Viking's Ransom (Viking Ancestors: Rise of the Dragon, #4)

by Purington, Sky

  Eirik gave Leviathan another warning look to keep his blade at the ready then pulled his jerkin off. She realized almost immediately that he had been right about her reaction. Not only because of his chiseled impossible-to-look-away from hotness but because of his tattoo. Located on his bicep, it was a large partially colored blazing green dragon the exact same shade as her eyes.

  As it happened, it drew her like a beacon, and she reacted without any real thought.

  Clearly under the influence of her DNA and impossibly fast, she knocked Leviathan’s weapon out of his hand, swiped his feet out from beneath him and got close to Eirik before either man processed what was happening. She held her dagger to Eirik's gut, warning him not to move.

  This was all her dragon.

  And it was locked on his tattoo. Fascinated by it. Familiar with it in a way that sent chills through her. Drawn, unable to stop herself, she touched it gingerly only to experience a rush of something unexplainable. Not just crippling fear but extraordinary sadness. A sense of loss that made no sense.

  “His name is Einnar,” she whispered, her eyes glued to the tattoo as she sensed how much pain their enemy had caused them. “We have just one enemy, and his name is Einnar.”

  For a split second, his tattoo appeared afire and the dragon’s eyes her own as they tried to warn her about something. But how could that be if this dragon represented their enemy? Unless it didn't. Maybe it represented something else entirely.

  Her eyes drifted to Eirik’s, and she whispered, “I’m being warned...why?”

  “I do not know,” he said softly.

  Didn’t he though? Because she felt like he did or that he should. It was hard to know. Pinpoint. Understand.

  “Its color matches my eyes,” she murmured, unable to look at it again. Unable to look anywhere but at him. Anywhere but straight into his eyes.

  “Yes,” he murmured, his warm arm muscles tight beneath her fingertips, his posture tense and unmoving.

  While it matching her eyes could mean a number of things based on her sisters' adventures with their mates, she knew, in this case, it signified that she was Eirik's mate. Or that they had, without doubt, been mates in their previous life. Not shocking really considering how she responded to him. But what a thing to realize she’d been with him before and had absolutely no recollection of it.

  Or should she say almost no recollection because she certainly felt something right now. A fleeting glimpse of familiarity. Of having known him well. When that happened, images flickered in her mind. No, not quite images. More like sensual flashes of them in another time and space.

  Another world entirely.

  As soon as it began it ended, but it had been telling. Real. Too real and so sad.

  “I...we...” she whispered. Though thoroughly aroused because being in heat allowed for little else, she stepped away. “I don’t want to go through that again.”

  This time his face wasn’t entirely expressionless. Rather he clenched his jaw, his eyes turbulent with repressed emotions as they stayed with hers. Eyes that felt the same pain she just had. That caught a glimpse of something long gone and remarkably heartbreaking.

  “I need to know what you know, Eirik,” she murmured. “Shea and Davyn felt you had steered them along on their adventure. You did, didn’t you? But why...how?” She shook her head. “Because it’s all connected to this...you and me.”

  “Yes,” he said softly then urged them to follow him beneath the tree. “Follow me then we will sit and talk. I will share things...”

  As it turned out, walking under the pine was like stepping into another world entirely. The snow vanished and a gorgeous, sparkling summer day unraveled complete with bright green grass and warm sunlight streaming through tree branches.

  “Double negative,” she murmured, wishing Helheim and sunlight didn’t affect her adversely because it was beautiful here. Peaceful. And, magically enough, the pine was one of many creating a hallway of cathedral high vibrantly green needles. It was downright enchanting.

  “Are you feeling weakened then?” Eirik asked.

  “Not yet,” she replied, but it was only a matter of time.

  “I will return us to Midgard once I feel the threat’s passed.”

  “And how is it you can sense when that will be?” Leviathan groused, clearly not all that thrilled to be here.

