CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Erin wanted nothing more than to unleash her wings and kill everyone, but she knew it wasn’t the right time yet. She was going on instinct here and more than once, her instincts had been wrong. Like when she didn’t think Tommy Boy would kill her if she moved to Los Angeles. She’d been wrong about that.
She could be wrong now.
But ever since becoming a Crow, she’d forced herself to start trusting her instincts again. So she’d wait until the time seemed right and hope that the plan didn’t get her and Stieg killed.
The guards took them deep into the bowels of the castle. Thankfully, the hallways were well lit. She wasn’t in the mood for the dark lighting of a fantasy movie where everyone died.
The problem was that the light showed the remnants of others who’d been there before. Some were just mounted heads. There were even a few sets of wings. Ravens, Crows, and even Protectors.
The group turned a corner and stopped in front of a long row of cells. They appeared empty. Although the light didn’t reach all the way into the back of each cell. One of the guards opened a cell and shoved Erin inside. She assumed Stieg would be thrown into the next cell but that didn’t happen.
Instead the princess growled, “I really want you to meet your new neighbor.”
She came from the shadows of the other cell, throwing herself against the bars. A Svartalfheim She-elf who’d been turned into a psychotic wild animal. Scars covered her dark elf skin and bald patches showed on her scalp where someone had ripped the hair out. Old and fresh blood was everywhere. On her. On her cell.
The She-elf raged and screamed, completely incoherent.
All Erin could do was stand there and watch. She was grateful for the bars between them since her hands weren’t free. She still had her weapons—the guards hadn’t bothered to recheck—but she couldn’t reach any of them so it didn’t really matter. And what was that smell? Was that the remains of those killed before her or just the general funk one finds in dungeons and New Jersey prisons? How long would she have to deal with that smell? How long would she be trapped in this jail with the crazy elf?
“Hey!” the princess yelled, startling Erin.
“What?”
“What are you doing?”
“Standing here. What should I be doing?”
“Recoiling in fear?”
“Oh. Right.” Erin looked at the crazed She-elf still trying to reach her through the bars and let out a less-than-enthused “Aaah.” She turned back to the princess. “Like that, you mean?”
“Worthless human!” She pointed a finger at Erin. “When you’re in the pit, you better give a much better performance.”
Erin smirked. “Oh. I promise.”
With a flip of her hair, the princess stormed off, taking her entourage and Stieg with her.
“Wait!” Erin called out, moving closer to the front bars. “Where the fuck are you going with him?”
The princess said nothing, just kept moving.
But her brother stopped and gazed down at Erin. “Now I see fear,” he murmured before leaving, the sound of the mad She-elf’s screams the only thing keeping her company.
* * *
Stieg was pulled into the princess’s room and forced into a corner, again on his knees.
Her brother lingered behind as the guards exited. “I don’t think you should be alone with him.”
Princess Uathach dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand, removing what remained of her burned nightdress and tossing the material on the fire. “He’ll be fine as long as he knows we have the woman. He wouldn’t risk her life . . . now would you, human pet?”
Stieg said nothing, just stared straight ahead.
“Besides,” she went on, “he needs to get used to his new life.” She giggled and stroked her brother’s cheek.
Stieg couldn’t help it—he sneered a little, assuming Erin had been right.
The brother caught Stieg in the act and quickly snapped, “Oh, come on! She’s my sister! What is wrong with you humans?”
* * *
Finally, after several hours, the She-elf calmed down and literally crawled back into the shadows. Occasionally a guard came by, looking in on Erin, and they’d even brought her out once when she’d flatly refused to use the bucket they had for her in the corner of her cell. That wasn’t going to happen and what she threatened them with—because no matter the species, males were males—had them moving fast enough to find a private place for her within the castle. Other than that, they left her alone.
Then, in the early morning, Dualtach the Witch appeared before her bars. She didn’t believe for a second he’d come to release her. The elf was a survivor. She sensed in him the same thing she’d sensed in Stieg when she’d first met him—their lives had been much harder than what they now were surrounded by. So Dualtach wasn’t about to do anything that could put his life at risk. Not for her.
Then . . . what did he want?
He glanced over at the cell where the She-elf panted in the darkness. “She doesn’t sleep, you know. Barely eats. She’s kept alive by rage and hatred. Her mind trapped there.”
Erin let out a bored sigh. “Too bad.”
“Her madness isn’t natural, though.”
Slowly, Erin turned her head to look at him. “What?”
“It isn’t natural. It was forced upon her. By me. Could be removed just as easily.”
