Dark Deceit (21 page)

T
he front door of
Bryn’s apartment slammed shut, shaking Eir’s concentration. Odin must have left,
which meant Bryn must have been awake. She had just gone back to crushing the
pills when the shrill sound of her phone ringing down the hallway lifted her head
from her clandestine work and made her heart pound. Quickly and carefully, she
covered her desktop with a piece of paper and yanked open the door.

Bryn was already ahead of her, reaching for the phone sitting on the
end of the kitchen counter. This was the phone call they’d been waiting for. Bryn
picked it up and hit a button to put it on speaker phone.

‘Yeah?’

‘Brynhildr, so nice to hear from you,’ Loki purred on the other end
of the line. Eir couldn’t stop the shiver that rode her spine. Even before
she’d joined the ranks of Odin’s army, Loki had been the one god she had
avoided at all costs.

‘Where is Kristy? I want to speak to her,’ she demanded.

There was a muffled sound like a hand over the receiver then Kristy’s
voice came out the other end.

‘Bryn?’ she whispered hoarsely.

‘I’m here, and so is your sister,’ Bryn replied, her fingers curling
around the edge of the counter.

‘Eir is there?’

‘Kristy,’ Eir croaked. Pain blazed through her palm. When she looked
down, she saw four half-moon gouges, blood welling slowly. ‘We’re going to get
you—’

Loki cut off her words by tutting into the phone. ‘Now, now, don’t
get her hopes up too high. I’m not even sure Bryn is going to do what I want
her to.’

Eir looked at Bryn, saw her face cloud with unimaginable anger.
‘Just tell me where and when.’ She bit the words off, spitting them out.

Loki laughed, the sound grating on Eir’s nerves. She had already
healed the damage to her palm, but had drawn more blood by pulling the same
trick. She whimpered and looked at Bryn.

‘In six hours from now, the sun will begin to set. I want you to
come to my hotel room
with
your feather cloak. I will set Kristy free if
you are willing to replace her.’

Eir clutched as Bryn’s arm desperately. ‘Bryn, no. You can’t. Let me
go,’ she pleaded. Bryn’s eyes locked on Eir and she knew the woman had made up
her mind.

‘I don’t want anyone else. I only want Bryn,’ Loki drawled. ‘If she
comes tonight, I will stop going after the others. Bryn was the one I really
wanted all along.’

Tears leaked from Eir’s eyes. ‘Please,’ she begged, shaking her head.
‘You don’t have to do this.’

Bryn turned her back on Eir. ‘Deal,’ she replied, her voice sounding
hollow.

Eir wept as Loki gave them the name of his hotel. ‘I’ll meet you in
the lobby at dusk.’

‘Fine,’ Bryn replied through gritted teeth.

‘And Bryn? Don’t forget your cloak otherwise we have no deal.’

Bryn spat a nasty curse and hung up. Eir’s head had dropped in
defeat, her body feeling like lead. Bryn gently touched the top of her shoulder.

‘You should get some sleep.’

Eir looked up into the other woman’s eyes. ‘What makes you think
I’ll be able to sleep now? You shouldn’t be doing this Bryn. Please. Let me
go.’

She shook her head, her braid rasping against her back. ‘You heard
Loki. He wants me.’ She let out a deep breath. ‘Odin got us into this mess, but
I’m going to get us out of it. I’m going to take a shower and then I’m going to
have a stiff drink.’

This was Eir’s only opportunity. ‘I’ll get the drink ready for you
then. Go take a shower.’

Bryn’s gaze raked hers, eyes narrowed to slits, but she sighed heavily
and started down the hall.

With her bedroom door closed, Eir returned to her room with the
bottle of vodka Bryn kept in her freezer. Creating a funnel with a sheet of
paper, Eir tipped the crushed Valium tablets into the vodka bottle and swirled
it around a little.

She took it back into the kitchen and found a clean tumbler. She
filled it up with the laced vodka and left it on the counter for Bryn to find.

* * *

B
ryn let the scalding
hot water spill over her head, soaking her hair completely. Her shoulders were
tight, the muscles in her neck even tighter. Odin’s words were lapping her
head, the horrible truth she now knew gnawing at her.

