Dark Deceit

Books by Lauren
Dawes

The Half Blood Series

Half Blood

Half Truths

Half Life

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The
Dark Series

Dark Deceit

––––––––

eBook edition

© 2013

Copyright © 2013 by Lauren Dawes

First Edition, 2013

Published by Draft2Digital

The right of Lauren Dawes to be identified as the author of this
work has been asserted by her under the
Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights)
Act 2000

ISBN-13: 978-1482721430

ISBN-10: 1482721430

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief
quotations in a review.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any
resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Cover image © Andrei Vishnyakov

Dreamstime.com

Cover design by Lauren Dawes.

Dedicated to Phil: for loving me even when I’m driving you crazy
with my ‘uniquity’.

Acknowledgments

Argh, so many
people to thank with this book! I had the idea for Bryn and Korvain in my head
while I was writing ‘Half Life’. I wasn’t sure whether I could tell their
story. After one failed attempt, I was ready to throw in the towel, but those
two were pretty insistent.

The first person I
should thank is my brother, Gareth. He stepped up as editor with this book, and
it was nice to have someone I could tell to shove it when I didn’t like one of
his suggestions. Seriously though, he helped me out of a lot of writing blocks.
His belief and encouragement got me there in the end.

Gareth is also
responsible for all the promo posters I used prior to
Dark Deceit
’s
release. I think he did a great job with them. It was also his artistic hand
that designed my bookmarks and also the book trailer that ended up revealing
the title of the book a few months before its release.

Next, I’d like to
thank my beta readers: Brandi Kennedy, Amanda Ford, Kylie Tyler and Sarah Fox.
As always, your comments and suggestions, praise and queries helped me to make
this book the best it could have been.

I’d also like to
thank everyone who decides to buy my book and supports me on the different
platforms I use such as Facebook, Twitter and via my blog and website. Indie
authors are nothing without the fans. So thank you.

I put many, many
hours into research with
Dark Deceit.
These are the main sources I
consulted:

godchecker.com

dolls-n-daggers.com

thenorsegods.com

knifethrowing.info

tripadvisor.com

googlemaps.com

Blurb:

The time of the Aesir gods is over. Now
they live amongst the humans in their bustling modern cities. Their brutal
dominion over the gods and humans may have ended, but their actions have not
been forgotten.

Korvain
is feared like no other. His ruthlessness and cold heart are legendary, but when
he is given the task of killing one of the most fabled goddesses of all time,
he is left with an undeniable desire to make her his own. Failure in his task
means only one thing: death. Will he follow his orders, or will he follow his
heart? 

Bryn’s whole world crumbled when she left Odin’s service to protect the
other Valkyries. Now living with the humans, she is the only thing standing
between them and total destruction. But her beliefs are about to be shaken to
the core when she meets Korvain—a volatile, completely irresistible Mare who
threatens to take away more than just her innocence.

A
esir (n) –
The sky gods. It is their
belief they are superior to all other races in the Nine Worlds.

agarwaen
(adj) –
after a Shadow Walker has completed their training and survived the
Final Test, this is the title they are awarded; literally translated as
blood-stained
.

Asgard (n) –
The former home of the Aesir.

fade (v)
–
to dematerialize to
another location with a thought.

Fall, the (n) –
The time when the Norse
gods were no longer worshiped and therefore lost their power. The Fall was the
tipping point that destroyed the Nine Worlds, breaking down the highly organized
and coveted hierarchy built by the Aesir. Factions split and different species
within those Nine Worlds were strewn across the human world. Some prospered
while some merely survived. The gods favored the cities created by humans while
others, like the dwarves, preferred the furthest outposts of human
civilization.

Final Test, the (n) –
At the end of a
Mare’s training to become a Walker, a gladiator-style battle takes place where
the last man (or woman) standing is awarded the title
agarwaen
.

Frigg –
Odin’s wife; the goddess of
fertility, love and marriage.

Jotunn (n) –
a giant.

Mare (n) –
a dark elf. Pure-blooded
Mares are believed to be extinct after a campaign by Odin over a thousand years
ago to eradicate their species. To escape persecution, dark elves bred with
light elves creating half-breed children whose features helped them to pass as
light elves.

