Sun's Tear (The Valkyrie's Passion Book 2): A Valkyrie/Shifter Romance (14 page)

Raven

Gunfire erupted. I took a deep breath. “Ready?”

“Let's kick their asses, Valkyrie,” growled Big Hoss. “Fucking pigeons need to learn not to fuck with wolves.”

“Good luck, Raven,” Haleigh called.

I burst out around the corner, my armor clinking, and raced towards the two guards. They were distracted, glancing through the open back door. Screeches and more gunshots crashed together. A wolf howled, and an aurora swept over the top of the bar.

My wolf was fighting.

The excitement built inside of me as I ran faster. It burst out in a primal shout. The two Blood Eagle guards spun, their faces wide. One transformed, sprouting crimson feathers and ripping his jeans. He flapped his wings, energy crackling about his feathers.

Big Hoss fired his gun beside me. The were-eagle staggered back and cawed in pain, the energy dissipating from his reeling body. I reached the were-eagle and cut him down with a single swipe of my sword.

Feathers burned as they drifted through the air.

“Bitch,” cawed the second guard. He had transformed. The air was alive around him with crackling energy. The hairs on my arms stood up as electricity raced across his body towards his beak. He was building up for an attack.

I had no intention of finding out what would happen.

I rammed my sword through his gut and then kicked him off my blade.

“Let's go,” I shouted to Big Hoss and charged into the back of the bar.

~   ~   ~

Magnus

I snarled as my body convulsed on the ground, electricity coursing through me. My fur smoked. I howled in rage and ignored the convulsions. I threw myself to my feet and launched at the were-eagle that fired the lighting bolt that struck me. The creature cawed in shock as I crashed into his body.

My teeth found his scrawny throat. Blood gushed as I tore.

I landed on his corpse and threw myself into the midst of all the screeching were-eagles. Bullets tore into them as I swung my ax and my clawed hand. I howled as blood sprayed through the air and were-eagles fell before my ax.

Lightning slammed into my back. I staggered, my muscles convulsing. My rage would not let me fall.

Two were-eagles slammed into my back, their talons biting into my flesh and bearing me down to the ground. I rolled, their sharp claws slicing my hide open. I slammed my ax into one's guts and kicked at the other, snapping his knee.

I was the wolf. The Einherjer. I howled in disdain as I rose.

These pigeons could not hurt me.

I swung my ax, cutting through the thin neck of another as I fought to the bar. Gunshots erupted from the back. My Valkyrie fought. I had to reach her. I had to defend her. I cut through the were-eagles, ignoring their pecking beaks, bolts of lightning, and tearing talons.

I was beyond pain.

I charged at the door. The Thief stepped out.

I howled as I lunged at him. He would not stand in my way.

~   ~   ~

Raven

Griff stood in the center of the bar holding a spear made of burning light, white-yellow electricity crackling over its glowing surface. Warmth rippled over my skin—the Sun's Tear had been transformed and enhanced.

“Valkyrie,” he grinned as he clutched the spear. His other hand touched the edges of a bloody wound where his right eye should be—my sword's work.

Big Hoss came in behind me. He fired at Griff. The bullets struck a wavering shield of heat. Cherry-red flashes flared every time one of the bullets would have hit Griff. Molten lead dripped to the ground, smoking on the wooden floor.

“Fuck,” Big Hoss shouted as Griff leveled his spear.

A bolt of white-hot lightning shot at Big Hoss. The burly biker dived behind a table. The bolt struck wood. The table cracked and splintered, falling into burning pieces on the floor and Big Hoss.

“You owe me an eye, Valkyrie,” Griff roared as he charged at me, the spear leveled before him.

The point of the spear crackled. I swung my sword, sweeping in before me in a curtain of fire. Metal rang on metal. Sparks of electricity and fire exploded. My sword crashed into his spear and knocked it to the side. I spun around Griff and he barreled past me.

His spear embedded in the wall. Wood smoked. A surge of electricity ran through the bar. Lights hanging from the ceiling exploded, showering the ground in broken shards. Burnt plastic and ozone tanged the air.

