by Chloe Cole
Taya suppressed a flinch at the memory of those revelations and nodded slowly. “Yes, I imagine he would’ve.”
She thought back to the stricken look on Etienne’s face when he’d realized that Mina had filled her in on some of the details he had chosen not to.
You can never be together.
He might be lying about some things and withholding information, but there was no faking that expression. He’d looked like someone had sucker punched him in the gut. Mina’s words had hurt him too.
She shoved back a twinge of pity for him. Yes, he was in a sticky position to be sure, but at least he’d known from the start that he could only mate with a shifter. She’d had the right to know that, too.
Especially before they’d slept together.
Especially before she’d fallen completely, and head over heels in love with him.
“No matter how it seems, it wasn’t my intention to cause pain or more trouble, but it was need-to-know info,” Mina continued, oblivious to Taya’s tortured thoughts. “I suppose I could’ve given the courtesy of a little fluffing first, maybe try to grease the wheels, soften the blow. But the one thing we don’t have right now is time.” She shrugged, and, although her expression was one of regret, her posture was one of defensiveness as she tossed her shoulders back. “Besides, my kind isn’t exactly known for our squishy exteriors.”
Taya let the sorry-not-sorry apology pass without response, focusing instead on the latter part of Mina’s statement.
“When you say ‘your kind’, what exactly does that mean?”
Taya had already pieced together the fact that Mina and Etienne weren’t the same species, but she hadn’t yet worked out exactly what Mina was. And what was that saying about the devil you knew?
Mina examined her fingernails for a long moment before nodding, almost as if to herself.
“I guess there’s no real point in keeping it from you. As it stands, you know too much to go back to blissful ignorance, but not enough that you feel like you can leave well enough alone. In other words, just enough to be dangerous.” She folded her lean frame into an armchair beside the bed. “I’m what’s called a Valkyrie.”
Taya stared at the other woman, nonplussed. “Come again?”
Mina tapped an impatient beat out on the arm of the chair before leaning forward and blowing out a sigh.
“A Valkyrie. That’s what we call ourselves, for lack of a better term, as that’s what the Norsemen called us more than eight centuries ago. Back then, my ancestors would fly through the fields of battle and choose which soldiers to bring to Valhalla. At least, that’s what the Norsemen thought. We did pluck soldiers from the battlefield, but it was so we could influence the outcome of the war and help determine which side was victorious. Times have changed, though. Victories and defeats aren’t determined by what happens between pawns on the field of battle anymore. Now, wars are waged in boardrooms and command centers with dollars and votes while the young and powerless die for a cause they never really know the truth of.”
A bitterness colored her voice and Taya couldn’t help but wonder about the atrocities Mina might have seen to put it there.
“There are only a handful of Valkyries left and we tend to find ourselves embroiled in matters of diplomacy in the shifter world. Sort of like an external moral compass, in a way.”
“So you are a kind of, what, fixer or something?” Taya asked, fascinated in spite of herself. She’d thought initially that shifters like Etienne were humans with the ability to change form, but in the past two days, she’d been finding more and more that the rules of their world were every bit as complex as in the human world, if not more so.
“I work for the European Council of Shifters as a sort of…contractor. They ask me to investigate things for them, and inform me of their preferred course of action. I investigate and determine if their course of action jibes with my own sense of morals and act accordingly. Sometimes they’re happy with my services.” She let out a low, husky laugh. “And sometimes they’re not. But they know that without the assurance of checks and balances, the masses will revolt and things will get ugly. I guess you could say that we have something of an uneasy truce. I try to help them keep the shifter world in order and safe from prying human eyes while at the same time keeping the Council from becoming tyrannical. Power is most corrupting if it’s not shared.”
Taya inclined her head, adding the information to her growing mental database. So if she was to be believed, Mina was actually a good guy? If there was such a thing in this sur-reality.
As if she’d read her mind, Mina spoke again.
“I know it’s hard to get your head around it all, and trusting is hard for you right now, but know that Etienne wouldn’t have left you with me if he thought you were in danger. He does care for you. He told me as much.”
The rightness of that settled into her bones the second the words were spoken. Odd how, as hurt and angry as she was, she still knew that was true. Another thought struck her as she replayed Mina’s explanation over in her mind.
“Wait. You said that you would ‘fly over battlegrounds’? Does that mean that you have wings, like Etienne?”
Mina let out a snort and lifted her chin at a haughty angle. “Lord, no. Those clunky things he hauls around are an insult to wings everywhere.” She stood and shimmied her shoulders until her jacket dropped to the floor behind her and she was left wearing a second skin tank top that had been beneath. Then, she let her eyes drift shut.
A second later, a set of lush, raven-colored wings splayed out behind her, the feathers thick and glossy.
Taya let out an involuntary gasp and covered her mouth with one hand. If Mina had looked like a bad ass before, the black-as-sin feathers only added to the effect.
“Wow…”
“Yeah,” Mina said with a solemn nod.
Taya couldn’t even be irritated at the other woman’s pride. If she had wings like that, she’d probably be a little cocky, too.
