Dark Deceit (17 page)

The coppery tang became stronger as Korvain walked toward the back
of the house. On his right, against the wall, was a pool of blood with smears
disappearing under a swinging door on the left.

Standing on the other side of the jamb, Korvain pushed open the door
with his foot and stepped inside. His olfactory senses went into meltdown. The
stench of blood and bowels was an almost tangible thing he could see and touch
and feel. The color red was everywhere; on the walls, the floor, the cupboards,
the fridge, the sink and splashback. Everywhere.

The tiles that were once white and black were now red and
reddish-black. On those same tiles were red smears from bodies being dragged
through the larger pools of blood. Korvain’s eyes scanned the rest of the
space. As they passed over the fridge again, he saw something white beneath it.

Crouching down in front of it, he reached underneath and pulled out
two feathers. Both had been white, but now they were spattered with blood.

What those two feathers represented was the beginning of the end. Two
in one night. Two already killed and one attempted murder. There was only one
more Valkyrie on that list.

‘The fucker,’ Korvain growled. Standing up, he disappeared the
feathers and hauled ass out of there. When he got outside, Eir was shivering,
her arms wrapped around her torso. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood on
his hands.

‘They’re dead. Their bodies weren’t there, but these were.’ He
pulled the two feathers from his pocket and gave them to Eir to look over.

Tears began streaming down her cheeks as she caressed the plumes
gently. ‘They’re dead,’ she whispered, her tears slurring her words.

Korvain gently pried the feathers from her fingers and pocketed them
again. Taking the Valkyrie by the shoulders, he made her focus on him. ‘Eir, we
need to get to Kristy. I think whoever is behind this is after her next.’

Eir wailed, but the shadows were still firmly in place, muffling her
cries as she broke down and wept.

‘Kristy,’ she mumbled between deep breaths. She looked up at him,
burying her face into his chest. Gingerly, he pulled her away, not liking the
feeling of her being close to him when she didn’t have to be.

‘Please, we have to save her. She’s my twin. Please.’ The last word
was broken by a sob. Fuck. Korvain knew he couldn’t take her with him. Her
emotions would get her killed. Shoving his hand into his pocket, he pulled the
feathers from his pants and thrust them toward Eir again.

‘Eir, take these and fade back to Bryn. I need you to let her know
what’s happened to Sigrun and Astrid.’ When she didn’t move, Korvain placed the
feathers into her palm and curled her fingers around them. Raising his voice,
he ordered her to look at him. ‘Eir. Go. Now.’

She blinked, whimpered then nodded. She closed her eyes and faded
away. The shadows dissipated from around her body, rejoining the others.
Korvain touched the karambit on his chest hidden in plain sight and faded to
the last address on the list Bryn had written up for him.

A
drian had bitten
his tongue so much he’d tasted blood in his mouth while he was talking to
Darrion. Even now, he had no idea where he’d grown a pair of balls big enough to
negotiate with the bastard. Nobody negotiated with Darrion.

And now he was bound to the contract. He had to kill his best friend,
then kill his boss at the club, otherwise Taer would be forced into sexual
servitude like many of the other female Mares had been. Even their own mother
was one of their father’s concubines.

Taer just happened to be turning all the rules upside down. But he
wouldn’t let that happen to her—couldn’t let that happen to her. He’d worked
too damn hard keeping her safe to fuck it up.

Fading back to the house, he unlocked the door and marched up to her
room. He didn’t want to kill Korvain, but if it was between him and his sister,
Taer would win. He also knew Korvain would kill him before he managed to even
get a scratch on the bastard. He was just that good.

So this was what his plan came down to: he would try to take out
Korvain who would, therefore, take him out. Taer would be left unprotected and
Darrion would take her and force her into sexual servitude. It sounded like a
Hel of a lot of no-fucking-way to him. Adrian knew he would be killed by
Korvain. There was nothing he could do about that. But there was something he
could do about Taer. If he made her stronger, she could survive Darrion’s
cruelty.

Her bedroom door was slightly ajar. Pausing, he listened to her deep,
even breathing. Driven by the need to protect her, he pushed open her door and
marched inside.

Taer was asleep with the blankets pushed to one side. The heat was
cranked up in her room, causing beads of sweat to break out on Adrian’s brow. Her
dark hair was splayed out around her head, a halo of inky blackness covering
the pillow. She was wearing a tank top and a pair of satin boxer shorts on her
narrow hips. Her ribs could clearly be seen through her tank; her hip bones
poking out between the bottom of the fabric and the elastic top of her shorts.

