It was three am, and Eir was the most nervous she had ever been. Not even the excitement she had felt at meeting Odin could top the butterflies currently battering the inside of her stomach. But that was Odin. And this was Mason.
A human.
A man she wanted to get to know better—and that was something she had never thought would happen to her. Mason somehow knew about her, and even though she hadn’t confirmed his suspicions, it didn’t take away the fact that he knew something about the Valkyries.
Maybe he was just guessing—taking stabs in the dark. He was pretty damn close to the target for stabbing in the dark, though.
Against her palm, she crushed the three gauze bandages she’d promised him, wishing she already knew what he was going to tell her. The gentle ding of the elevator bell brought her attention back to the present. She stared at the closed doors, willing them to open a little faster.
A few excruciating seconds later, they parted and the empty expanse of hallway opened up before her. Steadying herself with a few deep breaths, Eir forced her feet into action, her brain already running through the different scenarios. She had to admit she was surprised not to see Mason there waiting for her but also relieved at the same time. Despite being ready for him, she also felt completely unprepared.
Her sensible shoes hushed gently against the polished concrete floors, carrying her past Bryn’s office, where low voices could be heard through the wooden door. Stopping at the staffroom, she pushed open the door and took a peek inside.
Empty.
Mason still had to be in the main bar.
“It’s closing time.” Mason’s disembodied voice floated through the brilliantly lit bar as Eir went through the door. On the opposite side of the room, Mason was gently ushering a young woman out into the now freezing Boston night.
The door squeaked closed behind Eir then, ruining her chances of slipping inside unnoticed. Mason whirled around, his mouth open as if he was about to say something, but he closed it when he saw it was Eir. With his lips curling up into a shy smile, she couldn’t help feel the flicker of heat beginning in her chest.
“I thought you weren’t going to show up,” he said, taking a step closer. With his approach, Eir was keenly aware that she could smell the hypnotic scent of his aftershave and the fresh, clean spice of his skin. Oh, what was she doing? Her hands clenched tight around the gauze, reminding her that she had another excuse to see him.
“I had to give you these.” Her voice sounded so small. Holding the bandages out, she deposited them into his open hand.
“Thanks.” He shoved the gauze into his pocket, his eyes never leaving hers. “We need to talk, but I have to get home to Sophie, and I have a feeling you’re going to have a lot more questions than I can answer.”
What was he asking her to do?
He cleared his throat nervously. “I’m saying I want you to come back to my place so I can feed Sophie and take her out for a walk. We can chat there, and I’ll be able to answer all your questions.”
Eir bit her lip, her teeth digging into the sensitive flesh.
“Please, Eir,” he pleaded. “I promise to bring you back here after we’re done, no matter the time.”
Her head was screaming at her to reject his proposition, but her traitorous body was all for it. In the end, all she could do was nod.
“Great. Let me get some things out of my locker and we can go.”
“I’ll get my coat and let Bryn know where I’m going.”
She soon found herself sitting in the front seat of Mason’s car as he drove, her hands nervously clenched together. Bryn hadn’t even blinked at her request to leave with Mason. In fact, she had smiled knowingly at Eir, telling her, ‘It will be good for you.’ What that meant she had no idea.
Mason drew her from her thoughts. “Are you warm enough?” he asked, adjusting the dials on the center console.
“I’m fine.” She looked out the passenger window, watching the city lights flash by. It was quiet at this time of night—almost as if Boston was abandoned, and only the ghosts haunted its streets.
“I love this time of night,” Mason said in a gravelly drawl, echoing her own thoughts. “I love how quiet it is.” Eir looked over at him, taking the opportunity to study him as he concentrated on the road. The passing street lights alternately cast his face in shadows and light. A fine stubble was just starting to grow on his jaw, and Eir found herself wanting to reach out and run her fingers along his cheek. He turned his head slightly to look her way, and Eir averted her gaze, embarrassed.
Ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of an unassuming apartment building in downtown Boston. Maybe five or six stories high, it looked like all the other brownstones around it, but when she stepped into the lobby, Eir was surprised to see how modern the interior was.
“This is nice,” she said absently, taking it all in.
He laughed gently. “Sophie and I like it just fine.”
The mention of his dog brought a smile to Eir’s face. She was looking forward to seeing her again.
“She likes you, too, you know,” Mason told her.
Eir started. Her lips parted to ask him how he’d known what she was thinking, but she thought better of it. She was sure he would answer all her questions in due time.
They rode the elevator together in silence, Eir flushing at how close they were standing, of how his breathing had accelerated ever so slightly, just like her own.
When the doors opened, Mason allowed Eir to exit first, sweeping his arm out in front of his body. Stepping out, Eir could see that there were only two doors to choose from on this floor.
