Chapter 7
CHAPTER
SEVEN
Kissing the crazy brawler was a definite mistake. But what kind of person laughed with such winsome joy in the face of death?
Rolf was beside himself, astonished she’d attacked him so boldly and with such skill. That she’d managed to break his nose added to his bewilderment. Daring to fight with a vampire meant instant death. Causing harm to her Better? Reluctant admiration, followed, again, by the hunger for her death.
Instead of killing her, he turned rock-hard at the sight of her smile and those glowing eyes and knew he was lost.
The enemy around them meant nothing. The automatic snap of his nose back into place barely registered. Instead, he felt the cool press of full lips opening under his. The scent of victory and feminine strength seeped from Sylvara into him, like the most potent of perfumes.
Her corded arms, those full breasts taunting him to see what she looked like in nothing but him…
He ground into her, not surprised when she gasped and pulled him closer.
What a fucking woman!
“Ahem.” Polite coughing. Then the poke of a spear into his backside.
Not wanting the kiss to end but pretty sure he needed to deal with the gathering masses of fae glaring at him and his pretty warrior, he drew back from her and sighed. “More soon, snookums.”
The light in her eyes forced him to jolt back before she fried him and everyone around her in a ten-foot radius. The fae were smart enough to give them space. He admittedly had a few brain cells lacking.
He gasped as he patted the flaming holes in his shirt. “Hey, this was Italian silk!” A lie, but he loved that tee-shirt.
She chuckled and vaulted to her feet in an athletic move that made him want her even more. “Fuck off.” She glanced at the fae and sighed. “Sorry, guys. The vampire drives me crazy.”
They looked from him to her and shook their heads. In agreement or with pity, he couldn’t tell.
From some distance away, the lead elf held his blade in front of him, not placated by her apology. “Valkyrie, you know you’re not welcome here.”
“Hey. This wasn’t my idea. It was Loki’s.”
More groaning, this time from the second group of fae that arrived, readying bows and arrows and drawing blades. And there, a few elemental mages hiding in the shadows of the trees above, if he wasn’t mistaken.
While vampires could tear through humans and most magir with ease, they could only defeat so many at a time. And not great numbers of fae, who had faster and stronger warriors used to combat.
“It’s not like I wanted to come back here,” Sylvara argued.
Rolf studied her, secretly thrilled with his new partner. “I see you have a reputation.”
“Not nearly as bad as yours,” she murmured yet didn’t seem worried about the crowd gathering around them.
Bloode and Bones, but the female was enchanting. Annoying, but so strong. And that lightning inside her begged to be set free.
“Besides, this isn’t about me. This is all your fault. Look, let me go talk to their captain.” She motioned to the tall, grim-faced elf holding a golden broadsword. “You stay here.”
He studied her. “We’re magically connected.”
“I know that. But we need to know how far apart we can get before the spell sets off. We don’t even know what it’ll do to us, if anything. Loki could have been lying.”
“True, he does that.” He waved her toward the lead elf. “Go on then. I hope you don’t fry though. It’d be a shame if you lost that gorgeous hair.”
She glared. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and you’ll go bald instead.”
“Ha. I’m hot no matter what I’m wearing. Hair, fur, skin. And you better believe I’m packing.”
“Oh gods. I need a drink.” She walked away to meet the elves who looked as if they’d bitten into a sour pixie.
A good twenty, no, thirty feet away. She stopped to talk to them.
Rolf didn’t feel anything one way or the other.
While she spoke to Captain Ardwin of the White Winter Elves—he heard mentioned—he took a few steps back. Forty feet. Maybe…
He froze, making sure to keep his expression placid.
Inside, he felt as if all his magic had been stripped away. His limbs felt like lead. His head stuffy, his vision graying. The bloode that should have been circulating to keep him in tiptop shape felt sluggish, and his heart slowed.
A glance at his arm showed a bruise forming. Then another.
What the hell?
He had to focus to see the female still chatting, arguing now, with the elves. She didn’t seem to be affected.
Wouldn’t that be a shitshow? That he’d be the only one impacted by their forced proximity? Determined not to appear weak, he took a few steps toward her and eventually settled. Forty-five feet. They’d have to be careful to stay close or he’d suffer for it. Not that Rolf minded pain.
He’d grown up feasting on anguish and torture. He was a draugr after all. Dark magic left a bite that never quite faded. But if he didn’t have to feel pain, why suffer? Unlike most of his brethren, he preferred comfort over a mess and laughter over snarls and tears.
Tired of waiting for Sylvara to include him, he joined her and her light elf companions.
Personally, Rolf preferred the dark elves to the light.
Not only did they look much cooler, with pitch-black skin and white hair versus the light elves with dark hair and sun-kissed skin, but they had a sense of humor and liked playing with their prey before killing them.
The light elves were pedantic, self-righteous pricks who believed in boring law and order.
“…by official decree, we’re to escort you to the magistrate for showing up without a permit.”
“Seriously, Ardwin?”
“Captain Ardwin.” He scowled.