‘Tay, wake up,’ Adrian whispered.

She groaned and rolled over, putting her back to him; her shoulder
blades and ribs pressing through her skin.

Adrian tried again. ‘Tay,’ he said in a much louder voice. ‘Taer,
wake up!’ He grabbed her by the shoulder, intending to pull her over onto her
back when he was suddenly staring into the muzzle of a Berretta 92 Steel.

His sister’s green eyes were wide open. Adrian put his hands up in
front of him in surrender. Taer blinked then lowered the weapon.

‘Sorry, Ad,’ she said stifling a yawn. ‘Didn’t mean to pull a weapon
on you.’

‘I never taught you to do that,’ he commented, watching her through
narrowed eyes.

She yawned again. ‘Korvain taught me,’ she replied absently. ‘What
did you wake me up for?’

He ignored her question, demanding one of his own. ‘Tay, I thought I
told you not to bother him.’

‘I didn’t!’ she shot back, affronted. ‘He just offered up the info.’

Adrian’s hands balled into fists. He didn’t have fucking time for
this. ‘Whatever. Get up.’

‘Why?’

‘Training.’

She glanced at her clock. ‘It’s like three in the morning.’

‘I’m aware of the time,’ he bit out, his irritation growing.

She lay back down again, curling over onto her side once more. ‘Then
wake me up in three and haul me off to training then. It’s too early,’ she
mumbled.

Grabbing her arm, Adrian dragged her out of bed roughly. ‘Now, Taer.
We train
now!’

With a look of indignation on her face, she fumed, ‘Alright! Fuck,
Adrian! What’s crawled up your ass?’

‘Nothing,’ he spat back, picking up her sweat pants and throwing
them at her. ‘Get dressed and meet me in the garage in five.’

He turned and left her room, closing the door behind him. He glanced
at the closed door at the end of the hallway. Was Korvain already home? Could
he just go in and kill him now? It would put an end to a lot of Adrian’s
misery. Walking quietly along the carpet, Adrian pressed his ear to the door
and listened.

If he was in there, he could simply slip inside and drive a dagger
through his heart. Or maybe he could smother him in his sleep. Gods, what was
he thinking? He didn’t want to kill Korvain. He had to kill him, but wanting
and needing to were two very different things. He would try to put it off for
as long as possible. He turned quickly and walked back down the hallway. As he
passed Taer’s door, he could hear her grumbling to herself.

She turned up in the garage a minute after he had, dressed in
loose-fitting pants and the same tank top she’d been sleeping in. Adrian
dropped into a fighting position, attacking her before she was ready for him.

Blocking his attacks, she shoved him off her. ‘Ad, what the fuck?’
she snarled.

‘Be prepared,’ he replied, ducking past her guard and slamming the
heel of his palm against her breastbone, in between her breasts. Taer staggered
backwards, but righted herself by bracing her leg before she could fall.

‘Watch it, dick!’ she hissed, falling into the same fighting stance
as Adrian had adopted. Before she was fully ready, he came at her again—always
finding the hole in her defences, always taking advantage of her
unpreparedness.

They sparred for hours. He ran drills fifty different times until
their bodies were slick with sweat. Taer called him something new each time his
fist or foot connected with a part of her body. Her inventiveness with curse
words really was impressive. They were both breathless, the air they dragged
into their lungs tainted with Adrian’s fear, Taer’s anger and their blood. She
didn’t question him once about why he was pushing her so hard.

And for that Adrian was thankful.

By the time sunlight was peeking through the dirt-encrusted windows
along one side of the garage, Taer’s torso, arms, neck and legs were beginning
to bruise up. Adrian had hit her harder than he normally would have, fear
driving him to toughen his sister up more quickly than he would have normally.
All of his anger from the little chit chat with Darrion had thankfully drained
away from his body.

Taer bent over; her hands on her knees, her breathing rasping in and
out of her throat. Adrian took a sip from the bottle of water in his hands and
studied her. She was a good fighter, but she needed to be better. Looking up
from underneath all her long, dark hair, she lifted a hand and motioned for the
bottle.

Adrian pushed off from the workbench he was leaning on and passed it
over.

‘You’re a dick,’ she said after taking a long pull. Her breath was
still wheezing in and out of her mouth.

