“And why would we require your services to find something?” Liam asked.
“Because I can find what, or in this case, who you have been searching for,” Reginald replied slowly, dragging each word out so there was no mistaking them. “I can bring to you the people responsible for the trouble you have been facing.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed. “You know the identity of the killers?”
Reginald leered broadly. “Oh, I know more than that.”
“And what would you want in return for this information?” Valkyrie cut in.
Reginald lowered his gaze to his tea. He seemed to be watching the ripples across the dark surface, his features pensive.
“Sadly, I will not be around long enough to enjoy anything I request.” His head came up and he fixed Valkyrie with a hooded smile. “Consider this an early wedding present.”
Valkyrie reflexively glowered.
Reginald seemed unfazed. “Fate is such a fickle thing, isn’t it, Harvester? It comes upon us before we can blink and changes everything. Rarely do we appreciate the new turn we are given. I certainly don’t, but you...” He reached into the lapel of his blazer with one spidery hand.
Valkyrie was grabbed around the wrist and jerked behind Gideon before she could even think to draw in a breath. His blade was out and aimed at the other man. The beast standing by the doors, keeping them open growled in its chest.
Reginald put up his free hand. “It is all right, Zane.” His pale eyes never left Gideon. “It is not time yet.” To Gideon, he said, “I am on your side.”
“That is debatable,” Gideon ground out through clenched teeth.
Nonplussed, Reginald withdrew the item from his inside pocket and held it out on the palm of his hand.
It was a vial no bigger than Valkyrie’s thumb and filled with a clear, blue liquid that seemed to be emanating a faint, white glow. Everyone stared at it, waiting for it to do something. It didn’t.
“What is that?” Gideon demanded.
“This,” Reginald plucked the bottle up by the stopper and gingerly set it down on the table, “is the thing that will ultimately save your mate, Caster. Not today, but not too far into the future. You will know when.”
“Save me from what?” Valkyrie asked, eyeing the thing cautiously. “Why are you giving this to me?”
“Because, little Harvester, I have an interest in your future and it is in my best interest to make sure you succeed.”
“What are you talking about?” Gideon growled. “Enough riddles! Tell us why you’re here or—”
Reginald tensed. His eyes widened.
“We are out of time.”
No sooner had the words left his colorless mouth when a low whistle filled the room. The familiar whoosh of air being shot through propelled Valkyrie to grab the back of Gideon’s shirt and yank him to the ground as her scream of warning replaced the sickening crunch of bones shattering. Valkyrie hit the ground with Gideon falling over her on his side, too stunned to brace himself. The wind was knocked out of her, but not even that was enough to make her grip on his shirt loosen. She clutched him to her tightly, protecting him from harm.
He came to his senses first. He scrambled onto all fours above her. His hand was tense pushing back tendrils of hair to anxiously search her face.
“Are you all right?”
Nodding, Valkyrie ran her own hands over all the parts of him she could reach. “Are you?”
With a nod and a harsh kiss to her forehead, he heaved himself up onto his knees. His head swung around the room, searching for signs of danger. When none were evident, he pulled her up with him. His hands were warm and firm closing around hers. She chided herself for noticing, but it didn’t stave off the flow of electricity that seemed to pour through the connection, sending tingles up her arm.
“Dad?” Gideon scrambled to his feet, hauling Valkyrie up with him as he turned to face his father.
The others were doing the same. But unlike his sons who had hit the floor the moment Valkyrie had cried out, Liam hadn’t moved. He sat with his face drawn and pale, staring at the slumped figure across from him.
Reginald had tipped his tea over. Dark liquid spilled across the polished surface of the table to mix with the spackle of black that had sprayed from his mouth when the arrow had pierced through the back of his neck. It jutted like a needle through his jugular. Reginald’s eyes were open, staring unseeingly at the mess he’d made. Tea pooled beneath his cheek and trickled over the tabletop to stain his suit.