“Anyway, that’s enough talk for now.” Mina tucked a lock of inky hair behind one ear and observed Taya thoughtfully. “You’ve got to be hungry after spending the day cooped up in here. Let’s get you some food, all right?”
Taya looked down at her hands, the initial awe at Mina’s display deflating under the weight of the reality setting in again. She shook her head slowly.
“No, thanks.” She hadn’t eaten anything since the night before and her stomach felt empty, but she knew there was no way she could choke anything down.
“Your call,” Mina said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “By the time we’re done, I think you’ll have changed your mind.”
“Done with what?”
“Our workout. We’re going down to the gym.”
Taya stared at the other woman in confusion. With a shifter war on the horizon and assassins en route, it hardly seemed like a good time for aerobics, and she said as much.
Mina cut off her protest with a wave of a hand as she retracted her wings and bent to pick up her leather jacket.
“That wasn’t a request. You need to learn a few basic self-defense skills. Etienne and I are not always going to be here to protect you and you certainly don’t look like you’ve got much in the way of physical strength.” She let her gaze travel the length of Taya’s body and shrugged as if to say ‘What can you do?’ before blowing out a sigh. “Lucky for you, I’ve some tricks in my bag. No time to waste. Dig around for some workout clothes and meet me downstairs in five.”
She crossed the room and had one hand on the doorknob before she turned to pin Taya with her intense gaze.
“The storm that’s coming might kill all three of us, little Taya Briarcroft. But you can be damned sure we’re going down with a fight.”
Chapter Seventeen
Etienne yanked the T-shirt over his head and pulled the fly of his jeans up before kicking his duffel bag behind a dumpster next to the bar.
It had taken all of his self-discipline to shift back
to human rather than flying in, crashing through the doors and disemboweling his enemy.
But that wouldn’t do anyone any good and that would only call more attention to him, which he’d already done enough of, if Mina’s sudden appearance was any indicator.
He bit back a snarl as he thought back to the previous few hours.
It had started out perfect.
He’d woken up with Taya in his arms, her scent on his skin and filled with a sense of hope. Which was clearly where he’d gone wrong.
There were far too many things outside his control for him to have been so optimistic. Not only did he have to take care of the immediate problem of Taya’s canine assailants, now he had to manage the Council and their own attack dogs, who, according to Mina, were already en route.
But hey, at least once he dealt with all that, he would only have to fight thousands of years worth of laws and tradition in order to make her his for a lifetime.
No problem.
He stepped up to the door of the bar and pushed his way in, doing his level best to look unassuming and casual. Just a regular guy going in for a drink.
He made his way to the bar and offered the brunette bartender a practiced smile. “I’d like a Bud and a shot of JD.”
She returned his smile in a way that he was all too familiar with.
“Sure thing handsome.”
He ignored her flirtation and took a surreptitious glance around the room as she lined up his drinks. He didn’t see his target, but there…right at the very edge of his senses, he could smell him. Not as if he was here now, but as if he had been here recently.
Son of a bitch.
He swallowed a snarl as he downed his shot, relishing the burn of the liquor as it coursed its way to his stomach.
In spite of his captive’s deteriorating physical state back at Drake’s keep, it had taken Etienne three hours to “convince” him to give up Mikhail’s usual haunts. Apparently, he should’ve been more aggressive because it seemed like he was too little, too late.
“That’ll be six fifty,” the barmaid drawled.
He pulled out a twenty and dropped it on the bar before downing his beer in three long gulps and turning away. He was about to head out and see if he could catch his scent when a door on the opposite side of the room caught his gaze.
“What’s that lead to, there?” he asked the bartender, shaking his head curtly when she gestured to the shot glass, as if to ask if he wanted another.
“The game room. We got pool tables and—”
He didn’t bother waiting for her to finish. As he crossed the sticky floor toward the entrance to the next room, his senses roared to life as that stench wrapped around him.
Grimy, mangy, greasy dog. Plain as day, strong as a skunk.
Apparently, his day was looking up.
He pushed the door open with his toe and flexed his fist as his eyes adjusted to the low light of the room.
He didn’t have to seek Mikhail out. When a man bent over the pool table suddenly froze, mid-motion, Etienne knew he’d been scented just as clearly as he had scented his prey.
If he’d wondered just how far stupid the rogue wolf was, he wondered no more as Mikhail set down his pool cue and leveled a cocky smile in his direction.
“Well, hello again, stranger,” the other man said, in a low drawl. His hair hung around his face in dirty hanks, but he didn’t look as emaciated as he had the last time Etienne had seen him.
The realization made the rage burn hotter in Etienne’s belly. Mikhail had clearly made a meal somewhere and Etienne could only hope that his prey had been the four-legged kind.
“I was wondering when you’d show up.”
The two other men that had been playing darts a few yards away had stopped playing and cleared their throats as they gathered up their pint glasses and belongings.
