The Valkyrie's Guardian (38 page)

Cassie? What's going on?

Shh. I'm concentrating. Sit still.
She worked side by side with Henry, fascinated by the explosive dimension he'd opened. She was accustomed to working with electrical impulses, fluids and cells. Henry's power succeeded where hers fell short, because he operated on a sub-atomic level. He commanded the matter to transform, and the beautiful circuitry of particles zinged and rotated at his bidding. Physics on steroids, even like nanotech. Kyros would freak out.

She worked quickly, managing all the repairs she'd wished she could have done yesterday, racing against the fatigue beating her down. Henry nudged her impatiently, and she felt like a freshman stuck in a theoretical calculus exam. She thought askance that Henry was wise to always keep his mind shielded. He'd mow everyone over with this kind of power unleashed.

At last she and Henry agreed it was done, and Jack eased back onto the mattress as the pain subsided. Cassie murmured her thanks and curled up on Jack's shoulder, unable to hold back the exhaustion any longer. She drifted pleasantly, high on the wonder of working a miracle.

“Progeny.”

“Hmm?” was all she could manage.

“Fire and Ice. Shield maiden of Odin.”

Cassie blinked awake with a jolt. “You can hear the baby? Is she okay?”

“She?”
Jack half-shouted.

Sorry, I didn't get a chance to tell you. Lyssa said she heard a female presence.

Henry shook his head. “Children of Odin.”

“Right, it's a valkyrie, a female.”

Henry scowled then pounded his forehead on the mattress.

She stilled him with a hand on his shoulder. “What is it? If you don't want to tell me bad news, you don't have to. It's okay.” Cassie turned her face to Jack's, hating the knowing expression he wore.
I might have lost the baby yesterday, Kyros wouldn't say.

“Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of water!” Henry shouted, his fists clenched.

It felt like a bad game of charades.

“Cassie, I think he means twins.” Jack scrubbed his face with his hands. “Is that what you mean, Cheese?”

“Expressing agreement or assent,” Henry sighed, as though they were the two stupidest people in the whole world.

Her mouth hung open. Unattractive, she knew, but even if she managed to move her mouth, her brain wouldn't process the words. Jack gusted a few heavy breaths then burst out laughing. It was the unhinged sound of a maniac, nothing in common with mirth.

“Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice.”

Cassie fought to calm the prickling behind her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. “I know, Henry. I'm not scared.”

He shook his head again. “Fire and Ice. A state of equilibrium.”

“Okay. I get it. Hang on, okay?”
Lyssa! Can you come?

Lyssa's mental voice answered from somewhere upstairs.
Sure. Everything all right?

Maybe.

The two minutes and twelve seconds before Lyssa came through the door were the longest of Cassie's life. She explained what went on with Henry. “Can you hear it, too? Do you know what he means?”

Lyssa knelt, closed her eyes and touched Cassie's belly. A smile turned up the corners of her mouth, and she chuckled in an irritatingly delighted tone. “Oh, wow. This is new.” She squinted in concentration, and Cassie fought the urge to shout,
What? What?

“Her voice is louder. This is going to sound so weird, but I think she's younger, by weeks. Because behind her is the boy. He's quiet, and he's huge. Not just his size, but his development. Like two months. The girl is more like one month. I can hardly believe it, Cass, but you do have twins.” She looked up and smiled with misty eyes. “Congratulations, mommy and daddy.”

Cassie went dizzy and thought she might pass out. She put a hand to her forehead and fought the swoon. The heavy thud on the floor meant Jack wasn't so lucky. “That went over well.”

Lyssa bit back a smile. “He should have stuck around for the punchline. Equilibrium, fire and ice. I can see now what Henry means. The two babies soothe each other. Their energy works like yin and yang. With any luck, it should mean an easier time for you.”

“Only two months along and I can't even jog half a mile without contractions doubling me over.”

“I'm no expert, but you're carrying twins. Extra-sentient twins. I don't think you're supposed to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Bed rest is probably in order. Lots of it.”

“Shoot me now.”

