Intrigued, slightly irked, Valkyrie eyed the girl. “What do we have in common?”
“Well...” Riley offered her a half smile. “We both imprinted on a Maxwell brother. That kind of makes us sisters, doesn’t it?” When Valkyrie said nothing, she continued. “We both have really shitty fathers. We’re both more or less alone and we both had to fight to get to where we are.”
“And where exactly are you?” Valkyrie rose. “Surrounded by people who worship the very ground you walk upon, a mate who cannot keep his hands off you, a woman who has practically adopted you as the apple of her eye, strength, speed.” She scoffed. “You have everything. Do you really expect me to pity you?”
Sadness glinted in the crimson surface of Riley’s eyes. “No, I just hoped...” She dropped her gaze. “Maybe this was a mistake. I’m sorry I bothered you.”
She left.
Valkyrie didn’t stop her. She started to turn back to the window when the hard crack of feet had her spinning around once more. Riley returned, face set in a fierce and determined frown.
“You know what, no, I’m not sorry!” she shouted. “I came here hoping to maybe offer you an olive branch, even though I have no idea what I ever did to make you hate me so much and I don’t care. You’re my family now, whether either of us like it or not. I love Gideon. He was the first and only person who ever gave a shit about me, besides Octavian. He’s a good man and he loves you. Even if you weren’t his mate, I would still be standing here, because of that reason. Now I don’t know why you’re so angry at the world and I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through in your life, but you’re not alone anymore. There are people downstairs who—”
“Who what?” Valkyrie hissed. “Care about me?”
“Yes!” Riley shot back. “They are fighting for you.”
“They are fighting for the child I carry. Nothing more.”
Riley growled deep in her throat. “You are such a fucking idiot!”
Valkyrie bristled with outrage. “What did you say?”
“You,” Riley said very slowly. “Are a fucking idiot!” she repeated. “I think maybe Harvesters should spend less time training for war and more time growing some common sense, because if you had any, you would see what is right in front of your face and that is that those people love you. That Gideon loves you and that you could have that, all of it, if you would just get that stick out of your ass.”
Valkyrie’s rage closed a single foot between them. “I should beat the hell out of you for speaking to me that way.”
Rather than cower, Riley opened her arms wide. “Go ahead. I beat you once and I will gladly beat you again and again until you get it through your skull that we’re not going anywhere.”
Breathing hard, Valkyrie stared at the girl with a new found surge of irritation and respect.
“Now.” Riley folded her arms. “Are you going to stay up here like a child and sulk in the corner, or are you going to be an adult and come down for dinner?”
“I am not a child!”
Riley gave a curt nod of her head. “Good. I’ll see you downstairs.”
She didn’t come back this time, but her words hammered at Valkyrie long after they had faded from the corridor. There were so many reasons she could think of to ignore the demands, and only one reason not to. It was that reason that propelled her downstairs to shower and dress in tight leather pants and a crimson sweater that matched her lipstick and hugged every curve to perfection. She left her hair down in a thick, black wave around her shoulders with only a single strand pulled back at the left temple and pinned. Out of habit, she tucked her daggers into the tops of her boots, slipped gold hoops into her ears, and took a deep breath.
Her confidence remained resolute the entire way down to the dining room and only wavered when she was close enough to hear the murmur of voices. Her long strides slowed to a stop and she stared at the doorway, torn between proving Riley wrong and saving face.
“You look beautiful.”
Valkyrie yelped in surprise and whipped around. Her dagger was in her hand before her mind could register her body’s actions. Her alarmed heart only beat faster when Gideon stepped into view.
He looked gorgeous in the black t-shirt that strained over a broad chest and wide shoulders and the leather pants that hugged toned legs. His hair was swept back from his cleanly shaven face and he had the ghost of a smile darkening his eyes that prickled her back to her senses.
“Why are you lurking in the shadows?” she snapped reflexively.
He stopped when there was a danger of walking into her. That close, she had no choice but to tilt her head back, or take a step in retreat. She craned her neck.
“Why have you been hiding?” he countered smoothly.
Tendrils of heat crawled into her cheeks. “I was not hiding.”
“Good.” His hand lifted to her face. His thumb glided almost lovingly over the apple of her cheek before dropping to her shoulder and gliding down to her hand still curled around her blade. “Because the woman I fell in love with hides from no one.” Gently, he guided her dagger back into the top of her boot. “She’s a formidable force in every way that matters.”
Her throat muscles constricted as rivulets of heat coursed up her arm from the hand he continued to cradle.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying honey.”
Valkyrie blinked. “What?”
The right corner of his mouth quirked up. “Allow me to walk you to dinner?”
He gave her no choice. He took her hand, slipped it through the crook of his arm and guided her forward against her feet’s desire to move. Her knees trembled threateningly and her fingers tightened on his arm.
“Easy,” he murmured gently, settling his warm fingers over hers. “No one will bite you, but me.”
His comment startled her apprehension away just long enough for her to forget what she was doing until they stood in the doorway overlooking a full table. Heads turned and there was no escape.
“Valkyrie!” Kyaerin beamed. “You made it.”
Not sure what to say or do, Valkyrie just nodded.
