Viking King's Vendetta

by Sky Purington

  She couldn’t blame the guy for being off his game. Sage was a bit mind boggling. Even so, she didn’t have to question her to know what man she referred to because she recognized the magic Sage just used. One that allowed her to see everything that had ever happened here. That meant she saw the memories Emily had shared with Sven.

  “Yes, it is the house of my dreams,” Sage replied to Pierce as she offered them both a perky smile. “And I’d very much like to purchase it.”

  Enough with the pleasantries. Time to put her foot down.

  “Sit and tell me what I want to know, Sage.” Emily pointed at a chair. “Then we’ll talk business.” She gave Pierce an apologetic look. “Alone if you don’t mind.”

  When he frowned, she touched his arm and used just enough magic that he complied without being offended. “Please. Just a few minutes.” She smiled as warmly as she could manage. “Maybe you could brew another pot of coffee? Catch some news?”

  Pierce nodded and headed inside.

  Meanwhile, Sage blinked several times as though waking from a dream before she slowly sank into a chair. “Sorry I’ve been so rude. You must think I’m awful.” She shook her head and looked at Emily. “I’ve sort of been on autopilot since I got in my car and headed this way.”

  “I can see that.” Emily sat beside her, not needing to ask Sage if she knew what she was. “I didn’t know there were any dragons left around here yet here you are.”

  “Here I am,” Sage concurred, seeming far less drifty by the moment as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Caught in the midst of stray magic.”

  “Stray magic?”

  “Yeah.” She tapped her temple. “One sec I was clear-minded and shopping, the next I was hit with a bunch of magic I can’t make sense of.”

  “And you call that stray magic,” Emily confirmed, completely unfamiliar with the term.

  “Mm-hmm.” Sage began rolling her head on her neck. “A jumble of mismatched magic that doesn’t belong to me but I’m stuck with.” A few deep breaths later, she continued. “At first I thought I was crossing signals with another dragon then I realized this magic shared my DNA.”

  God, Sage talked like dragonkind was a common thing. Moreover, that modern day dragons had their own slang.

  Perplexed, Emily tilted her head in question. “So not really stray magic?”

  “Stray enough,” Sage muttered. “And somehow important.” She leaned over and rested her head between her knees. “I have no idea why it was activated in my DNA. All I know is it’s strong enough that it hijacked my mind and had me searching out real estate.” She sat back, wrapped her hands together and stretched her arms over her head. “The next thing I know, I spy this property, and the rest is history. After a way-too-long-drive from upstate New York, here I am.”

  “I see.” Emily glanced at the ash again, not surprised to see it had grown even larger, spreading its branches over them and the house in a majestic canopy. “And the tree? The prophecy? What are they about? Because it sounds like you already have things figured out.”

  “It does?” Sage asked, clearly puzzled.

  “Yes, when you were looking at the roots you said it’s not going to be as easy as you’d hoped it would be,” Emily reminded. “It sounded like you knew what you were talking about.”

  “It does sound like I knew what I was talking about,” Sage agreed then shrugged. “But it seems to have slipped my mind.” She tapped her temple again, apologetic. “Stray magic and all.”

  Right. That.

  “Anyway,” Sage continued. “My guess is the prophecy and tree go hand in hand with my DNA activation. As I’m sure you’ve figured out, the tree is a Yggdrasill.” Sage lowered her arms, evidently finished with her strange exercises. “As to the prophecy, I’m not sure about the details other than they’re not good.”

  Like before, the ash was a Yggdrasill, the tree connecting the Nine Worlds in Norse Mythology. Unlike before, however, she knew full well it wasn’t created by Uncle Kjar, a demi-god Viking.

  Emily frowned at the tree. “Why were you looking at the roots so intently?”

  “Because there’s something about them,” Sage murmured, peering at the roots again in awe. “My dragon connects with them.” She shook her head, whispering, “The myth behind them I think.”

  “The myth,” Emily said softly before she realized what Sage might be referring to. “You mean the one about the great serpent Níðhöggr?”