Mares were usually no shorter than six feet tall. Their appearance
is humanoid; however, they have fangs that are not for the taking of blood for
sustenance; rather they are used for sexual gratification.

Midgard (n) –
The home of the humans.

Morier(ea) (n) –
a derogatory term for a
shadow-walker; literally translated as
dark one
.

Niflheim (n) –
Home of the dead; ruled
by Hel.

Norns (n) –
Female beings who rule the
destiny of men and gods. Compare: the Fates of Greek mythology.

Odin –
The father of all gods and men.
Sometimes referred to as the All-Father.

Shadow Walker (n) –
Shadow Walker
is the ancient name for any Mare trained to be an assassin because
of their ability to ‘wrap’ shadows around them to conceal themselves. However,
due to the extensive inter-breeding with the light elves, many dark elves lost
the ability to shadow walk, but the name remains the same.

Shadow Walkers were feared for their ability to enter a person’s
dreams and manipulate them.

Valhalla (n) –
An enormous hall
within Asgard that housed fallen battle heroes.

Valkyrie (n) –
A beautiful warrior woman
created by Odin to take the bodies of men slain in battle to Valhalla. Their
immortality is only possible while their swan feather cloak is in their
possession. If this cloak is stolen, the thief is entitled to seven years of
service from the Valkyrie. However, if the feathers are plucked from the cloak,
the Valkyrie’s immortality leaves them and they can be killed by a mortal
wound.

Vanir (n) –
The Vanir are the old gods who
ruled before the Aesir. Sworn enemies of the sky gods, they are the masters of
sorcery and elemental magic.

A
t the start of
time...

The hand around
Loki’s bicep squeezed harder to stop his struggle, the blood flow in his arm
slowing, slowing, until finally coming to a stop. He was numb. He attempted to
pull free from those strong fingers, but he got the handle of a hammer jabbed
into his solar plexus instead, pushing all the air from his lungs and doubling
him over. Loki’s knees gave out, letting the hand feel his slack weight. They had
finally caught up with him, but it didn’t mean he had to make it easy for them.

‘Walk properly or I’ll break your legs and drag you,’ an all too familiar
male voice growled, gripping the hammer with his free hand until his knuckles
turned white. Loki sneered at him and let even more of his weight drop.

Without releasing him, Thor backhanded Loki, smiling as blood
tumbled down Loki’s chin from the freshly split lip. Loki stood up to spit on the
other god’s sandals and smiled back sardonically. Thor glowered at him, raising
his hammer as if to strike him when a powerful voice jerked him to a stop.

‘Enough!’ The All-Father’s voiced crackled and carried, echoing
around them even though they were yet to reach the cave Loki was being taken
to.

Thor glared at Loki, hatred boiling behind his ice-blue eyes. The
god’s chest heaved with rage, his arm shaking with a fine tremor.

‘Thor!’ Odin boomed again, his tone not just a warning, but a
promise of punishment if Thor chose to ignore him. Loki blinked up at the other
man, watching to see if he was going to listen to his father. Thor growled at
Loki—baring his teeth—but lowered his weapon.

‘Move!’ Thor shoved Loki in the back, marching him forward once
more. Loki stumbled—the ground becoming rockier, the air thicker. The breeze
was hot on his face, the sun an oppressive beast beating against the skin on
his bare body. The sting from the wound on his lip turned into a throb pounding
in time to his erratically racing heart.

A sharp rock bit into the heel of Loki’s foot, hobbling him
instantly. His blood trailed behind him, following him up to the entrance of
the cave that would no doubt become his prison; its dark maw open and waiting
for him. Fear turned his stomach to stone, a cold sweat breaking out on his
brow despite the blistering heat. Loki slowed his pathetic march, coming to a
stop on the sharp rocky ground just before stepping into the shadowy entrance.
This time Thor wasn’t so gentle with him.

Loki felt the full force of the war hammer in the small of his back.
Loki chewed the inside of his cheek, not allowing the bastard at his back to
know just how much that had hurt. Blood welled in his mouth until he had to either
spit it out or swallow it. He swallowed; the metallic tang disgusting him.

‘Keep him moving,’ Odin said, stopping at his son’s side. Loki
looked over his shoulder at the two men he had once considered his family.