  “I will know,” Eirik assured, leading them to a spot tucked between pines by a trickling river. “We will rest here for the eve then return to Midgard.” His eyes went to Leviathan. “One of us needs to hunt, and one needs to stay and protect Kenzie.”

  “I’ll be fine if you want to team up.” She gave them a look. “Not sure if you caught it back there but I took Leviathan down, and I could’ve taken Eirik down too.” She shrugged and offered them a cocky half grin because she had earned it. “And all before you saw me coming.”

  “You took me down because I allowed it,” Leviathan grunted, but she saw the appreciative gleam in his eyes. The pride.

  “Sure, keep telling yourself that.” She winked at him before looking at Eirik. “Seriously, I’ll be okay here.” Then she contemplated things. “Because I assume we’re still under that big pine somehow even though it doesn’t look like it.”

  “In a sense, yes,” he concurred. His eyes lingered on hers for a moment as though he were tempted to say more but decided against it. If she didn’t know better, he was still battling with himself when it came to her. Pushing her away even as he wanted to pull her closer. He only proved that struggle when he tossed Leviathan a satchel and said, “Stay and protect Kenzie. I will be back.”

  Then he was gone having prompted her to be with the Ancient rather than him. And not surprisingly, he managed to do it before sharing a darn thing.

  “He has changed a lot,” Leviathan said as he watched Eirik vanish into the woods. “I used to be able to tell what he was thinking, what he might be plotting, but now he is very hard to read. Detached.”

  “Can you blame him?” she said as they sat on a sun-warmed patch of grass near the stream. Despite her mini-battle back there she still had her skin of mead in hand so took a few swigs before sighing. “I don’t think I’d wish Eirik’s life on anyone.”

  “No,” Leviathan agreed, sifting around in Eirik’s satchel until he found a skin of mead. “It’s clear life has been hard on him.” A frown settled on his face. “I have wanted to reconcile with him for some time but he’s kept his distance, and with good reason, it seems.”

  “Well, now you have a chance,” she said softly, eying him. “Though I have a feeling he’s not going to make it easy for you.”

  His eyes met hers in understanding. “He will be testing me a lot with you, yes?”

  “I think so,” she said. “I think you’re a threat because he wants to pull me close, but instead he keeps me at arm’s length. He’s jealous of you but at the same time sees you as a way to keep distance between us.” She shook her head. “Either way, he’s got secrets I need to figure out, Leviathan.”

  “Yes,” he agreed, taking a swig from his skin before he considered her, and said precisely what she had hoped to hear. “I owe you my life, Kenzie. Tell me what I can do to help and I will.” Then his voice softened. “And know that my offer stands. I would be honored to have you even if you become mated with Eirik.”

  “That’s sweet,” she said. “It really is.” She shook her head. “But the truth is, if we become mated and enjoy an open relationship, I’ll be heading back to my animals in the twenty-first century.”

  If that is, all her animals were there. It didn’t sound too promising when it came to Floyd. But she couldn’t stress about that right now. It would do no good.

  “Why not bring your animals here?” he said, clearly trying to keep a sour note from his voice. “I would protect them as I would protect you.”

  “Your dragon would down them in one gulp.”

  “Not if you said not to,” he argued.

  “I dunno,” she mu
rmured, eying him again. “You say one thing, but I have a feeling your dragon might be thinking another.”

  “Possibly,” he admitted then shrugged and grinned. “But even my dragon knows they would not provide much meat.”

  “No,” she agreed, patting him on the shoulder as she shook her head. “Why don’t we just take one day at a time and see how everything goes, eh?”

  “You know how everything is going to go, woman,” he grumbled as his eyes stayed with hers. “Me being along only delays the inevitable unless...”

  “Unless what?”

  “Unless you lay with me now,” he said bluntly, hopeful but at the same time not trying as hard as she knew he could.

  “Funny how you say one thing,” she murmured, “but I get the sense you might be having second thoughts now.”