She couldn’t turn back time and bring her Valkyries back to life
again, but she could prevent any more from being killed. She had to do this.
Stopping the water, Bryn wrapped her wet hair in one towel, and her body in
another.

Stepping out of her private bathroom, the room felt cold around her.
But then again, that may have had something to do with the fact she was willingly
walking to her own death by agreeing to the trade. Her spine stiffened. She
would do it though. She would do it for her girls. She would take a stand
against Odin’s self-serving agenda and sacrifice herself.

Bryn unwound the towel from her head and ran her fingers through her
damp hair. She finger-combed it all together then quickly braided it down over
her shoulder. She pulled on a pair of black jeans and a black tank.

Running her hand over the tattoo on the side of her neck, she felt
her golden sword fill her hand; molding into the exact
grip of her palm, warming under the heat of her skin. The sword had been given
to her by Odin a few weeks after she’d entered his great hall in Asgard. He’d
said it was specially calibrated only to her touch. If someone else were to
take the hilt, they would simply die.

She knew it wasn’t a lie. She’d seen it happen with her own eyes. With
a sigh, she willed it away and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her
features were drawn like she hadn’t been getting enough sleep, but that was
probably because she wasn’t getting enough sleep. She’d been too worried about
Odin and Eir and Kristy and Korvain to worry too much about resting her body
and mind.

Leaving her room, she beelined for the kitchen. A glass of 42 sat on
the counter next to the sweating bottle. Eir must have known she wouldn’t have
stopped at just one. Grabbing the glass and the bottle, she slumped down into
the sofa and brought the glass to her lips.

The icy liquid hit her tongue, the back of her throat. It slid down
like a lover’s caress, warming her chest and setting her frayed nerves at ease.
Glancing at the clock above the TV in the corner, Bryn could see she still had
another five and a half hours to wait until she could pull Kristy out of that
hellhole.

Bryn took another mouthful of vodka, her head leaning back to rest
on the back of the sofa. The waiting was killing her. She drained the rest of
her glass and poured herself another, filling the tumbler up to the two-thirds
mark. She threw that back, too, reaching for the bottle to pour one more when
the bottle slipped from her hand and crashed to the floor.

Cursing, she bent down to pick it up, but ended up getting real
close and personal with the carpet instead. The rest of her body tumbled after
her, leaving her in a heap. The pile scratched the side of her face, but her
limbs felt so heavy she couldn’t move no matter how hard she tried. The only
saving grace would be that Eir was just in her room and would have heard the
noise.

‘Bryn?’

And right on cue.

‘Eir.’ Gods, was that her voice? She sounded as if she’d drunk ten
bottles of vodka instead of one. ‘Help...me.’ The words dribbled out of her
mouth, spilling out onto the floor with her.

Softly tread footsteps whispered across the floor. Eir’s angelic
face dropped into view. ‘I’m sorry I had to do that to you, Bryn, but you
really left me with no choice. I can’t let you exchange yourself for my twin.’

And with that, she stood up and retreated from her view. Bryn tried
to scream at her to come back, but Eir was gone.

Bryn tried to fight against whatever Eir had slipped into her drink,
but her mind was thick like trying to wade through mud. She could feel the pull
of sleep, the weighing down of her body and mind. She tried to rebel, but the
drug washed over her completely.

Bryn’s eyes slid shut while her mind screamed out for help. Eir was
going to die right alongside Kristy now, and Bryn was powerless to stop it.

* * *

E
ir pulled Bryn’s
bedroom door closed and rested her forehead against the cool wood. Bryn had
passed out a lot faster than she’d thought, leaving Eir to drag her limp body
into her bedroom. Somehow she had managed to get her into her bed, too,
although how she couldn’t say.

Eir couldn’t stop shaking. As a healer and nurse, she understood the
why of it, yet couldn’t stop it. The combination of adrenalin and fear shot
through her body, hobbling her. She snuck out the back door of the club,
propping a loose brick in the jamb to keep it ajar.

The hotel Loki had mentioned was only a block away from Mass Gen.
She had even been to a conference or two there, so she knew the layout well
enough to fade directly there.

Thinking the thought, she rematerialized in the underground parking
garage attached to the hotel. Her body was still shaking. Taking a moment to
collect herself, she pressed the side of her body up against the cold concrete garage
wall.

