Gideon's Promise (Sons of Judgment Book 2) (51 page)

“Stop it.” The words cracked like fine china in careless hands.

“Why?” he hissed. “I thought Harvesters lived for the truth.”

She glowered up at him through a thick film of tears. “Because it is not the truth. If my life meant so much to you, you would not have turned your back on me all those years ago. You wouldn’t have abandoned me every chance to hunt on my own. Do not speak to me of pain when you have caused plenty of your own.”

“I couldn’t hunt with you, because I couldn’t stand to be around you,” he snarled out through his teeth. “I couldn’t stand seeing you put yourself in harm’s way and not throw myself between you and it. I couldn’t stand seeing your face, knowing you were mine and I could never have you. It might all sound simple to you, but it was hell for me and I lived through it for as many years as I possibly could before it was just too much. Had that night not happened, I would still fight it, because I would rather push you away than have you sit there and hate me for something I can’t control.”

“I have never hated you.”

“Then what is it?” His anger was woven with a frustration the struck her square in the chest. “Why can’t you just let me take care of you? Why do you have to fight me on everything?”

The pressure built like a dam inside her chest until she couldn’t breathe. Her mind geared around his demands, around the questions she herself was unable to answer and still, she could think of nothing to say.

The disappointment on his face was crippling. His arms dropped to his sides with a smack and he pulled away from the bed, away from her with a shake of his head.

“Wait...”

The door clicked shut behind him and she was alone.

V
alkyrie had always known loneliness. Harvesters didn’t have friends, not even amongst each other. Solitariness didn’t seem so pathetic when everyone else was also alone. In the Maxwell residence, everyone had someone at all hours of the day and night. Valkyrie was the odd man out. She had nothing in common with the women and the men all treated her as though she were made of glass. And since the night of their argument, Gideon hadn’t said another word to her. She barely even saw him. Maybe he was waiting for her to say something, but she had no idea what. Not that it mattered, because she had made it her life’s mission to avoid them all.

The fourth floor had become her sanctuary since there was nowhere else to go. The mindless wandering helped keep her mostly sane and distracted from the hurt of being completely alienated. It was better for all involved. They clearly didn’t want her around. That was made painfully obvious with the trays of food brought to her door every evening. She had no idea who they were from, but she got the hint. She wasn’t wanted and they were too nice to just tell her as much to her face. Well, she wouldn’t force her company on them, nor would she take their food, or anything else they thought to throw her way like scraps to a dog. She may not have had her title, or her strength, but she sure as hell still had her pride.

“Valkyrie?”

She stayed on the window seat overlooking the west and her home. The bay window was the only one not built into a room, but lay hidden in a small alcove, tucked away from everything and everyone.

Riley appeared at the end of the hall, her red hair a halo of fire around her small, pale face. It seemed somehow even brighter against the soft, white fabric of her knitted sweater. She smiled at Valkyrie.

“Hey.”

Not sure what to say, Valkyrie said nothing, but waited for the girl to get on with whatever she was there for.

“Are you busy?”

Valkyrie arched a brow. “Are you going to ask me to go hunting with you again?”

It was a low jab. She knew it the moment Riley lowered her gaze.

“I am really sorry about that,” she said quietly. “I told Gideon it was my fault. I had no idea your sister would attack.”

“How could you possibly know?”

Riley took a few more tentative steps forward. “I just feel really awful about everything. I feel like it’s my fault you and Gideon are fighting.”

“That is irrational,” Valkyrie stated simply. “Gideon and I were fighting long before you were born.”

“I meant right now,” Riley clarified.

“Even then,” Valkyrie said. “We will always have things to fight about. It is what we do best.” She turned her head towards the thick smear of gray outside the window. “We fight.”

“You make it very hard for a person to apologize.”

“Then perhaps you should stop.”

There was silence and Valkyrie could only pray the girl was gone.

“I just really want to be your friend,” Riley murmured after a long stretch of silence. “Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I don’t have very many of those. The one friend I did have is in Connecticut and, well, you and I have a lot more in common than you might think.”

