."

  "What part?"

  He laughed, shaking his head. "Well, all of it, but I meant having you carry me. I've carried a couple of women in my time, but never been carried by one."

  "I'll fly slowly, but it won't be like riding in a car with the windows down, so I'll need to protect you from the wind."

  "How are you going to do that?"

  "I'll use my hair, so it might be a little snug. I can put you out if you'd like."

  "Put me out?" He said, his voice rising an octave.

  "Just to sleep during the flight. It will make it easier on you."

  "Like before?"

  "Yes, like before."

  He pulled in a sharp breath, then released it. "Okay. Yeah, okay, do it."

  Our eyes locked. I pressed the silver wings of the Valkyrie to my lips, placed my hand over his eyes and chanted the spell. At the last moment before sleep overtook him, he reached up and tangled his fingers in my hair. I felt his body relax.

  I kissed him on the cheek, savoring the salty taste of him, and took to the air.

  Chapter Five

  It was late afternoon by the time we finally arrived at The Nest. My ancestral home is a sprawling castle nestled in the hills above the Moselle River. The place was built sometime during the 12th century and was acquired by the descendants of Brunhilde soon after. Over a dozen castellated turrets rose into the sky. A baron built the great hall in the year 1156, seven hundred years before my birth, and each successive generation added more rooms and more towers.

  We only used the place during the Time of Progeny.

  To keep the castle from falling into disrepair, we allowed mortals to purchase and occupy The Nest. When one of my sister Valkyries needed to reproduce, it was relatively easy to cast a few spells and send the occupying mortals running for the hills. Mortals are strangely susceptible to the idea of hauntings and evil spirits.

  Jess and I landed on the tallest turret. Fields of enchantments stretched down to the river, protecting us from mortal eyes, though this stretch of the Moselle was relatively isolated.

  The wind was fierce at this altitude, and I hurried to the iron bound doorway that led into the bowels of the castle. Cradling Jess in my arms, I bowed my head and mumbled words of release. The massive door swung open, its hinges creaking. A rush of stale, moldy-smelling air enveloped us.

  I carried him down a set of narrow stone steps. We came to a landing lined with the portraits of long-dead mortals who once lived at The Nest. I descended the last of the stairs and entered the great hall. This room was a large open space with a vaulted, beamed ceiling and an enormous fireplace that could hold four men standing tall. The stone floor was laid with moth-eaten Turkish carpets that had once added rich color to the room.

  I laid Jess carefully onto the expansive carpet before the fireplace.

  I thought about waking him from the sleeping spell, but decided to let him get some rest. He'd had a difficult day, and tomorrow would most likely prove to be even more of a challenge to his mortal sensibilities.

  Walking through the gallery, its walls paneled in rich mahogany, I headed for the nearest bedchamber.

  Inside I found a wardrobe filled with threadbare clothes that had been hanging there for at least sixty years. I shrugged off my fatigues and slipped on an emerald green silk evening gown that appeared to date back to the 1930s.

  Spring nights in the Alps were cold, so I flung two coats over my arm, a wool pea coat with silly large buttons for myself and a long black trench coat for Jess. It would hide his Army uniform during our trip to see Skuld.

  There was a mirrored bureau in the corner of the room, and I moved closer to catch my reflection. My hair was still pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of my neck. I loosened my hair and used the ivory handled hairbrush sitting on the bureau to brush it out, trying to make myself look presentable. I realized, gazing at my reflection, that I was doing more than that. I was trying to look pretty for him. The realization made me blush.

  I made my way back to the great hall wondering how I could possibly survive letting Sergeant Jesse Moran go.

  ****

  When I returned to the hall, Jess was sitting up, blinking and massaging the back of his neck.

  “Where are we?”

  �
�We call it The Nest. It’s a castle that my family uses when we need a safe place to stay. These days it’s only used for the Time of Progeny.”

  Jess gave me a blank look.

  “The Time of Progeny,” I said, arranging thin pieces of rotting wood in the large fireplace, “is the time a Valkyrie spends in isolation during her last month of pregnancy, just before the child is born.”

  “So, you’ve…”

  “No.” I pulled a match from the match safe and struck a flame. “I’ve never chosen a mate.”