Across her shoulder was a fabric tote bag holding the ash box containing
her cloak. She shifted it around onto the other shoulder to avoid getting
gouged in her ribs. She sucked in a few deep, cleansing breaths to steady her
already shot nerves.

She could do this.

She had to do this.

Lifting her chin, she strode forward toward the entry, stepping
directly into the lobby of the hotel from the garage. Her soft-soled shoes
barely registered on the grey and white granite tiles covering the lobby’s
floor. The dark wood registration counters took up one length of wall, while an
almost oriental-style blocked wall partitioned the other half into a lounge.

There were a few couples sitting together, wine glasses in their
hands, quiet chatter filling the space with an unusually calming melody. She
turned her body around in a tight circle, her eyes always scanning for the
Aesirean god who held her sister captive.

A strong hand settled around the base of her neck, the fingers
tightening. Eir stiffened and tried to step away. ‘Shh, don’t make a scene,’ a
male voice warned.

With a tremble in her lips, she looked over her shoulder at Loki.
She had only seen him once or twice before, and always from a distance. Odin
had never wanted any of them to associate with him.

Having him this close, she noted the feral look in his eyes. She had
seen that look many times before when mentally unstable people were admitted to
the hospital for a variety of reasons from self-harm or actual harm to others.

His responding smile skewed his face, cutting it in half with a
sinister cast. ‘Remind me again of your name,
elskling
.’

She shivered at the familiar term. ‘I’m not your darling,’ she spat
back at him, unsure of where the fire had come from.

Something sharp bit into the small of her back causing pain to sear
through her. ‘Your name, Valkyrie,’ Loki hissed, his fingernails digging into
the delicate skin of her neck.

‘Eir.’ Gods, she felt light-headed. She weaved on her feet, but a
strong hand around her waist stopped her from colliding with the nearby wall.
She was vaguely aware that people were staring at her—not Loki—
her
.

Lifting her head was laborious, but she managed it. She blinked,
seeing double. Loki’s almost harmless sounding laugh rang in her ears.

‘My wife,’ he announced, throwing one of her arms across his
shoulders, or at least tried to. Loki was nearly six inches taller than her six
feet two. One of his shoulders dropped to pull her up, the hand on her wrist squeezing
tight.

‘What...have...you...’ she slurred.

‘Shut your mouth,’ he hissed under his breath. ‘She’s simply had too
much to drink.’ He raised his voice to say  the second part of the sentence so
his voice would carry across the busy foyer. ‘Let’s get you to bed.’ Loki
announced happily, loudly—too loudly. His words seemed to bang around in her
skull. She winced.

With his other arm securely wrapped around Eir’s waist, he dragged
her toward the bank of elevators. The tiles gave way to thick red carpets that
hindered their movements even more. At least he couldn’t fade with her. Their
combined weights would have been too much.

They paused and the next thing she knew, she felt the familiar
vibrations of travelling with just a thought. The room they appeared in looked
well lived in. It smelled like it was well lived in, too.

Eir’s head rolled on top of her shoulders like an unhinged gate, but
she got her eyes focused enough to take in the rumpled comforter, the trays of
food with dulling stainless steel covers on them.

‘Where’s...my...’

‘Sister?’ Loki asked, dropped her sideways onto the bed. Her tote
was on the side of her body that hit the bed. It should have hurt when she
landed on it, but strangely her body felt numb. She had felt this before.

‘What...drug...’ The words were formed in her head, but her mouth,
tongue and lips didn’t want to make the leap from there. Whatever he had
injected into her body was working quickly.

Loki’s face was suddenly all she could see. ‘Your sister is in the
bathroom and heroin.’

Eir’s eyes widened, causing a smile to form on Loki’s lips. He
disappeared again, but Eir watched his shadows move around the room.

‘Now,’ he said, rolling her over onto her back. He snatched the tote
from her shoulder and flung it onto the floor. ‘Where’s Bryn? Did she think
sending you in instead would be enough?’ As he talked, he took a rope and bound
her hands and ankles.

When Eir kept her mouth shut, more out of necessity than will, he
frowned. ‘It doesn’t matter. I was going to kill your sister anyway. Now, I get
two Valkyries to kill in front of Bryn.’