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Odin, guide her.
Thor, protect her.
Tyr, give her strength.
Please, please, don't let her die.
Chapter Fourteen
Rissa
Icome awake witha jolt, my head pounding. I slowly peel my eyes open, only to come face to face with my father's lifeless body. His eyes are open, staring at nothing. Even in death, he looks terrified. Blood pools around him, soaking through his clothing.
A wave of sorrow whispers through me, though I'm unsure if I grieve for him or for what could have been. What should havebeen had he been different. Judging by the smell of alcohol in the house and the sunken, sickly pallor to his skin, he never gave up the whiskey. Judging by the state of the house, at least what little I can see of it from where I lay, he never gave up the alcohol-fueled rages, either.
He died as he lived, violently. Painfully. Having never once said sorry for everything he took from me. Not just my mom, but my childhood, and my sense of safety. My trust in people and, for a long time, my belief in love. He took everything and paid for less than I did.
I close my eyes, blocking out the sight of him. I can't think about that now. I have more pressing concerns. Like the fact that I'm in a house full of Forsaken. Dax is going to be so mad at me when he finds me.
If he finds me.
"Do it," one of them whispers. "Before she wakes."
Do what?
"Is the sacrifice prepared?"
"We have his soul."
"Then prepare to open the portal," the Forsaken who spoke to me at the door says.
The portal? What portal? To Valhalla? I desperately want to crack my eyes open again to see what they're doing, but I can't. I can't let them know I'm already awake. But if they're opening the portal to Valhalla, I need to let them do it. It may be the only way back.
I slowly dip into the well, being careful not to draw on the Light inside.
"As soon as it opens, prepare to go through and start collecting souls," the Forsaken from the door says. "As many as you can contain."
Collecting souls? From Valhalla? Why would they need souls from…? Shock courses through me as realization dawns. Theydon'tneed souls from Valhalla. They can take those from anywhere. But they need the Bifröst to travel between realms, just like the Gods did. And the Bifröst was destroyed two thousand years ago. The portal in Valhalla was the only piece of it left…and they destroyed it three hundred years ago.
They haven't been collecting souls at their whim for the last three hundred years! At least not any that made it to the Veil. They can't get there without the portal any more than the Fae can get to Valhalla without the portal. They thought they were destroying the Valkyrie when they destroyed the portal, but they failed to consider the broader ramifications. Without that portal open, most of the souls they wanted so badly were forever out of their reach.
"Get the Valkyrie's blood. Quickly!"
Nope. If that's what they need to open the portal, Helheim will freeze over first. If that's why they wanted me so badly, too bad. I'll find a way to open the portal myself.
Footsteps start across the room toward me.
I reach deeper into the well, preparing to grasp every bit of Light I can contain.
"Fae!" one of the Forsaken hisses. "Outside."
Dax! Oh, God. Dax is here.
"Hold them off! We're almost finished here."
I allow the Light to pour through me in a fiery storm as I scramble upright.
"Shit," the Forsaken closest to me growls, trying to dodge out of my way. I grab his arm, watching as he ignites with a whoosh of sound.