“It’s this one,” Mason murmured, placing a gentle hand on the small of her back, and a jolt of desire shot through her. Not for the first time, she wondered who this man was and why he made her feel the way she did when he was around. He opened the door to his apartment, and Eir stepped inside, greeted by a blast of warm air and the wet licks of an excited dog.
*
Mason moved forward and grabbed Sophie by the collar, pulling her away from the goddess.
“Sorry. She gets really excited when I get home. She’ll calm down in a minute.” After getting Sophie to sit down, Mason was surprised when Eir crouched down in front of her, scratching her behind her ears and baby-talking to her.
Mason laughed. “You definitely have a friend for life now.”
Eir peeked up at him, golden highlights in her hair shining. “She really is lovely.” He held her gaze a second too long, till they both felt uncomfortable, but then Sophie rolled over onto her back to get her belly scratched.
Mason was normally pretty wired after a shift at the club, and tonight was no different. He moved towards the kitchen, setting the coffee maker to start and pulling two mugs from his cupboard.
“Coffee?” he called, busying himself with getting out the cream and sugar.
“That would be great,” she replied. He looked up, surprised, to find her standing on the other side of the kitchen bench. She had shucked her coat, revealing the purple sword tattooed on her neck, and her eyes were bright and curious. The doubt and unease he’d seen when he’d first asked her to come to his apartment were now gone.
“How do you take it?”
“Black.”
He grunted, putting the cream and sugar away. “Me too.”
The Valkyrie said nothing more while Mason waited for the coffee maker to finish. When he set the mug in front of her, Eir had perched herself on one of the stools that were stowed under the bench. He settled in against the side of the counter, staring at Eir over the lip of his mug as he took a sip.
He could tell by her face she had questions, but he didn’t dip into her thoughts to confirm it. He never liked doing that in any case, but with Eir it felt like a real invasion.
The Valkyrie blew on her coffee to cool it, then took a sip. “You said we needed to talk?” she asked.
“Yeah. We need to talk. I feel I need to explain some things to you.”
Eir never broke eye contact. Christ, Mason could feel the heat in those eyes, could feel the questions burning there.
“I … umm … I …” Mason paused. How in the hell was he supposed to broach this subject? It had almost been easy with Bryn. With Eir, he just had no idea how to start, but he did want her to know about him.
“Look, let’s just address the elephant in the room. You know I’m a Valkyrie.” She waited for him to confirm her statement before continuing. “The reason I was so surprised by you knowing is that no humans know this. They don’t believe anymore.”
“I know a lot about your world, Eir—Odin, the Valkyries, the Aesirean gods—all of it.”
“How?” she asked, her voice the barest whisper. Sophie padded over to her, sensing her distress, and placed her head in Eir’s lap.
Mason looked down at the counter, the tip of his index finger running over a dried coffee ring. He’d kept his secret for nearly ten years, not telling anyone what he knew, but somehow—within the space of a month—he had not only spilled it to one of the most dangerous and feared beings in the Nine Worlds, but to his boss too, and now he wanted to tell the woman he could seriously fall in love with.
Eir reached for his hand. Her small fingers were dwarfed by his, but the warmth he felt at her touch gave him the courage to go on.
He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, but couldn’t shake the feeling that his throat was closing up, being choked by dust and debris long since settled in his memories. “Thirteen years ago, I joined the marines, and almost ten years ago I was injured while on tour in Iraq.”
“Injured, how?” she asked, her tiny fingers cinching tighter around his hand. That same warmth he’d felt before in the park was back, and a moment later he could have sworn he felt more relaxed than a few seconds ago.
“My unit was in the town of An Nasiriyah. I was with three others, making our way up to the top floor of what we thought was an abandoned building. I was third in line and I think that may have saved my life.”
Mason fell silent. Every time he thought about that attack, he was right back there, reliving it.
The screams of agony.
The pleas for help.
The smell of blood soaking into the dust and sand.
He was suddenly yanked back into the present when Sophie stuck her wet nose into the palm of his free hand. Pulling his other hand from Eir’s grasp, Mason crouched down beside Sophie and wrapped his arms around her neck. A wet swipe of her tongue brought a measure of peace, and for a brief moment he wished he was alone.
“I’m sorry,” Eir said. “This is obviously difficult for you to talk about. I’ll just go.”
She stood up and made her way to the door, but Mason was faster. Gently, he took her by the elbow, stopping her.
“Please, don’t go.” Mason’s voice sounded rough even to his ears. “I just need a few minutes.”
