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“Are you sure about this?” Aiden asks as he stops the truck in the lot of the apartment complex where Vice Principal Steinburg moved after his divorce six months ago. It’s a U-shaped building with a center office in front, with two squat buildings sitting on either side of the parking area.
“It’s not too late to change your mind.” He puts a hand over mine and squeezes gently.
“The Valkyries came here for me.” I stare out the window to the second-floor apartment. “And we need to find out who helped them.”
Aiden studies me closely. “You look a bit...amped up.”
“I want to hunt.” My fingers curl into fists. “It’s been weeks since I’ve hunted or killed.”
“And you miss it?” he asks.
“Miss isn’t the right word.” The need for it claws at me like a wild thing held in by nothing but my ribcage. If I don’t let it out periodically, it will consume my heart. “I don’t know how to describe it without sounding like a monster.”
He offers a small smile. “Takes one to know one.”
I look over and hold his gaze. “I’m trying to be everything I’m supposed to be and I’m failing. No one expects me to do the one thing I’m best at doing. I don’t know how to lead, how to negotiate with the Seelie kings, how to do anything but kill.”
“Nic, no one expects anything from you.” Aiden says softly. “You can forge your own life.”
His words are tempting, the offer to turn my back on the crazy mess that is Underhill. Yet, how can I? When I know all the things I did wrong before, that I’ve done wrong in this life. The tear in the Veil, the loss of the souls I damned to the Wild Hunt, the instability of the Unseelie Court. There are freaking Valkyries disguised as people I know. How can I ignore everyone and everything without trying to set it right?
All this goes through my mind but I don’t say a word of it to Aiden. Instead, I pop the door to the truck. “Let’s do this.”
He’s out of the truck and around before my feet touch pavement. “Stay behind me.”
“I’m armed,” I hiss.
“And unprepared,” he retorts. “You identify the creature and I can cripple it so you can interrogate it. You already battled one Valkyrie today and barely escaped with your life. Let me help.”
His green eyes seem to glow in the dim light, lit from within. “Just don’t barbecue it before I give the order. Or in front of witnesses. We don’t need law enforcement poking around in here.”
“As my queen commands,” he murmurs and then heads up the rickety wood stairs to the second floor.
These aren’t the best rentals in town. Most of the inhabitants are college students who can’t afford better or the recently divorced. Steinburg’s door is at the corner unit. No lights at all and no sound. It’s possible with the Valkyrie is gone thanks to my tornado and the place is as vacant as it appears.
Aiden scrunches his nose in disgust. “Do you smell that?”
I inhale deeply. “Nothing out of the ordinary. Why? What are you picking up?”
In the dim light cast from a streetlamp I see his muscles clench. “Shit and rotting
meat.”
“There goes my appetite.”
He hesitates. “From the amount of both, I think there’s more than one inside.”
“How many?” I ask just as an eerie cry echoes from somewhere below.
Aiden grabs my arm and tries to pull me away. “An entire nest.”
At my blank look he clarifies, “A dozen or more.”
“All in this one little apartment?”
He shakes his head even as he grabs my hand and pulls me toward the stairs. “You don’t understand, Nic. They’ve taken over the apartment complex.”
“What?” I glance back over my shoulder. “What about the people who were living here?”
“Where do you think the rotting meat smell is coming from?”
Horror fills me and I glance back at the apartment complex. “There are at least twenty apartments here.” Even if only half of them are occupied by one person each, that’s double-digit homicide.
Also known as mass murder.
“We need back up,” I say. There’s no way Aiden and I can handle a dozen—or more—Valkyries on our own.
The cry comes again, part bird of prey, part woman scorned and completely blood chilling.
“They’ve scented us.” Aiden shouts, whirling around. A blade appears in his hand, a sword conjured of pure fire. I draw my own shorter blades. We stand back to back as the first aerial attacker swoops toward us.
Aiden strikes with the fiery sword and the Valkyrie screams in pain. One wing is ablaze as it flaps up. The smell of barbecued feathers drifts toward us on the wind.
Its cries have alerted the others though and doors open all over the apartment complex. Some are human shaped, others in the befouled bird like forms. When I shift my vision to the soul walk however, the creatures all have the same avian hybrid glow.
“There isn’t a mortal among them.” My words are snatched from my throat by a sharp gust of carrion scented air. “Not left alive anyway.”
“Nic, focus!” Aiden shoves me to the side an instant before two Valkyries try and sink their talons into my arms. They cry out in frustration, but Aiden’s fire sword is there, cooking the flesh from their putrid forms on contact. They fall to the pavement at his feet.