Intrigued, slightly irked, Valkyrie eyed the girl. “What do we have in common?”

“Well...” Riley offered her a half smile. “We both imprinted on a Maxwell brother. That kind of makes us sisters, doesn’t it?” When Valkyrie said nothing, she continued. “We both have really shitty fathers. We’re both more or less alone and we both had to fight to get to where we are.”

“And where exactly are you?” Valkyrie rose. “Surrounded by people who worship the very ground you walk upon, a mate who cannot keep his hands off you, a woman who has practically adopted you as the apple of her eye, strength, speed.” She scoffed. “You have everything. Do you really expect me to pity you?”

Sadness glinted in the crimson surface of Riley’s eyes. “No, I just hoped...” She dropped her gaze. “Maybe this was a mistake. I’m sorry I bothered you.”

She left.

Valkyrie didn’t stop her. She started to turn back to the window when the hard crack of feet had her spinning around once more. Riley returned, face set in a fierce and determined frown.

“You know what, no, I’m not sorry!” she shouted. “I came here hoping to maybe offer you an olive branch, even though I have no idea what I ever did to make you hate me so much and I don’t care. You’re my family now, whether either of us like it or not. I love Gideon. He was the first and only person who ever gave a shit about me, besides Octavian. He’s a good man and he loves you. Even if you weren’t his mate, I would still be standing here, because of that reason. Now I don’t know why you’re so angry at the world and I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through in your life, but you’re not alone anymore. There are people downstairs who—”

“Who what?” Valkyrie hissed. “Care about me?”

“Yes!” Riley shot back. “They are fighting for you.”

“They are fighting for the child I carry. Nothing more.”

Riley growled deep in her throat. “You are such a fucking idiot!”

Valkyrie bristled with outrage. “What did you say?”

“You,” Riley said very slowly. “Are a fucking idiot!” she repeated. “I think maybe Harvesters should spend less time training for war and more time growing some common sense, because if you had any, you would see what is right in front of your face and that is that those people love you. That Gideon loves you and that you could have that, all of it, if you would just get that stick out of your ass.”

Valkyrie’s rage closed a single foot between them. “I should beat the hell out of you for speaking to me that way.”

Rather than cower, Riley opened her arms wide. “Go ahead. I beat you once and I will gladly beat you again and again until you get it through your skull that we’re not going anywhere.”

Breathing hard, Valkyrie stared at the girl with a new found surge of irritation and respect.

“Now.” Riley folded her arms. “Are you going to stay up here like a child and sulk in the corner, or are you going to be an adult and come down for dinner?”

“I am not a child!”

Riley gave a curt nod of her head. “Good. I’ll see you downstairs.”

She didn’t come back this time, but her words hammered at Valkyrie long after they had faded from the corridor. There were so many reasons she could think of to ignore the demands, and only one reason not to. It was that reason that propelled her downstairs to shower and dress in tight leather pants and a crimson sweater that matched her lipstick and hugged every curve to perfection. She left her hair down in a thick, black wave around her shoulders with only a single strand pulled back at the left temple and pinned. Out of habit, she tucked her daggers into the tops of her boots, slipped gold hoops into her ears, and took a deep breath.

Her confidence remained resolute the entire way down to the dining room and only wavered when she was close enough to hear the murmur of voices. Her long strides slowed to a stop and she stared at the doorway, torn between proving Riley wrong and saving face.

“You look beautiful.”

Valkyrie yelped in surprise and whipped around. Her dagger was in her hand before her mind could register her body’s actions. Her alarmed heart only beat faster when Gideon stepped into view.

He looked gorgeous in the black t-shirt that strained over a broad chest and wide shoulders and the leather pants that hugged toned legs. His hair was swept back from his cleanly shaven face and he had the ghost of a smile darkening his eyes that prickled her back to her senses.

“Why are you lurking in the shadows?” she snapped reflexively.

He stopped when there was a danger of walking into her. That close, she had no choice but to tilt her head back, or take a step in retreat. She craned her neck.

“Why have you been hiding?” he countered smoothly.

Tendrils of heat crawled into her cheeks. “I was not hiding.”

