Chapter 43
Elodie
We wandered into the pack mansion together, finding the place quiet. It felt stuffy without my pack mates in it, despite its grandiose size and sweeping ceilings. Frankly, I didn’t blame Olivia for not wanting to live in it.
But Valens didn’t waste time loitering in the obnoxious lobby. He led me right down the spiral staircase toward the basement.
The same basement where I’d been attacked by two assassins and almost died. Again.
But the marble floors had been cleaned to within an inch of their lives, not a speck of blood or gore remained when we arrived, and I just did my best not to focus on the spot where I’d fallen. No use crying over spilled milk, after all. Or blood, if you were a maiden.
Valens strode across the space without hesitation, as if he owned the place. “Behind the panic room, there’s a hidden door.” He pointed out a random spot on the wall paneling and placed his hand flat over it.
A hidden laser scanned his palm, and the whole damn wall slid open. A rush of cool, dry air blasted my face. I could smell metal and gun oil, and something… spicy.
We walked down together, efficient modern lighting dotting the white hallway at equal intervals, as if we’d walked into the shifter version of a secret spy lair.
Okay, so I’d watched too many spy movies back when I was still bored, waiting for my life to start at the enclave. Sue me.
I wasn’t bored now, that was for damn sure.
The hallway opened up into a large, well-lit room, completely freaking surrounded on every wall with weapons.
“Does Lucien know this is down here?” I asked, spinning slowly to take in the devastating cache of weaponry. Any weapon you could name, they pretty much had it. I could name a lot of machinery, and even I didn’t know the names of everything Petró had squirreled away down here.
I crossed to the nearest case, full of guns of all shapes and sizes. “Is that an RPG?” I asked, and Valens appeared at my shoulder.
“Yep. That’s the big boy. You’ve got good taste.”
I snorted, deciding to roll with it. “Maybe I’ve got a thing for heavy artillery.” I shot him a wink, and I swear his eyes darkened at least two shades.
His hands came around my waist, and he lowered his lips to my ear. “I’d be happy to test that theory with you any time.”
Shivers raced down my spine, and I bit my bottom lip.
It was frivolous, but flirting felt good.
Lighter, after all that had happened today.
It was a strange sort of dance between us; the push and pull, the serious, the duty, the obligation…
and the playfulness. The closeness, the way he pulled me in and held me as if I mattered to him because I was me, not because I was useful.
But that wasn’t why we’d come down here.
“Did you find anything magical?”
“Not yet. There’s a second room. I wanted to give you a minute to check out the regular stuff before rushing you out. Weapons training is big for the maidens, right?”
“Very big. Most of us have at least three weapons we’re skilled at, but a lot of the older maidens have a dozen or more.”
“You’ve all got the butterfly sword, though, right?” He glanced at the one hanging over my shoulder.
“Yes, that’s our primary weapon. I can also use a bo staff—mine is in my cottage—and I’m certified with long-range guns.
Hand to hand is also a daily practice, and we do formation training in both human and wolf forms. I was working on certifying on my fourth weapon when we got called into service for Pack Blackwater. ”
“Only four? Whatever shall you do?”
I chuckled. It was nice to be with someone who wasn’t intimidated by who I was or what I did. Valens had been a lot of things since I’d met him, but never intimidated. He met my energy and matched it better than anyone I’d ever known.
Almost like it’s fate.
“Come on, show me the rest. Let’s see if you’ve picked up any cool new tricks.”
He flashed me a heart-stopping grin, grabbed my hand, and practically dragged me across the armory to a small door in the back.
Interestingly, it was the source of the spicy scent I’d picked up initially, the intertwined power of pepper and cinnamon making me want to sneeze as he pushed through the door. Once we were inside, though, the feeling vanished. And Valens froze.
“Holy Goddess,” he breathed, staring around with shock written on every inch of him.
“What do you see?” I asked, too busy watching him to even take in the magical weapons hanging on every surface in this smaller room.
“Everything. I see… everything.”
He turned to the closest weapons rack, where an ancient-looking crossbow with a chewed-up wooden handle hung. Not too impressive to me after the modern machinery in the last room.
But he hovered his hand over it with awe.
His head tilted to the side as he scrutinized it. “This crossbow is enchanted to fire with a hundred percent accuracy,” he read slowly, as if unsure at first. “But only when wielded against true evil.”
“That’s handy information to have,” I murmured, not wanting to interrupt his newfound discovery.
He sidestepped to the next case, where a collection of fletched arrows hung in a quiver.
“There’s no writing anywhere that’s not metal.
” He carefully drew an arrow, squinting at the sharp metal tip.
“This arrow will explode on impact, then regenerate inside this quiver so long as it’s bonded with the carrier. ”
“How can a weapon bond with its owner?”
“I have no idea. It doesn’t say.”
We made a slow circuit around the room, with Valens stopping here and there, while passing some things over completely. All in all, it was an interesting talent.
A useful talent, given what was coming. And he’d only just started to explore it. What could he do with it in the long run? An idea struck me.
“You have a forge, right? Where you make things?”
He grinned at me. “On occasion, when I need to think. It was my dad’s hobby, and I guess I inherited his pyro genes.”
“There are worse things to pick up. But do you think you might be able to make enchanted weapons? You’ve obviously got a connection with metal. Someone had to make those guardian swords in the past, right?”
He dug his hands down into his pockets, studying me as he thought it over. “Yes, someone did. And I felt… I felt a connection with the metal when I touched it. Like it called to something deeper inside me.”
I nodded, understanding in a way, even though I’d never felt that with an object. I felt it with him, though I wasn’t ready to admit it outside the privacy of my own thoughts.
Funny how I could be reckless with my life, time and time again, but never with my heart.
“Power moves in interesting ways. I was just curious. Something to try out in the future.”
He nodded, closing the distance between us to wrap me in a hug. “You’re surprisingly calm about all this. Does it freak you out?”
“Excellent question. Is it fair to say that I’m not sure how I feel yet?
Clinically, I can see it as a powerful tool for what’s coming.
Emotionally, you scared the life out of me when you got branded.
” I let my fingertips trail lightly over the spot on his chest where his new shirt covered the brand.
He covered it with his own, pressing me in close.
His heartbeat was steady under my palm, comforting. Solid.
Valens could be my rock, if I’d let him. I knew that now, knew he was a man who stood strong no matter what life threw his way, no matter what avalanche tried to bury him.
But that was my role. I didn’t know how to accept it from a man, because I’d never known a man like him. Would that have been different if my father had lived? If I hadn’t been taken in by a cold Alpha who saw me as a chess piece?
It was one more thing I would never know and couldn’t go back and change.
I just had to go forward.