He crawled higher on the bed, and she wrapped her hand around his shaft. She drew her tongue in circles around the head, before drawing him into her mouth.
Min pressed his lips to her ear. “You’re so stunning, my huntress. Flushed and aroused. Let me worship you.” He took Starkad’s place between her legs, and glided large, tender hands higher.
Starkad laid next to her. He danced his fingers over her body, the light touches adding to her euphoria.
Kirby groaned around Gwydion’s cock when Min slid inside her, stretching her out. An incredible buzz—dizzying and electrifying—enveloped her mind and body. She fell into the fluffy clouds of ecstasy as she straddled that line between just enough and too much.
Gwydion’s grunts blended with Min’s. Starkad’s fingers played her moans in harmony. Even the sound of Brit’s heavy breathing, that almost there gasp, added to the chorus.
A salt spurt hit the back of her throat, and she let Gwydion spill into her mouth, sucking like he was he favorite candy. Licking him clean as he pulled away with a shudder. Driving her tongue into his mouth when he pressed in to kiss her.
Min paused, and the world seem to do the same, before emptying himself inside her with a long groan.
The haze hovered in her thoughts and in the air as the song of passion faded. This was the high she’d chased for so long, and it was incredible.
As everyone pulled away, left long enough to clean up, Gwydion made her stay put, and returned to make sure she was clean as well. Within moments, the group was back in the bed, collapsed in a happy, satiated pile.
This felt like home, tangled up in the people she loved. She should be exhausted, but a fresh energy thrummed inside.
“What’s next?” Brit lay with her head on Kirby’s thigh.
Starkad dragged a single nail up Kirby’s stomach. “Round two in about five minutes?”
Gwydion chuckled. “I need at least seven. Call me old if you want.”
“You’re old,” Brit teased. “But I meant outside the bedroom.”
“There has to be a way to find these other Valkyries outside of stumbling upon them day to day.” Leave it to Min to be the voice of reason.
And he was right. “I think I can feel them. Like invisible strands connecting me to all these other beings. They’re faint. A splash of water. Some are more distinct tugs.” Kirby closed her eyes and focused on the sensation, following one of the stronger threads. “I can almost see faces in some instances. Names.”
“We can find them. We’ve spent years tracking potential gods,” Starkad said.
Stalking. Hunting. Killing or saving based on the whim of the god pulling the strings. Kirby didn’t like the association.
“And then what?” Disdain hung heavy in Brit’s voice. “Stick them in a safe house? Promise them they can be a superhero and save the world, if they just come work with this small group of gods?”
Kirby knew that pitch. It was similar to the one Loki gave her when he pulled her from a group home as a teenager. “We’re definitely not doing either of those things.”
“So, buy ‘em a pint and tell ‘em the truth.” Gwydion made it sound like problem sorted.
Brit glanced up at them, face scrunched in doubt. “Maybe don’t get people drunk before you tell them a story like this.”
“But it’s a good plan otherwise.” In fact, the longer Kirby thought about it, the more it felt right. Approach them, gauge the situation, and get to the truth as quickly as possible. See what happened from there.
Okay, it wasn’t actually a good plan, but it was a starting point. And Kirby loved the idea of see what happens next. Not because some secret organization was pulling strings to make or prevent prophecies from happening. But to stop that from happening nearly so much in the future. To give the world back to the people who lived in it.
And in Kirby’s off time, to be here, home, with the people she loved.
When Odin cursed her, centuries ago, she never questioned she’d made the right decision in saving Starkad.
When she remembered the past in her next lives, she loathed the idea of her next death. And when Loki recruited her, and Hel turned her into a killer, Kirby just wanted everything to stop.
Holding out was worth the wait. This, love, support, family, was the kind of ideal future she never imagined. And it was hers.
Epilogue One
Kirby – Three Months Later
Kirby sat in a booth at the back of a coffee shop, Starkad next to her.
To the outside observer, they looked like the kind of cuddly cute couple who was so enamored with each other, they couldn’t stand to be separated by so much as a table as they shared a muffin.
Really it was because this was the perfect spot to see the entire café, and neither of them would sit with their backs to the door.
Not that Kirby minded being shoulder to shoulder with Starkad.
Starkad popped a piece of muffin in Kirby’s mouth. When she dragged his finger in and sucked playfully, a low, contented growl rumbled from his chest.
If twenty-two year old Kirby could see her now... she’d think she was drugged and heavily hallucinating. The realization drew a dark laugh from her.
“Something funny?” Starkad asked.
“No. Just a bit fucked up.” Kirby handed him her cup. “More coffee?”
He pressed his lips to hers in a drawn out kiss she felt in her heart, toes, and tonsils. “Sure.”
Supposedly, one of the people Kirby was connected to would be here this morning. Mia stopped in for a coffee most mornings before she went to work. Starkad was with Kirby, because based on what they’d seen about Mia online, Starkad’s presence should make her feel secure rather than scare her off.
Brit was going with Kirby in a few weeks to approach a single mother.
This entire situation was odd, though. Walking that line between needing to know about a person before approaching them, and not wanting to be a stalker. Kirby didn’t want to lie to anyone, but approaching them with an opener like I’m a Valkyrie and you could be too, would come off as completely wacked.
