Page 87 of The Last Valkyrie

“Take heart, child. You are not the first valkyrie to mistake your charge and bring them to Valhalla. And I daresay you won’t be the last.”

She was speaking to me in riddles, and I found myself shaking my head. “It was no mistake bringing him, my lady. Damon is my brother.”

“You shall not be attached to those you carry, kin or otherwise. It will make your duty easier.” She nodded succinctly. “Know that I will find good use for this one, however. Your efforts have not been in vain.”

She turned without another word, showing me the ragged robe of one side and the pristine white gown of her dual sides. Hel dragged my brother’s corpse behind her by the hair, creating grooves in the dirt where she walked.

“W-What will you do with him, my lady?” I called out, unable to stop myself. “Please, do not hurt him. He was hurt enough in life.”

She frowned, inclining her chin. “Damon Halldan will be given the same treatment every sick, lost soul is given in Niflheim, child. He will be given respite, board, and lodging, until such a time as he feels rested and hale. Then we shall see what use he is to me.”

I clenched my jaw, nodding.Respite and sleep doesn’t sound too bad.

“Indeed, child,” she answered my thoughts. “Now, do you not have your own realm to return you? Unless you’d like to join your brother . . .” She lifted his slack head in a morbid display.

I shook my head adamantly, backing up.

“The gods have been looking upon Midgard with great interest of late, eager to see how things play out with your new war.”

As always, the gods watch, while we fight.We had ever been the playthings of the gods, so it was said.

Hel gave me a sickly smile over her shoulder. “For what it’s worth, child, the jotnar have always been savage, frustrating nuisances to the Vanir and Asgardians. You would do well to defeat them, lest you invoke the Allfather’s ire once more.”

I flared my nostrils, angry at how Odin had treated me and my brother. “Perhaps I wish for Odin’s ire, my lady.”

She cackled, her rictus smile widening. It was impossible to focus on either side of her face—the dead blue side or the beautiful living side. You had to look at Hel on the whole, and I thought I understood her better when I took her as more than the sum of her parts.

“I’ve enjoyed our banter,” she said. “I can see why you were chosen. Do well not to find yourself in your brother’s position anytime soon, aye? I would hate to see you here.”

Before I could answer, the world dimmed around me, blackness crowding my vision until Niflheim fell away, with the living-dead bent of Hel’s wicked grin echoing through my mind.

Chapter 28

Ravinica

TEARS DRIPPED DOWNmy cheeks, falling onto Damon’s corpse. I was back in the harsh reality of Midgard, of my smoldering village of Selby, with my mates standing in a circle around my kneeling form.

The cries of the town had subdued. The fires had been put out, leaving only a smoky layer of ashen death in its wake. My brother’s body was cold as I closed his fear-stricken eyes a final time.

A great sob rolled through me, sputtering out in a heave. I hugged Damon to my chest, trying to hold him close, before setting him down. The ragged hole in his chest showed me that Odin was right—I was foolish for even trying to bring him to Valhalla to save.

Hands fell on my shoulder, soft and encouraging. My wings were gone, vanishing after my stint through the gateway portal I accessed with my mind.

“Ravinica?” Grim asked. “Are you with us, love?”

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