The tension was as thick as cotton and it didn’t take a genius to realize trouble was brewing. They obviously wanted no part of it, which would make Etienne’s job way easier. They vacated the room wordlessly, leaving he and Mikhail alone.
Etienne took two steps closer to Mikhail, but the other man stood his ground. They locked gazes until Mikhail held up a staying hand.
“Not sure you want to do this here, though, buddy. I know how much you love those humans.” His tone was mocking, and there was no hint of fear in his soulless eyes.
“You have the nerve to say that?” Etienne said, cracking his knuckles. “You attacked Taya right out on the street.”
“Unlike you, I have nothing left to lose.” A grim smile tugged at his thin lips and he bared his yellowing teeth in a facsimile of a smile. “It doesn’t really matter what I do. My life is basically over so I’m going to enjoy the time I have left.”
He cocked his head, studying Etienne with a thoughtful gaze.
“The question is, what do you stand to lose by coming in here and causing trouble?” Mikhail leaned back to rest his ass on the pool table.
The son of a bitch thought he was safe because Etienne wouldn’t want to make a scene. And his assessment wasn’t that far off base. The second he’d walked into the place, that had been his own thought.
What Mikhail hadn’t counted on was exactly how hell-bent on revenge Etienne was.
Just as he was about to explain it to him, another man lumbered into the room holding two pitchers of beer, a goofy smile on his face.
“Problem here, Mikhail?” he asked as the grin faded.
Etienne stared at him, letting the scent of this new male penetrate his consciousness.
Bear shifter.
He’d met his share back in Europe. Although, not grizzlies like this one. Their scents were similar but this was darker. Earthier.
The other man flicked a questioning glance between he and Mikhail and Etienne tensed, body at the ready to make a move if need be.
Mikhail shook his head slowly at his companion and pushed himself away from the pool table, straightening. “I think we’re all good here. This asshole was just leaving.”
He moved the cue ball to the spot in the center of the table and then bent low to line up his shot before drawing his arm back and letting it fly.
The white ball never had a chance to touch the rack of colored ones as Etienne whipped out a hand, plucked it in mid-motion and hurled it at Mikhail, hitting him right between the eyes. The resulting crack echoed through the room, bouncing off the cedar walls.
Mikhail dropped like a stone, as if felled by an unseen sniper.
The bear shifter let out a muffled oath, set his pitchers of beer sloshing down onto a nearby table and faced Etienne, arms akimbo.
“What the fuck was that about?” he demanded, his voice a menacing growl.
Outwardly, Etienne didn’t react. Inside though, his pulse jackhammered as the adrenaline rushed through him.
The bear was just an unforeseen speed bump. He didn’t want to have to kill him but if he was going to stand between Etienne and his prey, he’d do what he had to do to get to Mikhail. The man who had attacked Taya. The man who had intended to use her, kill her and eat her like she was nothing.
Etienne didn’t wait for the bear to come at him. Instead, he strode toward the other shifter, letting loose with a punishing blow to his jaw. The bear reeled backward, almost hitting the deck before steadying himself on a barstool.
He straightened and rushed headlong at Etienne, breath sawing in and out of his lungs, eyes glazed over with a wild fury. Luckily, he was all bulk and brawn, but no brains like so many of the bears Etienne had met, and when Etienne sidestepped at the last moment, he barreled straight into the wall behind him with a sickening thud.
Before Etienne could check to see whether his new friend was out of commission for a while, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.
He turned to see Mikhail pushing himself to his feet, blood dripping down his face and landing on the dirty floor in thick, crimson droplets. There was a two-inch deep dent in the center of his forehead where h
is skull had caved in from the force of the cue ball.
He smiled, a twisted sense of glee coursing through him as he observed the gruesome injury. It would heal soon enough, but for the time being, it was like a balm to his vengeful soul.
“You stupid motherfucker,” Mikhail grunted, swiping at the blood in his eyes and blinking furiously. “You said it yourself, there are people in the next room.”
“And you told me you didn’t care. It sure didn’t seem to bother you before, remember? When you attacked Taya on a public street?”
He crossed the room until they stood toe-to-toe again and he reached out to close his hand around Mikhail’s neck.
“Do it. You’re going to regret it, though,” Mikhail choked out with a gasp. “My pack might not want me, but they find out what you’ve done, they’ll come for you. As will all the other packs who know the truth. Humans are nothing. If we continue to allow them to run the earth we will become the orchestrators of our own demise. Many of my kind still know this, and if you kill me, there will be dozens that will come to repay the debt.”
His foul breath washed over Etienne’s face and he swallowed a wave of revulsion as he tried to separate his emotions from his intellect. He wanted to kill him—God, did he want to kill him—but was that the right move? Would the fallout cause more trouble than it was worth for Taya, despite Etienne’s thirst for revenge?
He could hear the bear struggling to his feet behind him, and he knew it was decision time.
His path was clear.
Mikhail was a rabid dog and he needed to be put down.
“This is for Taya.”
He snapped the other man’s neck with the flick of his wrist, nearly decapitating him before letting him slump to the ground at his feet.
