Truth's Heart (The Valkyrie's Passion Book 3): A Valkyrie/Shifter Romance (13 page)

“I...but...we're family. Why?”

“You killed Odin, baby sister,” the second woman hissed. There was a touch of French in her accent. “Did you think we would abide such a crime tainting our family?”

My stomach sank. All the exhilaration at discovering I had blood-relatives deflated out of me. My eyebrows furrowed. Tears beaded my eyes. Would I have to kill my own newly discovered sisters because of Loki's mad plan?

“Wait,” I said, holding out my hands. “Wait.”

“Do you have something to justify your crime?” scar-faced said.

“Just run our sister through, Brynhilda,” braid shouted.

“I want to know why she did it, Lynette,” snarled Brynhilda. Her eyes bore into mine. “Why, Raven? How could you betray our family? How could you kill our god? He cared for us. We were like his granddaughters, and you thrust your sword through his chest. The sword he gave you.” Spittle flew from her lips. “You broke your oath, Valkyrie. The oath that is ingrained into your bones. The oath our mother swore over you when she birthed you. How could you be so feckless? How can I share blood with a traitorous bitch?”

Magnus snarled. I put a hand on him. His body trembled. His muscles bulged. I could almost hear the wolf howling in his soul, demanding that he transform and rip her to shreds. I did not want to kill my own sisters. I did not want that blood on my hands.

“This has to be a nightmare,” I muttered, an almost hysteric laugh bubbling out of me. “All my life I spent living in foster homes, passed from one mediocre family to the next, always wishing that my real family would come for me, and now I discover that you were out there? I finally find you and you want to kill me.”

“I want to avenge Odin. His blood stains your hands.”

I glanced at my hands. The ring twitched on my finger, contracting and relaxing. My eyebrows furrowed. I glanced around the pool at Brynhilda and her flaming sword, the hulking Einherjer, and Lynette, standing without her weapon.

“Run her through,” Lynette shouted. “We do not need to listen to the traitor's lies. Restore the honor to our bloodline and let the crows feast on her body.”

“Why did you kill him?” roared Brynhilda.

“Because Loki tricked me,” I shouted back. “He's tricked all of us. He's manipulating us. Driving us to kill each other. He tricked Hother into killing Baldur. He tricked me into killing Odin. And now he's tricked you into killing your own sister.”

“That's your excuse?” A sneer curled Brynhilda's lips. “You were tricked. You let that lying worm deceive you into killing the very man you should have loved and respected. The man who saved you from Fenrir.”

Tears trickled down my cheeks. “Yes.” I looked into her eyes. It was like seeing into a mirror. “Please. Loki manipulated me. He made me think my choice was killing Odin or letting Odin kill my Einherjer.”

Brynhilda's eyes flicked to the Black man.

“This is foolishness,” snarled Lynette. She leaped forward, summoning her sword of fire in her hand, raising it over her head to strike.

Magnus snarled. His ax appeared, swinging in a blurring arc, leaving a sheet of rainbows in its wake. The weapons clashed. Fire and auroras burst together. Lynette landed in the water, her silver armor springing about her as she dueled Magnus.

Brynhilda's body shifted. Magnus's lessons gave me warning. I summoned my sword as my Valkyrie sister lunged. The slain screamed and fires crackled as our swords met. I stepped back, water sloshing around my legs.

Magnus snarled as he dueled Lynette, their weapons crashing together. My ring pulsed faster on my finger. Loki was here. He was masquerading as one of the three. Where was Lynette's Einherjer? Before I could ask, Brynhilda's sword slashed at me.

I barely parried her attack.

Her blue eyes stared at my blade as I stepped back, the water slowing me down. She kept her guard up as she advanced. “Why do you have Gungnir?”

“Odin gave it to me before he died.”

“But you killed him.” Brynhilda's eyebrows furrowed. She licked her lips. “Why would he give that to you?”

“Because he knew that I had been tricked. And...” My voice cracked. “He forgave me. He knew I would need it to stay alive and prove my innocence.” I lowered my sword. I couldn't kill my sister. “I did the worse thing you could do to a person. I rammed the Sun's Tear through his heart when he came to rescue me.” My shoulders shook. I looked at my sister's face and pleaded, “How could he forgive me?”

“I...”

“What are you doing?” snarled Lynette. “Kill the bitch.”

“She has Odin's spear merged with her sword,” Brynhilda snarled. “Don't you understand? We need to think this through.”