  “About you?” He shook his head. “No.” Then he paused as his eyes went to the water. “Though I want you, it’s clear Eirik wants you too. And it is also evident, as you said, that he is confused about that.” He sighed as his eyes returned to hers. “I might not recognize the man or even the dragon he has become, but that does not stop me from wanting him to find happiness. Because it’s clear he’s had little of that in his life.”

  “And you think I can offer him that?” She shook her head but in a strange way found herself curious. Hopeful when she shouldn’t be. “I think he harbors too many secrets. There’s just too much he’s keeping from all of us.”

  “What does that have to do with you finding love with him?”

  “Love?” She snorted. “That word doesn’t even sound right coming out of your mouth.”

  “You think Ancients cannot love then?”

  “I never said that,” she countered. “It just...I dunno.” She shrugged and sighed. “My dragon might want Eirik’s, but love just sounds like a stretch when it comes to him.”

  And that was sad.

  But true.

  “Why?” Leviathan said.

  “Because he’s...Eirik.” She frowned at him. “Not to mention, I don’t do love. Honestly, I don’t think it’s in my DNA.”

  “But it is,” a familiar feminine voice floated through her mind. “That is why you need to ask Eirik about the prophecy. More so, what it means for your safety.”

  Chapter Eight

  EIRIK STOOD AT the wood line and watched Kenzie and Leviathan together as they lay back on the grass with their heads bent close. He might not know her well, but he sensed she deserved that. She deserved to find love with another dragon and not suffer the fate Eirik would offer her.

  As if she sensed him, she glanced over her shoulder and met his eyes. He felt the impact of her look almost as strongly as he had the impact of having her against his dragon then her touch on his tattoo earlier. While he knew little more than her about their previous relationship, he had felt its existence soul-deep. How close they had once been. How tragedy had found them. Terrible sadness.

  He also knew they had a monster after them that put Håkon’s and Davyn’s to shame.

  Einnar.

  A monster he would have to give her to in the end.

  Rather than acknowledge Eirik, Kenzie’s attention returned to Leviathan as they kept talking. This time rather than listen in, he set to skinning his catch. Leviathan had already built a spit and started a fire. One the Ancient paid little attention to since he was so engrossed in Kenzie. At first, it didn’t bother Eirik, but as the minutes ticked by, his aggravation grew until unintended words escaped his lips.

  “If you want to lie together you will be protected here.”

  They stopped talking and glanced at him, as if only just realizing he was there.

  “You would not mind then, old friend?” Leviathan said.

  “No,” he forced out. If anything, it would help him and his quest a great deal. Because if she and the Ancient came together, it would be much easier for Eirik to let her go in the end.

  As Leviathan’s eyes found Kenzie’s, he touched her far gentler than the dragon he once knew would have. “What make you of that, woman?”

  Eirik gritted his teeth as Leviathan stroked her cheek tenderly and she contemplated. “I could use some stress relief.”

  “Come then,” Leviathan declared as he scooped her up and headed for the wood line, winking at Eirik in passing. “Defend the area well, friend, lest I get a knife in the ass.”

  He nodded tightly, suddenly so tense his vision blurred. Images of what the Ancient intended to do to her flashed in his mind. More than that, what she would look like as he did. Her slender body writhing in pleasure. Her plush lips glistening from kisses as she cried out.

  “No,” he growled before he could stop himself.

  Just about to vanish into the forest, Leviathan turned slowly. “What was that?”

  For the first time in far too long, he gave into a heavy frown as he stared at them.

  “Well?” Kenzie prompted.

  He shook his head, knowing full well he should let them go. That this was for the best.

  “Go,” he forced out of his mouth only to shake his head when Leviathan promptly tromped into the forest with her. “Stop.”

  She and the Ancient conversed softly as if deciding whether or not to listen before Leviathan turned back again and Kenzie spoke. “The only way I’m not doing this is if you start answering questions.” She perked a brow. “Your call.”

  Tell them to go, he growled to himself. This would be for the best. Yet his dragon was too distressed at the idea of them lying together, so he had no choice.

