To Vex A Valkyrie (Southern Sanctuary - Book 9)

by Jane Cousins

  Shoulders back, head high, she delicately cleared her throat. When Fen’s red headed giant of a sister didn’t look up from the sword in her hand, Saffron repeated the act.

  Brodie glanced over. “Do you need a glass of water?” Her eyes narrowing as she noted Saffron’s hold on Fen. Who was doing nothing to dissuade the woman. Great, he was the one who’d said the ‘g’ word, volunteering her unasked for the role as his girlfriend. The least he could do was act the part and be faithful.

  Saffron smiled. “No, I just wanted to say hello to Hadleigh, we have met before…several times.”

  Hadleigh forced her attention away from the beautifully crafted sword in her hand, blinking slowly. “Sorry, who are you again?”

  “Saffron. We have met… several times.”

  Hadleigh shrugged. “That’s nice.” Returning her attention to the Valkyrie’s weapon that she coveted. Perhaps an elf made sword could be her ‘push’ gift. She’d have to drop a few hints to Vaughn. Reluctantly she returned the stunning sword to its rightful owner.

  “Maybe you have an inner ear problem.” Brodie followed up.

  Saffron looked bewildered.

  “I mean the way you’re hanging on to Fen like that. I can only assume it’s because you’re afraid you might fall over.”

  Fen shrugged off Saffron’s hold quickly, worried by the intense look in Brodie’s eyes that things might escalate. “Come on Brodie, let’s go help my Dad with the barbecue.”

  Damn Fen. He was dangling the one incentive that she just couldn’t turn down. She was more than eager to spend time with Gunther Valhalla, all the other Valkyries were going to be so jealous when she recounted this story… again… and again. “I really do like your Dad.”

  Fen watched Hadleigh’s eyes widen in surprise edged with amusement. He met and matched her slightly bewildered look. “What can I say? She’s one of a kind.”

  “Clearly.” Hadleigh watched as Fen hurried Brodie away, turning her head she noted the blue haired woman in the frothy silk dress standing next to her still. “Sorry, who did you say you were again?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Fen waved goodbye as Hadleigh guided a tipsy Vaughn through the living room towards the kitchen. It took a lot to get a Maat Warrior drunk, but Vaughn had been matching drinks with his father and Brodie. Now there was a distinctly eager look on his sister’s face, as she bullied her husband quickly towards the Portal doorway that Fen refused to think too much about.

  “I remember being pregnant.” Lucy mused. “Couldn’t keep our hands off each other.”

  “Mum!” Fen winced, he did not want to think about his parent’s sex life. Nor, for that matter, his baby sister’s. “You wanted to talk to me?”

  “Yes.” Lucy gestured for Fen to sit on the sofa whilst she took a seat in the nearest armchair. “Darling… I wanted to talk to you alone for a moment, about Brodie.”

  “My girlfriend.” Fen reminded.

  “Yes, your girlfriend. She’s very…”

  “Tall.” Fen filled in the pause.

  “I was going to say beautiful, and she’s…”

  “Stacked.” Fen was only trying to be helpful, yet he was sensing that he wasn’t going to like where this conversation was headed.

  “I was going to say intense. Those battle stories she shared were very graphic.”

  Fen was mildly surprised but hid it. “Um, no more detailed or bloodied than the stories Vaughn, Hadleigh, or even Dad have shared in the past.”

  “Well, yes, and that’s my point, Vaughn and Hadleigh have a lot of shared interests.”

  “You mean beheading and maiming?”

  Lucy shifted in the armchair, her hand pleating the material of her yellow dress. “Like I said, common interests. But you and Brodie? A relationship that will last needs a good strong solid base.”

  Fen bit back the stream of words that threatened to spill forth in defence of him and Brodie being together. They were both protectors, leaders, used to sizing up a threat in a split second and reacting. Likewise, they were both intense and focused when it came to their jobs. Single minded in getting the results they desired.

  And because their jobs were incredibly dangerous, risking injury or death every time they reported for work, they both valued the importance of not leaving things undone, unsaid. So when they weren’t working they brought the same intensity to every aspect of their lives. It’s why Brodie never stopped practising, trying to be the best. And why Fen used his down time to study architecture, and design and renovate his house. He hated to keep still, waste time or an opportunity.