“There is nothing to think through.” Lynette swung her sword at Magnus. He paired and slashed back. His blade bit into her stomach, passing through her armor like it wasn't even there.

“That's not our sister,” I told Brynhilda. The ring pulsed more. “Lynette is Loki.”

“What are you talking about?” Brynhilda demanded.

“Loki can appear as anyone. He's very good at it. He has the Brisingamen. He's used that power to manipulate all of the gods and us.”

“No,” Brynhilda shook her head. “I know Lynette. For five hundred years, she has been my sister.”

“Then where is her Einherjer?”

“She said he died a few weeks back.” Brynhilda frowned. “How did he die, Lynette?”

“Does that really matter right now?” Lynette gasped. “A frost troll attacked us. Paedrick made a mistake. It got him killed. This isn't important. Kill our sister. Avenge Odin and restore honor to our mother's blood.”

“Where did we first meet?” Brynhilda asked.

“Orleans. 1567. When the Frost Giant Bergelmir breached Midgard with a pack of frost trolls. You arrived before Paedrick and I were overwhelmed. You saved my life and embraced me as your sister.”

“That is not when we first met,” Brynhilda frowned.

“Of course it was. What are you talking about?” She raised her sword and parried Magnus's attack.

“You don't remember when you were ten? Mother and father lived in Champagne. They were growing grapes of all things, enjoying their break from service while they raised you.”

Lynette frowned. “Yes, yes. But they didn't introduce you as my sister. They called you a cousin, right? Or maybe an aunt?”

“So you remember it?” Brynhilda asked, her eyes tightening. “You remember skinning your knee when you fell out of the apple tree?”

“Yes,” Lynette answered. “I loved to climb that tree.”

“You are Loki,” Brynhilda snarled. “Raven's right.”

“What?” Lynette asked.

“Lynette didn't live in Champagne growing up, but in Guyenne. And I never met her before Orleans.” The rage returned to mottle Brynhilda's face. “What did you do with my sister?”

I raised my sword and turned to face Loki-Lynette. Brynhilda's Einherjer let out a deadly snarl. Loki-Lynette cast her gaze around, fear paling her eyes. She glanced at my sword. Loki knew I killed one of his doppelgangers. He knew I could kill another.

“Well played, Raven,” Loki-Lynette spoke. The voice was feminine, but I recognized the mocking tone. “It was a mistake not to realize the danger you posed when you went to Muspellheim. It was a gamble. I so needed you to keep doing your good work. Thor was dead. I was hoping you would keep carving your way through the gods to prove your innocence. Alas, you have proven far more dangerous.”

“What did you do with Lynette? Is she dead?” Brynhilda advanced forward, her sword leveled. Her armor sprang about her in a flash of shining silver. “Speak, villain.”

“Why, I killed her and that moronic Irishman she chose as her Einherjer,” Lynette-Loki laughed. “I wore your face when I did it. You should have seen the confusion in Lynette's eyes when her dear, beloved, older sister rammed two feet of sword through her chest. She died cursing your name.”

Brynhilda let out an anguished roar and lunged her sword at Loki-Lynette. It passed through the trickster god. Loki-Lynette arched an eyebrow as Brynhilda yanked out her sword and thrust again and again, sobbing out her rage and grief.

But only one person could kill the doppelganger.

I sloshed through the water, my sword raised up high. Loki-Lynette stared at me. A mocking glint in her blue eyes. She raised her hand to give me a parting wave. Her body flickered. The ring on my finger burst with golden light that throbbed to the beat of my heart.

Loki-Lynette didn't teleport away.

Her blue eyes widened. She tried to raise her sword to parry my attack. It was too late. My overhand blow screamed down. My blade sheared through Loki-Lynette's shoulder blade and deep into her chest. Blood fell into the water.

Loki-Lynette fell back and died, her body morphing into rough clay.

Chapter Sixteen

Magnus

Raven trembled as she stared down at the rough, clay form that had been her sister Lynette. She let her sword vanish as Brynhilda fell to her knees in the water. It sank up to her shoulders as she grasped the clay body.

“He killed her,” she sobbed.

Brynhilda's Einherjer moved to her, splashing across the hot spring to engulf the grieving Valkyrie in his arms. Brynhilda clung to the Black man, sobbing into his chest. Raven raised her hand then lowered it. She walked to the edge of the hot spring and sat on the edge, her feet in the water, staring at the clay corpse of the doppelganger.

I sat down beside Raven.

“I found out I had a sister named Lynette, and she's already dead,” Raven croaked.