Lyssa laughed as Jack came to and pulled himself back onto the bed, looking shell-shocked. “I think you're going to be fine, but Jack will need the anesthesia.” Everyone but Jack thought it was funny.

Lyssa hugged Cassie tightly and whispered,
I am so happy for you,
then
ushered Henry out the door, leaving Jack and Cassie alone again.

“Jack, please tell me you're happy.”

“Of course I'm happy.” He said it in the same tone he would say,
I hate traffic!
“Sorry.” He sighed and squeezed his temples. “I'm sorry, Cass. I was scared to death
before
this.” He closed his eyes and confessed, “I can't lose you.”

“Don't talk like that.” She balanced her hands on his shoulders and straddled his lap. “Whether it's tomorrow, eight months from now or eighty years, I will die without regrets. I already have everything I want, Jack. You make me so happy, it's enough for me. I love you.”

“Loan me half of your courage and I'll make it through, lass.” He kissed her temple and drew a deep breath with his nose pressed to her hair.
Tha gaol agam ort-fhèin, anam cara.

You say things in Gaelic with such a sexy voice, how do I know you're not teasing me?

I said I love you too, and called you ‘anam cara,' my soul mate.

Hmm. Okay now shut up, I want to fall asleep with that fresh in my mind. Say it again.

Anam cara.

Cassie took one bite of her chocolate birthday cake and her stomach heaved. She smiled, because this time it didn't mean she was pregnant. Hallelujah.

Eighteen-month-old Max sat on her foot, cheerfully tying her shoelaces in knots. Three-year-old William and Maggie raced up and down the hallway upstairs, rattling the light fixtures in the dining room below. Cassie had quit yelling for them to calm down an hour ago; it was a lost cause. Jack was coming home tonight — any moment now, and they were excited.

She sampled the frosting on her finger just to be sure. Even more revolting than the cake. Ever since the twins were born she'd had a suspicion, which she tested occasionally. The way her C-section scars had healed, her shifting appetite, how her body reacted to artificial flavoring and preservatives … she might be immortal. Either she was late in developing it, or she had Jack to thank for it.

Kyros had confirmed that her blood composition still closely resembled Jack's, and theorized her physiology had been altered by the exchange of genetic material while the children developed
in utero
. She'd wondered the same. It was a matter of wait-and-see. Most immortal extra-sentients knew it when their driver license looked like a joke.

When most men were balding and softening around the middle, Jack still looked every bit the collegiate football star. Since she'd proven able to survive bearing his children, it was nice to know she could have the rest of her fairytale and live forever with him. Cassie knew
forever
meant until their luck ran out, but that was the uncertainty every soldier's family lived with.

It never got easier, the waiting and wondering when Jack deployed. His scent lingered on his pillow and it fooled her brain into imagining his comfort as she slept, but that only lasted a week or so before it faded. Sometimes she could point to a spot on the globe with a toy airplane and say to the kids,
Daddy flew on an airplane, all the way over here.
Other times he left the same minute his pager went off and came home as mysteriously, and she had to guess where he'd been by unpacking his gear. Even harder to wear a poker face when Chief called her in to heal an operator, and she saw first-hand what the team went up against.

Yes, any minute now. She couldn't wait. Cassie looked over the kitchen, having just won a battle versus two days' worth of stinky dishes. She had their humble three-bedroom suburban house looking as well as could be expected, considering the offspring she wrangled on a daily basis.

After a nasty argument with Jack over money, involving his pay grade, her inheritance, and interference from Kyros, she insisted on being a housewife. She'd proven she wasn't a snob, and it was worth it just to shut him up on the subject. He'd quit sulking after only one day, when he came home to find her wearing his apron and nothing else. So she stayed home with the kids and hadn't looked back.

Maybe someday she would try a career in a fast-paced, high-stakes field, work for some agency with an official-sounding acronym as a name … but after Will and Maggie had dismantled the trampoline in the backyard last week, she decided she had all the excitement she could handle for now. Between the kids and the occasional call from SEAL Team Three, she had her hands full. Besides, her children would only be little for such a short time, and she didn't want to miss it.

