Rapture (3 page)

Wiping
the blade on one of the dead bodies—she scarcely cared which one—she spun
around at the sound of the door slamming shut. Damion stood just inside her
room, a wry smile on his face.

“I
had hoped to find you here.”

Her
eyebrows rose and fell again within an instant. “Oh? I take it my husband has
given you a run for your money.”

He
pressed the back of his hand to his split lip, eyeing the blood. “No more than
I have given him, I expect.”

A
retched, high-pitched scream rent the air, followed by a low bellow. It came
from downstairs, and though she felt an overwhelming need to return to her
family, she couldn’t just leave Damion behind. “What do you want?”

The
smile she’d hated for so many centuries reappeared as he chuckled. “Raine, Raine,
Raine … I want
you
.” He flashed
toward her, sending her back into the wall. “If I can’t have you, he won’t
either.”

Damion’s
fangs struck her neck, and she cried out, shoving at him, kicking at him, doing
whatever she could to get him off of her. She lifted her Hjörr, swinging it
around his back to slice him wherever she could, but he reached out, gripping
her forearm so hard she cried again, dropping her sword to the ground.
Lightning boomed outside, shaking the house in thunderous quakes. It was battering
the house, crashing against the roof. Crack, crack, crack. Raine continued to
fight, shoving her hand up between their bodies, using whatever strength she
still had to push him off her, but it was no use. Damion wrenched her neck in
his bite, and she screamed again, though the sound was lost as a loud crash and
bright light lit the room.

They
were both yanked away from the wall, and Raine landed underneath Damion as he
pulled out of her and jumped to his feet. Raine sat up, holding a hand to her
neck as she saw Damion and Ferox face off against one another. The room was
alight with fire, burning the floor, bed, and all the other furniture she and
Ferox had shared.

The
two vampires rolled in a heap, punching and snapping at each other as they
crashed into burning furniture. Raine watched, trying to get a glimpse of their
clothing in order to tell which was which, but it was no use. One vampire
lifted the other in the air by the neck and slammed him down. The floor
buckled, and Raine fell back, landing on her ass.

“Go!”
one of them said, and she realized in an instant that it was Ferox. “I’ve got
him.”

She
shook her head. “I can’t leave you.”

“The
others need your help. Go!”

She
reached down and gripped her Hjörr and was in the hall in the next instant, but
she didn’t take the stairs that led directly to the library. Instead she took
the set that led to the entryway in hopes of coming into battle at the
Collective’s backs. Sword in hand, she rushed down the steps, though she didn’t
make it to the ground floor before she saw Draven lying on the floor,
unconscious with Ally in his arms. There was blood all over, including on the
sword that lay beside them. In front of Ally and Draven was a winged demoness.
She was hovering just above the ground, her wings flapping in rhythm to keep
her suspended there. Any demon that approached her was quickly annihilated,
either by means of the demoness’ clawed hands, or by the ones on her wings.

Raine
stared dumbfounded. She’d only seen creatures similar to her in paintings, and
that was only in one of Odin’s halls in
Valhalla
.

She
focused again on her oldest son and Ally. Lightning struck just outside the
mansion’s walls as her anger spiked. She gripped her Valkyrian sword tightly
and rushed into the fray.

****

Raven
sat back in her seat, looking around the table at her sisters and their dates.
With Raine’s help, they’d found clothing acceptable to this realm and gone out
on the town in search for males worthy of bedding for the night.

They’d
each snagged men within minutes of walking out of their rental dwelling.

The
males in this realm seemed rather willing to do whatever it took to get them
into bed, and had even paid for lavish meals and ale that was much sweeter and
bubblier than what Odin had in
Valhalla
.
Although they didn’t call it ale, they’d referred to it as “
Champaign
.”

“And
what is that called?”

“Chocolate-covered
strawberries,” her date replied.

