Dead Embers(8)

"Come." The word fell like an icy crystal from Astrid's lips.

Feathers fluttered behind me, and I swallowed a sigh of relief knowing Hugin remained with me. Annoying as he sometimes was, the enigmatic bird gave me comfort. And he was my only ally here.

I met Freya's eyes and bowed my head in a polite farewell, releasing my gritted teeth only when I walked off. Astrid led me through a doorway much smaller than the main entrance to the hall, and stopped almost immediately to swing open the first door on her left.

"He is in there. You may stay as long as you wish, but do not touch him." Then she left in a flurry of cool lavender fragrance.

Aidan lay on a low bed carved out of stone and bordered with the twisting branch design that had become so familiar to me. A thin layer of white feathers protected his prone flesh from the cold stone.

I walked to him, knelt quietly beside him. My fingers reached automatically for his hand, but I yanked them back just in time, my muscles cramping with fear. Astrid's warning rang hollow in my ears. What would happen if I touched him? Would it hurt him, delay his cure? I fisted my hand as my gut twisted.

I may have sounded confident when I told Freya that coma patients could hear people who talked to them, but right then, as I gazed at his pale face, longing to run my fingers through his black tousled hair, I ceased to believe it.

Tears warmed my cheeks, and I brushed the heated despair from my face.

"Do not fear, Brynhildr. Freya will be able to leech the poison from him." Hugin, all but forgotten, landed again on my shoulder.

"What? What do you mean, 'leech'? I thought she was trying to find a cure."

"That is the cure. Over time, the power of Loki's poison will fade, and the weaker it gets the easier it will be for Freya to draw it from him."

"How does she do it?"

"The same way she placed the curse on him."

I swallowed a gasp, recalling the twisting green smoke Freya had drawn from Aidan's mouth when she'd removed her curse. A curse she'd used to force me to find her precious necklace. Although I'd grown fond of my amber pendant, I'd been very happy to be rid of the damned thing. Honestly, if I'd known the mess the bloody thing would get us into, I would never have accepted it, never would have worn it at all.

"So what? She spews some fancy Freya-smoke into him and then sucks it back out again? That's it?"

"Yes, that is correct." The bird bobbed his little head up and down, his emotionless eyes staring, glassy and glossy.

I shivered as I pictured how close Freya would have to be to Aidan, how close her lips would need to be for her to blow the golden smoke into him. In my mind's eye, I saw the swirling golden smoke dip and rise and fill Aidan's mouth. Then it would disappear, followed moments later by a solid, twisting, almost living black poison that would curl and writhe as it rose from his mouth again. Not my idea of a pleasant cure.

My shoulders slumped, and I tried to think about something else.

"Why can't I touch him?"

"There is no reason why you cannot touch him."

"But Astrid said . . ." My words trailed into the shadows as I glared at the closed door. The bitchy Valkyrie had used the big guns. Well, at least I had a magical bird to tell me the truth.

"The Valkyrie Astrid has her reasons for the nature of her hatred. You must pay no attention to her, Bryn. There is far too much at stake for you to be led off your path by any enemy."

"Enemy is a harsh word, Blackbird." But he was right. Astrid was no friend of mine. At least I'd now have my time with Aidan, no thanks to her.

I crawled closer to him and leaned my arms on the stone bed, right beside his shoulder. His hair curled at his temple, and I smoothed away a fat black tendril. The feel of soft, silky hair against my fingers brought a rush of heat to my eyes. I missed him so terribly. The soft flesh of my fingertips traced his cool cheek. I shifted so I could link my fingers with his, allowing my warmth to seep into him, and whispered words into his ears: promises and memories mixed with regret.

We didn't have much luck in this love of ours. Even as I thought about it, I wondered if it had ever been love at all. Had it just been a physical attraction that had held us together so tenuously? He'd come into my life and then left again so abruptly, breaking my heart into a million pitiful pieces.

Many weeks and many reasons later, we'd found each other again, in Asgard, as if destiny struggled to keep us apart. A Valkyrie and an einherjar, a Warrior of Valhalla, destined to fight and die for Odin.

I closed my eyes and held Aidan. Now I just needed him to wake up and ease my doubts.