Starkad returned and set the drink in front of Kirby. A sip of scalding liquid told her it was the perfect level of sweet and hot.
He glanced at his watch. “She’s late. Next steps?”
“Regroup. Replan.” Maybe come up with an approach that didn’t feel so...TOM-like.
Starkad slid from the booth again, offered Kirby his hand, and tugged her to her feet. The way he tangled his fingers with hers was all real. No just for show here.
They headed toward the door. “Shit. My coffee.” Kirby turned back to the table.
“Watch out.” Starkad wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her closer.
Kirby looked up as a shoulder jarred into hers, and met the gaze of a girl in glasses and a ponytail, who miraculously managed to keep the stack of books in her arms from tumbling to the ground. A snake tattoo peeked up above the collar of her shirt, the creature’s fangs sinking into a wine-colored birthmark shaped like an apple.
Mia.
“I’m so sorr...” Mia’s eyes grew wide when she saw Kirby. “I had a dream about you.”
Me too, didn’t seem like an appropriate response. Kirby’s brain stalled.
“Except—you’re going to think this is nuts—you were wearing armor, like video game armor but cooler, and you had wings.” Mia shook her head and stepped back outside, leaving the doorway open. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get in your way.”
Kirby and Starkad joined her on the sidewalk, and Kirby extended her hand in greeting. “It’s not as crazy as you think. I’m Kirby.”
Epilogue Two
Dahlia
Apartment hunting. Dahlia couldn’t believe she and Magnus were doing something so benign. So basic.
It was fantabulously glorious.
Frey and Fen were happy to let them stay in one of the NEON properties, but as much as Dahlia occasionally enjoyed their company, she was a bit burned out
on gods.
She wanted a roommate and ordering pizza whenever they wanted and late night movies and knock first if there’s a sock on the door awkwardness and everything they should have been doing a decade ago as part of early adulthood.
Dahlia and Magnus stood on the sidewalk outside of a small apartment complex, surveying the layout before heading into the leasing office.
“All the units have windows facing front and back. I hate that the corner unit are blind on the open walls,” Magnus said.
Kirby had been right—some training would probably never go away.
“Maybe we need a house instead. Then again, I like the second-story view.” Dahlia could see at least three different spots to hide cameras. It shouldn’t be too big a deal though—the magic on Magnus’s ring would keep them hidden. Specifically from TOM.
“It’s a nice neighborhood. I think you’ll like it here.” The new voice chilled Dahlia. Bragi was a member of the TOM board, and one of the gods who specifically should not be able to find them. “I hear you ladies left the fold.”
Dahlia steeled herself and faced him, emotionless expression in place. “We did.”
“I always felt the two of you were wasted as part of Hel’s little army.” Bragi’s voice was smooth and seductive, rather than condescending the way his words implied. He was a few inches taller than them, with eyes so dark they were almost black and matching hair, that were a stunning contrast against pale skin. “You could’ve been so much more if she’d let you spend more time with us.”
“We are so much more.” Dahlia ticked through a list of things they needed, in order to vanish more completely. He shouldn’t have found them so soon. No one should have found them at all.
“Mmm.” Bragi turned to Magnus and lifted her chin to look her in the eye. “We have our fingers in more than you realize. It’s a world so very different than the disgusting one you were subjected to.”
Magnus stepped back, breaking the contact between them. She liked Bragi. Had flirted with him on occasion. She called him friend when she talked about him. “We’re good with the choice we’ve made. Thanks.”
Bragi raised an eyebrow. “We’ll see. Happy house hunting, ladies.”
Dahlia maintained her confident posture as he strolled away, but her shoulders sank the moment he was out of sight.
“No one’s supposed to be able to find us.” Magnus’s words echoed Dahlia’s thoughts.
Something told Dahlia hiding wouldn’t be the option they hoped for.
THANK YOU FOR READING the Valkyrie’s Legacy series.
Fenrir, Freyr, and Dahlia will be back in the NEON series. TOM isn’t willing to let a valuable resource like Dahlia slip away. Rather than try to hide, Frey’s going to stick her in the spotlight, headlining as the club’s newest burlesque star, so she knows where her enemies are looking for her. But there are dangers the three haven’t accounted for, including surrendering their hearts.
› Secure your copy of SUBVERSION today
IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR another complete, urban fantasy series from Allyson Lindt, check out Truth’s Harem. The gods want Lexi dead, and her mother haunts her dreams, but she’s fated to fall for a hellhound shifter and two Greek heroes, so at least fate only mostly has it in for her.
› Start reading FATE’S ILLUSION
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author Allyson Lindt is a full-time geek and a fuller-time author. She likes her stories with sweet geekiness and heavy spice, and loves a sexy happily-ever-after. Because cubicle dwellers need love too. Read all of her books to see why A Lust for Reading said her books made them "smile and literally laugh out loud", Revenge of the Feels loved the sizzling attraction, ...danger, betrayal and humor" and readers call them "book nirvana","geek hotness", "sexy" and "fast paced".
Read more at Allyson Lindt’s site.
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