When she trailed off, almost as if she were grasping for something, another voice finished her sentence from behind. “Just lonely, little light. We’re all just lonely until we move on.”
No sooner did he and Shannon spin back, then everything transformed yet again.
The battle was gone. Nothing existed but a long shore, turbulent waves and the man who stood mere feet away. Someone Matthew had met recently in the twenty-first century. The first of his dragon lineage. But it seemed he and Shannon saw two different people because as he said, “Einar?” she shook her head and said something entirely different.
“Dad?” she whispered. “Is it really you?”
Chapter Fifteen
SHANNON DIDN’T THINK twice but raced into her father’s waiting arms and held on tight. “Are you really here?”
She knew she shouldn’t be so impetuous, especially in Helheim, but she couldn’t help it. When she heard his voice then saw him standing there, all the years peeled away in an instant.
“It’s really me,” he murmured and held on just as tight before he finally pulled back and met her eyes. “I’ve missed you, Shannon.” He brushed a wisp of hair back from her face like he did when she was little. “But I’m afraid things are a little more complicated than you might have hoped.”
“What do you mean?”
Nothing compared to seeing her father again. And she was about to say as much but gasped instead when Matthew yanked her back, stood in front of her, and held her father at sword point. “Who are you?”
Shannon figured it was pointless to mention they were in the land of the dead so technically they couldn’t be killed but saved her breath. “Matthew, this is my father. Meet—”
Matthew’s eyes never left her dad. “Shannon, the man I see standing in front of me is Einar, the first of my dragon lineage.”
“What?” Her eyes went to Matthew. “No.” When she looked at her dad again, any further words died on her lips. Her father was gone. In his place was the man who had appeared at the chalet in Maine right after Erica vanished.
Einar.
“Where did my dad go?” she managed to croak out, her throat suddenly very tight.
“He became who he always was when he returned to this world,” Einar said, his heart in his eyes. “Me.” Sadness crossed his face. “Shannon, it’s me. Dad. I just can’t hold the visage you knew for very long. Not here. Not anywhere anymore.” He swallowed hard. “I’m Einar’s reincarnate.”
Hell, she was getting sick of reincarnation.
Seriously?
Yet as she stared into his eyes, she felt the truth. He wasn’t lying.
Dad had been Einar.
And Einar was one of the original three dragons born on Earth.
Her eyes widened. Erica’s long lost true love? Oh, ew, what? Reincarnation had just taken a creepy turn. She had been his daughter in this life. Weak, dumbfounded, Shannon leaned against Matthew, grateful for his support as her jaw fell open and she made to speak but couldn’t.
“It is not what you think.” Einar—Dad—shook his head. “Maeva, I mean Erica, was not who you think she was to me back then.”
“Who was she to you then?” Shannon said.
Einar didn’t answer but scanned the sky and shook his head. “We are too vulnerable out here.”
“Who were you to Erica…or Maeva?” Matthew ground out, as he kept his strong arms wrapped around her. “Tell Shannon. Now. She deserves to know. We all do.”
“Her friend,” he whispered before his anguished eyes turned toward the woodland. “I was Maeva’s closest friend.”
It seemed she had a few of those. First Anthony, now Einar?
Shannon frowned as another daunting thought occurred to her. “So you began Matthew’s lineage in one life then had me in another. Does that mean Matthew and I are related?”
“No, not at all,” he reassured. “In our twenty-first century life, I carried Bjark’s DNA not Einar’s. Our goal was to find all of you again and bring you back together with the Sigdirs. To help reunite what was once lost.”
“You mean you and Bjark’s goal?” she began but trailed off when a low wail began. At first, she didn’t recognize it. Then she did. It was the sound her mother had made toward the end. That haunting sound she made late at night when no medication could ease her pain.
“What the hell?” She yanked the pouch Matthew had given her out of her pocket when it began to warm. “Vigdis’ bones are heating up.”