***

Who knew how much time had sped by before Hugin's shuffling and fluttering drew me out of my semi-dreamlike state? I shifted, then lifted my head. I'd fallen asleep on Aidan's chest. Tears filled my eyes and blurred his features as I accepted that my time with him had drawn to a close.

"Come, Brynhildr. It is time we were going."

I rose to my knees and stared at Aidan's beautiful face. A silent laugh escaped my lips. Wouldn't he find it too funny to know he played the part of sleeping beauty so well? I bent over him and touched my lips to his. Maybe I had this silly hope he'd be revived just by the tender kiss. Maybe I knew it was stupid.

I paused, waiting for something . . . anything . . . to happen. But he didn't magically awaken. He didn't move, didn't stir, didn't even appear to breathe. I rose to my feet and stepped away from the stone bed.

Just in time.

Astrid swung the door open, clearly expecting to burst in on me breaking her stupid rule. She stared at Aidan's silent form, then back at me, where I stood a foot away from him. A comical expression of disappointment marred her beautiful profile.

"Your time is up," she snapped. Two bright spots of anger flamed on her cheeks right before she stalked off, not bothering to check if we followed.

We did, but I had no intention of running after her just to keep up. I entered the hall a few moments later, Hugin flying ahead, then circling back to land on my shoulder.

"Did you have a good visit, my dear?" Freya's mellifluous voice again sent a shiver rippling down my spine as I neared the dais.

I stiffened, hoping she couldn't tell I'd shed my tears with Aidan, hoping she couldn't see my stupid breaking heart.

"Thank you, my lady. I'm honored to be allowed this visit." I lifted my chin slightly.

"He will be revived, Brynhildr. It will take time. Loki's serpent poison is vicious. It will, of course, be much better if a more potent cure is found, but in the meantime we will do what we can." Freya smiled, startling me. Was she actually trying to make me feel better?

I nodded and lowered my eyes. Better for her to think I'd been overcome with emotion than for her to recognize the disbelief in my eyes—disbelief at her attempt to feign compassion.

"I must be going back. Is there anything I can bring him?" I knew as the words left my lips that the answer would be no.

Astrid shifted beside Freya, who shook her head. "We have what we need to take care of your Aidan. We will do what we must."

I nodded. "Thank you again, my lady."

Hugin launched off my shoulder and, in a flurry of black feathers, led me out into the icy bleakness that was Helheim, back to Bifrost and back to Asgard.

And back to utter loneliness.





Chapter 9




Vipers come in all shapes and sizes, and the most beautiful ones are the most dangerous. Although Freya may have meant what she said about Aidan, I couldn't trust her. And I certainly didn't trust Astrid. Perhaps I could go to Odin for help.

I tried to put the whole episode out of my mind, immersing myself in working out on the training grounds. But the faces of my sparring partners blurred into images of Aidan, lying cold and vulnerable under Astrid's and Freya's eyes.

"You know, it's really hard to concentrate on sword practice when you make a face like that all the time."

The warm, amused voice brought me out of my funk. I spun around and met the speaker with open arms and a huge grin. Joshua! He hugged me back as best he could with a vicious blade in one hand. Somehow we avoided mortally wounding each other with our weapons.

"I've been watching you," he said. "For a girl you sure can wield a sword." Joshua's teeth glinted a welcome, his eyes twinkling as he looked me up and down, trying to keep a stern and threatening mien.

But he couldn't keep the naughty expression off his face, and I laughed aloud.

"Don't mess with me, Warrior. I'll wipe the floor with you."

"The mud, you mean?"

"Huh?"

"The mud, not the floor." He poked his sword at the muddy sludge beneath our feet. Just like the Joshua I'd known back in Craven, being such a smart-aleck that his jokes went over my head.

I chuckled and swatted him on the shoulder. At least Joshua's new job and abode hadn't changed him.

"Enough with the pleasantries. Get back to work, Warriors." Fen strode past and shot the stern warning at us. He kept walking, but I didn't miss the tiny curve to his lips.

Joshua's smile vanished, though, and the color drained from his face. He stared after the wolf-man, deep in thought. And only snapped out of it when I waved a hand in front of his eyes.

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About Fen?"

"Yeah! He's . . . strange."

"Strange as in . . . ?" I glanced over my shoulder, but the wolf-man was safely out of earshot. Human earshot, at least.

"Don't know . . . maybe it's the whole werewolf thing," Joshua muttered.