“What?” he murmured, tracing a finger along the slant of her jaw.
Valkyrie shrugged and shook her head. “Nothing.”
Gideon searched her eyes, her face, and lingered on her smiling mouth. “Whatever it is, I love how it looks on you.”
Feeling impossibly blissful, she pulled him to her, lowered her head and was about to kiss him when the kitchen door creaked open and Liam pushed through. Octavian was a step behind him. The pair on the table jolted in surprise at the intrusion. Valkyrie quickly hopped off the counter and prayed the lighting was too dim for anyone to notice the warmth that crept into her cheeks.
Liam looked her over. “How are you?”
“Better,” she murmured. “Thank you.”
He gave her a kind smile before turning his attention to Gideon. “Is your mother upstairs?”
“Uh...” Gideon’s face bunched in a grimace. “I would not know...”
The backdoor took that moment to swing open and Magnus strode in. The buckles on his boots jingled sharply with his hard strides. A deep frown darkened his features. It was impossible to tell if he was upset, or not. Magnus only had one facial expression.
“You’re back,” he said to his father.
Gideon blinked. “Back? Where did ... oh! Shit!” He clapped a hand over his forehead. “I completely forgot you wanted to see Baron this morning. I’m so sorry.”
Liam shook his head. “You had more important matters that required your attention.”
The heat in Valkyrie’s face intensified.
“I could have gone,” Magnus interjected.
Liam nodded slowly. “Yes, but there was a reason I chose only Octavian and Gideon. They have nothing Baron could have used against them.”
Magnus’s eyes narrowed. “You think I’m weak.”
The other man’s mouth bowed into a chuckle. “No one would ever be foolish enough to consider you weak, Magnus. But I would rather not freely hand him ammunition.”
Strategically speaking, his explanation made sense to Valkyrie. Baron had a way of knowing what was deep inside a person’s soul, what they wanted more than anything and he gave it to them ... for a steep and sometimes impossible price.
“There is nothing I want,” Magnus countered tightly. “I have no secret longings.”
“And that could possibly be your greatest weakness,” Liam said calmly. “A person needs weaknesses, Magnus. We need flaws as well as strengths to make us strong and the sooner you learn your weaknesses, the better you will be prepared.”
“I already know my weaknesses,” Magnus said. “I have mastered them.”
Liam closed the distance between himself and his son and rested his hands lightly on the other man’s shoulders.
“The thing we deny we need most is the one thing we need above all else.”
With that, Liam stepped around Magnus and walked through the door to the back of the house, leaving behind a bemused silence. Even Valkyrie couldn’t decipher his cryptic wisdom.
“So what happened?” Gideon finally asked, studying Octavian. “What did Baron say?”
Octavian snorted. “Bastard wasn’t there. His secretary told us to come back later, or leave a message.” He glanced at Magnus. “So you missed nothing.”
Glowering at his older brother, Magnus spun on his heel and marched after their father. Octavian shook his head and followed. Gideon ruffled a hand through his hair before turning to the fridge.
“I feel like pasta.”
Magnus’s mood had not improved by later that evening as the family sat around the dinner table. He kept out of most of the conversation, even the one Valkyrie tried to talk him into. Eventually, she gave up and went back to eating her shepherd’s pie and listen with one ear as Liam told his wife how uneventful his morning had been.
“Will you be going back tomorrow?” she asked, her face carefully neutral, but her apprehension rang in her voice.
Liam sighed. “I know you don’t like it, darling, but it needs to be done.”
Kyaerin smiled tightly. “I know, love.” She turned her attention to the rest of the table. “I think that’s plenty of business talk for the table. How was everyone else’s day?”
It was almost entertaining to see all the blank faces. No one had left the manor since Liam had declared Marshall Law. Aside from doing nothing, there wasn’t a whole lot of anything to do. And Valkyrie refused to share her day with the group.
As though reading her thoughts, the hand Gideon had settled over her thigh throughout the dinner flexed while he continued to listen attentively to Imogen tell them about finally cleaning most of the library. Riley’s news was a little more interesting. She had successfully helped Kyaerin concoct Greek fire.
“She is a natural,” Kyaerin boasted. “I only showed her once and she got it right away.”
Riley flushed a pretty pink that Valkyrie suspected had more to do with the goblet of blood before the girl rather than actual blood flow.
“I always loved chemistry,” she said shyly.
Kyaerin nodded like that made perfect sense. “You know who else is a natural? Valkyrie.”
Valkyrie, in the process of stuffing a cauliflower into her mouth, froze. Her gaze shot up to find everyone watching her and her chipmunk cheeks. Her blush burned her eyes.
“Hmm?” she mumbled around the morsel, careful to keep her lips mashed firmly together.
Kyaerin chuckled. “You know, I checked my grandmother’s book and it does say chopped when adding kander roots, but I much prefer your way. Shaved does work better. I hope you don’t mind I made a note of it?”
Ignoring the razor sharp edges of the vegetable going down, Valkyrie shook her head. “It’s fine.”
Kyaerin nodded. “I hope you’ll join me again?”
Having never been complimented for anything her entire life, Valkyrie was momentarily speechless as her brain tried to assemble the proper response.