‘Is that all you got? You were calling me plenty of other things
while we were training.’

‘Dick is only one syllable,’ she panted. ‘It’s easier to say.’

Adrian grinned despite himself and the clusterfuck he’d found
himself in. ‘Come on. We’re done. Food then rest. We’ll start again at
sundown.’

Taer groaned, but shuffled out of the garage after him. ‘These
bruises aren’t going to be gone by tonight,’ she huffed.

‘Suck it up, Princess. Life’s hard. I’m just trying to make you
harder.’

F
rigg had been
waiting for Fulla in La Perla for three quarters of an hour, and she was so
incredibly close to screaming out loud. She had gone through the racks of
bustiers, bras and panties, touching the silks, laces and satins. She had
scented all the perfumes and looked at all the robes, and yet Fulla hadn’t
returned.

Gods, she’d only sent the woman out to get her a latte while she
browsed. How difficult could it actually be? Fussing with the waist of her
emerald green dress, she dropped her hand and stopped fidgeting.

Queens didn’t fidget.

‘My queen,’ Fulla said quietly from behind her. Frigg spun around to
face the young woman, frowning as she did. In her hand, Fulla held up the white
cup slapped with a green logo on the side. Snatching it from out of her palm,
Frigg took a sip and let the caffeine charge through her system.

‘What took you so long?’ she snapped impatiently.

Her handmaiden looked down. ‘There was a large line at the coffee
house.’

Frigg made a disgusted noise at the back of her throat and waved
Fulla away. ‘Whatever. Where is my money? I wish to buy something.’

Not waiting for her acquiescence—because she knew she would get
it—Frigg began to pull thousand dollar silk kimonos and six hundred dollar
corsets from the racks and threw them at Fulla to catch. Frigg breathed in a
deep, satisfied breath. There really was nothing like spending her husband’s
money.

When Fulla couldn’t see over the pile of lingerie in her arms, Frigg
left her handmaiden to pay for her purchases and went to sit in the limo out
front. Tiki stood sentry at the rear door. He opened it, allowing Frigg to
slide inside the quiet, rich-leather smelling backseat. When she felt eyes on
her, Frigg glanced up into the rear view mirror to see Vali already behind the
wheel.

Vali’s violet eyes smoldered for her. She
smiled a seductive smile, biting down onto her pouty lower lip. She had had him
many times before; the same way she had had Tiki many times before. Sometimes
she even had them together. They were her personal guard and they would lay
their lives down for hers.

‘You’re staring, Vali,’ she purred, touching the part of her chest
where her dress pushed her breasts up and over. His eyes darted down to her
fingers and she could have sworn she heard him growl faintly.

Frigg caught movement from the corner of her eye then. Fulla was
coming toward the car, at least a dozen bags in her hands. She glanced back at
the male in the front seat.

‘Come to me later, Lover,’ she said quickly just as the door was
opened for Fulla.

‘What took you so long?’ she snapped, tossing her long blonde hair
over her shoulder.

‘You had a large number of purchases, my queen. It takes time to
ring them all up.’

The passenger door opened and Tiki got into the car, all while Fulla
rattled on.

Frigg waved her hand in the air dismissively. ‘Yes, yes. I don’t
really care.’ Turning her attention back to Vali, she said, ‘Back to the
penthouse. I feel the need for a bath.’ She made sure to keep her eyes locked
on Vali when she said the words. He nodded and pulled out into traffic.

They arrived at her Charlestown address, and Frigg waited for Tiki
to open her door. She stepped out, running her hands down her dress, pushing
out any wrinkles from the short drive home.

‘Fulla, run upstairs and get the bath going.’ The girl practically
jumped before hurrying off to do her bidding. Tiki pulled her purchases from
the trunk of the car while Vali offered her his arm. She smiled slyly at him.
He had never offered this courtesy before.

By the time they were upstairs, Tiki was placing the bags neatly on
the chaise lounge before backing out of the room. Fulla was still in the
bathroom, monitoring the water temperature and level while Frigg had Vali all
to herself.

He was still staring at her with a desire she found so tempting.
Usually it was the other way around—she would be the one to approach her guards
to have her appetites sated. This was out of character for Vali, but she liked
how his eyes raked over her body with such lust and longing.

He reached for her, and she smacked his hand away. Chiding him like
a child, she said, ‘I am the one who does the touching.’ Frigg glanced over her
shoulder. ‘Besides, we still have company.’

