by Kristi Jones
Jess nodded, staring down at his hands. When he met my gaze, his chin trembled. “I’m sorry about Skuld, Sabrina.”
“No, don’t be,” I said, putting my arms around him. He held me close, plunging his hands into my hair. I felt my body melt into his and resisted the urge to wrap my legs around him.
If he didn’t release me, I might never let him go. I pulled back.
He sniffed, tucking his hands into his pockets. “Will I see you again?"
"Maybe. All things are possible. You work on the battlefield; I work on the battlefield. Who knows?"
"You're lying," Jess said, a flicker of disappointment crossing his handsome features.
"I'm sorry," I said, feeling a flush of unexpected shame. I leaned over and kissed his cheek. I lingered there, breathing in the scent of him. That smell of man, strange and intoxicating, made me feel hot and dizzy.
"Let's go," I said.
"You're coming with me?"
"I'll see you safely through the street."
Another smile. "You know, I am a soldier, too. I can probably manage to make it across the street alive."
"Right. Sorry."
So I stood in the shadow of the building and watched him go. He was leaving me. I wished we could have had more time together. I wished that the Rules of Progeny did not exist. I wished I could claim him as my mate and live on earth as a mortal.
I put a hand to my heart and clenched my t-shirt, letting out a shaking breath. The longing I felt for him was so intense, I had to fight to stay on my feet. I wanted to fall on my knees and weep for him, for the loss of him, but I had to stay strong. If he saw me fall apart, he would come back, and if he came back, I was sure he would die.
He moved out into the street, looking left, then right. A stray dog limped past him. A mother and her two children rounded a corner on the opposite side of the street. The mother held a plastic shopping bag in each hand, and her two children struggled to keep up with her.
When the mother reached into her shopping bag and pulled out a weapon, her children scattered.
"Jess!" I shouted, my voice cracking like a shot.
He turned. "Sabrina?"
The mother had Jess in her sights. I saw her smile.
The mother. It. It smiled. Death was pointing a weapon at Jess. Death was smiling.
I flew toward him, but in my haste, my crazy heart rate roaring, pounding inside my chest, I landed a foot too short.
Jess, in his mortal foolishness, threw himself in front of me. "Sabrina, no!"
"Get down, get down," I said, but it was too late. The first bullet caught him in the shoulder. The second hit his thigh.
I dropped to my knees and threw up my wings, shielding his prostrate body. I didn't care who saw me.
"Jess, no. Hold on."
His lips were shaking. His body was shaking. The second bullet had clipped his femoral artery. I tried to staunch the bleeding with my hands, but bright red blood pumped through my fingers.
“Hold on, Jess, you’ll be okay.” I struggled to lift him into my arms. I was shaking, too, my emotions overwhelming my physical strength for the first time in my long life.
“I’m not going to make it, Sabrina.”
His voice was like a caress.
“You will,” I said, falling to my knees under the weight of him. “You’re protected.”
"Sabrina ... are you ok?"
Hot tears fell down my face. "I'm always okay, Jess."
He grasped my hand and pulled it to his mouth. "I think," he said, his voice a hushed whisper, "I think this card is in my hands." And he pulled me closer. He wanted me to take him, to mark him.
My mind felt blank, wiped clean.
“Jess, are you sure?”
He smiled up at me, joy and relief flooding his face. “I’ve been sure since that first night.”
“Oh, Jess.” I left myself fall to the ground, cradling his head in my arms.
“See you on the other side?” His voice was soft, hushed, dying.
“Yes, Jess. I’ll be right here. I won’t let you go.”
With tears flowing down my cheeks, I placed my lips on his and stole his last breath, taking it deep into my lungs. I gave him a long, lingering kiss, drawing every last bit of his breath into my body.
I felt his chest fall for the last time.
He was gone.
I sucked in the last of him, marking him.
"You didn't really think you'd succeed, did you?"
I looked up.
Death stood over us. It had shed the disguise of motherhood and was now in the uniform of an ISAF Colonel.
“But,” I said, tears streaming down my face, my heart hammering, “you don’t get him.”
Death shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Neither do you. You wanted to save him, and I forced your hand. After what you did with that girl, there was no way I was going to let him live.”
“But Skuld protected him,” I said, my voice breaking. I didn’t understand it. Skuld’s gold ring, coated in blood, lay dark against Jess’s tanned skin.
“It was stupid to come back to the same place,” It said, shrugging. “I knew it was only a matter of time. It’s true I couldn’t see him. But I could see you. I knew he must be close.”
I looked down at my hero. His lips were parted, his eyes still open. I put a hand out to close them and felt an icy weight across my shoulders.
Death reached for me. It wrapped a hand around my throat. The hand felt inhuman, as if it were made of rubber. There was no life in it and no death. I realized that Death was more than death. It was nothing. It was non-existence.