Raven
eyed him, taking notice of his pitch-black hair that rivaled her own. He was
finely dressed, his hair clipped short. It wasn’t tied back or flowing free as
what she expected males to look like. In fact, hardly any males wore their hair
long, a fact that she found rather depressing. Another male took one of the
strawberries and held it out to
Savannah
.
She wrapped her mouth around it and bit, her eyes rolling back in her head as
she groaned.

“So
good,” she said, her mouth still full as she chewed.

Raven
reached for one just as her other sisters did the same. The Valkyries each
popped the bite-sized snacks into their mouths. Yes, it was good, except for
the green leafy bit that completely ruined the texture and flavor. The males
laughed, and Raven’s date, Maxwell, leaned forward. “You’re not supposed to eat
the green part.”

She
flashed a half-smile and popped her tongue out. After picking the leaves off of
it, she wiped them on the edge of her plate. She took another strawberry,
making sure to keep ahold of the end as she bit down. “Mmm, much better.”

Maxwell
laughed and brushed his fingers over her hand, sending a thrill of anticipation
through her. He was a fine male, with dark hair and tan skin. His dark brown
eyes had long lashes, and he kept his facial hair trimmed short.

The
waiter returned with receipts and the thin plastic disks that Raine had
referred to as “credit cards.” Each of the males had given him their cards
earlier and the waiter had just brought them back, muttering thanks.

“So,
where did you ladies say you were staying?” one of the males asked.

“We
are bunking in a dwelling accustomed to your people,” Caleen replied.

“And
where would that be?” her date asked with a smile. He looked at the other males
around the table quickly before returning his gaze to Caleen.

“Oh,
we are in the five-hundred and sixty first housing unit on

“Well,
why don’t we get you ladies home?” He grinned.

“That
is a fine i…dea.” Raven felt a prickling awareness and looked at her sisters
for confirmation. They each had expressions of concentration as well. She and
her sisters stood from the table and the males helped them with their jackets.
Linking their arms, they were led outside, where they were immediately
assaulted with falling snow. They had barely reached the sidewalk when Raven
stopped in place, her gaze landing on a group of women walking along the
sidewalk across the street. “Valkyrie,” she said under her breath.

They
disentangled themselves from the males and her sisters focused on the group as
well, their eyes following the seven Valkyries. A low rumble in the sky drew
Raven’s attention away from them, and she saw lightning strike not too far in
the distance. Bolts continued to strike repeatedly in the same area, and she
glanced at the Valkyries across the way.

They’d
noticed it too. Each of them looked toward the sky as they brandished their
Hjörrs and lifted them upward. Lightning arced down, connecting with their
upraised swords, and the entire group was suddenly gone.

“Dear
Goddess,”
Savannah
breathed, “They’re drifting.”

Raven
nodded silently, only able to watch the reaction of the humans who had witnessed
it. Raine had told them all to be careful of their actions since humans were
clueless of Valkyries’ existence. Well, they weren’t so clueless now. They
stared in shock, many scared of the bolts that lit only a few feet away from
where they’d been walking, many running for the shelter of any building they
could get into.

“We
must go. Now,” Caleen said. She turned on her heels as Raven,
Savannah
, and Odette followed tight on her
heels.

Caleen
was right. The other Valkyries had recognized Raine’s lightning, and they were
traveling by bolts to reach her. Rushing down the sidewalk, leaving the stunned
group of humans—including their dates—behind, they passed street after street
until they reached their rental dwelling. Raven didn’t waste any time—and neither
did her sisters—as they hastily changed into their battle wear and took their
Valkyrian swords in hand.

In
no time, they were out the door and descending the stairs, raising their swords
to the sky and letting the lightning lift them into its warm embrace.

Seconds
later, Raven rode a bolt downward, her heels crunching in the snow as she and
her sisters landed in front of the Guardians’ mansion. She took a second to
take in her surroundings. They were on the Guardians’ grounds this time; the
wards they’d previously had protecting it were down, no longer blocking the
intrusion. Just ahead of where she stood were footprints in the snow. Many of
them. Raven recognized some of the boot prints—knowing them to be Valkyrie.

