Gideon's Promise (Sons of Judgment Book 2) (53 page)

Yet the truth of the matter was that she had been, unintentionally. Her pride had kept her from seeing just how stupid she was being. But she wasn’t about to tell him that.

There was a ghost of smile turning up the corners of his mouth. “Good.”

While he hadn’t yelled at her, his gentleness still made her feel thoroughly admonished.

“But while we’re on the topic,” she said. “You were wrong that night. I do want this baby and I’ve never wanted one. Not ever. But I want her.”

The dark, possessive glint in his eyes stole her breath even before he kissed her with a passion that curled her toes inside her boots. Somehow, of all the things they’d done thus far, that moment, that kiss was by far the most intimate. It rang with every heartbeat, and thrummed with so much love that it was impossible not to drown in it. It scared her, but letting go was infinitely more terrifying.

There was no warning when the first boom shook the walls. The shudder tore through the manor, vibrating along the glass and making the crystals overhead tinkle wildly. The second one was even louder. Gideon jerked his head up, his chest rose and fell rapidly in heavy pants. Eyes that had torn through her moments ago narrowed.

“What is it?” she gasped, still trying to steady her heart rate.

“Someone’s outside.”

He rose quickly and helped her to her feet. Then kept a firm grip on her hand as he led them back towards the diner.

“If I ask you to stay in my room until I return?”

Valkyrie shot him a disgusted side glance. “That will not happen.”

Gideon sighed. “Didn’t think so.”

Neither spoke as they pushed their way through the kitchen. Liam and the others stood in the diner, watching as Magnus yanked the nails out of the plywood boarding the doors shut. It surprised her that Riley, Imogen, and Kyaerin were present. She almost expected them to be in the back, away from the possible danger. Part of her prickled with annoyance that they were there at all. It was dangerous. They had no idea who was on the other side.

Magnus tossed aside the last board and stepped back. He glanced at his father and inclined his head.

Liam raised the book in his hands and flipped it open to one of the pages. He began chanting in
Gaelic
. Valkyrie knew a few words and understood enough of it to know it was a protection spell. Power and energy rippled around him the way heat did off the roads in the desert.

“Mom, maybe you guys shouldn’t be here,” Gideon murmured quietly to his mother, who shook her head.

“Whoever it is, will have to face all of us,” she said evenly, which Valkyrie could almost respect if it wasn’t completely stupid; the frontlines were no place for those not trained.

She was given no chance to say as much when the doors burst open and a single figure stomped in.

Valkyrie stiffened. “You!”

L
ooking out of place in actual jeans and a dusty leather jacket over a white t-shirt, Kyros stood darkening the doorway. His long, dark hair was tied at the nape of his neck and there was a backpack slung over one shoulder. He could have passed for entirely human if Valkyrie didn’t know better. But that wasn’t what had her blades drawn and her feet moving.

“How dare you show your face here?”

Gideon grabbed her around the middle and hauled her into him, stopping her from slicing the intruder into tiny pieces.

Cool, brown eyes leveled her with a hard stare. “Believe me, had I a choice, I would not.”

“What are you doing here?” Magnus hurried past his friend to the doors and quickly slammed them shut. “Does the queen know—?”

“I have been exiled,” Kyros stated crisply. “Because of your brother.”

Against Valkyrie’s back, Gideon stiffened. “Me? What did I do?”

“You overpowered me and spared my life,” Kyros said with an accusation that said very clearly that Gideon had done him no favors. “The queen no longer has need of my services.”

“Get him out!” Valkyrie sneered, thrashing against the hold Gideon had on her. “Get him out, or I will cut him to ribbons.”

“He can’t leave,” Magnus stated tightly. “He is indebted to Gideon.”

“Then I will kill him and he will have nothing to worry about!” Valkyrie hissed through her teeth.

Kyros observed her carefully, not in the least bit concerned by her thirst for his blood. “You will not kill me, not when I have information you seek.”

“Lying will not stop me from having your head for what you have done,” she spat back at him. “Be a
man
and accept your punishment.”

His bag struck the ground at his feet. His entire body seemed to swell at her words.

