Reaper (Valhalla Rising MC #3)

27. Kyra

27

Kyra

“ W elcome to Valhalla.”

The women Skuld showed me in my vision all stand in a line before me. I turn in circles, searching for Reaper, but he’s nowhere to be found.

“He’ll be along soon,” Skuld assures me. “The Warriors have to check in with Odin first and debrief him.” She steps forward and loops her arm through mine. “Come, there is much to show and tell you.”

“Where are my kids?” I demand, digging in my feet. “I want to see Heidi and Hunter.”

You will soon.

“Odin?” I spin around again. I heard his voice, but like Reaper, he’s nowhere in sight.

“You’ll get used to that,” Skuld says. “Promise. And Odin’s right. You’ll see Heidi and Hunter soon.”

My brain scrambles to keep up. I know I’m in Valhalla because they welcomed me, and I recognize the place from the vision. What I don’t know is how I got here. That whole part is fuzzy.

One of the women steps beside me, opposite Skuld. “I’m Makayla, Viking’s wife. I can clear up that fuzziness if you’ll allow me.”

“Please.”

Just as Skuld did, Makayla cups my head, and my mind opens up to allow the memory to appear. It takes less than a second, and I rear away from Makayla. She smiles sadly.

“Sonny shot me in the head,” I say.

“You knew he would,” Skuld tells me. “Please, don’t blame Reaper for what happened.”

“What? Of course, I don’t blame him. His hands were tied. No matter what he said to Sonny, I was going to die. I knew that. I just… forgot in the transition.”

“That’s normal. No one entering Valhalla is aware of their death until we show them,” a gorgeous blonde explains. “I’m Emmy, Inferno’s better half.”

“You’re the only thing good about that Warrior,” someone teases. “I’m Eir, Inferno’s Valkyrie.”

“It’s going to take me a while to remember all your names.”

“It won’t take as long as you think,” Skuld says. “Things are different here in Valhalla.”

“Obviously.”

“Now, can we show you around while you wait for Reaper?”

“You promise I’m going to see Heidi and Hunter?”

“I promise.”

“Then, yes, please show me around.”

I’m ushered through Valhalla, introduced to so many Warriors and Valkyries, and fed boar. It’s hours before Skuld separates me from the others and escorts me to see Reaper.

“What is this place?” It looks nothing like the Fighting Arena, Academy Hall, the Mess Hall. It’s grander than all of them.

“This is Odin’s palace,” she says, leading me inside. “Reaper is in his office, waiting for you.”

“Oh.”

“It’s not as scary as it looks.”

“Odin doesn’t scare me. He was nice when I met him.”

“That’s something you don’t hear often,” Skuld mutters. “Odin isn’t often nice .”

“Really?”

“He’s a god. He can’t afford to be nice all the time.”

“That’s a shame. Catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”

I heard that.

“Shit. I forgot he can hear our thoughts.”

“Like I said, you’ll get used to it,” Skuld says with a laugh. We stop in front of a large door. “This is where I leave you.”

“What? No. I want you to come with me.”

“I cannot. This meeting is for you and Reaper.”

“But how will I know where to go?”

“Follow the path, and it will lead you where you must go.”

She shimmers away before I can ask her what the hell that means. I take a deep breath and shove open the door. There are twinkling lights illuminating a stone path.

Follow the path, and it will lead you where you must go.

“Okay, I can do this.”

As I’m walking, the lights suddenly dim, and another door appears. It opens on its own, and I freeze.

Dear God, Reaper is a sight for sore eyes. I take off running, jumping into his arms. He catches me easily, swinging me around.

“Okay, you two,” Odin says after clearing his throat. “We need to talk before you lose yourselves in each other.”

“I’m sorry, Kyra,” Reaper says, ignoring Odin. “I would’ve given anything to save your life.”

“I know. I do. Nothing would have changed the outcome.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier,” he quips. “My actions took you away from your children. I know what that feels like and wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

“Enough!” Odin barks, his voice echoing. “Reaper, you did nothing wrong. Sonny Harris wasn’t going to let Kyra walk out of there on her own two feet. He felt you took his father from him, so he had to take her from you.” He shifts his eyes to me. “And Kyra, you did what most people wouldn’t have had the courage to do.”

