AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Astrid gasped and took a startled step back. She stared with wide eyes. “That wasn’t a fancy illusionist hand motion. What the hell did you just do?”
“I’m not just any Tyr. I amtheTyr mortals name their sons after—the one they still pray to. The one you prayed to in order to save your family, hundreds of years ago.”
Astrid audibly sucked in air. I continued, figuring there was no going back now.
“I know you from another time, when you were a volva who healed as much as you conjured offensive magic.” I gestured to my arm, where I’d had a tattoo made of her. “Back when you were my wingless Valkyrie.”
Astrid shook her head slowly, back and forth, taking a step back. “That’s not… this can’t be…”
I rose to my feet. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest option, since I towered over her, but I had to make sure she understood I was serious about this, no matter how much some of her wanted to fight this.
“The wife I spoke about before… was you. We were in love and happy once, until you were taken from me. I failed to protect you, and you paid the price. I couldn’t live with that loss. I couldn’t live without you, so I had you brought back to life. But you couldn’t come back to the same body.”
My eyes flicked down to my missing hand before refocusing back on her. “I vowed to find you again, no matter how long it took. When I first arrived here, you said I was lost, and you were right. Until I laid eyes on you, I had been.”
Astrid ran her hands through her hair. “I want to say you’re lying. I want to call you out for making up a farfetched story. But why can’t I? Why does what you’re saying make more sense than anything I understand in my life right now?”
My feet stepped forward without my say-so. I reached for her, pulling her against me, and surprisingly, she didn’t fight me. “Astrid… Valkyrie…”
I spoke those names with as much love and affection as I’d always done in the past. The words tumbled off my tongue with the same accent her past-self knew.
Astrid jerked her head up, those green, soul-stealing eyes wide. I read the fear in her from those eyes—the conflict that raged inside her, bubbling to the surface to the point even my battle senses began to pick up.
Her entire reality had been shattered, and now she was struggling to understand it all. I wasn’t sure how to help her. I wasn’t even sure if I’d handled this well in any sense of the word.
Astrid stepped back, and I let her, as much as I didn’t want her to put distance between us. “I need… space. I need to process this…”
I nodded. “I won’t stop you. I’m here to help you through this, should you want it. It wasn’t my intention to cause you any more distress. I just… didn’t know how else to tell you the truth you sought.”
She nodded slowly and turned.
Watching her walk away wasn’t easy. Each footstep she took sparked pain in my chest I didn’t wish to feel.Creation, please don’t allow this to have been the biggest mistake of my life.
Chapter Fourteen
Astrid
A warm breezeblew around me, bringing with it the potent scent of the forest. My mind raced, unable to focus on a single thought.
Tyr was a god.No, he can’t be.
I’m someone from his past.That’s not possible.
He made a sword disappear like magic.Like magic…
My thoughts halted, and I slowly straightened. Magic. I had loved what I thought was magic ever since I was a kid. My dad did all kinds of magic tricks I still didn’t know the secrets to. But those weren’t real magic.
What Tyr did wasn’t real magic.Yes, it was.
No matter what plagued my mind right now, I couldn’t shake what I’d seen. Real magic. Magic was real.
I looked down at my hands. I hadn’t touched Ben when I threw him through that wall. Sometimes when I got overly emotional, the lights went weird in a room. And, thinking back to that darkest moment of my life, our dog should have killed me before Dad had the chance to come to my rescue.
Am I magic?
I continued to stare, waiting for… something. Anything. If it made sense of this whole situation, I didn’t care how the answers manifested. I just wanted them.
A tingling sensation prickled my fingers, and then a warm and chaotic sensation filled my chest.What is this?