  But he couldn’t tell his mother any of that. He needed to remind himself that Brodie was merely his girlfriend for the day, it was not a permanent arrangement. But still, a surprising flash of anger bolted through him, that his mother could judge Brodie, and find her wanting.

  What? She seriously believed that he and Saffron made a better match? Saffron who pouted and connived to get her way? Who didn’t seem to have a clue that her overly ambitious healthy baked-goods were all but inedible. That thrusting her barely covered breasts in his face was not a lure but made her pitiful.

  Give him a straight forward, plain spoken Valkyrie any day of the week. No guile. No agenda. Just, let’s have sex. No commitment, no entanglement, and afterwards - see you when I see you, I have to go kill some people now. Seriously, that was his kind of woman.

  Not that he could say any of that to his mother. But… “I’m kind of surprised, Mum. I’ve only ever wanted what you and Dad have, and well, I was kind of thinking I’d found it with Brodie. Basing a relationship on sex certainly seems to have worked out for you guys.”

  “Fenrisulfr Stigr Valhalla! Your father and I do not have a relationship based purely upon sex. We have mutual respect and friendship. I only want that for you.” Lucy lifted her chin, daring her son to argue.

  Fen didn’t have to bother with a rebuttal, for in that moment his father’s loud voice split the air with a roar. “Where’s my woman? It’s time for bed.”

  Fen arched an eyebrow and then looked pointedly at his watch, it wasn’t even four in the afternoon yet.

  “I… he-” Colour rushed into Lucy’s cheeks. Her eyes widening in surprise as Gunther stomped into the room. His gaze fixed solely upon his wife. “Um… we’ll finish this conversation later.” She stood up. “Gunn-” Her next words lost as Gunther swept her up into his arms and started for the stairs. “Is this really…. oh, Gunn.”

  Fen shot to his feet, outside he could hear chairs scraping and the hurried gathering of car keys and bags. Racing to the patio, he watched Erik, pulling Cara by the hand, head towards the driveway at a fast pace. Whilst Locke and Serena made a run for the kitchen Portal.

  Both Brodie and Saffron were on their feet. Worried by everyone’s hurried exit.

  “What’s going on?” Brodie tried to search the skies for any approaching threat but the leafy wisteria canopy blocked her view.

  “What’s happening?” Saffron looked around at the suddenly abandoned table. Her eyes widening as she processed the sounds she heard from upstairs and suddenly understood. “Oh, yes, I’ll just be going… I can come back for the magazines and paint swatches later.” Cheeks burning, eyes down, Saffron hurried around the side of the house towards the driveway.

  Brodie brandished Raven. “Are we under attack?”

  Fen winced as a particularly loud moan echoed from upstairs. “You could say my mother is. Come on.” Fen grabbed her free hand and started dragging her inside.

  “But.” Brodie tugged against his hold, trying to dig her heels in. If Fen’s mother was in danger. A low masculine chuckle vibrated the walls and suddenly Brodie realised why the noises sounded so familiar. “Oh.” She stopped trying to halt Fen’s progress.

  “Yes, oh.” Fen slammed open the kitchen door and headed for the Portal.

  “What about your car?”

  “We’ll come back for it. Hurry up would you, my sanity is teetering on the very
edge here.”

  Brodie leapt into the Portal next to Fen, honestly, if this was typical of a family lunch, she was incredibly jealous. She hoped Fen realised how lucky he was. “I really like your family.” Was he swaying? No, that might be her.

  Fen looked at Brodie, noting the high colour flushing her cheeks and the slightly out of focus look in her eyes. Heavens, what did one do with a tipsy Valkyrie?

  “And your Dad, what a sweetie.”

  Fen bit back laughter. “Yeah, everyone thinks so.” Reaching out to close the Portal door he was caught off guard as Brodie swayed to the left suddenly, and then folded like a deck of cards. Luckily his reflexes were good as he swept her into his arms. Whoa, and lucky he was trained to carry dead weights.

  Goddess, his Valkyrie was drunk. He bit back another laugh as she snored softly. Heavens, he was in trouble, he even found the fact that she snored appealing.

