Becoming Valkyrie (Pyralis Book 1)

by Brandy L. Cunningham

  Drifting out of the courtyard as the images faded, I caught small glimpses of a grand ballroom, of a blond man, and masqued guests, but the images were blurred, and they sped past before I could fully comprehend them. The flashing images and snippets of voices and conversation flashed into my mind until I thought I would explode. They stopped in a meadow. The image floated before me. I saw Desmond, younger, slightly different, but more or less the same. I heard him speaking sweet words. We laughed together, we explored together, and then, we loved each other. Images snapped past. Desmond and I making love. Desmond and I making plans.

  They faded. Images of Desmond and I were replaced by scenes of dancing with Aeron. He was cool and poised even then. He smiled politely, spoke to me respectfully. Always the gentleman. I saw myself walking with the handsome Aeron, talking and laughing, and I had the distinct feeling there had been more to us than just acquaintances. The emotions I sensed in the memory of myself was poignant. It brought with it deep seated feelings that were difficult to ignore. The memory of Aeron discovering Desmond and I naked together in the woods settled before me. It was such an intimate scene, and then there was so much anger, so much blood.

  I watched in both horror and fascination as I brought my beloved back to life by giving him my own blood. I saw the regret on Aeron’s face. The disgust he felt toward himself. The images of sex and blood faded. So many images flashed before my face, that I had a hard time making sense of them all. I saw faces that I couldn’t pin names to, and castles made of stone. A dark skinned woman smiling at me, whom I recognized as Evangeline.

  My former self floated before my eyes, reading, writing, laughing. It was clear that I had been happy. I had loved life, and joyed at everything in it. As I watched the visions flutter in and out, I was overcome with intense sadness. I’d had no idea I would come to such an end. No idea my life would be over so soon, and that the shell of myself that would be left would be angry and hungry for death.

  I saw again my death playing out before me, but this time, I watched with new eyes. Eyes that understood the words spoken. My father calling me a whore, telling me I was just like my mother.

  I heard my brother’s pleas and Belladona’s screams. I heard the sobs that came from both Aeron and Desmond in the distance. Finally, the gloomy blackness overtook me once more, and I fell into the darkness of time itself as I left my body to float in the abyss.

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  Eyes snapping open, I looked around the dark room. I felt…good. Really good. Stretching, I rolled off the bed. My naked body came away from the ash on my bed new and pristine. Smooth ivory skin and long lean limbs, I smiled. Running my hands down my side, I felt the full curve of my breasts and the soft swell of my hips. My eyes scanned the room. Outside my window, a quarter moon hung suspended in the dark sky.

  The bright white light of the moon cast a smokey luminescence into the murky sky around it. I felt the energy of that light radiate through my skin, down to my very core. I felt…starving. I needed to feed. The sharp point of my fang pierced my bottom lip. I smiled again. Walking to the door, I let myself out of my room. Sauntering down the stairs, I could smell blood.

  Following the delicious scent, I walked into the dining hall where a silver goblet sat. Sitting, I picked the goblet up and sniffed. It smelled amazing. Not as fresh as I would like, but amazing nonetheless. Gulping it down, I allowed the metallic taste to trickle down my throat, savoring the sweetness. Blood trickled out of the corner of my mouth. It ran down the side of my chin, but I made no move to wipe it away.

  Growing bored with my empty cup, and with this dreary room, I stood. My gaze zipped around the room. I wanted to see that brilliant moon that shone above me. Wandering through the house, I finally found a set of French doors leading out.

  Stepping into the moonlight, it was like sinking my limbs into a warm revitalizing bath. Basking in the glow, I walked down the marble steps leading away from the house. My mind was still busy trying to connect the puzzle pieces of my memories that floated there. Many things had not quite clicked into place and still seemed foggy to me. Finding a garden, I delighted in all the white roses I found there.

  Like a child who had been banished to her room the entire winter, I took in all the details of the glorious moonlit garden. Throwing my arms out, I laughed as I twirled around. This felt glorious. To be free and alive, and powerful. My hunger was satiated, but there was still something I desired. My hormones raged inside of me as snippets of sex flashed through my mind.

