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I clamp my hand over my mouth, trying to stifle a sob. Genevieve and Jessa were the only real friends I ever made. They were the only people who never treated me like I was different or like I was a freak or like there was something wrong with me. They treated me like I was completely normal.
They're completely normal. They won't understand any of this. How could they? Their lives revolve around boys and makeup and our crappy call-center job. Prophecies and the Forsaken and the battle between Light and Dark are so far beyond anything they know.
I knew it was coming, but I still didn't expect it to hurt this bad. I still didn't expect the guilt to be this overwhelming. They've done nothing wrong…nothing except befriend me. And now, their lives and their souls are in danger.
"Damrion!" Reaper roars from somewhere down below. "Eitr is under attack. The Forsaken are at the gates."
Chapter Eleven
Dax
Rissa lied to me.Fury twists through me, rattling my brain in my skull. When I get my hands on my little Valkyrie, I'm going to spank the truth from her deceitful lips. She'll be lucky if she can sit down for a week.
Nei, a month.
Just as soon as we rescue her friends and I kill her father.
At least I'll get to deal with that níðingr.
"Damrion!" Reaper roars from the back of the warehouse where our communication room is set up. "Eitr is under attack. The Forsaken are at the gates."
"Faen!" Damrion and I shout at the same time, racing toward Reaper's location.
I leap over a pallet of wood with Damrion hot on my heels. I dodge another, nearly careening into the doorjamb.
Reaper, Adriel, and Malachi are all crammed into the tiny communication room, a walkie clutched in Adriel's pale hand.
"The call just came through. There are Forsaken at the gates," Malachi says, his tone somber. "The forest is full ofvarulv."
So Rissa didn't kill them all the other night. Gods. How many of the things have the Forsaken made in the last three hundred years? Too many. Far too many, clearly.
"Will the walls hold?" I ask.
"Ja. Against thevarulv," Damrion says. "But against the Forsaken? Not for long."
"We should be there," Adriel growls.
"Abigail sent us here for a reason," Malachi says.
"Ja, because she knew this was going to happen, you fool," Adriel snaps at him. "You think she didn't see this? You think she didn't know they were coming?" He spears Malachi with a dark look. "She knew, and she sacrificed herself to save the Valkyrie."
Is that why we're here? Because Abigail was trying to protect Rissa?Faen.At this point, I hardly know what to believe. But we're here for a reason, I do believe that. And whatever that reason is, Rissa is at the heart of it.
The Forsaken want her. Abigail knew it. Perhaps even sacrificed herself to keep it from happening. Which means my mission is unchanged. I'll do whatever I must to ensure my Valkyrie survives.
"We have a problem of our own," I say quietly. "There are dozens of Forsaken holding Rissa's coworkers and her father. Unless we free them, they'll be dead by morning."
"Eitr should be our priority, not three humans," Adriel says.
"Not to sound heartless, but he's not wrong," Reaper mutters.
"Abigail was clear. If Rissa's friends die, the world will fall to the dark," Malachi argues.
"So you just want to let your own people die in their place?"
"I didn't say that!" Malachi growls at Reaper.
"Enough!" Damrion roars, slamming his hand down on the table. "That's enough! We're not leaving anyone to die. Abigail sent us with clear instructions. We're going to do what we came here to do. Everyone else, we send back to defend Eitr. As soon as we're done here, we return to Eitr."