Thor growled and snapped his teeth, raising an arm to strike Loki,
but he had no interest in being hit again. He began putting one foot in front
of the other, shuffling along to his slow and drawn-out death.  

The sudden change in temperature brought a rush of goose bumps to
Loki’s naked flesh. His eyes took a long time to adjust to the gloom. They
marched him in near darkness until he was sure he would collapse. Hours could
have passed, but there was no way of telling. He realized then he would never
see the sun again. The further they moved into the cave, the darker and colder
it became.

Water dripped steadily from somewhere deeper in the cavern, the
sound bouncing around—echoing. The darkness seemed to be closing in on Loki, making
his throat close up and suffocating him. Panic bloomed when the stench of raw
meat and spilled bowels hit his nose.

There was a small curve in the passage up ahead. The fine hairs on
Loki’s neck suddenly stood on end. He slowed and the air behind him shifted as
Thor was no doubt ready to jam his hammer into Loki’s back again. Loki picked
up his pace, fighting the feeling of dread sinking its hooks into his skin.

When they walked past the curved section, Loki sensed they had just
entered a much larger section of cave. The air seemed cooler, but it was still
tainted with the smell of death. An orange flame jumped to life at his back;
the glow casting shadows around the large underground chamber.

‘Those rocks there,’ Odin commanded from behind him. Thor wrenched
on Loki’s arm, pulling him toward three massive limestone boulders next to a
sheer rock face. Water was dribbling down the hard rock wall, trickling off,
dripping into small pools at its base. Thor threw Loki down roughly, holding
his arms down with one hand while catching a sinewy rope thrown by Odin in the
other. Thor grinned down at him, satisfaction curling his lips smugly. He waved
the rope in Loki’s face; Loki following the motion with his eyes.

‘We should be thanking you for these.’ Thor began binding his wrists
together above his head. ‘We turned your son Vali into a wolf so he could tear
them from his brother’s body.’

Loki’s eyes widened. Craning his neck, he looked around the cave,
his eyes coming to an abrupt halt at the body of his son, Narvi, left discarded
on the floor. His stomach was eviscerated, the contents of his abdomen
congealing in puddles of blood on the cave floor. Loki could feel bile working
its way up from his stomach. Turning his head, vomit burned up his throat and
exploded from his mouth. Through his blackened vision and spotty hearing,
Thor’s satisfied laughter was all Loki could hear and a rage began to build
within him. Just as he tried to kick out of the other god’s grip, Thor caught
his ankle and tightened the rope around it.

‘No!’ a woman screamed, dousing his anger instantly. Straining his
neck, Loki looked for the source of the scream. He called his wife’s name over
and over again until Thor cuffed him, breaking his nose. Cartilage snapped. Blood
sprayed from his nostrils, covering his chest with warm droplets.

‘Loki!’ Sigyn’s voice was high, keening—desperate.

‘Sigyn!’ he tried to call back, but his throat had filled with blood
again. Racking a cough, he was forced to swallow the blood back then tried
again.

‘She can’t hear you,’ Thor said, looking down at him, appraising the
knotted ropes made from his own son’s viscera. ‘But you should know we made her
watch.’ Thor was making a noose-like knot now. Roughly, he pulled it down over
Loki’s head and tightened it. Breathing became even more difficult. Loki forced
air through his mouth; blood dripped from his lips into his mouth and trickled
down the back of his throat.

Satisfied with the strength of the knots and the bonds, Thor stood
up. ‘He’s ready,’ he called. Loki strained to see Odin coming back into the main
section of the cave. Sigyn was at his side, her hands bound in front of her.
Tears had dragged clean lines down her filthy cheeks making her look pitiful. She
hadn’t even seen him yet. Her eyes were on Narvi’s body lying inert on the
ground.

Odin pulled an ornate dagger from the scabbard on his hip. The blade
gleamed in the dimly-lit cave, but Sigyn was yet to see it. With his eyes fixed
on Loki, Odin ran the blade across his wife’s throat. Sigyn dropped from the
All-Father’s arms like a stone, her body slapping the ground like a pile of
meat.

