As it was told, Níðhöggr protected the eldest of the three wells located in Niflheim called Hvergelmir or “bubbling boiling spring.” Apparently, all cold rivers came from that well. As the world tree Yggdrasill started to grow, it stretched one of its three large roots far into Niflheim and drew water from the spring Hvergelmir.
Now here they were with a Yggdrasill in Níðhöggr’s Realm. Did that mean the infamous spring was nearby too?
“Ah yes,” Kjar replied. “I have been thinking on that as well.” His eyes went to the water. An unequalled river by all accounts with bizarre currents that sometimes went in reverse and whirlpools that spun in the wrong direction. “I think we will know soon enough if this water is connected with Niflheim. More so, if it eventually leads to a well overseen by Níðhöggr.”
“The well of all life,” Håkon murmured, his brow furrowed as his thoughts aligned with Sven’s. “Would that not draw a great number of beasts and their worlds rather than repel them?”
“That seems a logical conclusion,” Sven replied, more troubled by the moment. How were they supposed to fix something the likes of this? And how did it tie in with his father and Uncle Heidrek? How did it tie in with all the leaders that had gone missing?
Håkon was about to say more when he suddenly buckled over in pain and fell to a knee. Sven crouched beside him and clutched his shoulder. “What is it, Cousin?”
Emily spun, fear in her eyes as though she sensed something sinister near her brother. Within seconds, because of his connection to her, Sven felt the same. Not just that but unbearable pain.
“It’s all right,” Håkon said through clenched teeth, clutching his side. “It will pass.”
Sven lifted his cousin’s tunic and eyed his tattoo.
“Oh, gods!” Emily crouched alongside him when she saw the dragon tattoo writhing and hissing blackened steam from Håkon’s abdomen. Her eyes vacant and unseeing, Vigdis dropped to her knees in front of him, and pressed her handful of damp stones against the tattoo, causing it to hiss even louder.
Sven kept his hand braced on Håkon’s shoulder in support as his cousin buckled over even more, a low growl in his chest as he fought whatever gripped him.
“Håkon?” Emily tried to cup his cheek and lock eyes with him, but he shook his head and gasped, “It is passing...do not touch me until it has.”
Emily’s damp eyes met Sven’s in concern. “I can feel him...the darkness he’s fighting off.”
“I know.” He pushed as much calm into her as he could. “He is very strong, Emily. He will succeed.”
Though they had thought Níðhöggr’s Realm was a safe place, now he wondered.
“I am all right,” Håkon finally said softly as he lifted his head. His eyes met Emily’s before drifting over her shoulder. “But I’m not so sure about the others...”
Sven followed his line of sight and froze, his blood running cold at what he saw resting on a nearby boulder, with the same black smoke curling away from it.
Emily glanced over her shoulder and froze as well, whispering, “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”
“It is,” Sven murmured as he ground his jaw and kept emotion at bay. “It is proof that my father is without a doubt in the hands of the enemy.”
Chapter Eighteen
“WE DON’T KNOW anything until we know something,” she said softly as she ran a black cord through the ring that had just appeared—King Bjorn’s ring—then urged Sven to bend over so she could tie it around his neck. “This could have just as easily been a message from your father saying that he’s okay.”
The look in his eyes as they met hers about broke her heart. Though he seemed detached and strong, she saw the stark fear deep inside. She saw how terrified for his father he really was. Though black smoke had curled around the ring, Kjar and Vigdis said they sensed no darkness affiliated with it.
“You heard what Kjar said,” she murmured as their eyes held. “He senses Bjorn’s life force around this. That he’s reaching out to you.”
At first, she had been opposed to the ring being anywhere near Sven. What if it was a tracker for the bad guy? A beacon so that Skáld’s minions could easily locate Sven? She refused to risk her mate’s safety. But Kjar had been convinced Sven should keep it close, and she trusted him more than most. The ring had been sent to help them.