  Turning toward the house, I smiled wickedly. I knew he would come. He was older than I, and his senses more attuned. It was likely he watched me already. I laughed again. Walking deeper into the labyrinth of white roses, I glanced back at the house again. Aeron stood there, his shoulder leaning against the door frame as he watched me.

  Smiling to myself, I continued into the labyrinth where the hedges grew higher, and I knew he would not be able to see me. As I turned a corner, I found him standing before me. I watched his eyes as they trailed down my body, stopping at the blood in the corner of my mouth, before finding their way to my eyes. I had felt his gaze like a caress against my skin. His eyes told me he was not so powerful as to resist the temptation of my body.

  Aeron lifted a brow at me. “I’ve been trailing you for days. I didn’t expect that you would come back here.”

  I shrugged. Placing a finger to his lips, I said, “I needed your help. Now, I think that’s enough talking.” Moving against him, I pressed my body into his, licking my lips as I felt the powerful hardness of him. His eyes closed. A small growl escaped his lips. The sound sent shivers down my back. Leaning toward him, I pulled his head down closer to mine.

  Aeron’s eyes snapped open. Physically removing my body from his, he stepped away. Running his hands through his hair in agitation, he growled. “What is wrong with you?”

  I sighed. “Oh, Aeron. You always were too controlled for your own good. Always the gentleman, never the animal, huh?”

  His gaze snapped to me again. He watched me as though I were a crazed rabid animal. As he should have. I was crazed. I was an animal. I had been burned at the stake, and I was pissed. Still, I was not the same as I had been. Before I died I had been less powerful, and I had been deeply in love with Desmond.

  Now, I loved no one. I wanted, I needed, but I did not love. I was my own person. I was free from the restrictions of my father, and I would not allow love to restrict me now. I was still the girl who had burned to death with her town, only to rise up from the ashes, but now my eyes were wide open.

  Now I saw the world through the eyes of a nearly five hundred-year-old Vampire who had been changed. I remembered my family, my childhood, and I remembered my love for Desmond. I may still feel the flame of desire for him, but he was not the Desmond I had left behind. He was someone different. The Desmond I had loved was a Witch, not a Vampire. Now, he was both. Aeron too had changed. He was older, more powerful, and maybe wiser.

  Perhaps this time he could control the attraction he felt for me. It annoyed me. I wanted sex. Needed sex. I wanted passionate, hard, lustful sex with someone I did not love, would never love. I glared at Aeron for denying me what I wanted.

  “Why do you deny yourself that which you desire? You and I could enjoy the night together. I am offering you sex, wouldn’t you enjoy that? Don’t you want to know what it is like to fuck the woman you have always desired?”

  Aeron’s jaw ticked. Stepping forward, he ran his hand down my face, along the column of my throat, between my breasts, stopping just below my navel. I moaned in response. I watched as his eyes contracted in desire, the fiery ring around his pupil glowing.

  Dropping his hand, he shook his head. “The woman I desired died on that cross more than four hundred years ago. You may have regained your memories, but you are not the same woman you were. The Valkyrie I loved would never have paraded about naked like this. She would never have been so…scandalous.”

  I laughed at him. “No, d
ear sweet Aeron. The Valkyrie you knew would never have been so scandalous. Think back to the day you found your fiancé in the arms of Desmond, and tell me that again.”

  Aeron sent me a look that could kill. Turning on his heel, he called over his shoulder, “You smell of blood. Of male Vampire blood. Haven’t you had your fill tonight?”

  I hissed at his back. “One of these days, Aeron, you will realize you want to know what it’s like to fuck me, and then it will be too late. I will not make this same offer twice.”

  Anger at his rejection swirled inside of me as I watched him disappear into the house. I played with the idea of burning the damn place to the ground, but I liked the house. I would find another way to get even with Aeron and make him regret his decision.

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  Stretching, I yawned. Running my hands down my body, I sighed as I recalled the fantasies I had spent the night with. Aware of a presence in my room, I languished overlong. The silk sheet was wrapped around my body precariously, and as I glanced out the window into a dark gray and dreary day, I watched the exposed branches of the oak outside as it swayed in the wind, scratching against the glass of my window like sinister claws.