The sound of the garage door opening brought the twins down the stairs with all the commotion of a Roman chariot race. She heard a thud, a crash, then high-pitched arguing voices. Sounded like she'd have to patch the drywall again. She goalie-snatched Will and Maggie, wiped the nose of one and tied the shoe of the other, then they were off again.

She heard Jack shout, “Look out, it's the cavalry!” The kids cheered as he picked them up. “Where's our birthday girl, huh?”

Cassie closed her eyes in pleasure at the sound of his voice. Always it felt like a gift, that sexy tenor rumble that made her shiver in anticipation. He filled the doorway, and her heart kicked then settled into rhythm with his. Heat flared between them, charging the air with an erotic thrumming that had only grown stronger with time.

He wore his ceremonial uniform, which made his shoulders look impossibly huge, and the contrast of the starched white fabric made the light green facets in his eyes shine.

The kids were eager, shouting, “Dad! Hey, Dad! Guess what, Dad!”

Wow, Jack. Dress whites?

Maggie sat in the crook of his arm, flipping over a row of medals pinned to his chest. Will squirmed in his other arm, tugging on the gold bars atop his shoulders. Max yanked on his trousers, and Jack tossed the squealing baby and sat him on his shoulders. He looked quite a sight, carrying his soldier pack, two duffels, and three children talking a mile a minute.

Um, yeah.
He shrugged.
We had a thing at the base.

I'm a sucker for a man in uniform.

How 'bout a man in no uniform?
One corner of his mouth pulled into a smile, making those debonair lines in his cheeks that always gave her stomach butterflies.

Even better, baby.

Maggie shot Jack a suspicious look and realized her parents were communicating privately. She tried to hack in, but Jack blocked her amateur signal, letting her bounce off his mindshield.

Mind your manners,
Cassie chided. Maggie gave a sheepish smile that never failed to charm her father. Jack pecked a kiss to her temple.

“Hey, happy birthday, Cass.”
He leaned to kiss her, slow and deep until the kids complained about being squished between them.

“Thanks for making it back in time.”

“Wouldn't miss it for the world. I have a present for you.”
He dropped his luggage and Godzilla-walked with the kids to the living room sofa. He unbuttoned the top of his uniform and draped the jacket over a chair, then got down on all fours and wrestled the kids, letting them climb all over him.

Maggie's bronze hair raised in a fledgling thrum of static as her temper flared, and she snarled like a kitten, angry at being toppled over by Will. Jack scolded her,
Be nice, lass. Cool down.
He tickled her, making her war with her pouty expression. Thankfully, Maggie was too young to wield lightning — little spitfire — but if it proved to be purple, then the vision in Cassie's dreams of a red-headed valkyrie had been true. Jack folded the pouty little brat in a tight hug and squeezed until Maggie shouted, “I'm happy! Okay, I'm happy now!”

Cassie sat on the sofa with a glass of water, content to just have him home. She should have known better. He snatched the glass away and scooped her up by the waist. “Dogpile on Mom!” he called, and three adorable war cries sounded, followed by the shockingly rough impact of her little berserker children. Two berserkers and one valkyrie, to be precise. She howled as a knobby little knee knocked her in the ribs, it really hurt.

“Aw, cute little bugger, isn't he?”

Cute as a blunt-force trauma.

Jack gathered Will in his arms, restraining the flurry of beefy toddler-sized limbs. “Easy, Will. Be gentle.” He kissed the dark head and set the boy on his feet. “Why don't you bring in my pack? I have a surprise for you.”

Will dashed back through the kitchen. Maggie caught up and shoved him, vying for first in a race that never ended between them. Jack gave a sentimental cluck as Will trudged back in with the pack hefted over his shoulder, the little boy trying to carry it the same way he'd seen his father do. It was quadruple his size and weighed over 140 pounds, stuffed with ammo and gear. Maggie came behind towing the duffels, not to be outdone.

The kids bounced, giddy with anticipation while Jack unhooked the clips on his pack. He produced bundles of wooden dowels, two rolls of duct tape, and a bolt of cheesecloth sheeting. The kids cheered and clambered to get their hands on the booty.