Magnus was already out the door with Reggie on his heels. Octavian had dove through the kitchen doors and was, if Valkyrie’s assumptions were correct, off to check on his wife and mother. Gideon kept Valkyrie close to his side, his body a strong barricade between her and whatever threat was outside the doors. His grip on her hand was almost painful.
“Dad?” Gideon reached for the other man.
“I’m fine.” Liam reached into the lapel of his jacket and removed a handkerchief. He wiped at the speckles of blood marring his face. “Check on your mother.”
“Octavian’s already gone.” Gideon looked to the open doorway and the hulking beast still standing there like an ugly, black statue. “Get to the back of the house.” He turned to Valkyrie. “Whoever did this could preparing for another attack.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” She bent down and gathered her fallen blades. “I’m going to find the bastard and show him what happens to idiots who shoot at me.”
She made it as far as the steps before he had her around the middle. She was twisted away from the opening with a single swing. His arms were iron bands around her middle, clasping her back into his chest as he held her tight.
“What are you doing?” she snarled at him.
“Keeping safe what’s mine!” He hissed into her ear. “Don’t push me on this, Kyrie. You might not care what happens to you, or our baby—”
“Possible baby!” she snapped back. “It’s only been a few hours. There’s no possible way it happened that fast.”
His arms tightened. “If there’s even a chance...” His lips brushed her ear and the warmth of his breath sent a shiver through her. “I have every right to protect you, even if that means cuffing you to my bed until we’re certain.”
There was no deflecting the hot current that rippled through her at the guttural promise burning the side of her face. Her heart gave a wild kick and she wondered if he could hear it.
“I ... I’m not a weak damsel!” she gasped out. “I don’t need saving.”
“Then keep our baby safe.”
“Possible—”
“And if you are?” he growled. “Will you really risk his life for your stubbornness?”
He had her. She wouldn’t. Not ever.
When she ceased fighting him, he relaxed his hold. His lips brushed a kiss to her ear.
“Thank you.”
“The arrow has been poisoned.”
Releasing her, Gideon marched to the doors and slammed them shut before moving to stand at his father’s shoulder to peer down at bloodstained tip of the arrow protruding from Reginald’s Adam’s apple.
The point was a smooth, hand polished onyx that gleamed in the light. The shaft was a flexible wood Valkyrie didn’t recognize. Nothing about the weapon was remarkable, or familiar.
“This is not one of my sister’s,” she stated. “Serinda uses animal bone and she wouldn’t miss.”
Lowering his head, Liam sniffed the area around the wound. He drew back a moment later, his expression puzzled.
“What?” Gideon asked.
Liam shook his head. “Something about the smell...”
The front doors blew open for the second time that night. Gideon’s hand instinctively closed around Valkyrie’s elbow and relaxed a second later when his brothers stomped in and shut the doors behind them.
“Stop manhandling me, Maxwell!” she snarled and wrenched herself free.
“Then you should leave!” he snapped back. “You do
n’t belong here.”
“Because you said so?” she volleyed back. “I do not take orders from you!”
“Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris!” he snarled at her viciously.
Valkyrie narrowed her eyes at his outburst. “Well, Caesar isn’t alive, so I’m not overly concerned about being chained to any oar.”
The anger continued to spark behind his eyes, but he didn’t throw anymore Latin insults at her.
“Whoever it was, they got away,” Magnus was saying to his father.
“And damn quick,” Reggie added. “It was like they melted right into the shadows.” He stepped up to Reginald’s body and knelt down. “I’ve only ever seen one other race move that fast.”
“Draconian,” Magnus mumbled.
Reggie looked up at his brother. “No, the fiolos.”
Magnus frowned. “No one’s seen—”
“Exactly.” Reggie leaned close to Reginald’s neck, eyes squinted as he examined the exit wound. “They also didn’t use bows and arrows. They preferred their talons, up close assaults. What is that smell?”
Magnus moved around Reginald’s chair and bent over the dead demon’s back. “Sulfur?”
“No, it’s...” Reggie shook his head. “I know I’ve smelled it before. I just can’t...”