  “But you’ve been here before?”

  “Yes.”

  “But not to have a child?”

  “No.” I shifted the logs in the fireplace, letting the cold air ignite the flames. When I had a good fire going, I stood and turned to Jess. He was looking at me with a quizzical expression. Tiny lines crossed his brow, and his head was tilted in a question.

  “For a Valkyrie, having a child is complicated.”

  “Complicated how?”

  I took a deep breath and gave myself some time to decide how much to tell him. I’d already told him so much. “There are rules. The Rules of Progeny. Rules that the gods put into place centuries ago.”

  “Okay, that’s weird,” Jess said, shaking his head. “What kind of rules?”

  “When I’m ready, I can choose one of my heroes for a mate. The expectation is that I will give birth within one year. If I’m lucky, I will give birth to a daughter. My hero and I will be granted twenty-one years to raise the child, and then we have to give her up to the Death Duty. All Valkyries are required to serve the Death Duty, spending a decade walking the earth as a corpse. As bad as that pain can be—to see someone you love, or someone you have the potential to love, walk around as a corpse for ten years—it's nothing compared to the bleak choices available if a Valkyrie gives birth to a boy.”

  I stopped to take a breath and found I could not go on.

  “Jesus.”

  I gave Jess a weak smile. “I suppose it’s no surprise that most Valkyries avoid mating for as long as possible. But eventually, mating is required.”

  Jess nodded, licking his lips. “And you’ve managed to avoid it for how long?”

  “Too long.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I’m due.” I shrugged. “Overdue.”

  “God, Sabrina, I don’t know what to say.”

  “Oh, Jess,” I said. This time I managed a genuine smile. “It’s just the way of things. I can’t change it any more than you can change your mortality.”

  “We are what we are?”

  “Yes. We are what we are.”

  Despite the fire and the mild spring weather, the ancient stones of The Nest seemed to suck the heat right out of the very air. I picked the trench coat up from the divan and handed it to Jess. I was shivering in my green silk.

  Jess’s eyes followed my every move..

  “Are you hungry? There’s a pump in the kitchen. I can boil some water for coffee.”

  Jess got to his feet, throwing the trench coat aside.

  "I'm sorry I don't have any real food."

  “I’m not hungry,” he said, running his eyes up and down my body. He pulled at the collar of the pea coat, taking in the green silk dress, his mouth slightly open, lips moist. “Are you?”

  There was a teasing note in his voice.

  “Not really,” I said.

  “Can I ask you a question, Sabrina?”

  “Sure,” I said, the word coming out in a whisper. The heat of his body and the smell of his skin were making me feel drunk, disoriented.

  "Your wings," he said, "where do they go? You know, when you're not using them?"

  "Oh, there's an opening in my back. They fold in, under the skin."

  "Can I see?"

  He moved behind me, and before I could resist, he slipped the dress from my shoulders, exploring my back.

  I caught the threadbare fabric of the dress before it fell to the floor, and then his hands were on me.

  "You can hardly see it," he said, his voice full of wonder. "How is it possible for something that size to fit here?"

  "Well, they're thin."

  "But strong?"

  "Yes."

  "Like bat wings."

  I laughed, supremely conscious of my bouncing breasts. "Something like that, I suppose."

  "Can you open them up?"

  "Are you sure?" I said, turning my head.

  Jess nodded. His mouth was open, his greedy eyes on my exposed flesh.

  "All right then. Stand back."

  I turned to face him and released my wings. I stood tall, but held on to the dress at my waist. I was bare underneath.

  Jesse's eyes widened. "My God." He stepped closer. "Can I touch them?"

  I swallowed back the sudden lump in my throat and released a shaky breath. Without another word, he reached out a trembling hand and stroked the silky feathers. My nipples swelled, as if anticipating his touch.

  "What's it made of?"

  "Silk. Its structure is similar to spider webbing," I said, watching his hand, "or so I've been told."

  His hand moved to my cheek, then travelled down along my neck until it rested on the swell of my right breast. He cupped my breast and ran his thumb over my nipple, but his eyes never left my wings. I let out a small moan, and he reached with his other hand behind my neck and bent to kiss me.