Gideon ushered her to her seat and drew out her chair. She slipped inside and was gently pushed beneath the table by him before he took the spot next to her. On her right, Magnus met her gaze. Across from her sat Riley. The girl offered her the hint of a smile, before turning her attention back to Reggie, who was telling her about the human girl, Daphne, and her move to Connecticut. On Riley’s other side, Octavian was speaking to his father about the chart he’d been dutifully putting together the last week and a half. Across from him was his mother, between her and Gideon was Imogen. She was trying desperately to get Kyaerin’s attention and keep it. But Kyaerin was listening to Octavian.
“I think you should get in touch with Marco,” Kyaerin told her son. “His father fought in the war. He would know—”
“Marco is dead,” Valkyrie said. “He died four summers ago during an inanimis attack. He was ambushed and outnumbered.”
Kyaerin gasped, hand flying to her mouth. “I never realized ... I should contact his mother. How awful.”
“Dorin was San’s second in command,” Valkyrie went on. “He is the one you want.”
“Dorin has been underground for the last quarter of a century,” Liam said. “He will not be easy to find.”
“There’s no such thing as underground,” Magnus muttered. “Someone knows someone who knows something. I can ask around.”
“Once I figure out who fought and who ran, I think we might be able to stop the next attack,” Octavian said with hope.
“Maybe it has nothing to do with who fought in the first war,” Gideon mused.
“What do you mean?” Octavian asked.
Gideon’s chair creaked as he leaned back. His gaze remained focused on his brother, but his hand slid beneath the table and rested lightly on Valkyrie’s thigh. The gesture was so unexpected, she jumped. He paid her no mind other than to give her leg a gentle squ
eeze.
“There’s a war brewing over the horizon,” Gideon said in a tone that suggested he was reciting something said to him before. “It’s nearly at our doorsteps and those not prepared will be annihilated. A new revolution. A dawning of a new era where angels no longer exist and we are no longer prisoners.”
Valkyrie had no idea what he was talking about, but Octavian had stiffened. Riley had both hands over her mouth and Gideon was looking at both expectantly.
“Baron,” Octavian said so quietly, it was impossible to tell if he’d spoken at all.
Gideon’s mouth twitched humorlessly. “Maybe he’s rounding up more soldiers.”
“And killing those who refuse,” Magnus chimed in. “It would make sense. If they don’t join him, they’ll join the angels and that can’t happen.”
“Baron?” Valkyrie interjected. “What does he have to do with anything?”
Everyone knew Baron. The Chief Demon had once been a ranking officer in the Great War. He was responsible for more deaths than anyone, labeling him the bringer of death. He was also the reason Casters still existed. So long as there was evil like him in the world, there would need to be those who fought to protect mankind.
“Octavian bartered his soul in exchange for Riley’s life,” Magnus said. “Baron told him the only way he would make the deal was if Octavian fought for him in the approaching war.”
It stunned her that she wasn’t surprised by the idiotic self-sacrificing, yet it didn’t stop her from being annoyed.
“You struck a bargain with Baron?” She looked from Octavian to Riley. “Are you crazy? He can’t be trusted.”
“That was around the time you were threatening to report Riley to the Summit,” Octavian said with a slight chill in his voice. “We didn’t have very many options and I wasn’t going to let Riley die.”
A prickle of guilt stiffened Valkyrie’s spine. “But I never told anyone, did I?”
Despite her rigid upbringing and drive to uphold the law, she never once told anyone that one of the Maxwell brothers had imprinted on a human.
“That wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.”
“It wasn’t just Valkyrie,” Gideon cut in, casting his brother a sharp glare. “The Summit was demanding a solution as well. It needed to be done regardless.”
“None of that matters now.” Liam spoke up for the first time. “It is clear where we must start our search. In the morning, Octavian, you and I will pay Baron a visit.”
“I want to be there,” Magnus chimed in.
“No,” Liam said almost immediately, like he had expected the request and was prepared for it. “It will be just me, Octavian, and Gideon.”
Gideon visibly started. “Me?”
Liam nodded. “Magnus, you and Reggie stay here and keep an eye on things.”
Unconsciously, Valkyrie settled her hand over the one resting on her thigh, her mind caught in the dread of Gideon being anywhere near Baron. She didn’t realize it until Gideon glanced at her in surprise. Embarrassed, she tried to draw back only to have her fingers captured and laced through with his.
It was so simple. The gesture was so effortlessly fluid, like they had held hands a million times. Everything fit. The perfect curves of two puzzle pieces finally lining up. Both their hands rested comfortably in her lap and that too felt so natural.
Gideon leaned his body over their armrests and bumped her shoulder with his as he skimmed his lips over her ear.
“It’ll be okay.”
How he knew was beyond her. Maybe the imprint also came with mind reading abilities.
“I don’t want you to go,” she heard herself whisper back and could have kicked herself for being so pathetic.
His gray eyes were calming when he pulled back a notch to search hers. “There is nothing he can offer me that I don’t already have,” he said softly. “I’ll be fine and careful.”
She still didn’t like it and took no reassurance from his promise. But she wouldn’t complain either. Being a Caster was both their jobs and sometimes they had to do things they didn’t want to, but it had to be done.