“With blood magic?”
“Not everything requires blood. I wouldn’t worry about that, if I were you.” He walked away, “Soon you’ll have more than enough for entire ceremonies.”
She watched the witch disappear around a corner, her mind turning, until the She-elf again threw herself against the bars, reaching out for Erin, screeching, and desperately trying to catch her so she could tear her apart.
* * *
With the thick metal cuffs still on his wrists, his hands bound behind his back, Stieg rested on his knees in front of Prince Uinseann’s throne. A leather collar was around his neck and the prince held the leash. His sister didn’t want the bother since Stieg hadn’t been “trained” yet.
He didn’t think about any of that, though. He focused on seeing Erin again.
It had been nearly eighteen hours, the sun had gone down at least an hour ago, and they had returned to the hall. The tables, however, had been pulled back and part of the floor removed to reveal an actual pit. Not a deep one, thankfully, but the kind of pit used for dogfights back home. The kind of thing he’d gone to once in his younger days and vowed never to return to again. He’d been too disgusted and freaked out. Only this particular pit had a round metal cage over it that had been locked into the floor. There’d be no easy way out of it for Erin.
The royal audience was brought in first, cheering and ready for the imagined blood they were already banking on.
The princess waved at friends and called out to people like she was at some fun-filled brunch thing with girlfriends.
The prince occasionally yanked on the leash—in his mind, reminding Stieg who was in charge. In Stieg’s mind, though, it was just giving him more reason to hate everyone in this room.
Finally, the guards brought in Erin, uncuffing her before shoving her into the cage with a kick to the stomach. She stumbled back and fell on her ass, making the crowd laugh loudly. Happily.
Wincing, she got to her feet, her hand rubbing her stomach while she looked through the crisscrossed bars until her gaze found his. Her eyes widened at the sight of him and he expected her to laugh at the picture he made. But she didn’t. Instead, her eyes narrowed on the princess and he saw pure hatred. An expression usually reserved for worshippers who spilled innocent blood to call on their powerful demons.
Erin lowered her hands to her sides, her fingers curling into fists.
“Ooooh,” the princess purred. “Your friend is angry at me, pet.”
“Can we teach him to speak?” the prince asked about Stieg.
“To be honest I’m not sure I want to. I had a chatty one once. It got a little tiring. All that begging.”
“Good point.”
Guards brought in the She-elf from the cell next to Erin’s. She had on a muzzle to protect the guards from her bite and a long leash attached to a collar like Stieg’s that allowed them to drag the hysterical female through the frenzied crowd.
They wanted blood and knew the mad She-elf would give it to them.
Stieg eased his fingers around the thick chain between the cuffs. The cuffs were dwarf made. As a Raven, he’d retrieved enough enchanted dwarf-made items to know the difference. That meant the cuffs would not be coming off without a key or the help of an actual dwarf. But the chain . . . it was not dwarf-made.
Stieg lowered his head and watched in horror as the She-elf was shoved into the cage with Erin. Still leashed, she immediately went for Erin, and it was only the guards holding her back that kept Erin safe. But everyone in this hall knew that wouldn’t last long.
Yet Stieg forced himself to do something he’d never really thought he could. He placed his fingers on the chain and waited until Erin Amsel gave him the signal.
* * *
Erin waited on the other side of the cage, her back against the bars, watching as the guards pulled the She-elf close so they could remove the leash at the princess’s command.
She’d really only have one chance to make this work, but until that one chance came, she’d have to somehow keep this female from killing her. She just wasn’t sure how she was going to do that. You know . . . other than running away. But guards with spears encircled the pit, and she knew they were there to push the females toward each other should one try to run.
Damn. All her best ideas . . .
Dualtach the Witch eased his way into the hall, staying in the back. Again, he wouldn’t help Erin, but he wouldn’t help the princess, either. He was just there to enjoy the party like the other attendees.
Erin knew she needed to focus if her plan was to work. Something she knew she could do, when it was important. Betty had taught her during her early battle training that one of the best ways for Crows to stay focused during a fight was to center on something that pissed them off. For Kera that was usually the injustice of things. For Chloe, it was people’s stupidity, which caused her to miss another book deadline her editor did not want to fucking hear about. And for Jace, it could be anything. The tiniest thing set that woman off like a hand grenade.
But Erin didn’t allow herself to get pissed too often.
She didn’t let rage “sing through her veins” the way it supposedly sang through Betty’s . . . until Erin saw Stieg Engstrom, descendent of mighty Vikings and warrior of Odin himself, chained up like a dog. Even worse, she knew he’d allowed it for her. He wasn’t going to leave without her. He’d let these bastards treat him like a goddamn pet. In the hopes that she actually had a plan.