Liam stepped away from the group. To anyone not paying attention, it would have seemed like nothing, but it was the unfocused look in his eyes that caught Valkyrie’s attention.
“What is it?”
The others turned towards their father.
“Dad?” Reggie straightened. He got to his feet. “Do you know what it is?”
Liam rubbed a hand over his jaw. His gaze swayed to where the creature by the door stood, unmoving despite the death of his master. The light sliced along the curve of his sword, sparking off the jagged points.
“Why didn’t he try and stop the attack?” Valkyrie wondered out loud. “When Reginald was threatened, he seemed prepared to defend his master, but when his master was shot, he doesn’t move.”
“Reginald knew he would die,” Magnus said. “The creature must be here for another purpose.”
“Yeah, but what purpose is that?” Reggie asked.
“We should find out.” Gideon marched to where the creature stood. “Zane.”
Zane lowered his head a notch.
“Can you speak?”
The creature didn’t.
“Do you know who attacked your master?”
Again, it remained unmoving.
“Liam!” The kitchen door slammed open and Kyaerin burst through. Her blue eyes jumped straight to her husband and her hands flew like pale birds to her chest. “Darling.” She rushed across the room and straight into his waiting arms, uncaring that there was another man’s blood on his shirt. “Are you hurt?”
He held her as though she were made of glass and the most precious thing in the world.
“I am unharmed.”
Kyaerin pulled back enough to touch the side of his face. “Octavian said there was a shot and I...” She noticed Reginald and her eyes went even rounder against her pale complexion. “Liam? Who is this?”
“His name was Reginald.”
“He finds things,” Gideon piped in. “Or, I guess, used to find things.”
Kyaerin frowned. “What?” She caught sight of Zane and gave a small squeak of surprise. “What on earth...”
“He followed us home,” Gideon said. “Can we keep him?”
“Gideon.” His father shot Gideon a dry frown before focusing on his wife once more. “I will explain everything, but please stay at the back of the house until I have sorted this out. The diner is no longer safe and Imogen needs you.” He eyed Reginald. “We are shutting the diner down. Those doors will open for no one else until I am satisfied my family is safe. In the meantime, hunts will be done in pairs.” He looked to Kyaerin. “Can you please get everyone in the family room? There are things we must discuss.”
Kyaerin sighed, but she nodded. Her hand lightly touched her husband’s chest, but her eyes roamed over her sons. “Be safe and I will see you upstairs.”
She left the room. Once she was gone, Liam turned to the others.
“We must dispose of the body,” he instructed. “Then we must seal the doors from the inside.”
Valkyrie frowned. “Sealing all the doors will leave you trapped and vulnerable.”
Liam offered her the ghost of a smile. “This is our home. We are never trapped.” With that, he went back to speaking with his sons. “Magnus, ask your mother for a seliant jar and gloves. The thickest pair we have. Reggie, you and Octavian will take the body as far away from the manor as possible and burn it. Gideon, you’re in charge of getting rid of your new friend. I will get the book.”
Valkyrie waited to be given instructions, but everyone was moving to go about their jobs, including Liam.
“What about me?”
He turned to her. “There has never been a time that your abilities have been put into question, Valkyrie. You have always been a brave warrior. But I ask you, for the sake of my grandchild, to please wait at the back of the house with the others. Kyaerin will assign you a task.”
Irritation and humiliation darkened the coloring on her cheeks. It was this very reason why childbirth was for the weak. It turned strong women into cowering creatures who required the protection of a man. The implication that she was now too delicate to handle a simple assignment infuriated her. But for the sake of any possible child she may have been carrying, Valkyrie pivoted on her heels and stormed from the room. Her heels cracked, echoing the tempo of her rage all the way into the back and up the stairs.
The other women were already in the family room. Valkyrie half expected them to be sitting with knitting needles, or some other trivial past time entertainment.