After the meal was finished and the dinner plates cleared away, Gideon took her hand and led her away from the others, who made their way to the parlor. He seemed in no hurry to get to wherever he was taking her and Valkyrie didn’t ask. There was something incredibly soothing about just being with him.
“This part of the manor has never been used,” he told her as they ventured into the east wing. “Mom always said that once we started our own families, we could have our own wings for privacy.” He tilted his head towards her and grinned. “I picked the east.”
Valkyrie tried to guess why, but the man was just too much of a mystery and it was impossible to guess what he was thinking half the time.
“Why?”
His fingers squeezed hers. “You’ll see.”
The corridor ended at a set of beautiful marble stairs that yawned beneath a high archway. Gideon led her up carefully to the top and through. The carpet wasn’t worn and faded, but a lush red that reminded her of spilled blood. The walls were a soft cream and lined with painted portraits depicting many eras. The hall stopped after ten feet and branched in opposite directions.
“The main area is that way,” Gideon said, pointing to the right. “The bedrooms are that way.” He gestured with a nod toward the left. “Which would you like to see first?”
Valkyrie lifted her face and peered up into his. “I want to see why you picked this wing.”
His chuckle rippled down her spine like a caress. “Fair enough.”
He took her right.
They came to a set of stairs that led down into what appeared to be a wide foyer until they reached the bottom.
Valkyrie gasped in amazement. Her wide eyes devoured the three stories of open space ringed in a wall of glass and diamonds. Columns of white towered from marble floor to domed ceiling where crystals danced from dripping chandeliers and sparkled brightly in the gossamer drapes of sunlight spilling through the windows. The room wasn’t square, but round and almost painfully bright. The furniture matched the flawless white of the walls and sat in a circle around a glass coffee table. A kitchen was tucked away at the far end of the room, divided from the rest of the sitting area by a granite counter. Light glinted off the stainless steel appliances and along the gold trim on the white cupboards. But it was the world outside the five sets of French doors that lined the glass in intervals that propelled Valkyrie away from Gideon. The crack of her heels echoed off the walls and vibrated up the windows and stopped only when she did.
There was nothing special outside but a wide ring of trees embracing a meadow and miles of silence, yet that was exactly what she had always wanted. She had told him so once, so long ago, she couldn’t even bring the full conversation to mind. She had not expected him to understand her need not to look out the window and see looming obstacles, death traps and training arenas, to not hear the clang of battle at all hours of the night and day. But he had hummed and said nothing else. How could he still remember that?
“If you don’t like it, I’ll switch with one of the others.”
He was behind her, so close she could feel the burn of his presence singe the length of her spine.
“I love it.” And she did. It was perfect.
Hands scarred and dangerous closed around her waist and she was drawn into a firm chest. A sigh whispered against the curve of her neck. It tickled the slope of her cheek. His heart reached for her through bone, muscle, and clothes and hers returned the intensity of his. One hand slid to extend across the width of her abdomen. The other braced against the glass as he lowered his face to her shoulder.
Valkyrie closed her eyes. Her body succumbed to him. Even her mind had gone silent. It wasn’t so surreal, her mind and body working together towards a common goal. It was how she had stayed alive so long. But to have them both agreeing on this, on him ... she didn’t fight it.
“I have imagined you here f
or so long,” he murmured into the soft material of her sweater. “I have wanted you here for even longer.”
She tried to think, tried to pull her emotions apart and figure out why she wasn’t pulling away, why she wasn’t telling him he was crazy, that she didn’t belong there with him, that she didn’t want to be there. But she had lost all capability of speech. Her mind had become a wasteland of fog. The only sure thing drifting through her was the need to keep his arms around her. Nothing had ever felt more important.
“I ... I don’t know how to let go.” Her words broke with her confession.
His hands turned her. The glass propped her up as he leaned into her space and smothered her sanity. Fingers chilled from the window slid the slash of her jaw to tip back her chin.
“Kiss me,” he whispered. “And I’ll show you how.”
Her lips parted without even a second of hesitation. She watched with bated breath as his gaze settled on her mouth. The rough pad of his thumb followed the path of his eyes and she felt it all the way down to the core of her being. Her own attention fixated on the generous bow of his mouth and her stomach gave an unexpected flutter like she’d just leaped off a building. She followed the regal arc of his nose to fall into his eyes and saw her own penetrating emotions shining back at her.
He lowered his head and she sucked in a sharp gulp of air. It wedged in her lungs, too afraid to come out in case he changed his mind. The smell of leather, man, and soap swept off him and plowed into her. It made her head swim deliciously and she reached for him when she swayed. His arms caught her to him. They pinned her between him and the glass skating cold fingers along her back. One hand drifted up to cradle the nape of her neck. The other stayed splayed across the small of her spine.
The kiss was no lighter than the feathery flutter of butterfly wings, yet the brief little contact swamped her in a rush of heat that tore a gasp from her throat. Her fingers reflexively tightened in the fabric of his t-shirt, urging him back to her for more.
Gideon's Promise (Sons of Judgment Book 2) Page 40