So now they had a sword and a ring and no idea why.
Sven brushed his lips across hers before lust flared between them and he stepped away. One thing was for sure, dragon hormones didn’t care about bad or inappropriate timing. They demanded lusting about every second of every day. Not so good considering all they had going on.
“You are better, yes, dragon?” Vigdis crooned as she ran her hand beneath Håkon’s shirt to his tattoo. Like Davyn, he wasn’t opposed to her attention, but like them all wondered about it right now.
After her bizarre trance in which she seemed to know what to do with those stones, she had reverted back to her lusty ways with gusto. Even Sven wasn’t off her radar now which had Emily more on edge than ever.
If that wasn’t strange enough, Halla seemed to be acting a little peculiar too as she fanned herself despite a cool wind. Even more concerning? Her cheeks were flushed, and her skin was sheening with her inner dragon as she looked north.
“Are we sure Halla’s not in heat too?” Emily murmured to Sven. “She’s acting a lot like I feel.”
Sven shook his head, obviously not all that comfortable having to answer. “There is no scent of arousal coming off her.”
“That we can detect,” Davyn contributed as he joined them and eyed Halla with concern, his tone odd. “But what if something else can? Something not related to her.”
“Like a tall, beautiful dragon,” Vigdis purred, her hands still beneath Håkon’s jerkin as she brushed herself up against him seductively. “Perhaps an enemy dragon?” Her voice grew throatier. “Skáld’s dragons.”
When Emily arched her brows at Håkon, wondering why he was allowing the seer's administrations to this degree, he merely shrugged and grinned. He was certainly much better now, wasn’t he?
“This just gets stranger and stranger,” she muttered as they continued walking. There was no point standing around when they obviously had a destination, wherever that was.
“The water is different,” Fenrir said as he trotted alongside. “But not dangerous.”
“Well, that’s good to know I suppose,” Emily replied. Like everyone else, she got the sense that it was less the stones Vigdis picked up that seemed to help Håkon, but the river water they were dampened with. Which led them to believe once again that the river might be affiliated with Hvergelmir’s Spring.
“Vigdis seemed to sense the water could help ahead of time,” Sven commented telepathically. “And Kjar seemed to sense things about this ring. So wherever we are, magic born of other worlds still works.”
Even Fenrir being here told them Helheim was not without its pull despite the lack of spirits. As they walked, she continued to think things over the best she could considering her one track sexual mind. Mainly, she kept focusing on Sage and her sisters. What was going on in the twenty-first century? Or were they already here? Did the massive ash here, Níðhöggr’s Ash, attach to the Maine Ash? That’s all that made sense.
The remainder of the climb was uneventful, and they ended up stopping for the night in a small, cozy clearing not all that far from the summit. As expected, the air had thinned because of the elevation, but it didn’t bother them any. Dragons breathed fine at higher altitudes. They tended to prefer it.
Halla was as frisky as ever, volunteering to go hunting accompanied by Davyn. Though it probably would have been best that she remain here, she was incredibly restless with what was undeniably dragon lust of some sort. Vigdis remained overly lusty too, so Emily took Håkon aside and warned him not to give in to temptation.
“Do not sleep with her,” she said, more than familiar with the look in her brother’s eyes a
s he kept sneaking peeks at the seer. “She’s clearly off her game and could be possessed with something or someone, Håkon. I think her attitude change right after your tat flaring up is pretty damn daunting.” She shook her head. “So don’t you dare risk it.”
When he didn’t reply but kept eying Vigdis, she nudged him. “Håkon, are you listening to me?”
He sighed and frowned at her. “Yes, I hear what you’re saying, Sister.”
She narrowed her eyes, knowing full well he was verbally side-stepping her. “I know you hear me but are you going to listen to me?”
“I’ve been days without a woman,” he grumbled. “That’s not good for a dragon.”
“Yet I managed into my twenties without it.”
“A male dragon.”
