Struck: (Phoebe Meadows Book 1) (18 page)

I crawled in next to him. It was too hot for blankets.

After a few moments, he wrapped an arm around my waist and I scooted back against his chest. Energy immediately began to seep into me. It wasn’t a big current like before, when we had been intimate, but it was there. I hoped, after hours of sleeping this close to an energy source, I’d wake up feeling even better.

We lay together for a while in silence, but I was too curious to go to sleep. “How did you arrive here?” I finally asked. “You said you used to live in Asgard and you were banished. But why?”

“Ah, Valkyrie, that is a long story indeed.” He stretched, repositioning himself, settling his arm over me once again.

Having him this close relaxed me. I could get used to this peaceful feeling, like nothing bad could happen if we just lay together like this. “I’m not going anywhere for a while, so feel free to make the story long, chock full of good, quality details.”

Fen chuckled, and his arm tightened around my waist. “I will answer your questions, but in return you must answer mine.”

“Deal,” I said eagerly. I had nothing to hide.

“My story starts many years ago. As a young wolf, I could not control myself. A single year after I was born, my mother was no longer able to care for me. My father, the god Loki, was not a part of my life in any way. I was brought to Asgard so the gods could watch over me. One god in particular, Tyr, son of Odin, was designated my keeper. Tyr is the god of war. He was the only god right for the job, strong in both body and mind.”

“Did you become friends?”

“In a way. It was more a pupil-to-master relationship, but I grudgingly learned to respect him over time. Without his guidance, I realize now, I would’ve been left unable to function as a man. His methods might have been considered harsh to some, but they were what I required.”

“How long did you stay under his tutelage?”

“Just short of three hundred years.”

I gasped. “You’re kidding me!” I tried to turn, but I was locked in Fen’s embrace, enjoying the slow current of energy trickling in, and he held me steady.

Fen laughed, his chest rumbling, causing my body to shake and more energy to filter in. “No, Valkyrie, I’m not. Midgard operates very differently than the other realms. Humans have a life-span that seems only a moment to us.”

Sadness washed over me as I thought about my family and friends. If I really was a Valkyrie, they would be gone much too soon. “So what changed for you? Something had to have happened to land you here in this wretched place.”

“The Norns happened,” he replied, his jaw tight. I could detect the strain in his voice. This wasn’t going to be an easy story to relay, and I appreciated that he was going to tell it anyway. “It was their custom to journey to Asgard once a year for the Celestial Festival, our biggest celebration. It’s akin to your Christmas holiday, but lasts for a solid month. During their time there, they made predictions, scribed the future, told tall tales, and generally wreaked havoc. It is against the law to harm them in any way, and they are left to do as they please.”

“Verdandi was awful. I saw the other two for only a moment. One was beautiful. The other looked like a witch.”

“Urd is the witch. She deals in the past. Skuld is beautiful, but it’s deceiving. Her true form is that of a hag, like her sisters, but she is gifted with glamour, and she uses it mercilessly to bewitch others. She sees the future and is the prime reason why I find myself here. Verdandi deals in the present. She has the ability to see only what’s about to happen, a few minutes before and a few after. Together they are a great force and are fearsome if crossed. This particular festival, they were asked to predict events of Ragnarok, which they did happily before a large crowd.”

“Ragnarok?”

“It puzzles me, Valkyrie, how you can be so ignorant of our ways. Even if you were raised on Midgard, you should have had some instruction. Children of Asgard are told the story of Ragnarok almost at birth.”

I shook my head. “Believe me, I was raised human and only human. I’m still unsure if I’m actually a Valkyrie, but if I am, I’m a very ignorant one.”

Fen’s chest rose and fell against my back. I wasn’t sure if he was going to continue, but he did. “Ragnarok is our fated battle, the one that pits gods against gods. It is our final day of reckoning, as well as the end of the cosmos as we know it. Most will die, but some will live on for the rebirth. No one knows when it will occur, but the Norns know who will fight whom to the death.”