Eir touched his hand, but instead of returning to the kitchen, she headed for his dark leather sofa. Mason followed with Sophie shadowing him. Perching on the other end of the sofa, he waited until his heart stopped pounding. When Sophie placed her head in his lap, Mason’s fingers sank into the dense fur between her shoulderblades.
“There was a bomb on the rooftop. It was detonated remotely. The first two guys were killed …” Mason closed his eyes, trying to fight off the vision of the life bleeding from his brother’s eyes. “I was thrown back by the blast. I hit my head pretty hard and the same with the other guy. I was knocked out cold. It was only when I was patched up and sent home to the States that I realized something wasn’t quite right.”
“What do you mean?”
“I … I could hear what people were thinking.”
Eir sat back in her seat. “You can hear their thoughts?”
Mason kept his eyes fixed on his fingers in Sophie’s fur. “But it’s not everybody’s thoughts …” he sighed. “I didn’t know what it meant at the time. It was only after a while, listening and learning, that I realized I was hearing the thoughts of the gods and goddesses of the Nine Worlds.”
There. He had said it.
Now, to wait for the fallout.
Eir frowned deeply. “You can hear our thoughts?” she asked almost inaudibly.
“Yes, but it’s not like I enjoy eavesdropping. It’s just the side effect from the knock on my head.”
“Have you ever read my thoughts?” she asked, a sharp edge to her voice.
Oh, fuck. “Like I said, I don’t do it intentionally. I have to concentrate quite hard to block the voices out, and sometimes if I don’t have the energy, I just hear them.”
The Valkyrie’s lips pressed together. “How often do you listen in to my thoughts?”
“Never,” he answered honestly. “I don’t enjoy prying.”
“Does Bryn know about your ability?”
“Yes. So does Korvain. In fact, I’ve made a blood oath with him, so that I can’t discuss what I know with anyone else.”
“So you’ve just broken your oath to tell me?”
“No. I’ve already spoken to both of them about telling you.” He gave her a small smile that she did not return.
“Are you angry with me?” he asked after a few beats of heavy silence.
“I’m not sure,” she replied. “I’m not sure how I feel about this information.”
“I won’t be telling anyone else about what I know. Why would I? I would have to tell them how I know. It’s been a long time, and I’ve only recently told two people about it … well, three now.”
She looked up at him, her eyes searching his face. “So only Bryn, Korvain and I know about this?”
“Yes.”
The goddess bit her lip, her eyes searching his face. “Why me? You didn’t have to.”
Mason inched a little closer to Eir. He wanted to touch her hand, her hair, her face. “Korvain found out about me when Bryn was missing last month. I didn’t want to tell him, but Bryn was in trouble and I would rather die than see her hurt. I told Bryn today because I wanted to tell you.” Reaching out, Mason took her hand in his, grateful she didn’t pull away. “I want you to know about me because I think there’s something here between us, Eir.” She looked away, but Mason pressed on. “Please tell me you feel it too.”
The back of her hand felt warm against his, but it wasn’t that same warmth as before. He hoped he hadn’t just fucked things up with her.
“I … I feel it, too, Mason,” she whispered. “But nothing could ever happen between us.”
“Why not?” he asked gently, stroking her silky skin with his thumb, rubbing slow, rhythmic circles over her knuckles.
“Because you’re a human and I’m a goddess.”
“I can’t see your point,” he said. “Eir, I haven’t felt this spark with anyone before. Never in my life have I wanted to share things with someone like I do with you.”
“I’m immortal,” she muttered, looking at him. “And you’re not.”
“If I get to spend a sliver of your immortality with you, I’ll be a happy man. Maybe we’re not meant to be together forever, maybe we are, but you can’t deny the electricity between us.”
Eir shook her head, and Mason’s heart sank into the pit of his stomach. “Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Because I think you’re worth it. You know everything about me now.” Well, almost everything, he thought bitterly. “All I’m asking is for you to get to know me a little better. And I want to know more about you.”
She seemed to withdraw into herself then. “What do you want to know?”
Mason was triumphant. She was listening to him. He had a chance here. “Every damn thing,” he replied honestly.
At last, Eir seemed to relax, turning her body towards him. “You already know a lot about me. I’m a nurse, and I told you before that nursing was in my blood, but there’s more to it than that. You see, I’m not like Bryn and the other Valkyries. Odin made them immortal, but I already was.”
Mason frowned. “I’m not following.”
She gazed up at him. “I’m Eir, the goddess of healing. Odin brought me into the fold for my healing abilities a thousand years ago, and instead of staying with him when Bryn left, I chose to leave too. I just couldn’t see the point of serving the All-Father when the humans had forgotten about us.”
“So you really are a goddess?” he asked, completely dumbstruck. “And your palms?”