  “Come eat,” he said. “I will answer what I can.”

  Kenzie and Leviathan glanced at each other before the Ancient finally set her down, and they headed back. Though he tried not to be, he was pleased she wasn’t putting off the scent of arousal. That she was seemingly not aroused by Leviathan. Whether or not she truly intended to lie with his friend, her dragon didn’t respond to him like it did Eirik’s. Not in the least.

  “Start by telling me why you steered Shea and Davyn along on their adventure,” Kenzie said as she sat across the fire from him. “How it’s related to us.”

  “It was never me but Hel steering them along.” He remained vague. “She understands what needs to happen for you and your sisters to win Níðhöggr’s war. She knew the direction Davyn and Shea needed to go to find what they were looking for. To get where they needed to be so they could find their way back to each other.”

  “Because that’s essentially what it is for all of us, right?” she murmured, her eyes never leaving his. “Finding our way back to each other?”

  “So it seems,” he confirmed, caught by the fiery light in her eyes. The daring challenge that led to a question he didn’t see coming.

  “I think it’s time you tell me about this prophecy you’ve been keeping to yourself,” she said. “And what it means for me and my safety.”

  Loki’s cock, Hel had gotten through to her somehow.

  Rather than let silence settle, he kept his face emotion free and said what made sense. “You heard this from Hel, yes?”

  “Yup, she reached out to me telepathically.” Kenzie’s brows perked as their eyes held. “It seems the one you’re trying to keep me safe from might just be trying to keep me safe from you.” She shrugged. “So what’s your take on that? Because I’m starting to think your girlfriend the Goddess of the Underworld might just have my back after all.” She shook her head. “And before you dish out the same excuse as before, I’m not inclined to think she’s doing this to keep me out of your bed. There’s a bigger picture here.” Her eyes went to Leviathan. “You see that too, right?”

  When he nodded in agreement, her eyes shot back to Eirik’s, and all amusement fled. “See, we’re both of the mind that there’s a bigger picture and you know what it is.” She leaned forward and cocked her head. “So what is it, Eirik? What are you hiding?”

  He recognized that he had to give her something. Anything.

  “Hel and I are no longer togethe
r,” he grumbled, sure to sound distressed as he speared the meat and put it over the fire. “Since then things have been especially...difficult.”

  A stunned silence fell before Kenzie finally spoke. Though her steady gaze remained trained on him, he made a point of keeping his eyes down as if defeated. As if finally giving into the emotions she surely wondered if he possessed.

  “Why did you say you were still together?” she said.

  “Because I was not ready for you.” He dragged his eyes to hers as if out of obligation. “I was not ready to be mated...when I still felt something for her.”

  “I see.” Quickly masked distress flashed in her eyes before they dropped to the fire. “I suppose that’s to be expected all things considered.”

  “Who ended it between you two?” Leviathan said, his eyes narrowed on Eirik. It seemed his former friend sensed something amiss. “Because I cannot imagine you ending it with the most beautiful woman ever to exist. More than that, I cannot imagine you ending it with the one woman you could be close to. Who could show you affection and love.”

  Love? That was an odd word for Leviathan to use yet he meant it based on the look in his eyes. But that was not the motivation behind the Ancient’s inquisition. No, he was pointing to the fact that Eirik would have had to be the one to end things for Hel to act up and try to separate them out of jealousy.

  “I ended it because it was the right thing to do considering my potential mate was coming.” He leveled his eyes with Leviathan, frustrated with the man for not only calling him out but because he had stroked Kenzie’s cheek, and had her in his arms earlier.

  Because he had touched her.

  “Sounds noble enough,” Kenzie murmured, her eyes returning to his. “But somehow it’s not ringing true.” She shook her head. “I think there’s more here.” She gestured at Leviathan. “You just proved that you don’t want me sleeping with anyone else. That rang true.” She kept shaking her head. “That you still have feelings for Hel? Not so much...not to the extent you’re trying to sell it.”