Fulla chose that moment to turn the taps off. The hollow echo of the
last few drops of water falling from the faucet followed her out. Dropping into
a low curtsy, her handmaiden excused herself from the room, her blue eyes never
leaving Frigg’s face.

She knew Frigg would have no need of her to help her undress—not now
Vali was with her.

Frigg sauntered away from her guard, making sure her hips swayed
temptingly before demurely looking over her shoulder at him.

‘I can’t seem to take this dress off without some help, Vali.’

She walked into the bathroom, hearing him follow. With her back
still to him, she sat on the edge of the claw-foot bath and gently played with
the still-rippling surface of the water with her index finger. The diamonds frosting
her fingers sparkled in the lights; the rainbow of colors ricocheting around
the room.

When Vali’s hand wrapped around the back of her neck, the pressure
was just enough to make her moan with pleasure. He didn’t say a word to her—he
didn’t have to. She slid from the lip of the tub and dropped to her knees; her
fingers already reaching for the zipper of his pants.

Vali shook his head, giving her pause.

Frowning, she asked, ‘Are you denying me this?’

He nodded. Then he smiled. Frigg couldn’t see what was so funny
until he brought the blade of a knife in front of her eyes.

‘What is this?’ she demanded, attempting to get to her feet. Vali
pressed on her neck, keeping her on her knees. She looked at her eyes in the
reflection of the blade then they drifted up.

Vali’s face was melting away. His violet eyes gave way to pale
green, his dark hair to blond. Somehow he gained another six inches and she was
no longer staring at Vali. She was staring at Loki.

* * *

L
oki bared his
teeth at the queen of the Aesir. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated in
fear. She knew what his appearance meant. It was death and pain and torture all
wrapped up with a neat little bow.

‘Loki,’ she gasped.

‘Frigg. It’s been a long time,’ he drawled back casually. His voice
was rough from being quiet for so long. Taking the appearance of her guard, and
guaranteeing it would work, hinged on Loki remaining silent. He couldn’t match
the other god’s voice well enough, and if his cover had been blown, his plan
would have been compromised.

‘What are you doing here?’

He studied her face. She wasn’t stupid. Surely she’d already figured
it out. ‘Guess.’

A small line appeared between her eyes before smoothing out again. She
cleared her throat in that imperious way that only she could. ‘You’re here to
kill me.’ She said the words without any inflection, without any emotion.

‘Yes.’

‘I was the one to free you. I was the one who released you from your
torture.’ Her tone rose with each word, desperation filling her slowly but
surely.

He smiled benignly. ‘I know.’

‘But why?’

He laughed at her. Her ego would never let her see what she didn’t
want to believe. ‘Your husband took my wife away from me. So, I am taking his
wife away from him.’

It was her turn to laugh this time. ‘Odin is only my husband by
title. He does not hold my heart.’

He leered at her. ‘Nobody could hold your heart.’

She recoiled as if he’d slapped her. Her eyes dropped, but when she
looked up again, fire crackled and burned in her glare. ‘I freed you,’ she
repeated. ‘You owe me.’

‘I owe you nothing.’

With one swift slashing movement, the blade in his hand opened up
the front of her throat. Frigg’s hands flew to the wound, her fingers clutching
at the place where the blade had cleaved through her flesh. Blood swelled and
oozed down her hands, the trail quickening until it dripped from her forearms.

The goddess fell to the side, coughing blood, spraying it in a
perfect arc around her head; a bloody halo. With his foot on her shoulder, he
rolled her over onto her back and straddled her hips.

Frigg was dragging in deep, desperate breaths, gurgling noises
escaping her ruined throat. With his blade tip aligned perfectly over her
heart, he smiled at her one last time and plunged the steel past the protection
of her ribs, puncturing the chest cavity. With an abrupt twist and thrust, it
cut into the muscle that was responsible for so much.

When at last she lay still, Loki grabbed one of her arms and hefted
her onto his shoulder. He dumped her into the nice hot bath, the now pink water
sloshing over the rim and spilling out all over on the floor.

Loki cursed and jumped out of the way. He couldn’t afford to have
the others question him when he left this room. Sauntering over to the mirror,
he looked at his reflection and began morphing his features into Vali’s once
more.

When he was satisfied with his illusion, he stalked from the
bathroom, walking out of the front door with the queen’s blood still drying on
his skin.