The goddess looked down at her hands and shrugged. “I heal through my palms.”
Mason’s lip tilted up slightly. “That’s the warmth I felt in the park and just now?”
“Yes. I can heal someone, or take away their pain, but I can also regulate their breathing, or help their heart to pump blood more efficiently. The only thing I can’t do is cure a fatal injury or disease. That is beyond my powers.”
Mason touched the cut above his eye. “And this?”
Eir sighed. “I could have healed that for you earlier, but I couldn’t risk you finding out about me … but if you wanted me to, I could still heal you now?”
Mason thought about that for a minute. He’d felt just a small part of what Eir could do. He shook his head. “Nah, I’d like to keep the scar.”
“Really?”
He gave her a cocky grin. “It’ll remind me of you.”
Suddenly bashful, the Valkyrie looked down at her hands again. “Is there anything else you’d like to know about me?”
Mason thought about that for a moment. “If you’d like to talk about it, I’d like to know about what happened to you last month.”
Eir’s whole body stiffened, and she wrapped her arms around herself, as if she were trying to hold herself together. Wrapping his arm around her slender shoulders, Mason pulled her warm body into the side of his, feeling her melt against him. She sobbed, her slight frame shaking, a tremor passing through her and into him. Mason willingly absorbed it, willing her to take some of his strength.
“Eir, we don’t have to discuss this if you don’t want to. I’m sorry I brought it up, really.”
He cursed himself for upsetting her. He didn’t need to know that badly, not now. If he had it his way—and he was going to make damn sure he did—he would find out soon enough. Eir had obviously been hurt during that time, and that thought alone had his blood boiling.
Eir’s sobbing didn’t let up, and her body was still shaking, but gradually she grew calmer. When he felt she could talk again, he hooked his finger under her chin and tilted her face towards his.
Her eyes were red-rimmed, her nose pink from sniffling. She tipped her head down, a curtain of her hair shielding her face from him. Damn, he had to admit that she looked pretty damn cute when she was being shy about being upset.
Pushing her hair behind her ear, he said, “Eir, please don’t hide your beautiful face from me.”
She bit her full bottom lip and all the blood in Mason’s body traveled south. Fuck, he was a bastard for even thinking about sex while this goddess was so upset. He placed his thumb on her lip and tugged the flesh free from her teeth. He could smell fresh spearmint, feel the warmth of her each and every breath.
He leaned forward another fraction of an inch, waiting, watching to see whether she would stay or whether she would bolt. When he could see she wasn’t going anywhere, he inched a little closer again.
Mason heard the hitch in her breath as he closed the minuscule gap between them, a hair’s breadth away from pressing his lips against the sweetness of hers.
The sound of a phone ringing shattered the silence, shattered the promise of his lips touching hers for the first time. He cursed as she pulled away, flustered, and searched through her cardigan pocket. She glanced down at the screen for a moment, then looked up at him nervously.
“It’s Korvain. He must be waiting to take me to work.”
Mason looked over at the digital clock on his microwave; it was nearly five in the morning. While Eir spoke to Korvain, he listened to the velvety cadence of her voice. He let it wash over him, his eyes getting heavier and heavier.
“No, it’s fine. I’m with Mason. I’m sure he can take me to the hospital.”
At the sound of his name, Mason’s eyes flipped open, staring at the Valkyrie, who was now looking at him questioningly. He mouthed the word “okay” to her. Her lips flexed into a shy smile.
“Ah, sure, I’ll put him on. Hang on.” Eir handed the phone to Mason. “He wants to speak to you for a second.”
He reached for the phone, his hand steady, although his heart was jackhammering against his rib cage. “Yeah?”
“Guard her with your life,” Korvain said quietly. “You hear me? If she comes to harm, you come to harm.”
Mason remained mute.
“I’ll take your silence as an affirmative. Take your weapon with you. If you come across anyone even thinking about trying to harm her, shoot them between the eyes.” The softness of Korvain’s tone was at complete odds with the ferocity of his words.
“Is that a possibility?” Mason croaked out.
“I don’t think so. It’s just a precaution. Put Eir back on the phone.”
Mechanically, Mason handed the phone back to the goddess. She frowned slightly at the expression on his face.
After listening for a moment, she told Korvain, “I’ll see you this evening when you pick me up. Okay. Thank you. Goodbye.” She ended the call, and turned to Mason, clutching the phone in her lap. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have sprung that on you. If you can’t take me, I’ll get myself there.”
“It’s no problem.” Sophie lifted her head from his feet, looking at him with her big brown begging eyes. “We’re not too far away from the hospital. Let me grab a jacket, and we can walk there if you’re ready now. That way I can give Sophie a bit of exercise too.”