That was the anger she focused on.
* * *
Princess Uathach stood, raising her hands to silence the room. Stieg looked back at her, but her brother yanked that leash again to stop him. Apparently he didn’t want the pet to eye his sister.
Stieg hoped that whatever Erin came up with included killing this guy. Because he really hated the elf.
“Friends, I am so happy you’ve all come this evening. It’s been a long time since we’ve had such grand entertainment. Tonight, we will again witness a wonderful, but I’m sure tragically short”—the audience laughed and cheered—“battle between our reigning champion, the dear sweet Princess Seanait, and one of Odin’s whores, a Valkyrie!”
Stieg was surprised that the princess still believed Erin was a Valkyrie. The witch they’d met apparently had kept his mouth shut. What shocked Stieg most was that the screaming banshee elf trying to get to Erin in that pit was a fellow princess. Even if she was a dark elf, she was still royalty. Yet Uathach and her brother had turned her into this mad thing for their amusement.
And if they treated their own like that . . .
Christ, we’re screwed.
* * *
Erin took in and let out several breaths, her back pressed hard against the cage, her arms spread out and holding onto the bars. She crouched down, as ready as she was ever going to be and watched as one of the princess’s guards pulled the mad She-elf close to him.
Another guard took hold of the back of her muzzle while the first guard placed his hand on the metal clasp that secured the leash. Like the guys who had to turn the key at the same time to open doors around a nuclear bomb, the two guards nodded at each and, at the very same moment, released the She-elf from her bondage.
Moving faster than anything she’d ever seen, the She-elf charged toward Erin, but before reaching her, she dashed to the right and up the cage. She ran up the side of the cage. Something Erin couldn’t do without help from her wings.
Erin tried to keep the female in her line of sight but she moved so fast . . .
Her hair gripped from above, Erin was yanked away from the bars and thrown across the pit to the roar of the crowd.
She slammed face-first into the opposite bars, her right cheekbone breaking on impact.
Landing on her back, she looked up in time to see the She-elf jumping down on her. Erin rolled away and tried to get back to her feet but a kick sent her spinning across the pit again.
Well, this wasn’t working out as she’d hoped. Nope. Not at all.
Fuck.
* * *
Stieg watched in horror as the She-elf tossed Erin around the pit the way Brodie Hawaii tossed around loose bones she dug up in the Crow’s backyard. And while he watched every muscle in his body told him to go to Erin. To help her. But that would put him in the cage with her. All the elves would have to do was close them in and wait for them to starve to death.
If he started a fight outside the cage that would still leave Erin trapped inside. All the guards would have to do was stick her with a spear.
So he gritted his teeth and did the impossible. He waited.
Erin hit the roof of the cage before dropping back to the ground. The She-elf was still playing with her.
With the crowd roaring, she walked over to Erin as the Crow desperately tried to get back to her feet. Stieg watched Erin struggle, his entire body getting tight as panic began to sweep through him.
Wild-eyed, the She-elf reached down, grabbed Erin by the shoulders and lifted her up in the air. Erin flailed in the air for several seconds, but Stieg remembered a time he’d made the same move on Erin once. He hadn’t planned to snap her back against his knee like the She-elf was clearly intending to do—although he’d thought about it at the time—instead he’d only attempted to throw Erin in the Bird House pool. But before he could toss her away, she’d—
With the She-elf holding Erin over her head by gripping her shirt, she lifted her knee up and began to pull Erin down. That’s when Erin used her gymnastics training to flip forward, every muscle working to yank her away from the She-elf.
The crazed elf stumbled and fell to the side. Erin kicked her onto her back and did another front flip, both of her feet slamming into the She-elf’s chest.
The crowd roared in approval, drowning out the She-elf’s screams of pain as they realized the “Valkyrie” would be giving them a bit of a show.
The She-elf pushed Erin off her chest, but before she could get back up, Erin kicked her in the side, sending her flipping across the pit floor.
Erin went after her, quickly and expertly grabbing the female from behind. She squatted down behind her and used that damn sleeper hold on the She-elf as if it would be as effective as it was on a human.
But Stieg noticed that Erin had only one arm around the elf’s throat. She’d used her free hand to grip her opponent’s wrist.
And that’s when he understood exactly what his tricky little Crow was doing.
