Love's Choice (10 page)

“Just a dream,” I whispered. “Nightmares are banished by the light of dawn, mere shadows that dance and play, yet have no substance.”

“Who said that?” she whispered.

“I did,” I answered.

“So your words don't always fail you?” Raven asked, her body relaxing in my arms.

“Not always. Sometimes the terrible poems I wrote come back to me.”

“A poet, a biker, and a werewolf. You are a lot of contradictions rolled into one man.”

“All men are contradictions,” I answered. “We are diverse urges locked in one flesh all pulling in different directions.”

“See. That's what I'm talking about.” She sat up, the blanket slipping down to expose those round breasts. “You look and dress like the meanest, most bad-ass biker around, and yet you say such beautiful things.”

“I loved to read when I was a kid,” I answered with a shrug. “I still do. It beats watching TV to pass the time.”

“I like watching TV,” Raven said, indignation flashing across her face. The nightmare was fading from her and her fierce strength was returning.

“Nothing wrong with it, but there is such freedom in knowledge. Scholars and philosophers can free you from the shackles other men try to place about you.”

“So that's why you're a biker?”

“There's a kind of freedom in the club,” he answered. “Free from one society's rules.”

Her smile faded. “But there's another set of rules you follow. Your outlaw code.”

“It's a simpler set. More direct. Rules, codes, customs, and laws will always govern the relationships of humans. Without them, there is true anarchy. We would destroy ourselves. Some rules are needed. But our modern world, well, they want to chain us. Society molds us in the direction that favors the powerful. Well, I realized early on I didn't want to follow their mold. I broke it. I found a new life.”

Raven's hand caressed my chest. “I think my parents were like that.” Her voice softened. “My parents...didn't live like normal people.”

“Oh, how did they live?”

“We had a cabin. I'm not really sure where. Maybe out in Eatonville. In the mountains. Remote. No electricity. Father had to chop firewood even in the summer so Mother could cook on a wood burning stove.”

“Wow. No electricity. Your parents were independent.”

“And strong. They were warriors.” She hesitated. “I think...my mother was a Valkyrie.”

“I guess that makes sense,” I said. “And your father was an Einherjer?”

“Einherjer? That...thing called you that.”

I licked my lips, remembering the monster's swinging fist. For a moment, after the wolf-ape hit me, I was aware that all my bones broke. The world spun about me and then I hit the ground. Everything went black. I died. And then I was hovering over my body. A spirit being pulled to...wherever the dead go. Heaven. Hell. Nirvana.

Or maybe Valhalla.

“Do you know what Valkyrie were in Norse Mythology?” I asked her.

“Warrior women, right? Like, um, from some fantasy movie.”

“In a way,” I answered. “Their name means something like chooser of the dead. They were maidens that stalked the battlefield, searching for those slain and choosing them to become Einherjers.”

“Okay.” Her forehead furrowed and she swallowed.

“What?”

“I...I chose you. You died because I...” Tears filled her eyes.

“And then I lived because you chose me,” I told her, stroking her cheeks. “You brought me back with your kiss. The legends aren't quite right.”

“Owen said my choice was important. That the man I chose would have to be strong to protect me.”

“Owen?”

“This vet that hangs out at the coffee shop. He knew my parents. I learned that today. He was very keen on me going with you. He approved of my choice.”

What was going on?

“Well, Einherjer are then led to Valhalla by the Valkyrie. Valhalla is the god Odin's dwelling. The Valkyrie serve him and a goddess named Freya. In some stories, she's his mistress or wife, and in others his wife is named Frigg. Some scholars think they're the same goddess or that Frigg and Freya were combined by later generations. Anyway, Einherjer are gathered by the Valkyrie and train every day to fight in Ragnarok.”

“Ragnarok?”

“The end of the world.” My blood chilled as I said that.

Raven gasped. “What?”

“It's what all of Norse mythology builds to. When the great wolf Fenrir roams free with other monsters.”

“Fenrir?” The color drained from her face.

“Yeah, he was some monstrous wolf. He would kill one of the gods during Ragnarok. Maybe Odin. I can't remember all the specifics.”