“Okay,” she finally mumbled for lack of anything better.
It must have been the right thing to say, because Kyaerin smiled and Gideon squeezed Valkyrie’s leg gently.
After the meal was finished, Reggie and Magnus were elected to do the dishes while everyone else retired to the parlor. Valkyrie settled into what she had come to consider her spot next to the armrest, where Gideon propped himself and slid his hand through her hair. There was talk of mundane things that would never have been tolerated at her father’s house. There was laughter and embarrassing stories of when the boys were younger. Valkyrie couldn’t help it, she was actually enjoying herself.
Then it all changed.
“Isn’t this a beautiful sight?”
The man was small, barely higher than a child just reaching puberty. But it was the aura around him that stole every ounce of warmth and light from the room. It shrouded around him in a thick, black cape that seemed to expand the deeper he moved into the room until it encased them all in its wintery chill. The light slanted off his platinum cap, making the already pale strands appear a stark silver. Blue eyes the perfect shade of ice roamed over the stunned figures peering back, seemingly unperturbed by their reaction.
“It’s lovely to see the whole family together like this,” he continued, leaning just a little too heavily on the cane at his side. “I hope I am not intruding.”
Kyaerin seemed to come out of her horror first. She sprung to her feet.
“Magnus! Reggie!”
Liam grabbed her before she could run from the room.
“What have you done to my sons?” she snarled at the chief demon.
It was taking all of Liam’s strength to keep his wife from lunging at the unwelcomed guest.
Baron never so much as blinked an eye. He regarded Kyaerin with a look between bored and amused. Like she was some mildly entertaining monkey that was doing an adorable trick that he’d already seen a hundred times; while it was cute, he wasn’t overly impressed.
“Both are perfectly fine,” Baron assured her dryly. “They�
�re on their way up now.”
As though on cue, Magnus and Reggie appeared in the doorway. Both skidded to a halt in the doorway when they spotted their guest; they had clearly not expected to find a demon in their home. Kyaerin had ceased her struggling and stood stiff in the confines of her husband’s arms.
“Please join the others,” Baron told Magnus and Reggie. “It’ll be easier for us to talk.”
Not foolish enough to deny the demon, the pair made their way around the room, giving Baron a wide berth as they circled to the sofas. Neither sat.
“Excellent.” His cane scrapped against wood as he ambled his way closer. “Jacinta tells me you were at my office today. I thought I would save you the trouble of returning by coming to you.”
Liam gently nudged Kyaerin back into her seat and adjusted his own position to completely conceal her behind him when he addressed the intruder.
“That wasn’t necessary,” he began slowly. “It would have been no trouble at all.”
Baron regarded him calmly. “I was in the neighborhood.”
Liam must have realized beating a dead horse was pointless, because he veered tactics. “How were you able to get in?”
Baron grinned now, full and arrogant. “While impressive, your little spell cannot hold me. I have my own key.” He gestured with the hand not wielding the cane towards Riley. “So long as she is under my protection, I can get to her whenever I choose.”
Octavian’s mouth became a white slash, but he wisely kept it shut.
“Now, what was it you needed, Keeper?” Baron turned his focus back to Liam.
“Veil creatures are under attack,” Liam stated.
“And I was your first suspect.” It was said with mild humor.
“Not our first,” Liam answered. “But one cannot help wonder.”
Valkyrie expected Baron to turn Liam into a slug, or worse. But the demon studied the other man with a shrewdness that gave nothing away.
“Yes,” he said at last. “Well, no, it’s not me personally.”
“You hired someone,” Liam deduced.
“I don’t exactly hire people,” Baron countered. “People just do what I say.”
“Why?”
Baron shrugged. “I am a very powerful demon.”
A muscle of impatience moved along Liam’s cheek. “I meant, why are you having veil creatures killed?”
Baron crossed the remainder of the distance and took Liam’s armchair with a tired exhale. He propped his cane next to the armrest.
“That is my business.”
Liam, unfazed, propped his hip on the armrest next to his wife’s shoulder. “Not when that involves the slaughter of innocent lives.”
Impatience flickered in the demon’s eyes. “Am I wrong, or did you not pledge your servitude to me in exchange for the life of your son’s mate? If you wish for me not to go back on my word, then I suggest you don’t go back on yours.”
For a split second, the carefully crafted mask Liam normally wore wavered. Beneath it was a flicker of a man made for battle. It was fierce and bloodthirsty. Then Kyaerin’s hand settled lightly over his like a delicate butterfly and Liam was back.
“Of course not,” he retorted with only a hint of fury.
Baron didn’t even attempt to conceal his arrogance. “I thought not.” Those unwavering eyes that could see into a person’s very soul swept over the group, one person at a time until they settled on Valkyrie. “Valkyrie Devereaux, or is it Maxwell now?”
The hand on her shoulder tensed a split second before her own muscles seized. Her heart ricocheted off the walls of her chest with an urgency born from animals desperate to escape a hunter. She said nothing, not trusting herself.
“Maxwell,” Gideon answered for her.
This seemed to amuse Baron. “How is your father taking the news? Was he thrilled?”
