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He didn’t respond. Instead, Rory fired his gun again. Except, Ingrid wasn’t caught off guard this time. She stopped the bullets and shot them back at Rory. Astrid screamed and flew to him.
Ingrid cackled. “Foolish.”
“You bitch,” Aya snarled, readying her blade.
Angel snarled out of nowhere. I’d lost track of her in all the fighting. The dog barreled into Ingrid, clamping down on her arm and shaking. Ingrid howled in agony and raised her hand to strike the dog when Fen lunged and snapped his jaws around her other arm.
Ingrid screamed, and power exploded out of her. I braced myself, but the magic was stronger, blasting me back. I landed in a practiced roll and jerked my head up. Ingrid wailed, her arms gushing red blood and black ichor where they’d been ripped off at the elbow for one, and broken and severed mid-bicep for the other, where Fen had crushed it with his overpowering bite force.
“Heathens!” she screamed. “How dare you! You will rue the day you crossed my mistress. When she comes to take what is hers, we will not spare you.”
Ingrid’s eyes went black, the ichor dripping from her body coming to life. It swirled around her and shot out to her living allies and corrupted creatures. The black liquid consumed them, and then they were gone.
“Fuck, that’s disturbing,”Bjarke grumbled, his words coming out as growls in the ear but proper words in the mind in the same way Fen’s did.
“Fen, take the Berserkers and scout the area,” Aya ordered. “Just in case there are more lingering about. We especially don’t need those corrupted creatures skulking around.”
I spun on my heels and rushed over to Astrid and Rory. She was scolding him.
“I don’t know how many times we have to tell you to wear your ballistic vest,” she said. Her hands glowed with her golden healing magic, which floated around him and seeped into his wounds.
Rory chuckled. “Well, if I had, then I wouldn’t have gotten so close to our guardian angel.”
Astrid shook her head. “I’m not an angel.”
“Then what are you?”
“A Valkyrie.”
He smiled. “Well, then if I died in the line of duty protecting the people of this town, I’m glad it would be you shepherding my soul.”
“Well, I’m sorry to say, Officer, but you’re going to live.”
The two laughed. It was good to see the man in good spirits, considering what he’d experienced today.
More people ventured out of the nearby buildings, hesitant and wary. That was to be expected. Though, their experience did pose a problem. How would they react? Would this force Astrid and the rest to leave? Runavík was an option, as was our original home together, though I’d need to modernize it before she moved in. But this place was Astrid’s home.
Astrid’s magic dissipated, and she patted him on the shoulder. “There, good as new. You’re lucky those magic coins were in your chest pocket.”
The older man’s brow furrowed, and he pulled several coins out of the front pocket of his uniform. “Magic coins?”
Astrid tapped them. “I can feel the magic on them. Some sort of protection enchantment. I don’t know how you got them, but they saved your life.”
He gazed lovingly at the coins. “My son sent these to me on his last tour. Said he found them in a quaint bazaar where the vendor said they were ancient and special. You gift them to those you love to keep them safe. I’ve carried them with me ever since. And when Edna died, I made sure to carry hers, for the sake of his memory.”
I felt a strange pull to this conversation. I held out my hand. “May I?”
Rory handed them over. I inspected the coins. “These are, in fact, ancient. I remember the fae using these coins at one time. How your son got his hands on them, I don’t know. They are protective of their artifacts.”
I handed them back to him. “But, I believe they’re in safe hands with you.”
The officer blinked, as if trying to process my mention of fae, and then smiled. “Ethan was always finding strange things in his travels. He had a knack for it.”
Somethingpingedin the back of my mind. It felt related to why I was drawn to this man. “Do you happen to have a photograph of your son?”
Though perplexed by my question, Rory nodded and pulled out a photo from his wallet. Numbness fell over me when I got a look at the young man in military fatigues.
“Ethan went MIA in—”
