Viking's Conquest

by Sky Purington

  Story Overview

  Tormented by her past, Tess hits the open road, and never looks back until she’s forced through time to medieval Scandinavia. Caught in an unraveling prophecy, the only way she can defeat the enemy is to take a mate. But first, she must work through heart-wrenching memories. What she doesn't expect is navigating her rocky history alongside a man as broken as her. A Viking who offers not just solace but sparks fierce desire.

  Though determined to end his rival without becoming mated, Viking Rokar Sigdir begins thinking differently when Tess joins him on his quest and awakens feelings he thought long dormant. Yet with passion and a chance to start anew come dark flashbacks of losing his kin and the unimaginable pain it caused. A misery he fears repeating.

  Will Rokar and Tess be able to let their pasts go and work together to end their nemesis so they can share a future? Or are some things just too hard to overcome? Find out as they journey through time and turbulent memories on a fast-paced, otherworldly adventure that becomes not just a conquest of their enemy but of their grief-stricken souls.

  Viking’s Conquest

  Viking Ancestors

  Rise of the Dragon

  Book Five

  Sky Purington

  COPYRIGHT © 2019

  Vikings’s Conquest

  Sky Purington

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Edited by Cathy McElhaney

  Cover Art by Tara West

  Published in the United States of America

  Contents

  Story Overview

  Pronunciations

  Series Overview

  Introduction

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Epilogue

  Coming Soon

  Just Curious?

  Exclusive Invitation

  Midgard Locations Glossary

  Nine Worlds

  Previous Releases-Best Reading Order

  Family Trees

  About the Author

  Pronunciations

  Alfheimr (olv-himmr)

  Aðísla (ahd-ee-slah)

  Årud (a-row-oo-do)

  Eirik (Eye-rick)

  Håkon (Hawk-ohn)

  Helheim (hel-himm)

  Hvergelmir (vur-gel-mur)

  Jörmungandr (yor-mun-gun-der)

  Jotunheim (yo-den-himm)

  Kaðlín (ˈkʰaðlin)

  Midgard (mid-gard)

  Múspellsheimr (moo-spell-shay-mm)

  Mt. Galdhøpiggen (gall-ter-peegan)

  Naðr Véurr (nahdr vuu-ah)

  Niflheim (nee-full-himm)

  Níðhöggr (neathe-högr or neathe-herd)

  Ragnarök (rag-nar-ock)

  Shea (shay)

  Svartalfheim (svaret-ah-ul-fu-himm)

  Vanaheim (van-a-himm)

  Series Overview

  Long before the dawn of time on Midgard, or Middle Earth, war raged on the fiery world of Múspellsheimr. Dominant, restless creatures that were half man, half dragon forever struggled for more power. Two factions rose above the rest, crushing their opponents until none rivaled them but one another. Of equal strength and might, they fought for hundreds of years until the great serpent Níðhöggr met his end in the jaws of his double-headed rival. As he lay dying, the mighty dragon used the last of his magic to ensure his lineage would not be extinguished but resurrected by a dark prophecy. In his need for vengeance, Níðhöggr vowed his serpent offspring would someday destroy all trace of his nemesis. Therefore, he might from the afterlife, at last taste the glory of victory through his descendants. And so the story goes...

  Introduction

  The ongoing war between Níðhöggr's ancestors and Skáld's dragons has already brought four couples together, the last being Eirik and Kenzie who defeated their nemesis. But not before an especially vicious enemy slipped through the cracks between Múspellsheimr and Helheim, only to vanish along with Rokar. Now Tess, who had been in tenth century Scandinavia, has ended up back in the twenty-first century with no memory of how she got there. Yet the fiery ash of her childhood haunts her, dredging up a past she would rather forget and pushing her toward a future she isn’t ready for. And so the long buried memories unfold, and the future swoops in...

  Chapter One

  Winter Harbor, Maine

  Present Day

  “COME BACK TO me,” crackled in the air, the words sizzling on the wind as the ash tree burned brightly against the night sky. “Be with me again, dragon.”

  Was the tree speaking? Or was that someone else?

  Though terror simmered somewhere deep inside, it never quite made it to the surface. Not now. Not ever. Instead, it churned, chained in a dark seemingly soulless part of her as she continued staring at the fiery tree outside her Lake Placid home. A blink later, she was somewhere else, another time and place, a world made of fire and smoke. Then it too dwindled away to be replaced by her sister’s concerned face when she shook her shoulders.

  “Tess,” Ava pleaded. “Look at me. Focus. I’m right here!”

  Tess blinked several times and tried to get her bearings. She wasn’t in Lake Placid or what had to be dragon kind’s fiery world of Múspellsheimr but standing in front of the ash outside their Maine chalet. It took her a few more blinks to realize that even here was not where she was supposed to be.

  “What the hell?” She frowned at Ava. “How did I get here?”