  Smiling, I delighted in the storm that would soon roll in. I loved the rain, the clouds and the darkness they brought to the world. Rolling, I pulled myself slowly into a sitting up position. Peering into the darkest corner of my room, I watched the silhouette there. Frowning, I narrowed my eyes as I called up the powers within me that allowed me to see through the darkness. Aeron leaned against the wall. His eyes were plastered on my breasts, and I smiled.

  “Why do you hide in the corner, Aeron? I know you to be a Nyctophiliac, but surely you do not need to hide like a boy peeping at a woman who has so captivated his attention.”

  Stepping from the shadows, he shrugged. “Perhaps I like to be the creepy man who watches from afar. Tell me, Valkyrie, do you always dream of such intense sexual fantasies?”

  I was surprised. It wasn’t a subject Aeron had brought up often, always trying to be the morally polite Vampire that he was. After I found my tongue, I shrugged. “Most nights, yes.”

  He shook his head. Mumbling under his breath as though he forgot my superior hearing, he said, “This is going to be a long life.”

  I was confused by his words, but I didn’t bother to think about them overlong. “Aeron, you are probably wondering why I came here, to your home.”

  Aeron lifted a brow in mock surprise. Huffing out a laugh, he shook his head. “No, I do not wonder why you came here. I realize there are probably few places you feel you can hide now. I’m more curious why you took off like a bat out of hell after the eclipse.”

  I blinked. Standing, I walked to the dresser and began rifling through the clothes there. Sighing, I looked up into Aeron’s mosaic eyes. “You really need to get me some leathers. I guess I’ll have to do with these today.” I selected a red silk dress and pulled it on over my head.

  When I looked back up at him, Aeron looked annoyed. “Why do you refuse to wear the undergarments?”

  I blinked innocently. “You mean the panties? Or is it the thongs you refer to my dear? They chafe. Terribly uncomfortable.”

  Walking past him, I called out, “So, where do you keep the blood?”

  Behind me, Aeron blew out his breath. “I do not remember you having such a voracious appetite in your past life, Mademoiselle.”

  The word brought back the memory of our first meeting. He had been breathtakingly handsome even then, but my heart had already belonged to Desmond. He had swooned me with beautiful French words, and perfect manners, he had swirled me through the waltz with expertise, but it wasn’t enough. He was not Desmond. I had been flustered by him then, I was obsessed with him now. It was rather vexing, this tiresome connection I had to this man.

  Walking down the stairs, I looked around, intent on finding blood. I knew my appetite had grown, and I hoped that by keeping myself content, I would not become like Byron and hunt innocent humans. Aeron took my elbow. He ushered me through the grand house, and into the kitchen. As he poured us each a glass of blood, he seemed to fight a battle within himself. His eyes seemed drawn to my nipples peeking through the fine silk fabric of the long dress, and each time, he snapped them away.

  Laughing, I leaned against the counter as I sipped the deliciously sweet substance. “So, Aeron, I want you to tell me where my brother is.”

  He nearly choked on his blood. Looking up at me, he shook his head. “You ask the impossible. No one has seen or heard from Valkyrian in decades. The last time he was here was…” He trailed off, seeming to think back.

  “Eighty years ago. He came to me. Speaking like a madman who had lost his coherent thoughts. He muttered about prophecies, about rebirth. He told me he could feel you, that you would come back soon. He told me we needed to gather the allies against Byron.”

  I smiled, but I had the suspicion he was lying to me, I believed his story, but I think there was another time he kept from me. So, my brother had the same way of thinking as I did. “That is precisely what we need to do, Aeron. Byron seeks to use the upcoming series of eclipses as a way to overthrow mankind. He will send this world into a thousand years of darkness. Evil will become a plague on the earth, and those of us who wish the world to remain as it is will be eradicated. It will never stop with humans, you know. Byron thinks himself above all Casts.”

  Aeron sighed. “Great. You have both gone mad. Perhaps you can tell me why there is a Shifter looking for you.”

  Tilting my head, I frowned. “A Shifter is seeking me? I don’t know any…” I trailed off. Like a light bulb turning on, it hit me. “A cat?”