  According to Norse mythology, Níðhöggr—malice striker—was a dragon known for several ominous things. Some tales had it gnawing at the root of the world tree, Yggdrasill where others had it sucking the blood from the corpses of the dead on Náströnd in Hel. That, in Norse society, was their punishment for being guilty of the worst possible crimes including murder, adultery, and oath-breaking.

  “Yes, I think the myth about Níðhöggr has something to do with those roots.” Sage frowned. “But I don’t know why I think that.” Her eyes met Emily’s. “Can’t you sense another dragon near that tree? Related to it somehow?” She shook her head. “And I’m not talking about the tree's doorway to Múspellsheimr or what’s on the other side of that.”

  Oh crap. This was much bigger than she initially thought.

  After all, Múspellsheimr was the home world of dragons. A terrifying place by all accounts.

  Wide-eyed, Emily looked from the tree to Sage. “You can’t tell me that’s literally the Yggdrasill from Norse Mythology. The one that connects the Nine Worlds.”

  Though a Yggdrasill of sorts, the tree Uncle Kjar had created wasn’t the real deal. The one of myths and legends.

  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you. It’s genuine.” Sage considered it. “But I think there’s more than one. Not just this one but another.”

  There was another last time too, but it was more ethereal than anything.

  “You need to return to Sven,” Fenrir grumbled. “Immediately.”

  “What I need to do is get more answers,” she replied, focusing on Sage as she gestured at the tree. “So you’re telling me this leads to Múspellsheimr not to mention several other worlds? Worse yet, that there’s another tree, so even more ways for those worlds to enter this one?” She narrowed her eyes. “How do you know that? And where is the other tree located?”

  “I’d say based on how I was drawn here and this house’s history with Vikings,” Sage said, “somewhere in Scandinavia.”

  “Why two trees?” she said softly, more than a little uneasy. Maybe just to travel back and forth from here to ancient Scandinavia? That seemed too easy though. There was more to this.

  “I don’t know why there are two trees.” Confusion clouded Sage’s eyes as she frowned. “I thought I did for a second.” She shook her head, blinking several times like she had before. “As soon as things start to become clear, they get all fuzzy again.” Her look remained apologetic. “I think it’s going to take time to see the whole picture.”

  But of course. God forbid all the answers be readily available at the get go.

  Emily eyed the tree again, focusing on the most immediate problem. “Any idea when it will stop growing? Because if it gets much bigger, it’s going to start drawing attention.”

  Sage shook her head. “Sorry, I have no idea.”

  Though a teeny, tiny part of her was tempted to send Sage on her way because the tree had grown exponentially since her arrival, she knew better. It was obvious the woman was part of all this somehow, and though she might be a tad touched, she certainly wasn’t evil.

  “You need to return to Sven,” Fenrir persisted. “He will want you near him.”

  “Well, he’ll just have to wait.” She sighed and frowned at the tree again. No doubt he would want her to return home. Be that as it may, she was determined not to go running back to him. The days of her turning to him for every little thing were over. She wasn’t a child anymore. She hadn’t been for some time. No, she would stay put and get to the bottom of this so when she saw him ag
ain, she would be able to present facts, not speculation.

  “With all other things, Sven excels at patience,” Fenrir reminded. “But not when it comes to you, Emily. He will not like waiting.”

  “Don’t I know it,” she muttered. It was that very lack of patience that had driven a wedge between them. Or at least that’s how she looked at it.

  “Tell me more about yourself, Sage.” Emily turned her attention back to the woman who sat there quite calmly now. It seems she had gotten her stray magic issues worked out. “Were you born and raised in upstate New York? Do you have any siblings?”

  The main reason for that last question was based on her own history. Better yet, her mother’s. Because every one of her siblings ended up here. No dragon was left behind. That meant if Sage had siblings, she’d bet just about anything they would end up here too.