“Let me have it,” he said but she shook her head, her eyes wide on Einar as he staggered inland a few steps, and then fell to his knees when a woman was dragged out of the forest.
“Loki’s cock,” Matthew murmured as he kept Shannon close. “Is that Vigdis?”
“I…” Shannon shook her head, her eyes torn between Einar and the seer. Her mouth had turned dry, and her heart beat out of control. “I’m not sure.”
It certainly looked like her.
She screamed, ranted and hissed as she was dragged to a pole. Her arms were yanked above her head and tied with rope. Then the same was done to her feet.
“Oh no, what are they doing to her?” She started to head that way, but Matthew held her back, his words sharp within her mind. “We are watching something that happened on Midgard, Shannon. This is not real. Do you understand me?”
She clenched the pouch tighter as it warmed more and more.
“But why?” She started shaking as the men stacked wood around Vigdis’ feet. “No.” Her eyes flew to Matthew in panic. “We can’t let this happen.” She started whispering, “No,” over and over again as her eyes flew back to the seer.
“You have to let it happen,” Einar said, heartbreak in his eyes as they met Shannon’s over his shoulder. “You need to touch her bones and let it happen.”
Touch her bones? Why?
“No. I can’t.” She shook her head. “Not again.”
“You’re the only one who can, Daughter.” Einar’s eyes pled with hers. “Please. Set her free.”
What did he mean by that?
All she could think of at that moment was what Vigdis had said to her. Find your father to find your mother. Her eyes shot to the seer. She no longer struggled but had become very calm as the men lit the wood at her feet. That’s when Shannon somehow knew.
Vigdis had been keeping a great secret…and she had broken the rules.
Now she was paying the price.
As her eyes locked with the seers’, Shannon went somewhere else in her mind.
Somewhere quiet.
Still.
As the flames consumed the wood and then crawled up the seer, she knew her father was right.
She needed to do this.
Her eyes never left Vigdis’ as she poured the bones into her hand. Bones she knew would eventually be left over from the very fire consuming the seer.
Within seconds of them hitting her skin, fire roared around Vigdis. She never screamed. Not once. Instead, something else entirely took place as the flames billowed. Though her body still burned, Vigdis stepped out of the flames whole and well then headed in their direction. At least it seemed that way at first. Then something happened. She split in two. Or so it appeared because within the blink of an eye, there were two women. One was Vigdis as she stopped, her disposition calm as she watched the other woman. Shannon’s breath caught, and she shook her head as that woman became clearer.
It couldn’t be.
But she knew it was.
The woman who had split off from Vigdis was Shannon’s mother.
Einar made a heart-wrenching sound as he leapt to his feet, raced to her mom and pulled her into his arms. Shannon said nothing at first, just watched and tried to make sense of everything.
“Mom?” she finally whispered. “Is it really you?”
The woman stilled, and her eyes turned Shannon’s way.
“Shannon?” She slowly pulled away from Einar and headed toward her. A few feet away, she stopped, and they simply
stared at each other until her mother whispered, “You did it. You freed me. You reunited me with your father.”
“But how?” she managed. “When you’re…”
When she trailed off, unsure where to begin, her mother started giving her answers to unasked questions. “Though we went by different names back then, like Cameron and Anthony, I was an apprentice seer to Eluf in another life. And I did something I wasn’t allowed to do in those days.” Her eyes flickered from Einar to Shannon. “I fell in love with a Sigdir dragon.” She shook her head. “We were careful and kept it secret, but eventually we were caught.” Pain shadowed her eyes. “We knew the risk we took, but it was worth it.”
It hadn’t been Vigdis who broke the rules but her mother…in another life.
Shannon swallowed hard as she looked from the flames to her mother and whispered, “No.” She shook her head. “Tell me the Sigdirs didn’t do that to you.”
“No,” her mother said softly. “My fellow seers did because I broke the rules.”
“Oh, God.” Shannon covered her mouth as bile rose up. How could they?