“Vile, inbred—”

“Enough.” Liam stepped forward. “You are in my home, Draconian. You will tread carefully and respect those within its walls.” He waited until he had Kyros’s full attention before speaking again. “State your business here.”

“I have come to pledge my loyalties and service to your son for having spared my life during combat.” He bent down and hefted up his bag. “Believe me when I say that I have as much desire to be here as you do to have me here.”

“We didn’t combat,” Gideon said. “I hit you. Once.”

“You defeated me during my watch over the queen,” Kyros corrected. “I can no longer be trusted to protect her.”

“So you were banished?” Riley piped in from across the room. “What is it with you people and banishment?”

“It was banishment, or death,” Kyros said. “I chose not to die.”

“Coward,” Valkyrie hissed.

Gideon squeezed her gently. “I do not require your services,” he said to the other man. “After what your queen did, you’re lucky I’m not sending you back to her in tiny pieces.”

“That is your right,” Kyros said. “I am yours to do with what you will and if death is what you desire...”

“Wait.” Magnus took a step towards the other man. “You said you had information. Information about what?”

Kyros continued to watch Gideon, his expression never changing. “Tiana was not just my queen. She was my grandmother and I was her personal guard for over nineteen centuries.”

“You are Richella’s son.” Liam sounded astounded. “You were not born yet, but I knew your mother.”

Kyros spared him the slightest nod. “My father and grandmother raised me after my mother died.”

“I find it remarkable that you would show yourself here after what you and your family have done to mine.” Kyaerin folded her arms and bore down at Kyros like an avenging angel. “You most certainly are not welcome here.”

“
Mhuirnín
,” Liam murmured quietly. “We should at least hear him out.”

Something sharp sparked behind the blonde’s eyes that shocked everyone in the room.

“They threw my son into the dungeon,” she growled through gritted teeth. “They drugged and assaulted my daughter. They started a war between us and the west and now they expect us to take in their little spy? I would not spit on them if they were on fire.”

“He’s not a spy,” Magnus vouched. “It’s the draconian law of combat. The person who falls must relinquish their freedom to the winner.”

“I am perfectly aware of their laws and behaviors,” Kyaerin replied. “It makes them all the less welcome here.”

“Mom—”

“This is not a topic up for discussion.” Kyaerin never took her pretty blue eyes off Kyros when she spoke. “Your queen may have very little regard for her family, but I will not have you here as a reminder of what you have done to mine.”

Kyros said nothing a moment while he regarded the fierce woman with cool annoyance. When he spoke, he sounded almost bored.

“The only person I am permitted to obey is your son.” Kyaerin visibly bristled. But Kyros wasn’t finished speaking. “However, should you feel so strongly about it, I will take my leave.” He started for the door. “But know this, I have been privy to my grandmother’s secrets for more than half my life and I know where all the bodies are buried.”

“Stop.”

To everyone’s surprise, it was Gideon’s command that stilled Kyros from reaching the door. The other man turned back to the room. His features were impassive, but there was no missing the arrogant glint in his eyes.

“You will tell us what you know and when you’re finished, Valkyrie will be the one to decide your fate.”

It was a tossup who was more surprised by his decision. But only Valkyrie had the inexplicable urge to kiss him. Kyros looked on the verge of leaving no matter what. The prospect of having his life in the hands of the one person anxious for his head probably was not what he’d been hoping for when he had left his people to find Final Judgment in search of sanctuary. It made the whole matter that much sweeter.

“It’s either that, or you take your chances breaking your oath,” Gideon finished.

Kyros pivoted slowly on his heel until he was facing the room once more. The knuckles on the hand clasping his bag tightened to rigid, white points. Brown eyes shifted to Magnus before confronting Gideon once more.

“Very well.”

Magnus, Reggie, and Octavian wedged the boards back over the door as the rest of the group followed Liam to the back of the house. Gideon, with his hand still clasped firmly around Valkyrie’s, stopped his mother before she could follow the rest through the doors. There were lines of frustration creasing her brow, but her features were quietly patient when she focused on her son.

“We need to know what he knows,” Gideon told her softly. “This is why we went to them in the first place. Trust me, no one wants to see him dead more than I do, but I want to get all we can out of him first.”

