23. Kyra
23
Kyra
“ I ’m glad to see you’ve come to your senses.”
I just witnessed a man kill and revive another man, and Jason wants to be a dick? He was just dead for fuck’s sake.
And he doesn’t seem to realize that.
What. The. Actual. Fuck?
“You need to leave, too,” I snap.
“What?” he asks incredulously. “You can’t be serious.”
“As a heart attack.”
Is that what Reaper did? Give Jason a heart attack and then shock his heart back into rhythm? So many questions and zero damn answers.
“I’m not leaving,” Jason says, wiping blood from his face. His eyes are swollen from the beating Reaper dished out, but he’s alive so there’s that.
“Like hell you’re not. Leave, or I call the police.”
“You’ll call them on me but not that asshole?”
“Damn right I will.”
I whirl around and storm inside, locking the door behind me. Jason pounds on it for a minute, but then he leaves, swearing he’ll be back to talk.
We’ve got nothing to talk about.
Now, Reaper, that’s a different story. There’s plenty to talk about there. I mean…
What. The. Actual. Fuck?
Before I spiral even more, I check on the twins to make sure the drama didn’t wake them up.
Drama. That’s putting it mildly.
Heidi and Hunter are still sound asleep in their beds, and I give myself a few minutes to watch them in all their peaceful glory. Heidi is still snug under the blankets, her lips slightly parted, and her hand resting on the pillow above her head. Hunter, on the other hand, is sprawled out with one leg hanging over the edge of the bed, both arms flung out to his sides, and his blanket kicked completely off of him. They might be twins, but they’re far from the same.
Satisfied that they’ve been undisturbed, therefore not traumatized like me, I close the bedroom door and make my way to the couch. It dawns on me that I don’t feel sick like I did earlier, and I hate to admit that whatever brand of medicine Reaper’s infused with seems to have done the trick.
That doesn’t mean that I’m not sick on a completely different level after what I witnessed. I replay the whole scene I found on the porch in my mind, over and over on a loop, trying to determine if I hallucinated or what.
Nope. Definitely didn’t hallucinate.
What. The. Actual. Fuck?
Grabbing a throw pillow, I hug it to my chest, wishing it was Reaper despite the events of the night. How does this man have me so twisted?
“He’s just as twisted as you.”
Great. Now I’m hearing voices.
“Turn around, Kyra.”
My heart pounds against my ribs as I slowly turn around only to find a shimmering woman standing near my front door.
Maybe I really was hallucinating earlier because I certainly am now.
“You’re not hallucinating,” she says and walks closer. “I’m Skuld, Reaper’s Valkyrie.”
I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out. The woman— Skuld —watches me closely with her hands extended toward me. Only when I close my mouth does she lower them to her sides.
“I’m sorry to sneak in on you,” she says, her tone gentle and sweet. “There was no other way, unfortunately.”
“No other way to what?” I ask, my voice cooperating.
This can’t be happening.
Whatever this is.
“No other way to show you that what you witnessed was real.”
“I… But… Explain,” I finally demand.
“It might be better to show you,” Skuld says, lifting her hands again and nodding at my head. “May I?”
“May you what?”
“Show you.”
“How?”
“It won’t hurt, I promise.”
“Sure, why not?” I say, the words coming out snarky.
How much stranger can the night get?
Skuld cups my head, and a warmth spreads through my veins a second before I'm transported to another place, at least in my mind. Visions of Reaper in fields of white and gold appear like a movie, and frame after frame whizzes by. I see Viking, Inferno, Acid, Demo, and Grump, along with many, many other men. Beautiful women, dressed in ethereal garb like Skuld introduce themselves to me. It reminds me of heaven but… darker somehow.
The last image is one of me and Reaper in a room with Heidi and Hunter, but I don’t recognize the room. A bright white light filters through a large window, and that’s when I notice the monitors surrounding the bed.
They look just like the monitors that were in the delivery room when I had the twins.
“Stop!” I shout, and Skuld releases me. Checking to make sure I’m home, in my own living room, I take deep breaths to steady myself. “What was that?”
“That, dear Kyra, was Valhalla,” she says. “You’re right that it’s a heaven, but not the one humans teach you about. Valhalla is Warrior Heaven, and it’s ruled by Odin.”
“Wait, no. That’s all mythology.”
“You’re wrong. It’s as real as you are, as real as I am.”
“So, what? Reaper is from that place?”
“Valhalla.” She nods. “Yes, he is.”
“And that means what exactly?”
“Before I answer that, I want you to answer a question of mine.”
“Okay.”
“Before tonight, was there anything about Reaper that scared you? That made you question whether or not he’s a good man?”
“No, of course not.”
“And was any part of what I showed you frightening or bad?”
I narrow my eyes. “That’s two questions.”
Skuld smiles. She really is beautiful.
“Thank you. And humor me.”
“Okay, um… No, it wasn’t scary.” The last image flashes in my head. “Well, except the part where it seems I was pregnant.”
“That scares you?”
“The thought of the pain does, yeah.”
This entire conversation is beyond surreal.
“There is no pain in Valhalla unless Odin inflicts it.”
“Right. Okay. But what was the point of all that?”
“I’m going to tell you the same thing I told Reaper. Keep your mind and heart open to the possibilities. That’s all I ask of you.”
“What poss?—”
Skuld’s body shimmers like ripples of light, and she’s gone.
“What. The. Actual. Fuck?”
Go to him.
“Skuld?” I glance around, searching for the source of her voice.
Go to him and let him explain.
No. I can’t go to him. I’ve got Heidi and Hun?—”
Call Sasha to come sit with the kids. I promise, she’ll be happy to do it. Then, go. To. Him!
I guess I’m going to talk to Reaper.