“Nic?” Aiden’s eyes are on the circling predators, even as he reaches down to help me up.
“I’m fine.” I bite out the word.
“Don’t try any of your tricks right now,” he cautions, once again putting his back to me, the fire sword up and at the ready. “They’re fast and determined but not organized. We need to dispatch them quickly, before more mortals get caught in the crossfire.”
He’s right about their lack of systemization. If the Valkyrie’s attack had been coordinated, we wouldn’t have stood a chance. But these creatures don’t possess the discipline for a planned assault. Their numbers dwindle further with each attack.
Aiden’s skill with a sword rivals Brigit and perhaps even Nahini. His every movement is fluid, purposeful, as though he fights like this on a regular basis. Wherever he swings, a Valkyrie loses a wing, a foot, some even their lives.
I am less graceful, but make up for it with sheer savagery. These...things crossed into my world, showed up in my town and killed an entire apartment building full of people. The rage helps focus my mind as the bloodbath continues. They grow frantic, crying out as they swoop over our heads, talons clutching, wings flapping, determined to take us out or fall in the attempt. They don’t stop, don’t retreat, but keep coming.
Within five minutes all the Valkyries lay dead or dismembered. The ones on the ground cradle stumps that held wings or feet, their gazes malevolent.
Aiden scans the skies one last time before turning to assess me. “Did they scratch you?”
“A bit.” Blood oozes from the scrape on my forearm where one made contact while I was finishing off its compatriot. “It’s not bad though.”
“Valkyries are filthy beasts. We need to get those cuts cleaned up so they don’t get infected.”
“There’s a first-aid kit in the truck.” I survey the fallen survivors. “You can go get it while I get some answers.”
He hesitates, taking one last look around the blood-soaked parking area before jogging off to the truck.
“Who let you cross?” I ask the nearest Valkyrie, this one missing half a wing.
“Go to hell, she demon,” it spits at me.
I smile at it, my predator’s smile, before spearing it through the eye with my sword.
“Anybody else want to be uncooperative?” I call out while its body twitches on the end of my blade. I yank the weapon free and turn in a slow arc so they can all see me. My skin crawls, and I can feel their scrutiny. Along with...something more. “I’ll let you cross the Veil if you answer my questions. If not...,” I make a show of watching the blood drip from the point of the sword onto the ground.
Silence. Even the moaning stops.
“Tell me who let you across,” I lower the sword to my side and do a slow pivot on my heel. “And where the one posing as Steinburg got the glamour.”
“And you’ll let us go?” This comes from one of the Valkyries in the back. Her foot is missing and she cradles a smaller creature in her lap, its eyes staring sightlessly up at the night sky. From the blood trail behind her, it’s easy to see that she crawled over to where the other fell. “Why should we believe you?”
I level my gaze on her. “Because I’m not giving you a choice. Either tell me what I want to know and live or die protecting a traitor’s secrets.”
She glances down at the dead one, a wing passing over the eyes, before looking back up at me. “I don’t know the name of the one who let us cross. Female, brown hair with a streak of silver woven into a braid.”
“And the magic?” I prompt as Aiden returns carrying the medical kit. “Who provided the glamour?”
“The giantess, Angrboda.”
The first-aid kit clatters to the ground. All color drains from Aiden’s face and his glowing green eyes burn hotter. “What did you say?”
“She came to our nest and told us of the tear, offered to help us cross the Veil undetected.” The Valkyrie coughs and blood speckles her mouth.
“Out of the goodness of her heart?” I snap, dividing my attention between Aiden, who looks ready to wolf out at any moment, and the Valkyrie.
“No, she asked only that we take care of the threat to the Unseelie Court on this side of the Veil.” The Valkyrie pants, her breath growing shallower. She shifts the body of the miniature Valkyrie in her arms to reveal a deep gash.
She’s dying, I realize. Belly wounds are excruciatingly painful. It speaks highly of the creature’s strength of will that she can negotiate with me while she dies.
“You will keep your promise, Ice Bitch? I will have your fey word on it.”
I look to Aiden but his attention is turned inwards.
“What’s your name?” I crouch down so that we are eye to eye.
“I am called Nightweaver.”
“Are you the leader of these people, Nightweaver?”
When she nods, I hold out a hand. “I vow to you, I will see your people safely taken back through the Veil, given property to colonize in the way they see fit. If you will join the Wild Hunt.”
Her black eyes flare wide. “What?”
“I want your word that you will serve me in the Wild Hunt.”
“Nic,” Aiden snaps out of whatever trace he’s fallen into at my words. “What are you saying? There’s never been a Valkyrie in the Hunt. They belong to Freya. And you can’t just let them go. Think of all the mortals they’ve killed.”