  Aeron shrugged. “He was in human form when he approached me. Dark hair, yellow eyes, he spoke of a Witch named Tamyra. He asked that I give you a message.”

  I frowned. “Why did he think you could lead him to me?”

  Aeron frowned. He stared at the cherry wood cabinets. I could sense the hesitation in him. Whatever he was about to say, he didn’t want to share it with me. When he finally lifted his gaze toward me, I marveled again at the fiery ring that circled his pupil. It blazed now as though lit from within.

  “He thought I was your lover. Said he could smell you…inside of me. I do not know what he meant. Shifters are unusual creatures. Many times, they can smell things others cannot.”

  I had a thought then. Thinking back to what Viren had said to me, my eyes widened. It couldn’t be. Lifting my eyes to Aeron’s, I asked, “Aeron, the night that I…that you woke me in my dreams…I had bitten you?”

  His response was a nod as he stared into my eyes. I swallowed. “And did I…did I drink from you?”

  He hesitated. His face became stony, a sure sign he was trying to hide his feelings from me. Finally, he nodded. I exhaled.

  “Did I drink a lot, Aeron?” When his answer was another nod, I became angry. Slamming my empty glass upon the counter, I listened to it shatter.

  “Why? Why did you let me do that? Why didn’t you stop me?” I glared at him. I was angry now that I knew we shared a blood link we should not share.

  Aeron glared back at me. “Are you joking? I could hardly control myself with you writhing and moaning and touching me the way you were. You’re lucky I didn’t just fuck you right then. And you ask me why I didn’t stop you from biting me and sucking my blood!?”

  I was momentarily stunned. He wanted to have sex with me that badly, and yet he refused every advance I made toward him? The man was a constant mystery I could not seem to unravel. He made me spitting-mad.

  Slamming my fist down, I hissed at him. The animal within me stirred to life by the anger it sensed. Grabbing him by the collar of his fancy shirt, I yanked him forward, until our noses were nearly touching.

  “You damn fool! Do you have any idea what you have done? Do you not know what a blood link is?”

  Aeron grabbed my hands, pulling them roughly from his shirt, he pinned them at my sides. In a streak of mov
ement, we had shot across the room, and my back slammed into the wall. The picture that hung there crashed into a mass of glass around me. I bared my fangs at Aeron.

  “Do you think I know not what a blood link is? Do you forget so easily who and what I am? I am far older and wiser than you. I have lived through things, seen things you couldn’t believe! Do not call me a fool! You who parade yourself between me and Desmond as though this is all some damned game for you!”

  His fangs had descended, they were much longer than mine. His eyes had become nearly black in his anger. My curiosity was piqued. I had never seen this side of Aeron. Perhaps the man did have an animal inside of himself. He stared down at me. With a growl that seemed part anger and part frustration, he leaned his head down, kissing me angrily. His fangs stung my lips, and I was surprised to feel the warm rivulet of blood that ran down my chin.

  Aeron slid his tongue down my chin, lapping up my blood as though it were the sweetest wine. His body pressed mine against the hard wall, and I felt the swell of him. I gasped in pleasure as he ground himself against me. My world spun, and my insides seemed to shatter. Yes, this was what I wanted. My back arched, and my nipples hardened in response.

  Aeron grazed his fangs down the column of my throat, piercing the tender flesh of my breast. I moaned as he suckled there. One moment, I was filled with ecstasy, with passion and lust and need, and the next, the cold air swirled around me, leaving me feeling alone. Opening my eyes, I watched him tear through his kitchen in destruction. Glass shattered, wood splintered. My breathing seemed to stop altogether.

  Stopping at the entrance to his kitchen, he glared at me. “You are poison to me, you bring out the evil in me, Valkyrie! I thought I wanted you four hundred years ago, but that was nothing compared to what I feel for you now. You should never have given me your blood. It is like a sickness within me, breaking the control I have worked so hard to keep. More and more my thoughts are plagued by thoughts of you. You are everything I want, and everything I cannot have. This blood link should never have happened! Do you think I enjoy seeing your thoughts of fucking Desmond? You are not the only one who sees into anothers mind when you drink their blood, Valkyrie.