I stiffened beside him. “Do you die?” My heart began to beat faster.

“Indeed. But not before I kill a great leader, perhaps the greatest god of all.”

I exhaled slowly. This was not happy news. “Is that why they sent you here? Because you have to kill a god?”

“It is. On that fateful night, the Norns gleefully stirred their bubbling pot and Skuld foretold that I was destined to kill Odin in the battle of Ragnarok. After that, my life became a living chaos.”

My breath stuck in my throat, and I rose up on an elbow, turning to face him, his features serene in the low light. “Odin? You’re supposed to kill Odin?” Why couldn’t it be any other god? “Isn’t it hard to kill a powerful immortal? And if you know you’re supposed to do this horrible deed ahead of time, can’t you change your mind or something?”

“In our world, there is no escaping your destiny, shieldmaiden. Ragnarok has been foretold for thousands upon thousands of years, new details emerging as the hags see fit. The only exception is that no one knows when it will happen. It could be in a millennia, or it could be tomorrow.”

I settled back down, contemplating, inching my back closer to his chest, my body seeking his energy and comfort. I wasn’t ready to confess what Ingrid had told me about Odin being my father, because I had no idea if it was true or not. That was something I needed to figure out on my own first. “Did Odin banish you here himself?”

“He had a hand in it. But it was Tyr who ultimately tricked me.”

“Tricked you?”

“Valkyrie, my history is a very long saga, but boiled down, yes. I was fooled like a child. The day after the Norns’ prediction, they chained me up. But it didn’t last long. I broke every restraint with which they bound me. Over time, they had a special rope made, crafted by the dark elves. I did not know it was magical. Had I known, I would not have been hoodwinked so easily. Alas, my ego was inflated from all that I had bested. So when Tyr wagered me I could not break this new chain, I scoffed.” He growled. “When they showed me Gleipnir, the rope the elves had crafted, it looked as fine as silk. Nothing more than a wool spinner’s yarn. Of course I could break it! I was a demigod. So they bound me with it.” His voice dropped. “It was my undoing. I could not break it, no matter how hard I tried. The wager was set. If the rope held, I would be cast to another realm to live out my days. If it broke, I would be free.”

My heart ached for him. What a sad fate. He’d had to endure so much pain in his lifetime. “So they tossed you here just like that?”

“Not at first,” he answered after a moment. “The bet was that I would be banished, but it said nothing about escaping. I broke out of every realm they placed me in, and came back with a fury, trying to exact my vengeance on those who I felt had wronged me. I was feral, out of control. Muspelheim, this realm, was their final straw. I broke out once, and that’s when they sealed up all the portals. So you landing here was a shock indeed. It should not have been so.”

“Fen, I don’t know what to say.” It all seemed too severe, but what did I know about gods and their ways? “That’s…a horrible story. I’m sorry it happened to you.”

He chuckled. “A Valkyrie who feels for the rabid wolf. It is nothing short of a miracle.” His arm tightened around me. “I would almost think Ragnarok was upon us now, as it seems worlds have collided. But then I would be free of this place, yet here I languish.”

“That makes no sense whatsoever,” I said, my voice rising in anger. “If you’re going to be free
anyway
so you can fight in Ragnarok, why keep you here all these years? What a waste.”

“After the Norns’ prophecy was heard by all, the gods could not trust me any longer. They thought I would strike sooner than later. I was a threat in the face of their well-being.”

I shook my head adamantly, which rolled and bumped against Fen’s rigid chest. “Nope. Because if no one can escape their destiny, like you said, then you couldn’t have harmed Odin before Ragnarok began. Odin is
fated
to die at Ragnarok, not before.”

“It’s a mystery, I will give you that.” Fen’s chest rumbled. “But gods act in fear when they are threatened, as do humans. We are not so far apart in that respect. We want to protect ourselves against all odds, to live, to thrive. I didn’t…control myself well the times I escaped. I was beyond all reasoning, lost in a red rage. Therefore, each time I arrived back in Asgard, the gods were justified that they had made the right decision by banishing me. I was dangerous, a threat to everyone. So in a way, I helped seal my own fate.”