  Her sister shook her head. “I have no idea. The tree caught my attention, so I came out to find you standing in front of it totally unresponsive.” She cocked her head. “Come to think of it, you were acting the same way you did when you went into that strange trance as a teenager. Remember? You didn’t recall much afterwards, but we told you about it.”

  “Yeah, I remember.” She might not recollect being in a trance-like state, but she remembered the fiery tree at the root of it. An ash nearly identical to the one she had just seen. She rolled her shoulders, trying to shake off the unsettling feeling of seeing it again. Of feeling so out of it in general.

  Unbeknownst to her sisters, she had glimpsed the tree more than once over the years. The particular instance Ava referred to, however, happened when she was around fourteen. Entranced, she had stood outside, staring at a random tree in the darkness. According to her sisters, she’d said the tree was on fire until he saved them. Who he o
r they were remained a complete mystery.

  Or at least that was the case until all this began.

  This being Níðhöggr’s prophecy unraveling.

  After what had happened on Kenzie and Eirik’s adventure, she suspected a Viking named Rokar might have something to do with it. Not just because she made contact with him across time in a dream but because she had apparently offered prophetic words about him seeing a fiery ash.

  Speaking of ashes. “Why did this ash catch your attention, Ava? Did it do something funky like it’s been known to in the past?” She frowned and glanced from the tree to her sister. “Because the last thing I remember, I was at a Viking fortress with the Sigdirs. Kenzie and Eirik were getting ready to fight their enemy and fix the rift between worlds.”

  Those, of course, were the nine worlds from Norse mythology.

  “They must’ve fixed things,” Ava replied. “Because one second I saw everyone beneath this tree at the Fortress through some kind of portal or rift as you call it, but then you vanished, and everything else returned to normal. That was a few days ago.”

  “Crazy, eh?” Tess recalled looking up at Ava from beneath the tree. “So I guess Kenz and Eirik must’ve saved the day.” She shook her head, searching her memory. “The last thing I recall was the two of them heading for their ship, off to fight the bad guys before I followed Soren inside...”

  She couldn’t remember anything after that.

  “Damn,” she muttered, heading for the deck. “I need a drink.”

  “I’ll bet.” Ava touched on Tess’s initial question. “And the tree caught my attention because of the way the sun hit it. It almost looked like it was on fire.”

  Tess slowed going up the stairs, caught by the uncanny revelation before she headed inside. What was up with the damn tree being on fire?

  “Maybe it’s gotta do with Skáld’s Ash,” she said under her breath. Though she had yet to see it in person, she’d seen the enemy’s tree in Skáld’s Domain through her sister’s mind. And never was there a fierier, creepy tree of death than that one. Yet her tree didn’t necessarily strike her as creepy. Or did it? Whatever it did numbed her. Repressed her somehow.

  “You just missed Mom and Dad,” Ava said, nodding when Tess perked a brow at her wondering if she should fill one shot glass or two.

  “Too bad.” They had been in and out since all this started. Dad had even traveled back in time and met Sage’s twin, Jessie, his long lost daughter from a previous marriage. “How are they doing?”

  “On edge.” Ava sighed. “Just like all of us, I suppose.”

  “No shit,” she muttered before she downed a shot of bourbon and refilled her glass. “It can’t be any easier for them than us knowing we’re meant for a bunch of medieval Vikings.” She cocked the corner of her mouth. “Good thing they’re all hot as hell.”

  At least the ones she had seen.

  Which, as it happened, were all of them but Rokar.

  “They’re not bad,” Ava allowed. “At least the few I saw from a distance.”

  “Not bad.” She rolled her eyes, calling her sister out. “I know for sure you saw Soren and Leviathan, and they’re damn near male dragon perfection.” Tess shook her head. “They just don’t make guys like them nowadays.” She licked her lips. “All super alpha hawt as fuck.”

  She had been with some gorgeous men in her time, bad boys all of late, but none could hold a candle to what she’d seen in tenth century Scandinavia. Nah, forget a candle, none could hold a towering torch of burning fire to them. She fanned herself. Just thinking about them got her hellishly turned on.

  “I think I’m gonna head down to the bar and see what I can stir up.” Rather than down her second shot, she slid it Ava’s way. “Likely nothing in this podunk town but it’s worth a shot.”

  Not only that, but she could use a ride. Time on her bike to think.

  “Right now?” Ava frowned at the storm brewing over the ocean. “Are you sure? The weather’s been changing on a dime around here.” Her unsettled eyes returned to Tess. “It’s weird...unnatural if I didn’t know better.”

  She was surprised to see a flash of real fear in her sister’s eyes. Typically, Ava was super level minded and calm. Sage had always sworn she was surrounded by a glow of peace. Even Ava's stunning appearance was angelic, her smooth skin enviably perfect and her thick dark brown hair naturally highlighted with shimmering pale brown. Add her crystal clear, startling blue eyes to the whole package, and she took the cake in the looks department.

