Chapter 31
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
The spark of magic tying Rolf to Valentine lit up as he sank into her mind. A large area, where perhaps a chaotic entity had resided, remained a black void. And that was very, very bad.
“Val?” A natural darkness born of the mind and the many thoughts and feelings drifting inside Val surrounded him. “It’s me. Your fantasy vampire. Rolf.”
It took a little doing, but he managed to coax her out of the shell protecting her from whatever had taken Ilu. Or coaxed Ilu to leave of her own volition. He didn’t know which instance would be worse.
“Rolf?” Val blinked at him, her eyes huge, as she stepped into the darkness with him, a nimbus of power around her slighter form.
She waved a hand, and they stood together in Khent’s lab while Khent watched over them. They were present yet not physically present.
“He’s really worried.” Rolf shook his head. “It’s disturbing. I don’t like it.”
Val gave a wan smile. “He should be worried. Ilu’s gone.”
“How?”
“I’m not sure.” She recounted the events on the mountainside that he’d heard about from Syl and added, “That blond woman was something else. Not the chaos or what Hecate calls the Darkness that Comes. But she’s powerful, Rolf.
I don’t know how else to describe her. Not a mortal or a god. Not fae or a demon. Something else.”
“Huh.” Why did the notion of a blond woman interest him? He’d swear he’d seen her before, and not on one of those tapestries in the halls of the Norns. Not Verthandi. The female was someone else. Somewhere else… “Why does she matter?”
“She spoke to Ilu, and Ilu doesn’t speak to anyone but me. Even with Khent, Ilu communicates through me.” Val frowned, the petite woman speculative. So scholarly. “Why are you smiling at me?”
“You’re cute for a nerd.”
She chuckled. “Stop. We’re in trouble.”
He shrugged. “We’re always in trouble. What’s new about this?”
“Well, this trouble might end the world.”
“Might, could, should.”
“Should?”
“Whatever.”
She sighed. “Rolf, please.”
“Sorry. You were saying?”
“Ilu is gone. I’m not constraining her.” Val frowned.
“But I… Yes. She’s left a small piece of herself behind.
An anchor, maybe. I don’t know. But the thing that called to her wasn’t the blond woman.
Yes, she spoke to Ilu. But when the imp bit me, something else came out and drew Ilu away.
I think it’s the Darkness that Comes. It came, and it’s here. ”
“Finally.” Rolf couldn’t wait. “I mean, it’s good that we can now assess the threat. What can you tell me about it?”
“I don’t know. It took Ilu away. I don’t know what that means. And I’m worried because I can’t wake up.”
Rofl frowned. “That’s not good. Khent’s waiting.”
“Yes, I know. I can’t find my way out of here.
I think maybe Ilu took a part of me when she left.
Or not. I can’t tell.” She started crying.
To Rolf’s bemusement, he found her sadness distasteful.
“I miss Khent. I’m scared. I don’t mind dying, but if I die now, I don’t think Hecate can help me cross anywhere. ”
“Don’t die yet. We’re not ready for that. Khent hasn’t even gotten to battle the chaos in his mighty dragon form. Would you really be so selfish as to steal that from the vampire you mated?”
She gasped. “What?”
“And I thought you loved him.”
She gaped. “Why… You… I’m not… Rolf! I can’t control this! I’m scared, damn it!”
“Well, be scared, be brave, and hang on, for fuck’s sake. Khent needs you. When we go up against this thing, we’re going to need you to control Ilu. So get your shit together.”
She watched him for a second then let out a deep breath. “Not a bad pep talk.”
“Thanks.” He beamed. “If you weren’t mated, I might have given you some Rolf happy time to motivate you. But I can’t now. I don’t think Khent would like it.”
She snorted. “No. He wouldn’t.”
“And if I gave you any draugr loving, Sylvara, my very own valkyrie, would carve you into little pieces. She’s really into me.” He buffed his fingernails on his shirt. “Like, totally into me.”
Val grinned. “Found yourself a mate, eh?”
“I think so. I do know she can’t keep her hands off me. It’s a little embarrassing.”
Val laughed. “Now I have to wake and get out of here, if only to tell her what you just said.”
“Er, well, no hurry.”
She laughed harder then patted him on the cheek. “Thanks for that.”
“Hold on. Here.” He traced a rune of magic onto her forehead. “A little extra something to help keep you safe.”
“Thanks. Tell Khent I love him and I’ll be out soon. I think.”
“There you go. You’ll be out playing with dead things in no time.”
She shot him the finger and vanished.
He slowly rose out of her mind, back into his own consciousness, and saw a dragon in Khent’s eyes staring at him. Rolf cracked his neck, feeling stiff and exhausted. “Oh man. I’m tired.”
“Well?” Smoke came from Khent’s nose.
“That is so fucking cool.” Rolf stared. “Oh, right. She’s alive and well but a little spooked.
I put an extra rune of protection over her, but I don’t think she’ll need it.
The Darkness took Ilu with it, but Val thinks Ilu left a piece of herself behind.
The reason Val can’t wake up is that Ilu took a piece of Val with it—er, her—when Ilu left to go with the Darkness. ”
Khent nodded, and Rolf could see relief clearing his worried gaze. “Very well.”
“In my opinion, give it time. She’ll wake up.
Then you’re going to need to help her contain Ilu, because the evil chaos is bonding with our chaos, and that’s not a good thing.
” He paused. “I wouldn’t mention any of that to Hecate or Mormo by the way.
Hecate’s suspicious but isn’t sure what’s going on with Val. ”
“My thanks.”
“Sure. I’m going to leave Razer here to watch over Val. If anything freaky happens, he can contain it.”
“Because he’s part of Fenrir, I imagine.”
“I have no idea what you mean. He’s my wolf.”
“Right,” Khent said drily. “If you need me, I’ll be here. I’ve got some more things to tinker with in my lab while my mate decides to wake or sleep.”
“She’s coming back, bro. Trust me.” He’d added the “bro” just to needle Khent and get the guy out of his own head. Seeing Khent’s glare made him feel better.
Rolf grinned. “Later, my man.”
“So annoying,” he heard as he left.
He paused by Razer. I need you to guard and protect. Rolf projected his conversation and related concerns to the wolf.
Razer shook his head. You just want me here so you can get your freak on in private.
Well, that too. Rolf winked and watched Razer settle down to guard. The wolf pup could say what he wanted, but he loved being tasked with a mission.
Rolf returned to Syl and had just enough energy to place her in his bed and fall asleep next to her, sadly knowing that sex would have to wait.
Later, when Morpheus tried to interfere, he shifted his dream self into a massive wolf and bit the dream god right on the ass. Then he snuggled with his valkyrie and let himself revel in the darkness.