  “Sure, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” Sage nodded. “I was raised in Lake Placid by my dad and stepmother. He’s dragon, she’s not. I have four sisters by them.” For a split second, moisture flickered in her eyes. “And as I recently discovered, a fifth sister from my birth mother.”

  “So you have a sister you didn’t know about?” Much like when she first opened the door to Sage, a strange feeling rolled over her. This time it was more of a sensation that she knew more about this but couldn’t quite remember.

  “It is your connection to Sven,” Fenrir enlightened. “And well you know it.”

  The wolf could follow her thoughts more often than not. Especially if they skirted around Sven which they were. Mainly because Fenrir was right. Sven knew something about this. She was positive of it.

  “Yes, I recently found out about my twin sister, Jessica,” Sage said softly. “It seems we were separated at birth here in Maine.”

  When that same feeling kept washing over her, she narrowed her eyes. What was Sven up to? What did he know?

  “Why did you only recently learn about her?” she asked. “And have you two met?”

  “No.” Sage shook her head. “When I say recently, I mean my dad just told me about her telepathically on the way here...though I have a feeling he hasn’t shared everything.”

  “I’m sorry she was kept from you,” she said, not without a heart. “It’s clear she’s part of all this somehow. Why else would he have waited to tell you until now?”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Sage said. “Unfortunately, I’ve lost all contact with him.” Her eyes went to the tree. “My guess is because of that.” She looked at Emily again. “I imagine Dad will be heading this way soon enough and we’ll be able to get more answers.”

  Emily nodded, alarmed that Sage and her father couldn’t communicate because of the tree. Did that mean she couldn’t reach out to Sven now?

  Despite her determination not to, she slipped her hand into her pocket and clutched the wolf a little tighter than intended.

  “Sven?” She tried to keep concern out of her inner voice. “Can you hear me?”

  Silence.

  There was never silence.

  He always answered right away, no matter what. Even in the midst of battle.

  “Sven?” she repeated, trying to keep panic at bay. Although she was determined to put distance between them, she didn’t like this one bit. “Please respond, Sven.”

  Fenrir, naturally, stated the obvious. “He is not responding.”

  “What does that mean?” She looked at the wolf, not caring what Sage thought of her eying something not ‘there.’ “What could that possibly mean?”

  “One of two things,” he stated, forever brutally blunt. “Either this tree is forbidding it or—”

  “No,” she responded. “Don’t even say it because there’s no way...”

  But there was, and she knew it.

  If the tree wasn’t responsible, only one other thing could be.

  Sven was dead.

  Chapter Three

  “WELL, THIS HAS proven to be an interesting day,” Pierce said softly, his concerned eyes on her as she stared aimlessly out the window, praying Aunt Samantha would hear her call to bring her home. Both a dragon and Gateway Seer, she could transport people through time.

  “It’s been a hellish day,” Emily murmured, doing her best to keep a rational mind but it was getting harder by the moment. Sven had yet to answer her, and she didn’t know how much more of this she could take.

  Soon after their brief conversation, Sage explained that her bizarre stretches did nothing to relieve the magic that had swamped her, so she needed to rest. It wasn’t a surprise really. Magic, especially foreign magic, could be remarkably draining. So now instead of being down here trying to figure things out, she was upstairs in a guest room out like a light.

  “Eat something, Em,” Pierce urged. “Please.”

  He had whipped them up some sandwiches, but food was the last thing on her mind. She couldn’t stomach it if she tried.

  “No thanks,” she replied. “I’ll just save it for Sage when she wakes up.”

  “Right,” Pierce said. “The potential client turned insta-guest.”

  “No doubt.” She had explained the situation to him, and he seemed pretty nonplussed. But then he’d learned a lot of fantastical truths since Sean left.

  “What do you think Sage meant when she looked at me and said, ‘interesting finding you here?’” Pierce popped the last of his sandwich into his mouth and shook his head. “It almost sounded like she knew me, didn’t it?”

  “I guess,” Emily responded, not overly worried about it at the moment mainly because Sage had been so out of it at the time. “What if he’s dead, Pierce?” She bit her lower lip and continued staring at the bay as though it could manifest her aunt. More so, Sven himself. “I don’t know what I’ll do.”