Only Imogen was sitting. She was no longer crying, much to Valkyrie’s relief. Weeping women were a nightmare. Riley and Kyaerin were leaning over the desk in the corner, pouring liquid silver into palm-sized jars. Other jars, canisters, and boxes littered the tabletop. Most of the powders and liquids, Valkyrie recognized on site. Others were harder to identify. The one Riley was gingerly pouring from bottle to bottle, she did.
“Quicksilver,” Valkyrie said.
The two glanced up. A drop of the deadly concoction dropped onto the desk and immediately began sizzling. Riley cursed and drew her hand back.
“Don’t worry,” Kyaerin said hastily. “Keep going.” She turned blue eyes towards Valkyrie. “Does Liam need something?”
“If he does, he hasn’t divulged as such to me,” Valkyrie replied tartly. “I have been shunned to the woman’s circle.”
“Because you’re a woman, maybe?” Riley muttered, concentrating a little too hard on her task.
“I am a warrior,” Valkyrie growled. “I do not belong here cowering while the men fight to protect me. I belong out there.”
“We are not cowering,” Riley said. “We are making sure we are prepared in the event that we must fight.” She raised her head and fixed Valkyrie with a sharp smirk. “Isn’t that equally important?”
“Perhaps for those who do not fight.”
She stalked deeper into the room, her battle mode thrumming. She paced to the window and peered out into the dark. In the distance, she could just make out the faint glow of city lights and knew the humans were still out about their business. It never failed to baffle her how they were so utterly oblivious to the dangers that followed at night’s heels. They trotted out of their homes and prowled the streets at all hours with such disregard to their own safety. Casters did the same, but they were the hunters, not the prey.
“Keep the aceae powder away from the quicksilver,” Kyaerin told Riley. “The two cannot touch until the very last moment. Make sure your hands are also clean.”
Riley gingerly placed the vials into a box and set them aside.
“What are we going to do with these?” Riley asked.
“Whatever we mus
t.” Kyaerin said simply. “No, that is too much.” She settled her small hands over Riley’s and shook some of the purple powder off the measuring spoon. “Too much is as effective as not enough,” she said. “Only the perfect balance will make this work.”
Nodding, Riley poured the aceae powder into a small, leather pouch the size of Valkyrie’s thumb. The top was knotted with a string and set aside.
“How does this work?” Riley asked, scooping more powder onto her spoon, more carefully now.
Kyaerin turned away to drag a small, wooden box off the filing cabinets behind her onto the desk. Phials clinked noisily in the silence.
“The quicksilver is laid in front of the enemy and then doused with the powder.” She blew a curl off her brow. “It’s like a bomb.”
Riley’s eyes widened, but she never strayed from her task.
“Aceae and quicksilver are equally dangerous on their own.” Kyaerin rifled through the bottles while she spoke. “Thrown into the face of an enemy, aceae powder can blind and sometimes inflame the throat to the point where the inhaler chokes to death.” She either didn’t notice or ignored Riley’s slight pull back away from the powder. “Quicksilver burns upon contact.”
“Shouldn’t we be wearing gloves, or masks?” Riley wondered apprehensively.
“There isn’t enough to cause us harm.” Kyaerin said. “Ha!” She pulled out a bottle filled halfway with a thick, clear liquid. She set it aside and reached for a small, disk off the desk. “Finish with the powder and I will show you how to make Greek fire.”
Riley’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline. “Is that safe?”
Kyaerin squinted at bits of black shavings rattling around at the bottom of a jar. “Only if we are careful.”
Valkyrie watched the pair with a touch of something sharp and bitter in her throat. Her own mother hadn’t taught her children much of anything, except how never to be like her. Childbirth had destroyed the fierce warrior she had once been, turning her into a weak, mindless husk. Her last sane act before her death had been to elect Valkyrie’s father as her replacement to rule the kingdom and even that had been cowardly. There had never been a male ruler, and despite leading them to countless victories, her father was still just a man. By all rights, Serinda should have taken their mother’s place as queen. Electing a man had been a dishonor to their people. But he was king. To say anything against her mother’s decision was grounds for treason.
Gideon's Promise (Sons of Judgment Book 2) Page 37