“What’s that?” I ask.

“You gave Reaper permission to let you go. You gave your life knowing death was a foregone conclusion.”

“None of it had to happen,” Reaper seethes, his happiness at seeing me fleeing him.

“Don’t take that tone with me,” Odin snarls. “It all had to happen. In order to get the two of you right where you stand, everything happened exactly as it should.”

“She’s dead!” Reaper cries. “And her kids are?—”

“Just fine,” Odin barks, swinging his arm to his side. The bank of screens on the wall come to life. “See.”

I gasp when images of Heidi and Hunter at my funeral appear. Reaper growls low in his throat, and I grab his hand. Linking my fingers with his, I watch my children’s lives flash by in a series of short videos and pictures.

“They lived?” I breathe.

“Of course, they lived,” Odin says. “They missed you like crazy. And they were sad, but life has a way of giving you exactly what you need when you need it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Reaper asks.

Odin flicks his wrist, freezing on a picture of Heidi and Hunter standing with a woman in her forties or fifties. My kids are older, and they look happy.

My babies.

“Do you recognize her, Reaper?” Odin asks.

Reaper squints as if that’ll help him figure out who the twins are with. Odin and I watch as he struggles to put the puzzle pieces together, and the moment recognition hits, his eyes light up.

“Erica.”

“Wait a second,” I say, glancing up at him. “Erica as in your daughter?”

“I think so,” Reaper whispers.

“It is Erica,” Odin confirms. “She and her husband, Seth, were foster parents. Heidi and Hunter were placed with them because Jason was deemed an unfit parent. Within a few months, he relinquished his parental rights, and the twins were adopted by Erica and Seth.”

“But, how?” Reaper asks.

“Like I said, life has a way of giving you exactly what you need when you need it. And it doesn’t hurt to have a god pulling a few strings when it’s necessary.”

Reaper whips his head toward Odin. “You made it happen?”

“I gave a few gentle nudges.”

“One thing I don’t get,” I begin. “You’ve shown us what appears to be full lives for Heidi and Hunter. But I’ve only been dead for less than a day. How is that possible?”

“Time is different up here. Minutes and hours here are years and decades there. Heidi and Hunter are now eighty-three. Hunter married and fathered three boys. Those three boys gave him seven grandchildren. Heidi married as well, and she had two sets of twins. Those two boys and two girls gave her and her husband nine grandkids. Between the two of them, your twins have seventeen great-grandbabies.”

Tears stream down my cheeks, and Reaper wipes them away with his thumb.

“Are those happy tears?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“Now, we have some decisions to make,” Odin states.

“What decisions?” Reaper asks, stiffening as if waiting for Odin to drop a bomb.

“First, when it’s their time, do you want Heidi and Hunter here in Valhalla with you?”

“Yes.”

Reaper and I answer simultaneously and without hesitation.

“Good. Second, I have the ability to turn back the clock and have them arrive as the six-year-olds you left behind in the human world. Is that something you want, or would you prefer they come as they are?”

Reaper and I exchange a look. “It’s up to you,” he tells me.

“Is it selfish of me to want them as six-year-olds?”

“Absolutely not. You deserve to have a long afterlife with them.”

“Will they age when they get here?” I ask Odin.

“And that’s the third thing. They can, or I can slow the aging process so that they never get older than you.”

“What do you think?” I ask Reaper.

“I want to watch them grow. I want to see them live and love.”

“But I don’t want to watch them die.”

“Nothing dies here unless sent to the Fire Pits,” Odin explains. “So, it’s either they become elderly, or they stop aging when they reach your current age.”

“Let them grow old,” I finally say. “I want to see them at every stage of life.”

“Afterlife,” Odin corrects.

“Afterlife, yes.”

“Okay. That concludes our meeting. Reaper, welcome home,” Odin says, shaking his hand. “And Kyra, welcome to Valhalla.”

Reaper leads me out of the office, then out of the palace. Once we’re outside, he turns me in his arms.

“Now what?” I ask.

“I love you,” he says rather than answering.

“I love you, too.”

Reaper grins. “Now, we go christen our new quarters.”