She
looked at her sisters, as they made eye contact with one other. She gripped her
sword and moved forward, silently tracking the other Valkyries with her sisters
by her side. They moved stealthily, catching sight of prints that wandered off
in random intervals. So, the others hadn’t gone straight for the house. They
were surrounding it.

Raven
had no doubt the other Valkyries had likely spotted them; knew they were there
at the very least. But that didn’t stop her. She and the others rushed toward
the Guardians’ home and bolted up the stairs as an ear shattering screech rent
the air and a demon soared through one of the windows. They spared no thought
for the body that crashed into the snow as they bolted through the door,
running right into a madhouse.

She’d
never seen every type of demon, not even close. But what she saw now was far
beyond her wildest imagination. There were demons of all shapes and sizes,
attacking Raine’s warriors en masse. They wouldn’t be able to fight them all,
not with the drones coming in seemingly through every visible doorway. Some of
the Guardians were down, she noticed, with others fending off attackers from
finishing the job. One demon—friend or foe, she wasn’t sure—was actually
flying. A female demon with wings and fierce claws. At a second’s glance, she
decided the she-demon was a friend of the Guardians. It appeared she fought to
protect some of the fallen.

Raven
split off from her sisters and threw a shoulder into one of the enemies as she
passed him. Her sword sliced through a demon’s neck just before it did the same
thing to the Guardian named Blaze. He whirled as its blood sprayed his backside
and made eye contact with her. With a single tight nod, he set back to his work
as Raven set to hers.

Thrust.
Spin. Jab. Jab. Block.
Ah, that’s it
.
She swung hard, connecting with another neck and separating it from the rest of
its body.
Ha
. A flapping sound had
her spinning around, and she ducked as the winged female zinged over her
carrying another demon. It fought her as she carried him, but Raven had the
distinct feeling she would win.

She
did. He wailed as her claws sheared his head clean off, and she sent the
remains flying out the window. Raven liked her already. The girl knew how to
keep this clean. Relatively, anyway, which was all that mattered.

A
demon passed by her, and she reached out for its ankle. As soon as her hand
made purchase, she yanked, sending the bastard to the floor. She was on him in
the next instant, hilt in hand. A quick twist and sending it downward, she…

Froze.
One of Raine’s sons blocked her blow and threw her off of him.

“Sorry.”
She shrugged and rolled to her feet as Ethan got to his. His brows were drawn
low, his breath heaving in and out of his chest.

“Watch
what you’re doing,” he growled. Turning away, he punched someone in the jaw,
sending them crashing into a wall. The demon made quite a show of it, with bits
of building material flying in all directions. Gods, there was just so much to
take in: screeches and growls, swords and daggers clanging, some high-pitched
wailing sound that just repeated over and over again, and the sound of battle.

She
turned away from Ethan with a roll of her eyes. Well, he could just be pissed
at her. Mistakes happened all the time in war. And it wasn’t as though she had
actually
stabbed
him for Goddess’s
sake. As she turned, more bodies flying into walls caught her attention. Some
were Guardians, some demons. Either way, the home wasn’t in good condition.
Fire blazed from the palms of multiple demons, two of which she recognized.
There were also flying weapons of every shape and size whizzing through the
air, barely missing her head. The only winged creature in the room spun
quickly, and Raven watched in awe as her opponent coursed through the air and
slammed into the ceiling. More dust plumed as he fell to the floor, crushing
any poor souls who happened to be under him. She didn’t get a chance to see who
got pinned though. An arm wound around her neck and pulled her against a tall,
hard body. She lifted her right leg and felt the jar run from toe to hip as her
boot connected with the bastard’s head. He let loose his grip, and she turned,
shoving her wrist upward into his nose. It made a crunching sound, and she
smiled to herself, almost laughing because she’d already broken his nose with
the toe of her boot. The asshole fell backward, cupping his hands over it as
his eyes teared. She pierced his chest with a quick thrust downward with her
sword and propelled herself over him before yanking her blade free.