  Never claiming to be a saint, he found his eyes wandering down the front of her dress. Now he was in desperate need of a cold shower… hey, the perfect destination came to mind.

  * * *

  Brodie came awake with a start. What? She eyed the olive green mattress she was lying on with deep suspicion. What had happened? Where… she lifted her head to look around… was she?

  Um, she appeared to have stumbled into a Balinese garden. Rolling over quickly she hurriedly gathered intel on her location. She was lying on a large round outdoor daybed, nearby was a small oval table with a couple of chairs clustered around it. The ground was covered by blue slate tiles, dappled in heavy shade, thanks to the overgrown canopy of palm trees and ferns that filled what seemed to be a courtyard.

  Sitting up, she bit back a groan, ouch, her head. Yes, definitely a courtyard, there was a large decorative hammock off to one side, whilst pitted stone statues peeked out from amidst the greenery. But the biggest feature of the courtyard was the very large rectangular pool, lined with heavy grey stone, dominating the centre.

  Wow, this was some set up. The house wrapped around the courtyard on three sides, the doors all pushed back so she could see inside, glimpsing minimally decorated rooms with wooden floors and lazy overhead fans circulating the warm air.

  With the thatched roof and the tropical overhead greenery, she was guessing they would be safe here from any prying eyes. Glancing up, she caught a glimmer of blue sky that was beginning to transition to a deeper colour. Freyja, how long had she been sleeping? And why did her head hurt?

  Oh, no. She’d been drinking. At the Valhalla family luncheon. Brodie closed her eyes, unsure whether to be mortified or celebrate the fact that she’d gotten drunk with the legendary Gunther Valhalla.

  Fen! She opened both eyes, searching the immediate area. Oh, in the pool. She hadn’t heard him churning through the water because the nearby sound of breaking waves was too loud. Hmmm, this place had to be right on a beach. In fact, she stood up and confirmed her suspicion. Yes, there was a granite stone lined channel leading out to the beach.

  How cool, a salt water pool. And it was exactly what she needed to clear her head. Morphing away her sandals and dress, Brodie stepped down on to the broad granite ledge circling the pool, the cool water lapping against her thighs. Oh, yes, just what she needed. She took a step off the ledge and sunk all the way to the bottom.

  Already she felt better. Thanks to her Valkyrie genes she could throw off the effects of a drinking bout pretty quickly. She wasn’t immune to getting drunk, or hangovers, but blessedly the ill effects passed rather rapidly.

  Hmm, she kicked off and headed to the surface. A small part of her slightly disappointed to find Fen was in the process of getting out of the pool. Hmm, with eyes half closed she studied his tanned, muscular form. Pity about the black snug shorts that clung to his thighs and butt. No, not a pity, it was good.

  She didn’t want the image of a naked Fen Valhalla to haunt her for the rest of her days. She bit back a groan as he twisted a tap and stepped under an outdoor shower. The fresh water cascading over his flesh with glee. Fen tipped his head back, eyes closed, running fingers through his short dark hair to dislodge any remaining salt. Grr, she should look away. Yes, absolutely… just one more minute.

  No, Brodie ducked her head under the surface and began pulling herself through the water. Concentrating on her breathing, not on the way Fen looked wet and practically naked. She was not going down that path.

  Left hand slicing through the water, then right. She would ignore the tanned expanse of his broad back, the sharp indentation of his six pack and the path of barely there hair trailing from his navel downwards. Hit the end of the pool. Repeat. Again. And again.

  Fen sat back, dressed only in jeans, his hair still damp, watching Brodie churn back and forth. The woman was a machine. He lifted a cold beer from the ice bucket and twisted off the top. The safe house located on Bite Back Cove, just around a jutting cliff face from Hidden Cove, was a perfect place to lay low for the night and do some prep work.

  Whilst Brodie had been out for the count, he’d come up with a plan on how to trap the flying Vulcan Fabio. Now he just needed to convince Brodie. And not do something stupid in the interim.

  With that in mind he should have averted his eyes as Brodie rose from the water, but hey, the woman was wearing a red bikini for Heaven’s sake. He was celibate, not dead. As she stepped under the fresh water shower to rinse off, Fen fought the urge to dump the bucket of ice over his head to cool off.