“Do not cross me again, Valkyrie,” It said. Its mouth was inches from my own, but there was no force of breath emanating from It. “Next time, I will do more than take revenge for one soul. I will find a way to destroy you.”
A strong wind rushed past us, and when Death released me, It spun away into the desert. Sand stung my eyes, and I dropped to my knees, covering Jess.
Finally the storm subsided, and Gustel descended from the sky.
"I thought I got rid of him. I'm so sorry, Sabrina."
Gustel stood over us, her features clouded in sympathy and sorrow.
“I had to mark him,” I said, my voice cracking.
“I know,” she said, dropping down beside me. “You did the right thing, Sabrina.”
“I killed him.”
“No. The war killed him. You gave him another chance.”
“I promised him.”
Gustel pulled me to my feet. “You did your best, Sabrina. We aren’t angels. We can only do so much for them. You did your duty. Jess will be happy in Valhalla.”
I rubbed away my tears and sniffed back the angry retort forming on my lips. It wasn’t Gustel’s fault I’d lost him. “What am I supposed to do now? Go back to the streets of Kandahar or the villages in Kunar Province? Go back to watching little girls kill honorable men?”
“You do your duty, that’s what you do. Take another assignment. Get out of Afghanistan.”
She tried to steer me away from Jess’s body, but I held my ground.
“Maybe take a cushy job in the West Bank or Somalia.”
“I should have protected him. It was my job.”
“Dammit, Sabrina,” Gustel said, grabbing me by the shoulders and giving me a push. “No, it wasn't. You did your job. You found a hero; you marked him.”
“I sent him to his death.”
“You sent him to Valhalla,” Gustel said, giving me a knowing look, “and I know what will make you feel better about that.”
“What?”
Gustel looked at Jess’s prone body and arched an eyebrow.
“Gustel, no.”
“Come on. You know you want to. It's way past time anyway.”
“But the Rules of Progeny—”
“Will always be there. We can't avoid it forever. At least you'll get to be with someone you can't seem to keep your hands off.”
I dropped my eyes.
“
Yeah, I know,” Gustel said, her voice softening, “it’s more than that.”
“I love him.”
“Yep.”
“But, Gustel, I can’t ask him. What if he…”
It was yet another cruel twist of fate that once your chosen warrior was dead, a Valkyrie had no way of asking her hero what he wanted. Would Jess want to spend the next thirty to forty years with me? Or would he be happier in Valhalla?
“Oh, for Odin’s sakes, Sabrina, you don’t have to ask him. The guy was obviously gaga over you. You know he’ll be happier with you. I don’t know why you’re even thinking about it.”
Swallowing back my fear and doubt, I went to Jess. I took the necklace, the Wings of Valkyrie, and placed it on his lips.
I sang for him. I sang about our happiness and the life we would lead together. I sang for the child I was someday condemning to the Death Duty or something much worse. I sang with tears in my eyes and love in my heart.
Jess’s eyelids fluttered, and his chest heaved. Life returned.
“Jess.”
“Sabrina. Where am I?”
“Here. With me.”
“I’m alive.”
“Yes,” I said, smiling down at him. “I chose you. Odin help me, I had to claim you.”
“You claimed me?”
“I couldn’t—” I stopped. I didn’t know how to tell him that I couldn’t live without him.
He struggled into a sitting position. I ran a hand across his forehead. His skin was cold, his lips still tinged with the blush of death, but his eyes were open and I felt his pulse against my open palm. He took a few deep breaths and looked around, getting his bearings.
“Did I die?”
“Yes.”
“But you’re still here.”
“Do you want to be with me, Jess? Because I want to be with you.”
He reached for me. I pulled him to his feet, and he threw his arms around me. “Oh, Sabrina, Sabrina.”
His mouth was close to my ear, and his words electrified me.
“Jess.”
He pulled back and our eyes locked. “You claimed me.”
“Yes,” I said, swallowing back the fear rising in my throat. “I had to, Jess. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you.”
A smile played on his lips, and he tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “You claimed me? You belong to me now?”
“Technically, you belong to me,” I said, laughing.
He held me tighter, one arm around my waist, one hand pulling me to him. “Oh I beg to differ, young Valkyrie. I don’t know much about your world, but one thing I’m sure of—you belong to me.”
Gustel, the rattle of gunfire, the desert sands, all receded from view when Jess bent and placed his lips on mine. I tasted the salty sweetness of him and clasped my arms around his neck. I pushed aside all fears and thoughts of the Rules of Progeny. I forgot about Death and the immortal world I belonged to. I had him. For now.
I opened my mouth and fell into him, happily drowning in his hungry kiss.
The End
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