I whipped around and lunged my sword at Griff's back.

“Bitch,” he growled as he yanked his spear from the wall. He spun about with near impossible speed, bringing the point to bear at me.

He lunged a stop-thrust at my chest.

I skidded to a halt and backpedaled. My feet moved the way Magnus taught me, keeping the point of the crackling, burning spear from finding my stomach. I swung my sword and deflected the spear to the right. I lunged in at the biker.

Griff recovered.

The spear's haft hit my side before my blade could reach Griff. Sparks crackled. Pain flared through me. Fuzzy agony burned across my nerves. I staggered to the side and snarled. I forced my sword to move, to parry his strokes.

I had to figure out a way to overcome his reach.

Big Hoss fired his gun, but his bullets were useless against the magical protection around Griff. I had to dance back before Griff's attacks. He rapidly stabbed the spear at me. The haft slid through his hand, the point darting in and out at me like stabbing lightning.

Think, Raven. There had to be a way to defeat him.

I crashed back through tables, spilling them over in a clatter of smashing bottles. I stumbled on a bar stool. I crashed onto my back. My foot tangled between the bar stool's legs. I kicked as I crawled backward, vainly trying to shake off the stool.

Griff didn't hesitate. He saw the kill. He lunged in at me.

I swung. My sword deflected the spear to the side. The point buried into the floor an inch from my face. My skin tingled. Static energy crackled around the spear. Impulsively, I grasped the spear's haft with my hand and held it in place while I stabbed.

Pain seized my muscles. I screamed as the electricity raced up my nerve endings and spread through my body. My jaw clenched shut. My hand locked about the haft of the spear. I couldn't let go. Griff wrenched the spear back.

He dragged me up with him.

The acrid odor of burnt ozone grew stronger. A billion needles stabbed my body. Griff's snarling face appeared before me, his bloody wound staring at me. His free hand reached out, fingers long, bent like an eagle's talons. They raced for my throat.

I had to move my body. I had to fight the pain. I was a Valkyrie, the daughter of Sigrid and Ragnar.

The pain didn't matter. Not if doing nothing meant my death. I had to act.

I thrust my sword forward. The point slid through his chest as easily as a spoon digging into jello.

~   ~   ~

Magnus

I charged the Thief. He tried to kill my Valkyrie. He butchered my club. Today, he died.

The blubbery-gray body of the Thief moved as I raised Heimdall's ax in both hands. I leaped and swung the ax down at the blubbery monster. The Thief twisted his bulk to the side, grunting in shock. The ax flashed down in a streak of rainbow light.

The ax crashed into the ground. An ivory tusk tumbled through the air. The Thief had dodged, but not fast enough. One of his two tusks, his only weapons, had been severed. I snatched the spinning tusk out of the air with my right hand, holding it like a dagger.

“You will pay for that affront, pup,” snarled the Thief.

“You can try,” I growled, the words guttural through my snout and hungry teeth. I threw the broken tusk at him.

The ivory end streaked like a javelin. The Thief howled as it impaled into his right shoulder. He stumbled back, clutching the spike. Foul blood leaked from his wound, trickling down his shoulder and blubbery chest. He howled in rage and tried to move his right arm.

I howled in delight. The Thief couldn't move his right arm.

“I have killed far more formidable threats than you, pup,” the Thief growled. “I slew—”

I didn't give a damn about who he had killed. Thomas, Rick, Sam, Boots, Poncho, Jim, Rash, Griz, Heineken, and the rest of my brothers. Those were the only names I cared about. I howled as I swung the ax at his gut.

The Thief retreated as rainbows burst around us. I drove him back as I snarled for blood. The ax blurred with every swing. I never relented. I ignored the burning in my muscles. Rage pushed me beyond my limits.

I savored the scent of his fear. Greasy, cowardly, acrid—like piss. The foul stench poured off of him as I drove him back. With every swing, my ax came closer to tasting his flesh. He stomped over the corpses of the Blood Eagles.

The Thief slipped on their blood. He landed on his back.

