Chapter 11 Maze
MAZE
Talon and I stepped through the portal into my office at Valen Protection Agency. His presence filled the space, grounding me. I watched him for a few moments, thinking how being around him for a little over twenty-four hours had only made me feel more for him.
Then, a thread of guilt twisted inside me. “I should have come to you sooner.”
Talon wrapped me in his arms. “You were doing what you thought was right. Now, we’ll all work to find and stop Balder.”
I tipped my head back to meet his gaze. “What if we’re too late?”
It wasn’t like me to feel so much guilt and uncertainty. My growing link with Talon was pushing his emotions into me, breaking my own from their cage in my mind. I hated the emotions.
Talon cupped my cheek and pushed his thumb across my bottom lip. “We’re not.” Then he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. “Are you ready to check in with Winter and Quil?”
Taking a deep breath, I nodded and stepped out of his embrace. “Let’s do this.”
We made our way down the hall to Winter’s domain. She had the bigger office space at the end of the hallway to house all her tech toys and whatever magically infused invention she was working on.
The double glass doors slid open with a hiss into the chaos that was my sister’s office.
Winter sat cross-legged in her chair with her dark blond hair piled in a messy knot on top of her head.
The wall of screens in front of her bloomed with shifting maps, cascading code, live surveillance feeds, and other stuff that only made sense to her.
Quil was beside her, his lean frame bent toward her screen, one hand lazily twirling a pen while his leopard energy coiled tight around him.
His eyes flicked up the second we entered, his smile quick and easy, but his shoulders didn’t lose their tension.
The warrior in him was always on alert for trouble.
Winter swiveled toward me with a soft smile. “Hey. You’re back.”
Her voice was light, but her eyes lingered on my face too long, the way they always did when she saw more than she should. Winter had the gift of visions, and her intuition was stronger than the rest of us. While she wasn’t a true telepath, sometimes I swore she’d read our minds.
“We are,” I said. “What’s the status?”
Winter’s fingers danced across her keyboard, bringing up a cascade of notes.
Jessica’s ledger translated into broken lines of runes and coordinates.
“First, Sybil, Kyley, and Rina are back. They’re upstairs with Nicky and Candra.
” She frowned as sadness filtered over her features. “They’re…processing.”
A breath caught in my chest. I wanted to run upstairs, to fold myself into them, to feel their arms and their warmth and remember that we were still whole. But I couldn’t—not yet.
I clenched my jaw. “I’ll go up to see them in a few. Dustin Cultz is dead.” I filled them in on what Anna told us.
Winter frowned. “That’s unfortunate. I found something.” She clicked a few keys, and a photo appeared on the center monitor. “This is the Severing Stone.”
Talon’s energy shifted beside me, his wolf bristling. “What the hell is that?”
Winter shook her head. “Jessica had little. Just theories. She thought Balder was after it. She wrote it was tied to blood, binding, and…separation.”
Separation. My stomach churned. “Why would he want something like that?”
“Control,” Quil said from his seat. “If you can sever bonds, you can cut apart shifter-Valkyrie pairs. Break the foundation. Leave everyone vulnerable.”
Talon crossed his arms, muscles taut beneath his shirt. “Or use it to build something synthetic. An imitation bond without love or choice.”
I drew in a calming breath. “Whatever he wants, we can’t let him get it. Keep decoding. We need to get that stone before he does.”
Winter gave a tight nod. “Will do.”
The urge to see my sisters clawed harder at me now. I turned toward Talon. “I need to go upstairs.”
“I’m coming with you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “It will be emotional.”
His amber gaze didn’t waver, but it softened. “I’m good at dealing with emotions. The question is—are you?”
Damn him.
I didn’t comment as I turned and led the way to the elevator.
The doors to the penthouse slid open to warmth and chaos.
The private top floor where my sisters and I lived was nothing like the sharp edges of the offices below.
Here it smelled of rosemary and wine, with firelight spilling from the hearth.
Voices echoed down the short hall that connected the foyer to the living area, low and familiar.
We entered the shared living space, and the sight nearly broke me.
Four of my sisters were curled on the massive sectional couch, tangled together in a mess of blankets, half-empty wine bottles, and too many plates of food.