  “Come here.” Pierce took her hand and pulled her down on the couch beside him. “You need to stop thinking like that. Sven’s fine.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Like you said, he’s not only tough but too damn smart to get himself killed.”

  “Yeah, but who knows what he’s facing,” she whispered, as she rested her head on his shoulder and purposefully did not look at the tree. “I have no clue what’s happening back home, and it’s terrifying.”

  “From what you’ve told me, your family’s pretty fierce, Em,” he reminded. “How many dragons are there? Seers? Quite a few, right?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “But if they’re fighting against whatever that tree might allow through I don’t think it’ll matter.” She swallowed back emotion. “Honestly, I can’t even imagine.”

  “Then don’t because there’s no point.” He squeezed her hand. “It’ll just drive you nuts.”

  “I know,” she murmured, about to say more when the doorbell rang. She glanced at Pierce and frowned. “Expecting anyone else?”

  “Nope,” he replied as she headed for the door.

  Not all that surprisingly, she opened it to yet another female dragon. This one was tall and slender but curvy enough. Like before, her vision hazed red as the woman’s eyes momentarily flashed with her inner dragon.

  “Hey there,” the newcomer said in greeting, offering a wide blindingly white smile. “I’m Sage’s sister, Shea.”

  Without a doubt, the sisters had been telepathically communicating.

  With short tousled silvery platinum blonde hair and a figure that she knew full well would have her brothers and male cousins tripping over themselves, Shea was gorgeous in a different way than Sage. Her skin was pale and enviably flawless and her features unique and eye-drawing. She wore blingy dangling earrings, short shorts, chunky platform heels and a cleavage revealing shirt that would’ve undoubtedly gotten her out of a speeding ticket.

  “Hi, Shea.” She tried not to sigh. “I’m Emily.” Then she opened the door wider. “Come on in. As I’m sure you already know, Sage is still sleeping.”

  Shea didn’t answer but eyed the place curiously as she headed down the hall, locked eyes on Pierce and purred, “Well, hello th
ere.”

  “Oh, boy,” Emily muttered under her breath, figuring out right away what sort of dragon Shea was. Lusty. But then the clothing probably should have given that away. It wasn’t necessarily to lure men but essentially a reflection of her inner dragon. This woman was all about the opposite sex. The more, the merrier she’d bet.

  “Hello...” Pierce began, again in his tie and suit coat determined to sell a house he knew full well was already sold. Or at least he was until he laid eyes on Shea. His gaze roamed from her face all the way down to her hot pink perfectly pedicured toenails then back up again.

  Heading the situation off before her friend made a complete fool of himself, Emily made brief introductions, touched Pierce’s arm then used a little bit more dragon magic on him. “Any chance you’re in the mood to wash my car? I know it’s a lot to ask but...”

  Ensnared by her dragon eyes, he nodded. “Sure thing. I’ve been meaning to get that done for you.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled as he headed out but not before Shea touched his arm in passing, blinked her long, thick lashes and murmured, “Forget the carwash down the street. The weather’s too nice.” She eyed him up and down like he just had her. “I say you lose the jacket, tie, and shirt and wash it right here in the driveway.” She winked. “Hit mine while you’re at it too, please. It’s the red sports car. Can’t miss it.”

  As if he could have mistaken the vehicle for anybody else’s.

  “You got it, sweetheart,” he responded, his voice a little guttural before he began tugging at his tie and headed outside.

  Emily rolled her eyes and gestured at the couch. “Please sit so we can talk.” And then because her mother raised her with manners and since this sister didn’t bypass her and head out back without being invited, she asked. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “Sure!” Shea’s smile widened as she plunked down on one of several large leather couches. “Whatcha got?” She admired her perfectly manicured hot pink fingernails. “Because I’d love some chilled Chardonnay, specifically Louis Latour Puligny-Montrachet 2015 if you have it.”