“No,” the Thief shouted as my ax flashed down. “You don't under—”

I savored the wet crunch and the meaty thunk. My ax buried into his chest. His body convulsed. He gurgled. Blood poured from his mouth. I howled as I ripped out the ax, leaving behind a gaping wound. He spasmed. He tried to speak.

“All your plans are undone,” I growled, staring into his eyes.

He gasped one last time and fell still.

I howled my triumph.

“We fucked them up, Magnus,” laughed Skid.

Thunder gazed down at the carnage, his face still. “Won't bring them back, but our brothers have company in hell.”

I snarled an agreement. My brothers were never coming back. I gripped my ax, letting my grief feed my rage, and loped into the bar to find my Valkyrie. Inside, it was chaos.

“Fuck,” Big Hoss muttered as he rose from behind a wrecked table.

My eyes scanned for Raven. I could smell her scent. The bar reeked of ozone, melted plastic, and burnt wood. The lights had all burst, their shattered bulbs smoking. Metal rattled. I threw a table to the side. Raven heaved Griff's corpse off of her. She grabbed a spear that burned like the sun and crackled like a Tesla coil. She forced herself to stand, her face twisted against her pain.

“Magnus,” she gasped. “Oh, my god, you're hurt.”

Raven was magnificent. Her silver armor stained with Griff's crimson blood. Her face flushed, her jaw tight. She had fought and overcome. My warrior woman stood victorious. The spear was ours, we had to—

A hand seized my neck in a strong grip. Iron fingers crushed my windpipe. I tried to howl, but no air escaped my throat.

Odin, the one-eyed god, held me in his powerful fist. His grizzled face burned with greed as he stared at Raven. At the spear she held. The Sun's Tear.

I struggled in Odin's grip. I swung Heimdall's ax. Odin casually caught it in his free hand and wrenched it from my paw. He threw it to the side. A table splintered and crashed to the floor, shattered by the ax.

“It is time to restore Sol, Valkyrie,” Odin growled.

Raven

Magnus struggled in Odin's iron grip. The war god did not flinch as the werewolf's claws raked his iron mail. Odin fixed his one good eye on me. Owen lurked in the cruel god's face. How could he have fooled me? I had cared for the old, broken veteran.

I had no idea he was such a snake.

“So Loki was right,” I spat. “I have to kill Magnus to restore Sol.”

“Yes.” Odin's fist tightened. “Blood must be sacrificed. Someone dear must pay. It has ever been this way. Men have forgotten the price they need to pay for the gods' protection. They used to pay it willingly. At Uppsala they offered me such death.”

Odin's face twisted with exultation like a slimy televangelist extorting his followers to send him more money all in the name of false promises. His eye lifted upward. He held Magnus aloft. My werewolf's clawed feet slashed uselessly across the mail coat Odin wore as he struggled to breathe.

“Plunge the spear into him, Valkyrie,” commanded Odin. “This is why you were born.”

“The prophecy?” I sneered. “That's why you let my parent's die.”

“Your parents had served their purpose. They birthed you. They were no longer needed. And their death was necessary.” Odin fixed his eye on me. “The world is cruel. It is not a happy place. That is the delusion your society tells you. The truth is happiness is paid for with death and suffering. Sacrifices have to be paid. Blood has always been the price of civilization.

“Now thrust your spear, Valkyrie!”

“No!”

My word rang through the bar. I gripped the spear tight in my hands. It crackled about my grip, but no longer harmed me. I had claimed the Sun's Tear. It was my weapon now. I had the choice. I could aid the Aesir or I could stop them.

“I know the truth. I don't have to kill Magnus to save my fires.” My eyes narrowed. “I just have to kill you.”

Odin's eye widened. Fear shone in it as I aimed the lance at his heart. I could kill him with this weapon. I charged forward, howling with all my rage. Odin was responsible for all the suffering in my life. He let my parents die. He made me an orphan. I had to live in terrible foster home after terrible foster home.

Odin wanted me strong. He wanted me dangerous. He wanted me to be a warrior.