Sybil was perched on the armrest with another dish balanced on her lap, her white, blonde hair falling forward as she scolded Rina for drinking straight from the bottle.
Kyley was making sarcastic commentary, while Candra and Nicky looked like they’d been halfway through an argument that dissolved into tears.
Home. Broken, grieving, but home.
I froze in the doorway. Talon stopped beside me, staying back as though the threshold marked a line he couldn’t cross.
At first, I thought he was keeping his distance out of caution, but a bunch of grieving Valkyries were no small thing. But then I realized it was something else. Respect. Space. A wolf waiting to be invited in.
My chest ached. Without thinking, I reached back and caught his hand, tugging him forward. He followed, gaze locked on mine, before I pulled him fully into our world.
I let him go only when I wedged myself between Nicky and Candra on the couch. My sisters closed around me instantly, arms wrapping, voices overlapping, warmth swallowing me whole. For the first time since Jessica’s death, I let myself sink into them.
Talon drifted toward the kitchen, silent as a shadow.
He fixed himself a plate from the mountain of food Sybil had made.
From the smell, I’d guess there was roast chicken, bread, cheeses, and something that smelled faintly of cinnamon.
Talon settled at the counter where he could watch without intruding while he ate.
“Jess always hated when I cooked this much,” Sybil muttered, handing me a plate. “Said I made enough to feed Asgard.” Her hands trembled as she laughed, then broke into tears.
“She’d eat it anyway,” Kyley said with a crooked smile. “Remember? She’d always sneak extra rolls.”
“She hated wasting food,” Rina whispered, voice muffled against me. “Said it was bad luck.”
I swallowed hard. Jessica’s voice echoed in memory, teasing me about my over-seriousness, while stealing rolls from Sybil’s plate with a grin. My hand tightened around the plate in my lap.
“She was fearless,” Candra said suddenly, eyes glassy. “Always the first to leap. Even when it was reckless. Especially when it was reckless.”
A heavy silence fell then.
“She should still be here,” Rina whispered.
I wrapped my arms tighter around her, forcing my voice steady. “Jessica’s with us. Always.”
The words sounded hollow even as I spoke them. But my sisters leaned into me, anyway.
Talon’s gaze caught mine from the kitchen. There were no judgments there. Only understanding. I itched to lean into him, but I stayed rooted between my sisters.
We stayed like that for what felt like hours, grief pouring out in stories and laughter that broke too quickly into tears.
“Remember when Jess dyed her hair red?” Kyley finally said, wiping her eyes.
Sybil snorted. “Looked like fire had attacked her head.”
“She made me do it,” Rina added miserably. “Said blond was boring.”
“She carried it like a crown,” Candra said, her voice softening.
I closed my eyes. Gods, I could still see it—the defiance in her smile, the fire in her step. Jessica had always burned brighter than the rest of us. And like all flames, she had gone too quickly.
The door opened behind us, and Winter stepped through with Quil at her side.
He froze instantly at the six of us with grief raw in the air. Every gaze locked on him. His usual easy grin faltered.
For once, he looked utterly lost. I didn’t blame him because it wasn’t often that you saw emotions pour out of Valkyries.
His eyes flicked to Talon at the kitchen counter, then back to us. He cleared his throat, shifting on his feet. “So. Uh. You know what would help right now?”
We stared, waiting.
His smile morphed into a cat-like grin. “The Steele Claw. Music. Drinks. Somewhere that isn’t soaked in sorrow. Trust me.”
Kyley choked on her wine. Rina blinked at him. Candra muttered something about men and their solutions. But a spark flickered in all my sisters’ eyes. They needed a release. A distraction. Anything.
I met Talon’s gaze across the room. He inclined his head once, solid and sure.
I turned back to Quil. “Fine. We’ll go.”
The room shifted, energy lifting as if we’d finally taken a breath. My sisters stirred, laughing too loudly, and fussing over clothes and shoes as they got ready.
For tonight, we’ll take the night off and celebrate our fallen sister’s life. If anything, my sister would drink themselves stupid. Either way, it was good for them to enjoy downtime, even if grief lives in our hearts.