The sarcasm in the question was almost amusing if it didn’t sour the supper Valkyrie had eaten earlier.
“Arild has been ... upset,” Liam stated carefully.
Annoyance shifted behind Baron’s eyes. “He has always been a colossal pain in the ass. I hope he’s not giving you too much trouble.” He drew in a breath. “Be sure to let me know if he gets out of line. I don’t take well to men who upset an expecting woman. There are boundaries after all.”
As far as Valkyrie knew, she had been under the impression that everyone in the manor knew about the baby. Yet the force in which Kyaerin’s neck snapped around in her direction was one to cause concern.
“Expecting?”
Baron laughed. “I hope I didn’t let the cat out of the bag.” He rose gracefully, smoothed one hand down the front of his metal gray suit and reached for his cane. “I will take my leave now, if there is nothing further to discuss.”
No one stopped him as he rose and shuffled to the door. Yet he never made it through. He paused on the threshold and glanced back.
“So you are aware, I will be taking your prisoner off your hands. I require his services.”
“Kyros?” Magnus started forward. “Where are you taking him?”
Baron tipped back his small, round face. “That is not your concern, Caster. Only know that I will return him, unharmed, when I am finished.”
With that, he was gone.
Magnus ran to the door and peered out into the hallway, but Valkyrie already knew Baron wouldn’t be there.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Expecting?”
Of all the things that had happened that night, Valkyrie’s pregnancy seemed to be the only thing Kyaerin was able to focus on.
“Why did no one tell me?” the woman complained. “Did everyone know?”
“We weren’t keeping it from you,” Gideon assured her. “We’re not sure. It’s only been a few days.”
“But Baron said!” Kyaerin retorted with an excited little bounce in her seat. “A baby!” She grabbed at her husband’s hand. “A baby, Liam!”
Her husband laughed, endeared by the happy flush that had worked up Kyaerin’s face.
“We need to celebrate.” She hurried to her feet. “Octavian, hurry to the wine cellar. I have a bottle of—”
“Is no one worried about Kyros being taken?” Magnus interrupted. “Baron just waltzed in here and took him.”
Kyaerin’s mouth thinned, all excitement vanishing. “He can keep him for all I care.”
“Why are you on his side?” Gideon demanded. “After everything he and his people have done—”
“He didn’t do anything,” Magnus defended. “He’s not what everyone thinks. He’s a good man, an honorable man.” He paused for a full second before speaking again. “He saved my life once when he had no reason to. We’ve been friends a very long time. I owe him.”
“Baron said he’d return him,” Riley comforted. “Unharmed.”
That wasn’t what Magnus wanted to hear. He shook his head in disgust and left the room.
After that, no one was in any kind of celebratory mood. Everyone began to disperse, but not before Kyaerin pulled Valkyrie into a tight embrace.
“You have made me so happy,” the blonde murmured into her ear. “Let me know if there’s anything you need.”
Valkyrie offered her the best smile she could manage, but the attention was discomforting.
With a last squeeze, Kyaerin finally let her go and turned to the man waiting for her by the door. She hurried forward to take his offered hand and the two left. Imogen and Reggie both offered her congratulations before heading out. Riley was the last remaining while she waited for Octavian to finish his talk with Gideon. Valkyrie felt a prickle of awkwardness crawl up her spine the longer neither of them said anything.
Riley broke the silence.
“Congratulations.”
Valkyrie inclined her head a bit stiffly. “Thank you.”
They lapsed into silence once more.
Finally, Valkyrie couldn’t take it anymore.
“I’m sorry.”
Riley blinked. “F
or what?”
It was a good question. Her apology was ridiculous. It wasn’t Valkyrie’s fault that Riley couldn’t have children. It wasn’t her fault that she could. Nevertheless, guilt had begun to worm through her and she couldn’t shake it.
“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Riley said, offering her what she probably thought was a bright smile. “It’s not like you did it out of spite, right? You and Gideon were bound to start a family, just like Reggie will one day and maybe even Magnus who doesn’t even want one...” Her smile wobbled. “I’m happy to be Aunt Riley.”
Valkyrie didn’t know how to respond to that. Thankfully, Octavian was finished with Gideon and Riley followed him out of the room.
“Ready for bed?” Gideon asked, coming forward to take her hand. “What’s wrong?”
Valkyrie shook her head. “I’m just tired.”
Sliding an arm around her, Gideon led her to his room where she spent the night worrying about what tomorrow would bring.
She knew Gideon wasn’t in bed before her eyes opened, before her hand ventured across the great expanse of the bed in search of him. The sheets were warm, which made her think he hadn’t been gone for very long, but it was long enough to make her push upright despite the wee hours of dawn and peek through one eye at the door.
Clad in nothing but his t-shirt and her panties, Valkyrie slid out of bed and padded through the manor in search of the man she could feel tugging at some invisible cord at the back of her navel. Her bare feet made no sound at all as she descended the steps and pushed open the kitchen door. The chambers beyond were dark, except the single light hanging over the preparation table. She squinted against it as she made her way into the dining room where the pull was strongest.
Gideon's Promise (Sons of Judgment Book 2) Page 44