Odin got what he wanted.

“Ungrateful bitch,” snarled Odin. He threw Magnus to the right and swept out a crimson sword, knocking my attack to the side.

Magnus landed on the floor. His growl was hoarse as he rose. My werewolf joined me in battle. Today, we would win our freedom.

~   ~   ~

Magnus

My vision went red.

I became rage.

I threw myself at Odin as he dueled Raven and her crackling lance. I slipped past Odin's crimson blade and crashed into his armored body. My teeth buried into the mail. I tried to rip the steel apart. I clawed and snarled.

Odin shrugged me off his body. I crashed into the shelves behind the bar. Alcohol rained down on me, coating my body, mixing with my blood. I clawed over the counter and charged in.

Odin and Raven danced around the room. The one-eyed god's sword screamed with every swing. He battered Raven's spear to the side and drove my Valkyrie back.

“What are you doing, Raven?” Odin demanded. “You belong to me. Your ancestor swore it.”

“I don't give a damn what my ancestor swore,” snarled Raven. “Magnus is my man. I will not kill him for any reason.”

I howled and leaped.

Odin twisted, turning his sword to swing at me. Raven lunged in, her spear stabbing. The one-eyed god stumbled back, crushing a bar stool with his heavy boot. I landed before him and threw myself into his torso, wrapping my arms around him.

“Stab him,” I snarled.

Raven thrust the spear over my head. Odin seized the haft. The god screamed in pain. His body convulsed beneath me. Electricity danced through his armor. My fur singed, the current arcing into my body. My rage swallowed the pain, but I was thrown back and crashed into Raven.

“Damn,” she grunted as I bounced off and landed at her feet.

“Kill him,” I howled as she leaped over me, her silver armor flashing in the golden light of her lance.

Odin swung his sword. Electricity crackled and Odin's blade screamed. It was the sound of a thousand men dying in battle. The clash of their weapons shook the bar. Glass rattled. Timbers groaned. Raven roared. Odin snarled.

A powerful fist caught Raven's throat. A smile appeared on Odin's lips. He threw her over his shoulder. Raven screamed as she crashed through the outer wall of the bar. Daylight flooded in through the hole she left.

I threw myself at Odin. No iron mail or screaming sword would stop me from ripping the one-eyed god limb from limb.

~   ~   ~

Raven

I stared up at the blue sky. The sun's weak light fell on me. Cold gripped me. My fires died. The more I fought, the faster I used up my life.

I had to get up. I lay covered in splintered wood. My thoughts fuzzed. My head throbbed. Stars danced before me and the world grew fuzzy.

“She hit her head,” a distant man said. “Christ, she's bleeding bad.”

Who hit her head? Were they talking about me?

Hooves thudded and clopped. I knew that sound. I heard it the day my parent's died. Odin rode up on an eight-legged horse, galloping over the dead Blood Eagles. His one eye fixed on me, full of sorrow.

No. That couldn't be right. He wanted me to kill Magnus.

Odin dismounted from his steed. His mail jingled as he walked over to me. He knelt and touched my head. “My poor Valkyrie.”

My head rang. The world went blurry for a moment. I didn't hear him right. It hurt to think. Odin couldn't have said those words. He wanted me to suffer. He wanted me to kill Magnus.

I thrust the spear through his chest.

The Sun's Tear parted through his mail. Electricity crackled, melting the iron loops of Odin's armor. Cherry-red metal dripped down Odin's chest like blood. Smoke poured from his wound.

“Raven?” he asked, stunned. “W-what?”

“I'm free,” I moaned as I sat up.

Odin fell back. “Free?” Blood stained his white beard. “Why did you...?”

Why was he confused? I forced myself up, using the spear as leverage. The world swam about me for a moment. My stomach twisted.

“Because of the prophecy,” I hissed as I leaned on the butt of the spear. “I won't kill Magnus to save Sol.”

Odin's forehead furrowed. “What prophecy? Why would you have to kill Magnus?”