Damn it. “Then it looks like we’re gonna have to make a bet.”
That got his attention. “What kind of bet?”
“One that doesn’t start until morning,” she replied. “Which means you can’t sleep with her until then.”
He frowned and shook his head. “No bet then.”
“But it’s a good one,” she taunted.
Though his eyes narrowed and he shook his head again, she knew she already had him.
Just like she thought, though he started in Vigdis’ direction, he stopped, sighed and turned back, too curious for his own good. “Tell me about this bet then I will decide if I wish to take it.”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “Take the bet, then I’ll tell you about it.”
Håkon kept considering her, his eyes flickering back and forth between her and the seer before he muttered something under his breath then nodded. “I accept your challenge. Now tell me what it is.”
She shrugged, keeping it simple though Sven wouldn’t approve. “A race to the summit in the morning.”
“That’s it?”
She nodded. The point was to keep him away from the seer for the night in hopes that if there was anything wrong with her, it would be revealed by then.
He nodded, pleased, thinking he already had their bet won. “So when I beat you, I will lay with the seer?” Then he added for good measure. “And anyone else that I wish to.”
She frowned when his dragon eyes flickered. “That’s a weird request.”
“But it is my request.”
He wasn't going to budge on this. She could see it in his eyes. But she needed him to behave, so she nodded. “It’s a deal.”
“And if you win?” he asked, smirking, convinced it wasn’t a possibility. Cocky dragon.
“You’ll stay away from the seer until all of this is figured out.” Then she added more to be safe. “In fact, you’ll stay away from any female dragon until Sven, and I know what we’re dealing with.”
His dragon eyes flashed again, and he hesitated.
“You already accepted the bet, Brother,” she reminded, egging him on, easy target that he was. “If you forfeit now, I automatically win.”
Their eyes held for another moment, one that was unusually strained considering his typical lightheartedness when it came to this sort of thing. Finally, thankfully, he nodded and muttered, “Agreed,” before he strode off.
She watched him for a moment, perplexed. Had his tat burning affected him somehow? Maybe even infected him? No, she would have sensed it. Most specifically, Sven, Halla, and Davyn would have sensed it considering they possessed actual Sigdir blood.
“You have kept Håkon safe for now,” Sven pointed out as he followed her percolating thoughts hours later. “That’s all that matters for the time being.”
They spoke privately, blocking all others as they had been able to do since they met.
“Just so long as he honors the bet,” she replied, cuddled up next to him.
Her cheek rested on his chest where she could breathe in his scent. Though it was not easy considering how aroused they were, he was determined to give her at least one day to heal. He refused to push it before then. Would it have made more sense not to sleep beside him? Probably. But both her dragon and human halves found the idea absolutely repelling. Their time apart was over. She would sleep next to her Sven until the end of their days.
“Håkon always honors his bets with you,” Sven assured. His breathing switched, and his hand came down over hers as she began to explore the contours of his muscular abdomen. “Not that it’s a bet that either of you will be keeping.”
She knew full well Sven wouldn’t like it. That he would not want her out of his sight.
“It’ll just be a race to the finish line with you watching,” she assured. “I never said where we’d start from so I’ll make sure it’s within your sight to the top.”
Sven gave no reply to that, but she knew he still didn’t like it. More than that, she knew he would wait until tomorrow to talk about it further.
“Sleep, my Emily,” he whispered as he stroked her hair. “We will worry about this on the morn.”
Lulled by his touch, and scent, the very feel of him against her, she drifted off quickly but woke a while later when she thought she heard Hel.
“Emily?” she called as if from a great distance. “Are you there? Answer me. Where did you go?”
“Hel?” she whispered as she sat up. Eyes narrowed, she scanned the dark woodland. Her vision hazed red, and her ears perked as she searched the trees and listened. Perhaps it had been a dream? It must have been.
Her eyes drifted to Sven who lay unmoving. Perfectly still.
Too still.
Like he lay in a coffin.