Sylvara talked over him. “That’s stupid.
We didn’t know we’d be coming here. Hecate opened a portal.
If your magistrate has a problem with the goddess of death, take it up with her.
” Sylvara held up a chain from around her neck.
On it, a key glowed and flashed red before fading back to immortal gold.
Ardwin gasped. “O-of course. Well, I’ll still have to report it.”
“Whatever.” Sylvara sounded annoyed. As she usually did.
Rolf didn’t know why he found her pique so sexy.
When she turned to glare at him, he winked.
She growled under her breath, and he chuckled. When he caught one of the elves giving her a thorough onceover, however, his amusement faded.
He flashed a fang in warning. Mine. “Stare at her at your peril, boy.” Then he added a red, glowing glare for good measure, one everyone would see, highlighted against the night.
The elf paled and took a step back.
“What now?” Sylvara looked puzzled.
“Enough talk.” Rolf was tired of dealing with so many lesser beings. “We have a mission. I know Hecate spoke with your masters. We’re on a matter of great urgency.” He chanted a familiar spell. The sky lit up in magical fireworks, showing a story of much death and bloodletting.
“What is this?” Ardwin asked, shocked.
“A preview of your future that we’re here to stop. Now where is the…?” He turned to Sylvara.
She was looking at the lights in the sky until he poked her. “Hey. What?”
“The place we’re looking for?”
“Oh, right. The Forbidden Forest.”
He rolled his eyes. “Why does every elf demesne have a forbidden forest? Why not a clandestine cliff or a prohibited palace? A mysterious mansion? Oh, how about a taboo trail?”
Now the elves were glaring at him.
Sylvara pinched the bridge of her nose. “Which way, Ardwin?”
He pointed west. “Four, maybe five kilometers. When the insects, birds, and animals grow silent, you’ll know you’re there.”
“Great.”
“Try not to die.”
“Your overwhelming concern is noted,” she said drily.
Ardwin snorted. “Not that I care, but to die in the Forbidden Forest… You need a permit for that.” He smirked at Rolf before calling the others and disappearing into the forest once more.
His valkyrie turned to him. “Before we head out, a few things.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and stared into her diamond-bright eyes. Like glorious gems he wanted to … “Oh hell.”
“What?”
“My eyes are going bad!”
She blinked. “What?”
“Hold on.” He withdrew the slay lord heart and eyes from his pocket dimension, aware Sylvara stared with wide…
eyes. Ha. Still got it. He whistled, and the magic he kept on hand for intra-realm travel appeared.
Thanks to a favor from Mormo and the reaper, Rolf possessed one of Khent’s dead ravens for a time that had a small passage back to the mansion on Mercer Island.
To the dead raven, he telepathed, Hey, man, I need you to take these to Val, Khent’s babe. Just tell her it’s from me, okay?
He didn’t get words, just impressions of meaning. The bird seemed convey, Fine, vampire. But you’re whittling down your favors.
I know. Just do it, okay?
The dead raven expanded significantly, engulfed the bloodied organs, then disappeared back into the pocket dimension.
“What the fuck was that? Why do you keep body parts in some magic sack that appears out of nowhere?”
“I recently acquired some slay lord organs. I forgot to send them to my buddy necromancers.” That’s right. I know death experts. So he was bragging. Maybe she’d think him cooler for having cool friends.
“You draugrs are majorly creepy.”
“You do like me.” He took a step in her direction.
She put a hand on his chest to stop him. He wondered if she realized she was the perfect height for him. He licked his lips, focused on the soft petals of her mouth.
“And that’s another thing.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. If we fuck, it’s because I say so. I know all about you vampires. You try anything and I’ll castrate you and set your balls on fire.”
“Kinky.”
Her flat stare warned him to watch his next words.
“Er, I mean, of course, dear warrior lady. I have never, in my 965 years, ever forced anyone into giving me sexual favors. I’m usually turning everyone down.” He winked at her. “But not you, my precious.”
Sylvara groaned. “Sure thing, Gollum.”
“You know The Lord of the Rings? The Hobbit?”
“Doesn’t everyone familiar with the Norse?”
“Well, yes. But you’re a girl.”
“And?”
“I thought Middle Earth was a nerd thing.”
She surprised him with a smile. “So what if it is?”
“You’re a nerd?”
“By valkyrie standards.” She didn’t seem bothered by the fact. “I’m all about beheading, drinking, fucking, and action movies. Scifi/fantasy for the win. Gratuitous sex and violence are a must.”
Rolf gaped.
“Well? Come on, Dracula. Let’s go get your Bloode Stones so you can use the vampire nation to take over the world. You know you want to.”
“I’m so serious. Marry me. We’ll rule the world together.”
She ignored him and strode west.
“I’ll even let you be on top!” He hurried after her, wishing she’d take him seriously just once.
Yet as they walked, he continued to wonder if she’d felt anything at all when they’d been apart. Because if she hadn’t, and she learned what he’d experienced, he was in for a world of hurt.
One the sexy warrior would make sure he didn’t survive.