Another tremble rushed through Raven. “I didn't remember how my parents died. I was five. I was told that it was a bear that killed them, but the last few days, ever since...the night we met, I've been remembering it. Dreaming it.”

“Your nightmare?”

She nodded. “In my dreams, they were attacked by a great, gray wolf. It bounded out of the wilderness. Father had his ax and mother her sword, and they raced out to fight it.” Tears ran down her cheeks. “The wolf killed my parents and then it turned on me.”

Raven squeezed her eyes shut. Her voice grew distant. “It came towards me. I was so scared. And then a man on a horse galloped up. He...he drove off the wolf. The man approached me. He was strong, his face grizzled by years, and he only had one eye.”

“Odin,” I answered.

“No, Owen,” she whispered. “The vet at my coffee shop. The one who was so interested in you and knew my parents. Are you saying he's...a god? What is going on, Magnus? Why are we in this place?”

“I don't know,” I answered her, wanting to let out a frustrated snarl.

She pressed her face into my chest. “I'm so sorry.”

“For what?”

“I chose you. You're stuck here because of me.”

“It wasn't your fault. I wanted you to choose me. I pursued you. I tracked you down. I'm not sorry one bit.” My arms held her tight. “This feels right. When I transformed, I was free of everything but my desire to protect you. I didn't care about anything else, not even if I died. I wanted to rip apart the monster trying to hurt you. Dying was a small price to pay for what I gained.” The beast lurked inside me. Just the thought of anything harming Raven made it snarl with pure rage.

“But,” she protested. “You should be mad.”

“I'm only mad at that monster for bringing us here,” I growled, the wolf rising inside me. “It threatened you. I'm glad we killed it. We're stuck here because of it, not because of you. And together, we'll get out of here. There has to be a way back. There are always paths that connect Midgard with the other worlds like Utgard or Asgard.”

“Asgard? That's the name of that planet in that superhero movie with Thor and Loki.”

“It's where the gods dwell.”

“Thank you,” Raven whispered. She snuggled up against me.

I glanced at the window. “I hope this blizzard won't last forever. When it breaks, we'll have to explore.”

Raven nodded.

“So sleep until then.”

“I'm not sure I can sleep,” Raven purred, her lips kissing at my neck. “I think...I need to relax first.”

I smiled as her lithe body stirred heat inside me. I rolled her onto her back and kissed her sweet lips.

~   ~   ~

Raven

Light streamed into the window when I awoke. Magnus was on his back, a soft snore rustled his lips. I smiled and traced the tattoo of a dragon on his chest. Twice we made love, and my body still ached from his passion.

I savored it.

Finally, events were making sense. I was a Valkyrie and Owen was a god. I bet that meant Freddy and Gerdie were gods, too. Owen—no, he was Odin—mentioned he married Freddy's sister. I guess that would be Frigg or Freya or whatever her name was. Did Odin know I was about to be attacked? Or did he want me to choose an Einherjer because that was what Valkyrie did? After all, my mother had chosen my father.

I had so many questions I wanted to ask. Especially about Fenrir. Anger boiled inside me at the memory of the hulking wolf. The thing had been massive, bigger than a bear. It had killed my parents and deprived my childhood of happiness.

I wanted to kill the beast.

The blizzard seemed to have stopped. I rolled out of bed, pulled a thin sheet about my naked figure, and padded to the window. It was chilly in the room, but my Valkyrie powers were awakened when I chose Magnus. Did that mean Valkyrie, and I guess me, were creatures of fire? Was that why I didn't mind the cold? Was I was producing my own warmth?

I reached the window and gazed through it. The streets looked so peaceful, everything covered by gentle drifts of snow. The cars made small hillocks—little, almost regular bumps that marched down the snowy street. There was no evidence of our fight. The fresh blanket of snow had hidden the violence.

I pushed the curtains farther back, casting about my gaze. In the distance, a frozen spire rose, flaring to a round top. I cocked my head and frowned, puzzling what it was.

“The Space Needle,” I realized. The snow mounding the top made the Space Needle seem to wear a wig of puffy hair.

I peered to the left and spotted Elliot Bay. The waters were frozen over, trapping yachts, fishing boats, and large cargo ships heading for the Port of Seattle. Dark movement drew my eyes back to the left.

