Page 74 of Tangled Threads Of Fate

“We should wake Demke,” I said, and they looked at each other. “What?”

Their expression told me we were more fucked than I thought. Clio didn’t have to worry about me rejecting help; she should be worried that it wouldn’t be enough.

Teron’s Gryphon—orGriff, as Wren called him—paced angrily. He’d found a small army of monsters making their way up the coast, and while he’d taken out the scouts, he knew as well as I did that we were vastly outmatched.

Before ceding control to the Gryphon, Teron had given us a bunch of orders and made calls to Gods who scared the shit out of me.

A sound that sent fear down my spine echoed around the building, making it shake slightly, and making Wren whimper and bury her face in Tryp’s neck.

“Griff needs to stay with Wren. If we fall, he needs to take her as far away as he can get. Take her somewhere. North, to the Norse—they have no love lost with the Europeans,” Erus suggested. I hated the thought of her anywhere but at my side, but in this, I agreed.

“No.” Wren shook her head violently. “I’m not leaving you guys.”

Tryp smoothed a hand down her spine. “Baby, if it comes down to us or you and those babies, the choice is easy.” He gave Griff a hard stare, and the beast clicked his beak.

She was still shaking her head. “I can’t leave you.” It was a whimper now, but I knew if it came to it, she would, or Griff would make her.

I knelt in front of her. “Mo stóirín,I am a bloodsoaked God, and I have no intention of dying tonight. But I can’t fight if I know you’re putting yourself in danger.” I looked at Griff. “If you need to go, fly north to Gamla Uppsala in Sweden. Find the Old Gods. They’ll protect you out of spite.”

A laugh echoed around the hall, and we were all on our feet, weapons drawn in an instant. A woman I didn’t know stepped into the room, and behind her were eleven more women. They shone with a golden hue that hurt even my eyes, so I knew it must be incredibly painful for Wren.

“Well, you’re right about that, Néit, Old God of War.”

Standing in front of her, I raised my ax. “How’d you get in here?”

She shrugged. “That doesn’t matter. We were asked to render aid, and if the hoard we passed was any indication, not a moment too soon. I am Mist, and these are my sisters. We are Valkyrie. Cliona is indeed a great friend of yours; she called in a favor that has sat between us for many centuries.”

I looked over at Wren, who was squinting in their direction. “We appreciate your help.”

Griff huffed an annoyed noise, which made the Valkyrie all laugh as one. It was an unsettling sound. They looked like angels, but there was something bloodthirsty in their eyes that made a man’s blood run cold.

Mist walked toward Wren, but Griff inserted himself into her path. She raised an eyebrow at him. “A Gryphon mate? This one is indeed special.”

Tryp was clutching Wren close. “She can see through your glamor. Your luminance will hurt her.”

Mist turned her head to the side, an action that was definitely not human. Finally, she shrugged. “We all suffer.”

I could see Wren straightening her spine, and she dragged her face from Tryp’s neck and climbed to her feet to face the woman—the Valkyrie—opposite her.

The Valkyrie took in her stomach, her mouth falling open. “Clio said she was important, but she didn’t say why. I understand now.” She looked over her shoulder at the otherValkyrie crowding the hall. They had a silent conversation, before moving further into the room as one.

Then they dropped to their knees as one. “Wren, mother of the cloth of life, we will protect you with our honor and our swords.”

Wren looked at me, then back at the Valkyrie heads bowed before her, panic written across her face. I nodded, and she stared at the top of Mist’s head, shellshocked. “Uh, thank you. I accept.”

Mist stood, her face solemn. “Cliona should have told us who you were, and kept her debt. We would have come to defend you.” Two of the others appeared beside her. “These are my seconds, Hildr and Hrist. If I fall, they will be the ones who will lead the Valkyries.”

Wren was still squinting. “I hope none of you fall.”

Mist shrugged. “It is the nature of battle,” she said simply, before her lips curled into a smile that was definitely chilling. “And I do love a battle.”

I still didn’t know how they’d gotten in here, and if they wouldn’t turn on us at the worst opportunity, but right now, they were Wren’s best chance of survival. I would keep an eye on them, but I had to have faith in Clio and in fate.

Saying something to two of the Valkyries in the back, Mist sat down in a chair opposite mine. “Who is in charge?”

Well, that was a million-dollar question.

The guys all looked at me. “He is. He’s the God of War,” Milo stated simply.

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