Kyaerin’s mouth thinned, but her gaze remained pensive. “I understand and I agree, I simply don’t like it.” Her eyes traveled from her son to Valkyrie. “How are you?”

It was a reasonable question, except she was still not accustomed to being asked, to being cared about. The fact that Kyaerin had even stood up for her in front of Kyros, defending her against what his people had done was an anomaly in itself.

“Fine,” she lied smoothly.

Kyaerin studied her with all the careful patience of a mother bird watching her baby chick about to take its first leap out of the nest. Her blue eyes were a little too steady on Valkyrie’s face. Then, just as fluidly, they slid to the hand Gideon still held and followed it up to his face.

“Darling, why don’t you run on ahead? I need to get something from my room and I would like Valkyrie to join me. It won’t be but a minute,” she promised when Gideon didn’t speak right away.

He turned his head towards Valkyrie, his expression questioning. She gave him a nod and relinquished his grip on her hand. That same hand slid to the small of her back instead as he leaned over and planted a kiss to the side of her head. It took her momentarily by surprise, and by the time she recovered, he had walked through the kitchen doors after the others. She peeked at the other woman and received a smile.

“We should be quick,” Kyaerin told her.

Not sure what to say, Valkyrie followed the woman mutely to the back of the house. They walked past the parlor just as Gideon reached the door. He glanced back once as they walked past him and his gaze caught on Valkyrie’s for just a second before he disappeared inside.

Kyaerin took her to a different parlor, this one dusty and filled with forgotten pieces of furniture. Dust covered everything in a fine, gray powder and clung to the sheets of light falling through grimy windows. Valkyrie wondered if this was the place the other woman would finally attempt to kill her when Kyaerin led her to a brown, leather sofa facing an empty hearth.

“I’m afraid I can never find enough time to clean as this place requires,” Kyaerin said with a sigh. “Please excuse the state.”

Valkyrie sat, but made no comment on the dirt.

Kyaerin, hands folded neatly in her lap, did that watching thing Valkyrie was really beginning to hate. It was as though the woman was rifling through Valkyrie’s brain, picking and dissecting everything about her.

“How are you, Valkyrie?”

Valkyrie was almost certain that was a question she’d already been asked. Nevertheless, she responded as she had earlier.

“Fine.”

Kyaerin nodded slowly. “I know this must be very hard for you. I know I wasn’t thrilled when I first imprinted on Liam. I was furious. I could not stand him.” She laughed when Valkyrie’s eyebrows lifted. “Oh yes,” she said, still chuckling. “You think you and Gideon butt heads? Liam and I couldn’t even walk into the market without everyone making a run for it. Our friend would go out of their way to keep us apart. Maybe that was why it took us so long to imprint. But there was no love between us. Attraction, yes, but not love. When we touched for the first time, he was as stunned as I was. I think I even hit him, blaming him for ruining my life.” Her blue eyes softened at the memory. “But he was persistent. Once he knew who his mate was, he was determined to win me over. Eons and four boys later, I would still give my life for him.”

Valkyrie wasn’t sure what to say, or how to comment, so she said nothing and waited for a question.

Kyaerin tilted her head to the side and observed Valkyrie with a sad smile. “I can’t imagine how it must be for you.”

It wasn’t a question, but it seemed like the woman needed some type of reassurance.

“I’m fine.”

Kyaerin sighed. “What do you want, Valkyrie? This very moment, what is it your heart desires most?”

It was something she had never considered. Being a Harvester was about building a pack mentality. Everything was for the good of the people. Warriors were never allowed to indulge in things like feelings and desires. Valkyrie had never once even considered what she wanted.

No. That wasn’t true. There was once when she had thought of herself. The night Gideon had asked her to leave with him. She had almost forgotten her pact. She had almost taken the hand he had offered. She had almost thought of herself. Had Serinda not shown up, there was a very good possibility that she and Gideon would have imprinted centuries ago.

“What I desire and what needs to be done are—”

“No.” Kyaerin cut her off by gently settling a hand on the one Valkyrie had squished into her own lap. “I don’t want to know what you think you need. I want to know what you desire.” When Valkyrie could think of nothing to say, Kyaerin changed gears. “When you think of the one thing that makes your insides warm and your heart feel light, what is it?”