A raven settled on a snowy power line. It let out a mournful caw, ruffled its feathers, and then took to the sky again. The wire shook, dislodging snow that fell to the street. So there was life here. Well, besides monsters.

I glanced around, looking for evidence of any monsters. My gaze swept the frozen bay again. I blinked. Had the ships moved? But the waters were frozen. There was a blue boat on the verge of vanishing behind a building. I looked away and back.

The blue boat was gone.

“They're moving when I look away? What is this place?”

I shuddered and hugged myself. It seemed a frozen reflection of our world. Everything looked so modern, a true version of our world and not locked in a past version of Seattle before the city was built into a thriving metropolis.

“It's changing?” I realized when I noticed a mound in the center of the street that definitely wasn't there a minute ago. I blinked my eyes and the car shifted a few feet. I kept them closed for a few seconds, and the mound had moved up the street. “It's updating every time I'm not looking at it. How does it know that?”

“Raven?” a drowsy Magnus groaned from the bed. “Raven?”

“At the window,” I answered, turning away to look at his muscular form stretching as he rose. “I've discovered something interesting.”

“What?” he asked.

Magnus walked over naked. It was hard for me not to admire his strength as my heart fluttered. He reached me, his arm slipping around my shoulders and pulling me to him. I leaned my head against him and smiled.

This was nice.

“Looks like the blizzard's stopped,” he said, his eyes scanning the street. “What did you discover?”

“Things change when we're not looking at them,” I smiled. “It's like the world updates or something when we look away, reflecting what's happening. The cars move through the snow, but they stay buried, and ships out on the frozen bay are able to move even though they're trapped in ice whenever I look at them.”

Magnus glanced behind him. “The bed's made.”

I jumped and spun, my heart shuddering. The bed was neatly made, the pillows fluffed, a small, Afghan blanket spread across the middle made of colorful designs. My skin crawled. It was like ghosts had come through the room, messed with the bed, and sneaked out.

“One of the dresser drawers is open,” Magnus added.

“This is so creepy,” I whispered.

I padded to the bed and pulled back the covers. The sheet I was wrapped in had reappeared, neatly tucked back into place beneath the comforter. “Where did the new sheet come from?”

“Let's test something,” Magnus said and ripped the sheet from me.

I blushed as his eyes appraised my naked body. Why was I so shy after last night? He had known every inch of my flesh. But his gaze was so...hungry. Flashes of him as the werewolf flitted through my mind—primal, strong, sexy.

I wanted to be back on the bed writhing with him.

Magnus balled up the sheet and tossed it into the corner. “Look away.”

We both turned our backs. After a heartbeat, I had to look. I had to know that the sheet was still there.

It wasn't.

“Yep, this is so creepy,” I said, grabbing the Afghan off the bed to wrap about my body. I wasn't as comfortable walking around naked as Magnus was.

Though with his body, I did not blame him. Was there any part of him that wasn't rippling muscles?

“It's like a quantum effect,” Magnus mused.

“Okay, that's the science all about atoms and stuff,” I nodded. “You know, like the higgs boson.” I remembered a few years ago everyone was afraid something in Europe would cause a black hole trying to find the Higgs Boson, whatever that was.

“Uh-huh,” he nodded. “The laws of physics work differently at the atomic and sub-atomic level. Things work weird. You know how electrons basically orbit around an atom?”

“Yeah, like a planet.”

“Not really, more like a cloud of probability around the entire atom,” he explained. “The electron could be in any spot in that cloud. The moment you observe its position, you change its velocity. And the moment you observe its velocity, you change its position. The very nature of observation affects what you're observing.”

“So...the same thing's happening here, on some grander scale.”

“I think so. This place or dimension is trying to reflect a perfect copy of our world but adding the snow. While we're observing it, we're interacting with it and it can't change. You wrapped the sheet around you. It couldn't reset the sheet to its current state, so it created a new one. When you dropped the sheet and we looked away, we stopped interacting with it. So the sheet vanished.”

“This place is going to give me a headache,” I groaned and sat on the bed. “That's how the headboard polished itself while we were...” My cheeks burned, then I groaned, “This is so mental. Why are we even here? How do we get back home?”