“Good.” His hand lifted to her face. His thumb glided almost lovingly over the apple of her cheek before dropping to her shoulder and gliding down to her hand still curled around her blade. “Because the woman I fell in love with hides from no one.” Gently, he guided her dagger back into the top of her boot. “She’s a formidable force in every way that matters.”

Her throat muscles constricted as rivulets of heat coursed up her arm from the hand he continued to cradle.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying honey.”

Valkyrie blinked. “What?”

The right corner of his mouth quirked up. “Allow me to walk you to dinner?”

He gave her no choice. He took her hand, slipped it through the crook of his arm and guided her forward against her feet’s desire to move. Her knees trembled threateningly and her fingers tightened on his arm.

“Easy,” he murmured gently, settling his warm fingers over hers. “No one will bite you, but me.”

His comment startled her apprehension away just long enough for her to forget what she was doing until they stood in the doorway overlooking a full table. Heads turned and there was no escape.

“Valkyrie!” Kyaerin beamed. “You made it.”

Not sure what to say or do, Valkyrie just nodded.

Gideon ushered her to her seat and drew out her chair. She slipped inside and was gently pushed beneath the table by him before he took the spot next to her. On her right, Magnus met her gaze. Across from her sat Riley. The girl offered her the hint of a smile, before turning her attention back to Reggie, who was telling her about the human girl, Daphne, and her move to Connecticut. On Riley’s other side, Octavian was speaking to his father about the chart he’d been dutifully putting together the last week and a half. Across from him was his mother, between her and Gideon was Imogen. She was trying desperately to get Kyaerin’s attention and keep it. But Kyaerin was listening to Octavian.

“I think you should get in touch with Marco,” Kyaerin told her son. “His father fought in the war. He would know—”

“Marco is dead,” Valkyrie said. “He died four summers ago during an inanimis attack. He was ambushed and outnumbered.”

Kyaerin gasped, hand flying to her mouth. “I never realized ... I should contact his mother. How awful.”

“Dorin was San’s second in command,” Valkyrie went on. “He is the one you want.”

“Dorin has been underground for the last quarter of a century,” Liam said. “He will not be easy to find.”

“There’s no such thing as underground,” Magnus muttered. “Someone knows someone who knows something. I can ask around.”

“Once I figure out who fought and who ran, I think we might be able to stop the next attack,” Octavian said with hope.

“Maybe it has nothing to do with who fought in the first war,” Gideon mused.

“What do you mean?” Octavian asked.

Gideon’s chair creaked as he leaned back. His gaze remained focused on his brother, but his hand slid beneath the table and rested lightly on Valkyrie’s thigh. The gesture was so unexpected, she jumped. He paid her no mind other than to give her leg a gentle squeeze.

“There’s a war brewing over the horizon,”
Gideon said in a tone that suggested he was reciting something said to him before.
“It’s nearly at our doorsteps and those not prepared will be annihilated. A new revolution. A dawning of a new era where angels no longer exist and we are no longer prisoners.”

Valkyrie had no idea what he was talking about, but Octavian had stiffened. Riley had both hands over her mouth and Gideon was looking at both expectantly.

“Baron,” Octavian said so quietly, it was impossible to tell if he’d spoken at all.

Gideon’s mouth twitched humorlessly. “Maybe he’s rounding up more soldiers.”

“And killing those who refuse,” Magnus chimed in. “It would make sense. If they don’t join him, they’ll join the angels and that can’t happen.”

“Baron?” Valkyrie interjected. “What does he have to do with anything?”

Everyone knew Baron. The Chief Demon had once been a ranking officer in the Great War. He was responsible for more deaths than anyone, labeling him the bringer of death. He was also the reason Casters still existed. So long as there was evil like him in the world, there would need to be those who fought to protect mankind.

“Octavian bartered his soul in exchange for Riley’s life,” Magnus said. “Baron told him the only way he would make the deal was if Octavian fought for him in the approaching war.”

It stunned her that she wasn’t surprised by the idiotic self-sacrificing, yet it didn’t stop her from being annoyed.