* * *
Erin held onto the She-elf’s wrist for as long as she could, then she was flying again. Rolling across that damn pit and slamming into those damn bars when she reached the other side.
Before she could get up, the She-elf was on her, pinning her to the ground with her legs and her weight. She leaned over her. And for one terrifying moment, Erin thought the female was about to kiss her. Although it would not be her first kiss from a woman, she would actually prefer such a thing with a female who’d actually bathed in the last ten thousand years.
As full-on panic began to set in, the She-elf got impossibly close and asked in a hideous whisper, “You’re not a Valkyrie. What are you?”
Erin stared straight into those yellow-gray eyes and replied, “I’m a Crow.”
The She-elf leaned back, her insane laughter ringing throughout the hall, drowning out the entire crowd cheering for Erin’s death. Then she was back. Too close again, unfortunately, as if she was on the verge of the most life-altering orgasm, “Ohhhh, this is going to be so. Much. Fucking. Funnnnnnn.”
Oh, shit.
What had she done?
* * *
The princess leaned forward. “What . . . what is happening?”
“Nothing,” her brother answered. “She’s insane.”
“She’s talking to her.”
“No, she’s not. You’re being paranoid.”
No. She wasn’t. Stieg knew what Erin had done. The same thing she’d done to him when he was unknowingly sitting with the Four Horsemen. She let the She-elf see.
The skill taught to her by Betty had somehow cleared the She-elf’s mind. Sort of.
The prince was right. She was still insane, but something told Stieg this might have been the insane she’d been for a long time.
Dark Elves weren’t known for their calm natures.
The She-elf grabbed Erin by her throat and got to her feet, lifting the Crow with her. The move seemed to calm the princess down and she relaxed back into her throne.
With one move, the female tossed Erin into the back of the cage and ran toward her, screaming. Erin caught hold of the She-elf’s arms and slammed her into the bars. Fully caught up in the action, several guards leaned in to yell encouragement, and that’s when both females moved.
Erin turned, lifted her hands, and finally unleashed a load of flames in a wide circle, forcing the guards to drop down or be burned to the bone. While Erin distracted them, the She-elf caught hold of one of the guards and yanked him against the bars three times until blood poured from his head. She reached down and yanked the ring of keys he had tied to his belt. Other guards tried to make a grab, but she was as fast sane as she was crazy.
Seanait charged across the pit. Spears came through the bars. Erin turned several of them to ash, and the others the She-elf deftly avoided by dropping to her knees and sliding across the dirt until she reached the door.
“Stop her!” the princess yelled, getting to her feet. “You fools! Kill her!”
That’s when Stieg knew . . . now.
* * *
Erin stopped her flame in time to see him lift his head and look at her. She’d been afraid that being treated like a dog might set him back a bit. But no. He’d just been waiting for her. She saw it in his eyes. In the way he straightened his shoulders.
And the way he broke the chains that held him.
In one move he got to his feet and turned to face the one who held the leash. The prince.
“Uathach!” the prince screamed, calling for his sister, but it was too late.
Stieg gripped the leash and yanked the elf royal forward until he could ram his entire fist into the male’s mouth and down his throat. When he yanked it out again, it was covered in blood and he gripped muscle and cartilage in his fist.
The princess wailed in terror and pain, even as more guards and soldiers surrounded her. Even the crowd was ready to fight for her. That is until Stieg threw back his shoulders and unleashed his wings.
In an instant, the crowd’s attitude changed and several yelled out, “A Raven! Run! Flee!”
But as some began to run away, Erin stepped out of the cage and with the dark She-elf standing slightly in front of her, Erin unleashed her own wings.
The princess pointed with one hand while gripping a guard’s shoulder with the other. “A Crow,” she said softly at first. Then, howling, “A Crowwwwww!”
Panic set in and everyone was running.
Erin hadn’t even done anything yet. Good Lord. What had her ancient elders done in the elf lands to gain such a reputation? She just had to know!
The dark She-elf picked a dropped spear off the ground, broke it over her knee, and slammed the point into the first guard who ran by her. With the spear still sticking out of his belly, she yanked the sword from his hand and cut off his head and a good part of his shoulder.
With clear, but brutally cold eyes, she faced Erin. “You ready to kill everyone?”
“Actually, we were just going to leave, so . . .”
The She-elf raised one brow.
“It’s just . . . we’re kind of on a schedule.”
“Do you really think they’ll let you go? Do you think she will let you go after your Raven killed her brother?”
Erin couldn’t help but smile a little. “But . . . he started it.”
And for the first time ever, Erin heard Stieg Engstrom laugh.