  I watched his mouth move to mine, as if in slow motion. Realizing what was happening, I slapped my left hand over his mouth. "No!"

  He took my hand and moved it between his legs. “Yes.”

  I didn't waste time. I let the dress fall, then worked at getting Jess out of his pants while he peeled off his shirt.

  I contracted my wings.

  "No!" he said, his breath coming in short bursts. "Leave them."

  He took my hand and pulled me onto the divan. When he grasped my hips and lowered me onto his pulsing need, I let out a cry of pleasure. I bent down and kissed his ear. Again he tried to turn toward me, to return the kiss.

  I pulled away and sat up tall, riding him, my wings spread wide. He watched me, taking in the sight of me, and I felt an incredible surge of power flow through me. Not the power of flying through the air or taking a bullet, but the power of arresting a man's full and complete attention and adulation. It was a feeling I'd never experienced, and the pulse of him sent me to a shuddering climax all too soon.

  When it was over, I let my wings fall, enveloping us in a silky cocoon.

  ****

  We sat before the dying fire, naked, drinking from a bottle of wine I'd found in the cellar. I let my eyes roam over his glorious body, feasting without food. He did the same.

  I'd never let a mortal, or any man for that matter, see me like this. Naked, exposed, my wings released but drooping with fatigue.

  "Why did you join the war?" I asked. I wanted to know what chain of events had led him to me.

  "My father was a soldier and his father before him."

  "So it's a family thing. Like me?"

  He laughed. "Yes and no. I was fourteen when the Twin Towers fell. My Uncle Steve was in Tower One."

  "I'm so sorry."

  "After I got out of high school, I don't know … it just seemed like the right thing to do. I knew it couldn't bring him back, but I had to do something, you know?"

  I thought back to when I finished my training. I was so optimistic, so certain in the nobility of my calling. I imagined myself as some sort of fatal Florence Nightingale, swooping down and choosing from among hundreds of brave warriors. Finding that one special man who deserved Valhalla.

  "I thought if I could fight terrorism where it starts, that I could protect people. I thought I could stop innocent people from getting killed,” Jess said. He traced the lines in my palm as he spoke. “But I don’t know anymore. There hasn’t been another 9/11, but I see innocent people die every day. You probably think I’m pretty stupid, huh?"

  "No," I said, pulling myself back to the present. T
hose days of foolish innocent pride were long gone for me. "Of course not. It's never wrong to fight for the innocent."

  "The innocent," he said, as if mulling over the meaning of the word. "I'm not sure innocence exists anymore, not even among children."

  "Perhaps you're right." I could see he was thinking about the girl with the AK-47. "Perhaps innocence is overrated. I'll admit I've had my fill of war, but you fight for a valiant cause. You chose to fight for the safety of your homeland. And perhaps for the innocence that might still reside there."

  He laughed.

  "What?"

  "It's the way you talk," he said, shaking his head, "valiant cause."

  His words stung. "Are you not fighting to protect others? To stop those who would commit violence against the innocents? If that is not valiant, then what is?"

  "I'm sorry," he said, "I wasn't making fun of you. I guess when you're doing it, fighting for any reason doesn't seem so valiant."

  "Yes, I suppose that's true. But there have always been wars, and there always will be. It's in your nature."

  "But not in yours?"

  I retracted my wings and moved closer to him. "I was made to withstand battles, not fight them."

  "What are we doing tomorrow, Sabrina?"

  "Securing your life."

  "And battling Death to do it?"

  His face was inches from mine. I kissed his cheek. Jess reached for my breast, then pulled back. "What exactly are we going to do? I don't like going into a mission blind."

  "We're going to ask Skuld for a protection spell," I said, running my hand across his chest. "Something that will give me enough time to get you safely back to your unit." I reached for his erection, and he buried his face in my hair. "Something that will throw Death off your scent."

  “What if it doesn’t work, Sabrina?”

  “It will. It has to.”

  “What if we can’t get it?”

  "Let me worry about that," I said, kissing my way down his chest. "The important thing is to get Death off your scent and get you out of here. Safe."

  "What about your safety?" Jess said, lifting my chin. I stared into his green eyes, losing myself for a moment.

  "I'll be fine, Jess. Death can't hurt me if I can get you out of here. It will have no proof."