I glare at him. “I need to accept all the help I can get. Didn’t you say that?”
“This wasn’t what I had in mind,” Aiden growls. “The fey of the Hunt won’t like it.”
“The fey of the Hunt can fuck off.” I snap, my focus on the dying creature. “Do we have a bargain, Nightweaver? Your eternal help for the eternal safety of your people?”
I hold out my hand and after the smallest hesitation, she places her claw in my grip.
She coughs, more blood flecking her lips. “Agreed, Ice Bitch, though I doubt my service will be for long.”
“Think again,” I say and press my lips to her bloody ones. “You have been found guilty.”
Around us there are gasps as Nightweaver’s body sags, her hand going limp in my hold. My deadly kiss sparks hot on my own lips and I feel her spirit slip from her body.
“You killed her?” Aiden breathes.
“She agreed to serve. And as you pointed out, I couldn’t let her go unpunished after decimating this place.” Though I am speaking to him, my own gaze focuses beyond. I watch as Nightweaver’s soul tears free from its fleshy prison.
What is happening to me? The voice isn’t mental, not like when Aiden communicates with me mind to mind. It’s more like a sighing breeze passing through dry leaves, something that I didn’t know existed until it slips by.
“You tied her soul to the Hunt.” Aiden’s tone is full of awe.
I nod. “The souls I bargained away to Brigit. And because Brigit was fey, I’m sure her clause is open ended. Any new soul will belong to her, too.”
Aiden is gaping at me, his expression pure shock. “She’ll lead us right to the rest of the dead.”
“Grab your keys.” I’m already on my feet, heading for the truck, barely daring to hope. The soul drifts higher from the ground, not flapping the way the great wings did when Nightweaver lived, but almost as though it’s a balloon filled with gas lighter than the surrounding air. I can make out the general direction though.
“What about the Valkyries?” Aiden spares them a glance as he turns the truck’s engine over.
“They have until first light to cross back into Underhill.” My words are loud enough so all can hear. “Then my people will burn this place to the ground.”
Lower, so only Aiden’s sensitive ears pick up on it I murmur, “Freda can supervise their departure and covering this up so we don’t alert the mortal law. We need Nahini with us though, in case we do find the souls we’re looking for.”
The hairs on my arm stand on end and I scan the area, feeling hunted.
“What is it?” Aiden’s head jerks up.
I scan the dark tree line behind the apartment complex, looking for anything out of place. The Valkyries chose their hideout well, the buildings are set back from the road with their backs to the trees a large force couldn’t sneak up on them. But someone is out there. I’m sure of it. All the small hairs are up on my neck.
“Nic?” Aiden follows my gaze.
“Nothing.” We don’t have time to investigate, not if we want to follow Nightweaver’s soul to its final destination. I’d leave it to Freda to track whoever lurks in the woods.
“Which way am I going?” Aiden slides behind the wheel and the truck roars to life.
Once inside the cab, I check the sky again, watching as the Valkyrie’s soul drifts even higher. “West.”
“That’s toward the tear in the Veil.” Aiden throws his arm over the back of the seat, whips the truck around in a broken K turn, before shifting to drive and pushing the pedal to the floor.
I already have my phone out and am dialing. “I know. Nahini will have to meet us there.”
****
THE STEEDS THAT BELONG to the Wild Hunt are fast and aren’t confined to roads the way my truck is so neither of us are surprised to see Nahini waiting below the tear in the Veil.
“Has she gone through yet?” I slide to the ground as soon as Aiden shifts into park. “We lost sight of her at the edge of town.”
Nahini scans the skies, then shakes her head. “No, nor do I see any sign of her or feel the presence of the other souls.”
“What happens if we cross through the tear?” I stare up at the sky, looking for the telltale flicker that moves like a curtain in the wind. The Veil between worlds is thin and time spent In-Between feels endless. But there is no unnatural movement. The night is dark with only a sliver of the moon visible through the scudding clouds.
“It’s not like the In-Between.” Aiden’s gaze is steady though I can feel his anxiety through our connection. “There is no transitional space. Just chaos.”
Nahini’s eyes are on the sky, not the frantic sweep I am doing but a thorough scan. “If we cross now,” she warns, “We may not have time to return before your rule begins anew on all hallows eve.”
Time moves differently in Underhill. What feels like a day to us might be a year in the mortal realm, or perhaps only an hour. And it’s foolish to cross with no provisions. No change of clothes or food, only the weapons we have on us. If given a choice I would like time to prepare, to strategize with the aunts and Freda, make plans and pack.