“Times were different then,” her mother murmured. “Humans had just started walking Midgard and laws needed to be established between dragons and seers to keep the balance. There could be no cross-breeding. It was far too dangerous for all parties concerned. Or so they said. Friendships were fine but never love. Never mating. No children.”
“It was a time of great tragedy in many ways,” Einar continued. “Many suffered at the hands of Bard and his tribe.” Sadness flickered in his eyes. “So unbeknownst to anyone, a select few seers and dragons made a pact to someday reunite those who could help revive a better version of what we once had.” There was warmth in his eyes when they went to her mother. “With Bjark’s blessing, we volunteered to be reborn in the twenty-first century. To help bring back the souls of you five girls.”
“But how could you possibly know we’d all end up there?” she whispered.
“It does not matter now,” her mother murmured. “What matters is that it worked.” Her eyes met Vigdis’. “Thanks to a sister seer willing to house my soul.” Her eyes returned to Shannon. “And you. A medium powerful enough to set it free when the time was right.”
“If you needed me here to free you,” Shannon frowned, “then why warn me against calling on the land of the dead? That seems counterproductive.”
“Because I am a mother before all things,” she replied softly. “And no matter how much I hoped to reunite with your father, I would be remiss if I didn’t warn my child of danger.”
While some might say she could have been more specific in her warning, Shannon was grateful she hadn’t been. Because one way or another, the land of the dead had brought her back together with her family.
“I still don’t understand.” Shannon shook her head. “I already helped you and dad pass on. So why are you here now? Why aren’t you already in...Heaven…or Valhalla?”
“We never really moved on after death, we just led you to believe that so you wouldn’t be upset,” her dad said. “You take care of so many, and we didn’t want to add to that.” Determination lit his eyes. “Yet we still needed to help all of you, so we did. Because I am a Sigdir, or was, I could more easily aid you via dragon magic. Because your mother was a seer, the only way she could assist you was through a fellow seer. And as I’m sure you saw, it was not an easy thing.”
“God, Mom,” she murmured, finally understanding why Vigdis had seemed like such a head case. Her mind was literally going in two separate directions.
When a deep horn sounded in the distance, her mother’s eyes went to Vigdis. “Thank you, my friend. I will tell our All-Father what you did. How you sacrificed your sanity to help a sister seer aid her children. How you have helped all of us in our long-time battle against the enemy.” A warm smile came to her lips. “Aella was very wise to make you her head apprentice.”
“It has been my pleasure, sister seer.” Vigdis nodded. “May you and Einar finally find peace and feast well in Valhalla.”
Shannon didn’t miss the way Vigdis looked Matthew over with appreciation. It seemed she was a lustful sort whether she had another seer in her or not. And look at her hair. It was no longer streaked with blond, but simply black. That’s when it occurred to her that those streaks had been the same shade as her mother’s hair. The seer really had housed her mother’s soul. Now she knew why her dreams of Vigdis had been so unfortunate. She had, however subconsciously, related the seer to her mother burning at the stake in another life.
Her mom inhaled deeply as though breathing for the first time before her eyes fell to Shannon’s hand. “You won’t be needing those anymore.” She took the bones and tossed them aside. “I am free.” She smiled. “As is Vigdis.”
Shannon shook her head, overwhelmed. “But we still need you, Mom.” Her eyes went to her father. “We need you both.” She fought strong emotions. “All of us do. Cybil, Sam, Lauren, and God knows, Erica with whatever she’s about to face.”
“We have already helped her as much as we can,” her father said. “Now it’s time for you and your sisters to see this through. To finish what the enemy started so long ago.” Pride lit his eyes. “You have all become so much stronger having found your mates and embraced your dragons. You are more formidable than you know and will be able to help Erica in ways we could not.” His eyes flickered from her mother to Shannon. “And maybe, at last, come together as a family once again.”