“A sacrifice.” Doubt gnawed at me. What was going on? Why would he deny his words? Why had he rode up on a horse when he was in the bar. “You told me I had to kill Magnus to restore Sol. A sacrifice.”

Another Odin crashed through the hole I had made in the bar, Magnus tearing at his armor. This Odin fell to the ground, links of metal flying off his armor as Magnus savaged him.

“What is going on?” I groaned. “How are there two of you?”

“A trick,” Odin groaned. “The Thief...”

“Yes, the Thief,” the corpse of the Thief said, sitting up. The blubbery body became Loki, handsome, immaculately dressed in his Italian suit. “The Thief of the Brisingamen at your service, lady Valkyrie.”

Magnus looked up from the Odin he savaged and growled. The Odin beneath him became Loki as well. The second Loki heaved Magnus off of him and stood up, dusting himself off. I gaped at them. What was going on?

“H-how are there two of you.”

“It's a simple enough trick,” Loki grinned. A third one appeared and seized Magnus by the throat as he rose.

“Y-you killed my son,” the real Odin panted. “You gave Hother the javelin that slew Baldur.”

“I will kill all the gods,” Loki smiled as he stood over me. “Or, more specifically, your Valkyrie will.”

“You tricked me.” I stared down in horror at Odin. “I...I...” I killed Owen. I stabbed a spear through his chest. I looked up at Loki. “I trusted you.”

“I told you I was a liar, Raven,” Loki laughed. He knelt down before me. I recoiled as he reached out to touch me. “A pity I never seduced you. But to twist you into my weapon...what a delicious trick.”

“The prophecy? I wasn't special?”

“No, just vain.” Loki stood up and looked around before his eyes settled on Odin. “The end of the Aesir approaches. You all spat and pissed on me. You used me as your errand boy. You chained my children. You chained me. And now everyone you love will die.”

“I won't kill them for you,” I hissed, gripping the spear. “You can't make me.”

Loki laughed. I forced myself to stand and brandished the spear at him. His chortle mocked me.

“I will kill you first before I would ever kill the gods for you.”

“Raven,” Loki shook his head. “I won't have to make you do anything. You dealt Odin the mortal blow. Frigg, his wife, will be out for blood. Thor, Freyr, Tyr, and the rest will come for you. Raven, you will wield the Sun's Tear over and over. You will slay the gods for me to keep you and your wolf alive.”

Loki leaned over me. “Unless you want him to die.”

Snarling, I thrust my spear. All three Lokis laughed and then they vanished, my weapon passing through nothing.

Magnus became human. His body was burned, cut, and battered. He staggered to me. “Fuck, Raven.”

I nodded my head, tears burning my eyes. I knelt down next to Owen. “I'm so sorry, Owen.”

“Death comes to every one,” Owen whispered, his voice hoarse. “You must restore Sol before your fires burn out. Be strong. Find a way to stop Loki.”

“Loki said I would need...” I glanced down at the spear. Listening to Loki had caused this entire mess. “How do I restore Sol, Owen?”

The god smiled. His hand reached out and brushed my cheek. “I am sorry for making you suffer. I tried to save your parents.”

I closed my eyes. I believed Loki. Why did I ever let that snake poison my mind? How could I have been so stupid? He used me. He made himself seem so hurt and vulnerable. I wanted to help him. To nurse him like a wounded bird.

“How do I restore Sol?” I repeated.

“Throw the spear at the sun,” Owen groaned. “Restore your fires.” Odin seized my hand. A thousand screams echoed inside of me for a moment. I staggered back.

“What was that?”

“A gift.” Owen's voice was weak. His eye closed. “My last...gift...Valkyrie...”

His breathing ended. The chief god of the Aesir died at my hands.

“What did I do, Magnus?” I sobbed.

His arm went around me. I wanted to be held by him, but I needed to do one last thing. I gripped the spear tight. It crackled in my hand. A reddish hue suffused its yellow glow. Tears burned in my eyes as I threw the spear at the sun.

Brilliance exploded. Heat burned through me. The fires were angry, burning Owen's blood.

I leaned into Magnus. He held me.