Her breathing caught as she stared at him...as she tried to sense his heartbeat.
“Sven?” she whimpered when she couldn’t detect it, when she tried to touch him but couldn’t. Fresh terror ripped through her. Crippling fear as she screamed, “Sven?”
“It is hard to hear from where he is,” came a deep voice, “but he can if he listens very hard. If your connection is strong enough.”
Her eyes whipped to a man standing a few feet away. Tall, built much like a Sigdir, he was dragon. A different kind of dragon though. Handsome in a roughly strewn sort of way, his eyes met hers. Fiery, lava ridden eyes that pinned her in place.
“Where is he?” she said through clenched teeth, ignoring his strange allure. A pull that drew her dragon like a moth to a flame. “Where is my mate?”
“Where is my mate?” he asked in response.
She frowned. “I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Why would I know that?”
His eyes finally released hers, falling to Sven’s tattoo before they began drifting to the others. Sound asleep, nobody stirred as his gaze focused on Halla first. He released a low masculine growl before his eyes drifted over the others and homed in on Håkon.
“Leave him alone,” she gasped, unable to leave Sven’s side as he headed her brother’s way. “Leave him alone!”
“Emily, where are you?” came Sven’s voice.
Her eyes whipped back to him only to find him in the same state except this time Bjorn’s ring glowed faintly. It was calling out to her. Lending her peace. Keeping Sven safe.
“Emily!” Sven roared just as she reached out and touched it. “Answer me!”
Caught by both the commanding tone of his voice and the sudden blinding light of the ring, she gasped as sunlight hit her eyes from beneath water. Seconds later, Sven scooped her out of what turned out to be the river. What the hell just happened? She coughed out water as he lay her down in the grass.
“When I awoke you were gone,” he claimed. His eyes raked over her with worry as his hands roamed everywhere making sure she was okay. “I should have sensed you leaving. My dragon should have sensed you.”
“I’m all right,” she gasped, dragging in air as she sat up. All she could see in her mind’s eye was that man heading for Håkon. “Where’s my brother? Is he okay?”
“I am,” Håkon assured as he crouched beside her and rubbed her back to soothe her. “I think the better question is are you okay?”
&nb
sp; She nodded, more confused than ever as she looked around. Everyone was here and seemed all right.
“We found you lying beneath the water when we woke.” Kjar’s eyes were troubled. “We have no idea how long you were there or why the water didn’t carry you away.”
Dragons could remain underwater far longer than humans, so that might explain her survival. As to the rest, she just didn’t know. Connecting with them all, she telepathically shared what had to have been a dream. Better yet, a nightmare.
“The glow of the ring reminded me a lot of the glow from Níðhöggr’s Ash,” Emily said aloud. “Not the Maine Ash.”
She didn’t miss the slight tremble to Sven’s hands as he wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. He had been terrified for her.
His eyes went to Kjar’s. “So are we to assume my father’s ring is connected to the river or to Níðhöggr’s Ash?”
“It’s hard to know,” Kjar replied. “One of them to be sure.” His eyes met Sven's. “Either way, despite Emily ending up in the water, I would say this confirms that the ring is protecting you.” His eyes flickered between him and Emily. “Both of you.”
“Who was that guy though?” Emily frowned, discontented. “He seemed so sinister at the time but now...”
When she trailed off, she sensed Sven’s inner hackles go up.
“But now what, Emily?” he said.
“I dunno,” she murmured, trying to remember why the man had seemed so threatening. Maybe because Sven appeared dead? Or because the stranger was heading for Håkon? But neither of those things happened, did they? Evidently not. So maybe she was just overreacting.
As if in direct response to her mentioning the man, Håkon growled.
His response had nothing on the women’s though.
Vigdis began stripping down right there, her eyes languid with desire.
And Halla? Much worse.
She purred with obvious feminine desire, shifted into her dragon and took off.
Viking King's Vendetta Page 16