  All that ivory toned flesh, and curves that would cause traffic accidents was a daunting combination. The dark red bikini was brief, but then Brodie had nothing to hide. Her toned abs, strong thighs, full breasts, it was a visual feast and Fen was helpless not to indulge. He took another long pull from his beer as Brodie finally turned off the shower and grabbed a nearby towel. Wrapping it around her waist she finally turned to look in Fen’s direction.

  “Where are we?” She gestured at the gorgeous lush set surroundings.

  “Enforcer safe house. And sometimes we have VIP guests visiting, so we put them up here.”

  Brodie decided to face her biggest fear. “How much did I embarrass myself in front of your family? And what must your father think of me?” She sank down heavily onto the large round sun-bed. Her dark, wet hair trailing down over her back and shoulders.

  Fen had been expecting a look of triumph, any other woman, stepping out of the shower, would know what sort of effect she had on a man, not Brodie. She was too busy worried about what his Dad thought of her. “They thought you were great.”

  “I remember singing.” She groaned.

  “Only because Dad started it.”

  “And did I really tell the story of the time I fought the Giolnair lion-headed goats?”

  Fen chuffed a laugh. “I especially liked how you re-enacted the last part. I will always treasure the memory of you putting Erik in a headlock and pretend beheading him.”

  Brodie groaned and buried her face in the towel. Then another thought struck her. “Oh, and challenging your father to arm wrestle, he must think I’m deranged.”

  “You kidding? I think he’d disown me in a heartbeat and adopt you if my mother would let him get away with it.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  “And I wanted to thank you. For not maiming me on the spot when I introduced you as my girlfriend. It was a lot to ask and you really delivered.”

  Brodie smiled. “When you are facing an enemy, it is always wisest to utilise your deadliest tool.”

  Fen frowned, then grinned. He’d never get bored with Brodie around. “Yeah, about that. Whilst you were sleeping, I called Elijah and we came up with a plan to get the flying Fabio to show himself.”

  Brodie’s spine straightened and she looked at Fen intently. “And?”

  “We need to get you somewhere open, create a bit of a spectacle and then leave you supposedly alone and vulnerable.”

  Brodie scowled. “Vulnerable?” She wasn’t one for pretence, her acting skills all but nil. “And what do
you mean by spectacle? What sort of spectacle?”

  Fen finished his beer. “This guy strikes late afternoon to evening. So tomorrow you and I will go for a little stroll along Hidden Cove Beach. At the half way mark we’ll have a very loud fight. I’ll storm off, leaving you dejected, hurt, and alone. Ripe for your Vulcan nemesis to swoop in an attack you.”

  Brodie liked the idea of being bait in the trap, but… “Instead of hurt and dejected, could I be angry and seething mad?”

  Fen bit back a laugh, his Valkyrie was being deadly serious. “Sure. There will be Enforcers hidden in the forest and more who can breathe underwater out beyond the break point. You’ll have plenty of back-up.”

  Suddenly the reality of what they were planning hit Brodie. “By this time tomorrow I could be back at the Assignments Desk at Headquarters.” Stephanie would just have to understand. No more holiday. No more training with the Enforcers. No more teaching the self-defence class. And no more Fen. The knots in her stomach tightened painfully.

  “And I’ll be able to pitch in and help demolish my house.”

  Brodie studied her bare toes, the shadows beginning to deepen across the courtyard. Her head shooting up as first one, and then a hundred tiny solar fairy lights flickered to life amongst the statues and greenery. Even with their light, no one flying overhead would be able to catch a glimpse of them thanks to the overhanging thatched roof and the thick canopy of trees and ferns.

  “You’ve gone awfully quiet.” Fen noted that Brodie’s hair, thanks to the warm sea breeze, had already begun to dry in soft, glossy, midnight waves. “Thinking about your next campaign?”

  Brodie tossed aside the damp towel, the feel of it suddenly too cloying against her skin. She looked over at Fen, he was sitting barely four feet away. His bare, tanned chest looking oh so tempting. “Yes… my next campaign. Though my first priority will be to replace Reaper.”

  Silence descended between them once more. Fen sighed. Tomorrow, this time tomorrow the all too tempting Valkyrie would be out of his life for good. Shit. “So, I’ve been thinking.”