“You should say goodbye to them then.” Shannon ignored the tear that slid down her cheek. “It doesn’t seem fair that I’m the only one here.”
“You have embraced your dragon now, Daughter,” her mother said. “That means when you reunite with them again, they will know of this moment. They will know how much we love them.”
“If you say so,” she whispered, fighting back more tears as her parents embraced her one last time.
Einar’s eyes met Matthew’s. “Care well for her, dragon.”
“I will.” Matthew nodded. “Always.”
“We love you, Shannon,” her mother murmured as she took her father’s hand. “And will see you again someday.”
“I love you too,” Shannon whispered.
Odin’s horn blared again as they walked down the beach and faded away.
By the time Shannon glanced back, Vigdis had vanished as well. But she knew it wasn’t on to Valhalla. No, the seer was very much alive…somewhere. And she and her sisters owed the seer a debt of gratitude.
Thankfully, Matthew pulled her into his arms and held her while she pulled herself together. It wasn’t easy saying goodbye to her parents once let alone twice.
Eventually, she pulled back and met his eyes, grateful he was here for her yet at the same time concerned. She’d had little time to talk to him since they arrived. And when she had during their walk down the gorge, her mind had still been too consumed by thoughts of Emily and Håkon. How worried she was about both of them.
“What happened to you after I died and came here?” Shannon searched his eyes. “What happened before you appeared here?” She shook her head. “And I’m not talking about the whole dart incident.”
“I will tell you.” Matthew took her hand. “But only after we find some sort of shelter.” He scanned the horizon. “Because it looks like a storm is coming and I cannot imagine what that will be like in this world.”
“No doubt,” she murmured, her mind still churning as they walked, and she tried to come to grips with everything that had just happened.
Suddenly, Matthew didn’t just pick up the pace, but scooped her up into his arms and ran. She didn’t have to wonder why as the sky darkened and black clouds rolled over the multi-prismed ocean. Though ominous, in this place of bright colors, it was breathtaking in its own way. When thunder rumbled, it sounded so much more intense than usual. As if you were standing in the midst of the storm clouds. You wouldn’t think Helheim had a climate. But then why not? If it shadowed Midg
ard, then maybe its storms did too.
Matthew slowed for a second, surprised as they came upon a cave. By the grace of Odin, or maybe just dragon magic, he was able to get them under cover a few seconds before the sky opened up. Even so, it was more than enough time to drench them both.
“Wow,” she whispered, eying the rain. It looked like liquid silver as it fell in such heavy sheets that everything beyond them became obscured. “I’ve never seen rain like this.” Her eyes went to the cave. “Where are we?”
“The Dragon Lair,” he murmured, clearly unsettled. “It’s nowhere near where we just were so I’m not sure how we ended up here.”
“It must be part of what we have to discover before we get wherever we’re supposed to go next,” she said as he continued deeper into the massive, glittering cave. “You can set me down, you know.”
“Not until I know it’s safe,” he mumbled, his eyes narrowed.
“And how will you know that?” She decided not to mention she was already dead so the enemy really shouldn’t be able to cause her much harm. But what about Matthew? That was the more concerning question.
He didn’t answer but said, “Those are my kin’s lairs,” as they headed down a long rock corridor with several caves along the way. A few minutes later, they arrived at another one tucked away from the others.
“This is my lair,” he murmured, slowing as he entered. “But these shields aren’t supposed to be here.”
“No?” She eyed the huge cave, with large, mirror-like shields hanging on its walls. Though enchanting cast in Helheim’s otherworldly colors, she was struck by how reclusive this cavern felt. Lonely.
This was how he had separated himself from Håkon.
Or at least one of the ways.
“They’re Aunt Aella and Uncle Kjar’s shields,” he said. “They must have been hung recently on the same walls in Midgard.” He lowered her. “We are safe here.”
She eyed the small slice of shore and wall of rain beyond. “How do you know?”
Fury of a Viking (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors' Kin Book 4) Page 25