  “The storm’ll stay offshore,” she assured her sister, bounding upstairs to change. She called over her shoulder, “You should meet me at the bar. Loosen up a bit.”

  Ava was tense, which said a lot considering she used to be a government diplomat but still kept a cool head. Then something happened a few years back, and she took off, vanishing God knows where to save the world one village at a time. Like Tess, Ava pretty much went off the radar, and she often wondered why. Because she knew a haunted soul when she saw one. While tempted to ask her sister what happened, she held back. Probably because she wouldn’t want the same thing asked of her.

  The past was in the past where it belonged.

  Or so she hoped as she slid into black skinny jeans, a low cut black top, and black riding boots. She tried not to think about fiery ashes. Most specifically the one tied to what made her get out of dodge years ago, desperate for an escape on the open road. An escape she never quite found no matter how far she went. She kept moving, never staying in one place too long, yet the memories always caught up with her.

  Until she arrived in Winter Harbor.

  Then all went very, very silent in her mind. Far too silent. Almost like the calm before the storm. She cursed the slight tremble of her hands as she tied back her hair in a sloppy knot, shouldered into a black leather jacket, then fished around in her pocket. “Ah, there you are.”

  For some damn reason, she had decided to quit smoking, which meant relying solely on Nicorette gum and bourbon to calm her nerves.

  “You coming?” she asked Ava as she headed back downstairs.

  “I don’t think so.” Her sister cast a concerned look at the darkening sky. “If you’re so determined to get out, why don’t you take my car rather than get caught in the rain?”

  “Cuz it’s not really getting out if I’m not on my bike.” She gave Ava the puppy dog eyes that used to work so well on her. “C’mon, join me! I’ll bet you and I can work a room as well as Shea, and I ever did.”

  “You and Shea work a room? Is that what you call it?” Ava snorted and rolled her eyes. “More like left a trail of broken hearted men.”

  “Oh, but they had plenty of fun first.” Tess winked and tossed her a winning smile. “You sure you don’t want to join me? Last chance.”

  “Sis, you just got tossed around through time and don’t even know how you got here,” Ava argued. “So why not sit tight until we know what’s going on? I'd love to spend some time catching up.”

  “Then get your ass in the car and join me, love,” she said over her shoulder, already out the door. “You know where to find me!”

  Ava was probably right about her staying here until they knew what was going on, but she was too restless. Besides, no matter where she went, she had a feeling her blasted ancestor Níðhöggr would catch up with her, so she might as well have a good time until then.

  And that meant riding...then finding a guy to ride.

  Then, just maybe, she’d be a smidge more relaxed. As it was, she hadn’t been laid in months, and that was no good. She was overdue. The drool worthy sex-on-a-stick Vikings she’d been around lately had been a poignant reminder of that. There’s no way those guys hadn't been packing large between their legs. They were too big and too dragon not to be.

  Regrettably, they were her sisters’ fated mates. Every last one of them...except Leviathan, Soren, and Rokar. Leviathan wasn’t a Sigdir dragon though, so that narrowed the playing field to the other two. Whil
e she couldn’t imagine the idea of being tied down to one guy, at the moment, she saw no point in fighting it.

  Especially if it meant getting laid by Soren or Rokar.

  She frowned, put on her helmet, and swung onto her bike. Had she already done something with Soren? She couldn’t remember for the life of her. But she could remember chatting telepathically across the centuries with Rokar. Sure, it might have been in her dreams but heck, it had been damn enjoyable and she’d woken up more aroused than usual.

  There had been no need to actually see him, not with that voice. Even telepathic, it was deep and enticing, turning dreams of concern over Kenzie to erotic dreams that kept on going. Rokar had been flirtatious, funny and sensual yet dark and mysterious.

  The perfect elixir.

  So much so that despite the jarring sensation of being whipped back in time and seeing whole worlds crossing over, she wanted to meet him in person. Finally see him. Unfortunately, as it turned out, he had been traveling back to the Fortress on foot because he feared the water. A Viking, not to mention a dragon, who feared the sea? That made no sense.

  But he did.

  She knew it like she knew she couldn’t sit still for too long.

  A chill swept through her as she pulled out onto the road and headed north. Why was Rokar afraid of the water? Had he told her telepathically or had someone else? Because she swore, she knew at one point but couldn’t recall now.

  All she knew was that she had known.

  It was almost as if she were having the same sort of experience that Kenzie did, but in her sister’s case, Goddess Hel had wiped some of her memory and hid her back here in the twenty-first century. So had something like that happened to Tess too? By some unknown foe or ally? If so, she’d like to know who the hell it was. Maybe whoever had spoken from within the flaming ash earlier? Whoever wanted her to return and be with him again?

  Because despite the crackling overtones, it had definitely been a masculine voice.

  “Stay away, Tess,” roared into her mind. The storm that had moments ago churned far out over the sea suddenly overtook the shore she cruised along.