Page 129 of The Last Valkyrie

I’ll be back in your arms soon, guys. I swear it.

Ihadto come here. My conscience wouldn’t let me ignore what Korvan had told me. If there was a chance my mother was here, and the dragonkin monster would trade her freedom, I had to exhaust all avenues.

My hands twitched as I stepped forward, fingers inching closer to my spear. “Hello?” My voice reverberated around the jungle, my feet dragging me toward the waterfalls.

I recalled the intense time I’d had with Corym behind one of these falls, the first time we had mated and found love with each other. We had bonded over our mutual sacrifice and grief, until it became too painful to resist the Ljosalfar heartthrob.

Now, there was a warning in the air. My skin prickled with anxiety, wondering if I had misunderstood the dream, and if it had been nothing more than that.

Korvan was supposed to be here. He was clearly a man who enjoyed pomp and circumstance, his ego driving his motives. So why was he not perched atop the cliffs, wings beating gloriously, trying to claim his victory over me?

I knew the danger I would face if he agreed to free Ma in exchange for me. In my dream, he had spoken of revitalizing our shared dragonkin bloodline.

Disgusting bastard wants to breed me, because he thinks having two dragonkin together will repopulate our species stronger. Conveniently leaving out the fact he is myfather! Sick fuck.

I’ll never let that happen . . . but I have to make sure Ma is all right, at the very least. Make sure she’s still breathing.

I did’t see any other option than coming here—the place in my vision. If I was going to help win this war, I had to face my enemy head-on. Maybe Salos Torfen was right in some way: Compromise was key to victory.

“I know you’re here somewhere, Korvan.” Anger flared inside me. “Come out and show yourself!”

I spun my spear off my back, holding it ready for battle. I wasn’t going to let this asshole catch me flatfooted.

“Give me back my mother!” I yelled, my face twisting.

It was impossible to keep my cool in this situation. I wasn’t Magnus or Grim. I didn’t possess those skills.

A twig-snap in the foliage to my right made me twirl—

A shadow emerged from my left.

I double-took and lunged before the shadow could fall on me, stabbing into it, deciding to sayfuck itto negotiations or compromise. A dead Korvan would get me the result I desired just as well as words might.

But my spearhead sank into a bed of wispy shadow, the tendrils cloying around my weapon before dissipating.

I took a step back to adjust my footing, my stance—

And pain ignited inside me, unlike anything I’d ever felt.

With a gasp, I fell to a knee, clutching at my chest. The agony was coming from inside my body, like my blood was on fire. I could feel poison buzzing through my veins, yet I hadn’t ingested anything that should make me feel like this.

Fuck, am I having a heart attack?

Another sound, soft and shimmering, padded behind me on the grass. Darkness threaded my vision, closing around my eyes. I tried to blink it away, but the feeling of beingcontrolled—of someone having authority over my body and its movements—made it impossible to fight off the infection flooding through me.

The figure walked toward me, silhouetted by the sun behind them. They spoke in a low voice, with a hint of sadness in their tone. “Whatever it is you’re planning, I can’t let you do it, Linmyrr.”

I collapsed onto my back, gritting my teeth, nervously trying to fight off whatever infliction ailed me. Staring up at the sky, I blinked as the figure stood over me.

Before the pain could become overbearing, I glimpsed the figure’s rotund shape, with matted, high hair that looked vaguely like a bird’s nest.

Then the darkness consumed me completely.

---