Desperate gasping filled Loki’s ears; his wife’s dying gurgles and
breaths guaranteed to haunt him for the rest of his days.  Loki screamed out
wordlessly, the noose tightening around his neck until he was gasping for
breath. Odin’s sandals kicked loose stones as he walked over toward the
platform Loki was bound to. His one clear green eye seemed to pity him while
the obsidian orb sitting in the empty socket of his right said
you brought
this on yourself
. Loki tried to make his eyes say
fuck you
, but the
delighted smirk on the All-Father’s face said he’d failed. Loki struggled
against his bonds, only to have Odin’s hand land on his shoulder. ‘I would not
bother to try and free yourself. I have warded these bonds to prevent you from
fading away.’

Odin smiled at the growl that broke free of Loki’s lips.

‘You do know why this has happened to you, don’t you Loki?’ Odin
asked. ‘You had my son killed, and then you refused to weep for his loss. You
damned Baldr to the cold, vast wastelands of Niflheim. He is Hel’s guest now,
and will forever be. For the part you played, I have taken away your son Narvi
so you may know the feeling of loss. I turned your other son against his own
brother so you would know betrayal and guilt. I killed your wife for the simple
reason that she would aid you.’

Odin looked over his shoulder and nodded. The shuffling of feet
filled Loki’s ears along with an ophidian hissing. The All-Father looked at him
once more. ‘You remember Skadi, don’t you?’ His voice was smug. ‘She’s brought someone
to keep you company while you rot in this cave.’

The snow goddess approached the platform slowly. Skadi’s ice-blonde
hair hung in her silver-frosted eyes. Everything about the goddess was white,
except for her mouth. That was a bright scarlet red.

As more and more of Skadi filled his vision, Loki’s eyes widened.
Wrapped around her body was a huge white snake. She was stroking its horned
head with a light fingertip, cooing softly to the reptile. Uttering a few
indistinguishable words to the serpent, it turned its red eyes to Loki.

The hiss that escaped its mouth sent shivers along Loki’s skin. Its
fangs were six inches long and growing. Its scales had an iridescent shine to
them; its body an undulating rainbow in Skadi’s pale hands.

‘Let’s give him a taste, shall we?’ Odin purred, his black eye
sparkling with amusement.

Nodding, she brought the snake to Loki, holding its head over his
foot. Poison pooled and dripped from its fangs; the sensitive skin on the top
of his foot beginning to smolder where it landed. Loki
cried out, gritting his teeth and waiting for the pain to abate.

‘You’d better get used to that, Loki. You will be trapped here with
this serpent until the end of time.’ Odin turned to Skadi, touching her gently
on the shoulder. ‘Say your goodbyes.’

Loki watched in horror as Skadi kissed the snake then placed it
above his head. The snake’s body coiled around a stalactite hanging overhead,
but its head and open mouth were positioned over his neck and chest. Loki
licked his suddenly dry lips, knowing he was staring into the eyes of not just
Death, but of Torment and Torture, too.

Odin touched him on the hip. ‘Enjoy your time together,
blood-brother
.’
The last word was a sneer. Despair rose up in Loki like a swollen river, the
banks threatening to break. The sound of their retreating footsteps was what
broke him. He yelled, he raged, he swore. He begged, he pleaded, he cried. But
they did not return. Straining his eyes, he could see they’d left Sigyn’s and
Narvi’s bodies to rot, to remind him of why he was being punished, why he must
endure this torture.

A droplet of venom fell onto his throat and the scream that escaped
his body left his throat raw. He could feel the poison sinking into his blood,
burning, melting his flesh. Another struck him directly on his heart, his skin
sizzling and smoking on contact with the poison. Loki screamed out wordlessly,
writhing, pulling against his bonds until blood welled on his ankles and wrists
and throat. Another drip. Another scream.

In the brief reprieve, a part of him thought maybe this was what he
deserved. He was despised by the gods. They treated him as a threat, as a rabid
dog not knowing when or if he was going to bite them. He was the trickster god,
but it had been Odin who had welcomed him into the fold.

Drip
.

A burning started through his body, an all-consuming wild fire
without any hope of being extinguished.

Drip
.

Odin. He was the one who deserved to be tied to the rocks. He was
the one who deserved to smell the fetid breath of death as the corpses of his
beloved withered and rotted at his feet.

Odin.

Drip.

Odin.

Must.

Die.