“Don’t say that!” I was truly angry now. “You were only acting like anyone would if they were banished from the home they loved. I would’ve been angry, too.”

“No, Valkyrie. I was
blind
to my anger. I would’ve killed anything that stood in my way, and did. My wolf form is fierce. It took an army to subdue me each time.”

“I saw you in your wolf form.” He had been beautiful and terrifying.

It was Fen’s turn to shake his head. “No. I rein myself in to fight the demons. They are a nuisance for me, not a true threat. If I truly let my beast out, the entire mountain would’ve been destroyed.”

“Oh,” was all I could say. Fen bigger and fiercer than what I’d seen would be overwhelming.

“Now it’s my turn to ask the questions.”

“Okay, but I don’t have that much to share. Like I said, I was born and raised a human and have led a boring life.” Up until now.

“Where do you hail from?” he asked.

“In Midgard? Wisconsin. It’s one of the fifty states in the United States of America.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-four.” I had to have turned twenty-four by now, but maybe my birthday was today? Hard to know. But snuggling next to Fen was as good a present as any. Getting back to New York would be even better. “I’ve lost track of time, but my birthday was a week after I was first struck.” I assumed my birth certificate had been faked, so it would be impossible for my parents to know my true birth date, but it couldn’t be off by that much. I had pictures of myself as a newborn.

“Have you ever witnessed strange things during your time in Midgard?”

“Yes.” I paused. “But not really until I hit New York. Then things got strange fast.”

“As one nears immortality, they have a heightened sense of the world around them. Many species from other realms visit Midgard. They are glamoured while they are there, as is mandatory, but you would have seen through some.”

I thought back to the man on the subway stairs and shivered. He had told me to get away. He had been trying to give me a warning. How had he known who I was?

“Do you know anything about your real parents or your lineage?” Fen asked.

“Not really,” I hedged. “I was kidnapped by the ettins an hour after my friend Ingrid told me I was in danger. She mentioned my mother was a shieldmaiden, as well as her sister. That would make Ingrid my aunt. That’s all I know, but it’s all still hard for me to believe it’s all true.”

“And your mother’s name?”

“Leela.”

“I’m not familiar with that moniker, though that’s not saying much. I have been far removed for a long time.”

“How long?”

“Six hundred years.”

“Oh…” I couldn’t fathom what he’d been through and how long it had been.

“We must rest, Valkyrie. There will be time to answer more questions tomorrow.”

My eyes slid shut, almost at his command. I was weary, but comfortable, my body taking as much as it could from my willing host. I knew my dreams would be filled with Fen and what had almost happened between us…and what still might be.

17

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I
’d found a pair of linen pants, which Fen had likely been saving, as there were no clothing stores down here in the pit of despair. After much discussion—me declining and him insisting—he’d cut them off to fit my height, and I’d donned them. I was in the process of threading an old rope through the pant loops as a makeshift belt when Fen came into the cave.

“The serpents say the pathway is clear. We will leave shortly.” Fen came up the stairs and gathered up his weapons, sticking them in a sheath he wore around his waist.

I nodded. I’d awoken feeling more refreshed, but still weak. I’d spent the morning soaking in the pool. My scars had healed even more, and I was in very little pain, which was nothing short of amazing considering what damage there had been. The energy I’d taken from Fen throughout the night had certainly given me some strength, but I needed more.

My dreams had been outrageous, as predicted. I’d dreamed of Fen and little else, tossing and turning throughout the night. Feeling his body electric next to mine this morning as I woke had almost taken me over the edge. The Valkyrie part of me wanted to devour him immediately and take everything I knew he was willing to offer. It’d taken everything I had to keep my hands to myself. I’d practically leaped from the pallet to get away. Fen hadn’t commented on my strange behavior, which was a relief, and had left me alone.