But this is the first real chance we’ve been given. A wicked soul damned to the Wild Hunt doesn’t come along every day and my to-do list is already full without digging up another.
“I have to fix this.” With my focus on the souls around us, I can see the tear. It isn’t just a void or a rip but something with an enormous amount of suction, like curtains caught in a vacuum cleaner. “Not just reclaiming the dead of the Hunt but the tear as well. The Valkyries killed dozens of innocent people because of this thing. I don’t care how much time passes here, we need to make this right.”
Aiden takes my hand. “We will.”
I turn to Nahini. “Then mark me for Underhill.”
Her big dark eyes grow bigger. “You’re sure you are ready for the gauntlet?”
“Not even. But I won’t risk missing my chance because we don’t have a reliable clock. You said once I was marked, Underhill will take me when she sees fit, is that right?”
Nahini nods and extracts something from her saddle bags. A knife. “It is.”
“Then mark me.”
“Nic,” Aiden breathes my name like a prayer.
“You can’t talk me out of this.” I set my jaw, pretending to be ready for what is to come. Fake it till you make it.
“I’m not trying to.” With one hand he grips the steel, holding it until a curl of smoke emerges. Sterilizing the blade. I see the metal glow red gold as though it had been heated over a fire but it returns to normal as it cools. His brilliant green eyes glow bright in the darkness. “I’ll do whatever I can to stay by your side.”
I search his face. His expression is set. He’s just as determined as I am.
“Are you ready?” Nahini says.
In answer, I roll up the sleeve on my right forearm, exposing the skin there. My sword arm, marked for service to Underhill.
Aiden takes my free hand in his and lowers his forehead against mine. “Don’t look.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. The sight of my own blood makes me dizzy, a wimpy trait for anyone, especially a serial killer, and ridiculous compared to the mess we’d just left at the apartment complex.
Even without seeing the action, I can feel the slicing of the blade, quick sharp marks to form an edgy sort of U shape. The rune for Underhill.
My eyes stay closed and I breathe in Aiden, the scent of cotton from his shirt, his own unique blend of earthy heat and wildness.
There’s a rustling sound as Nahini retrieves something from her saddle bags. I inhale when my second sprinkles some sort of powder over the fresh wound, murmuring in an unfamiliar tongue. Then she covers the wound with a gauze pad and binds it with purple vet wrap she must have filched from the clinic.
“There,” Nahini points to the east. “And just in time.”
Sure enough, the bizarre hybrid soul of the Valkyrie moves towards the tear, caught up in the current of its powerful pull.
“Will you ride with me?” Nahini is in the saddle before I can bat an eyelash and offers her hand.
I shake my head. “Aiden can’t see the spirit world, I need to stay with him.” His sparks and embers form can become weightless and lift us up off the ground and through the Veil.
He squeezes my hand as though trying to convey a message, but I can’t look away from Nightweaver long enough to ask him what it means.
“Now, before we lose, her.” Nahini makes a clicking noise to her mount and the steed kicks off from the ground.
The odd dissolving sensation that accompanies Aiden’s magic engulfs me from right to left, where our hands are still clasped. My body is pulled apart and my senses disappear. Even so, I sense Nightweaver and the tear above, its pull as great as the vortex of my tornado.
Up, up, up we swirl like leaves eddying in a twisting stream, our momentum getting faster the higher we climb. I can’t feel its tug, can’t feel anything by normal human standards, but it is all around me.
Madness swallows us whole.
Though I have no physical body, it feels as though a thousand shards of jagged glass are scraping across my skin, leaving bloody rivulets in their wake. If I had a mouth, a voice, I would cry out, but I don’t have access to those things in this form. Even if I could scream I might not remember how, the pain pushing me past the point of sanity, or comprehension, beyond words.
And then the chaos whispers a single word to me, its tone greedy and ravenous.
Thousands of souls cry out for what they once were, what they seek to be again, what they desperately wish to consume.
Life.
That’s what it wants, the toll it’s trying to forcibly extract. My life, mine and
Aiden’s and Nahini’s. The Veil itself demands life, not just more untethered souls that makes up its fabric but to forcibly rip a soul free from a living being, to gobble up the very essence of life.
Let go.
It’s Aiden speaking to me mind to mind, not the Veil. He’s struggling, I can feel him yanking on me, trying to shove me free. If given the choice, he will stay if it means Nahini and I can cross unharmed. The stupid hero wants to sacrifice himself for me.
So, I don’t give him the choice.
Wrapping what there is of me around what there is of him, I hang on for dear life and force myself to endure the pain, the madness, what feels like the end of all things until darkness swamps me and pulls me under.