My arm went around her shoulders. I held her against me. I didn't know what to say. What words could I offer to soothe her battered heart. Anger burned through me. Loki had so much pain to answer for.

The sun rose higher, the day growing warmer. Brynhilda regained her composure and turned to face us. She moved to Raven and knelt before her in the water. Brynhilda took Raven's hand and kissed her knuckles.

I stood up, giving the sister's space. I moved to Brynhilda's Valkyrie. He grunted at me. “Sayyid.”

“Magnus,” I grunted back. He had a firm handshake.

“I'm your eldest sister, Brynhilda,” the Valkyrie said to Raven. “I was there the day you were born. Mother and father were so happy to welcome you.”

Raven nodded her head. “Why didn't you ever come for me after they died?”

“I came for the funeral,” she answered. She reached up and stroked Raven's cheeks. “But you want to know why Lynette or I never raised you.”

Raven nodded her head, her body trembling.

Brynhilda pulled Raven into a hug. “Because we were fighting the enemies of Midgard. Neither Lynette nor I had the time to raise a daughter. Odin didn't give us leave from our duties. I had my last break three hundred years ago when my own daughter was born.”

“I have a niece?” Raven said, joy in her voice.

“Several.” Brynhilda stiffened. “I have to tell Alexandra her parents are dead.” The Valkyrie's voice grew harsh. “But not before I help you avenge our sister's murder.”

“You're going to help?” I could hear the smile in Raven's voice.

“Yes.” The same fires that Raven had burned in her older sister's voice. “We will bring justice upon that villain. He has so much to answer for.”

Raven's arms tightened about her sister.

“Biker?” Sayyid asked.

Magnus nodded. “You.”

“I was a pirate sailing the Mediterranean.” His eyes stared at the sister. “Captured her ship. What a woman.”

“Yep.”

“I didn't see any bike here,” Sayyid said.

“Thor smashed it with his hammer,” I growled. “She was a beauty.”

“Had an original Harley V-Twin,” Sayyid grinned. “First year they came out. Loved that thing. Almost as good as a horse.”

“No shit.” A smile crossed my face. “I would love to have one. I searched for awhile, trying to find a V-Twin to restore at my shop.”

“Are you two talking about motorcycles?” Raven asked, her face stained with tears.

Brynhilda had an equally tear-stained face full of disbelief.

“Yeah,” Sayyid shrugged. “Remember that Harley I bought back in 1907?”

“This isn't the time for that,” Brynhilda snapped. “You can talk about your toys later. We have plans to make.”

“Plans are simple,” Sayyid shrugged. “Kill Loki.”

Brynhilda groaned. “We are not charging in without a plan again.”

“Worked in Beirut.”

“We almost died in Beirut.”

Sayyid shrugged. “Almost isn't dead. And what about St. Petersburg.”

“We spent three months trapped beneath snow that winter.”

“Still killed the strega and protected the city.” Sayyid grinned. “Besides, it was cozy in the snow.”

“Not by the end of the third month,” she muttered.

“We're going to Asgard,” Raven said. “We have to expose Loki's plan and confront him. That's where he should be. Once we can convince the other gods that we're innocent and unmask Loki, then he'll have us all after him.”

“It's a shame there are so many problems around the world,” Brynhilda sighed. “both my daughters are busy fighting monster incursions. I'm sure that's all part of Loki's plan.”

“Odin's death?”

“It weakened Ymir's wall,” Brynhilda answered.

“That's the toenail wall?” grimaced Raven. “The one that separates Midgard from Utgard.”

Brynhilda nodded.

“That's gross.”

Brynhilda shrugged. “You've been raised in modern times. Your hair would go white if I showed you how people lived when I was born. Eleventh century Sweden was an interesting place.”

Raven's face blanched. “No thanks.”

“We should go,” Sayyid said.

I nodded. “Daylight's wasting, ladies.”

~   ~   ~

The widowed goddess stared into the hearth. Frigg watched the coals die.
Everyone is useless.
Thor dead. Freyr, her own brother, had shown up hours ago touting Raven's innocence. She had him and that giantess he married banished. Everyone betrayed her. None of them cared to avenge the blood of her son and husband.

“She's coming for you next, mother,” Baldur said.

Her beautiful son stood beside his father. Their vengeful ghosts had returned. She turned to face them, both so strong and handsome, Baldur with the energy of youth and Odin with the wisdom of age. Both had been killed and tricked by the Valkyrie.