I half-carry, half-drag her through the darkness, my body between her and whatever horrors might lurk in the shadows. The temperature plummets until each breath feels like swallowing glass, but I barely notice. Every instinct screams to protect her, to get her through this frozen nightmare alive.
The passage opens into a cramped chamber, darkness pressing in from all sides. My eyes strain to pierce the gloom, tracking Dani as she releases my hand to explore. Her boots scrape against the ice as she moves.
"Careful—" The warning dies in my throat as her feet slide out from under her. My heart stops, but she catches herself against the wall, laughing nervously.
"I'm fine. Just channeling my inner figure skater. Minus the grace. And the skill. And the—"
The ice beneath our feet cracks—a sound like breaking bones. Fissures spider-web outward, glowing with that blue light.
"Dani!" I lunge for her as the ground shatters. My fingers lock around her wrist just as she starts to fall, her scream echoing off the icy walls. She dangles over a pit of absolute darkness, chunks of ice tumbling into the void below.
"Don't let go," she gasps, gold eyes blazing, wide with terror. "Oh my god. Rhyland, please—"
"I've got you, baby." My other hand grips the edge of solid ice, muscles straining. Below us, something moves in the darkness. Something massive. "I won't let you fall. Just hold on."
Her eyes lock with mine, terror bleeding through our bond. A sound rises from the depths—like huge wings unfurling. Red eyes blink open in the void, dozens of them, all fixed on Dani.
The ice under my hand splinters.Fuck. We're both going down.
I yank Dani up hard, wrapping myself around her as we fall. Whatever's waiting below can tear through me first. My back slams into something solid—a ledge of black ice—and I twist to take the full impact, keeping her pressed against my chest.
CRACK
We slam through more layers of ice, each impact threatening to tear her from my grip. I hold tighter, taking the brunt of every hit. Pain explodes across my back, my shoulders, but I don't give a fuck—as long as she's protected.
We crash into hard ground, the impact driving every ounce of air from my lungs. For one terrifying heartbeat, I can't feel her breathing.
"Dani?" My hands shake as they roam over her body, checking for injuries. "Baby, talk to me."
She coughs, face buried against my chest. "Define talking." Her voice is muffled but steady.Thank fuck."Because if you mean 'coherent sentences', I might need a minute."
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I think so."
Light bleeds through the ice above, casting everything in that sick blue glow. We've landed in some perfectly circular chamber, with walls stretching into darkness. No visible exit. Just smooth ice and—
"Oh, god." Dani's grip tightens on my arm.
Bodies. Dozens of them, frozen into the walls like macabre decorations. Fallen warriors, from their armor and weapons. Their faces twisted in eternal screams.
"Seriously?" Dani's voice shakes as she eyes the frozen corpses. "Do all Einherjar shop at 'Bodies R Us' for their interior design?"
A harsh laugh escapes me despite the horror. Trust my mate to find sarcasm in the face of death. But she's right—this twisted collection mirrors Vidar's fucked up gallery. These fuckers have a real thing for decorating with the dead.
"Welcome, child of prophecy..."
The voice slithers through the chamber, ancient and cold as death itself. The temperature drops until my vampire blood feels like ice in my veins.
A figure in the center of the chamber is a woman in tattered Valkyrie armor. Frost covers half her face like a mask, her remaining eye glowing with that same blue light.
Skadi. The fallen one.
"Your trial begins. Let's see if you're worthy of the essence."
One of the frozen warriors twitches. Then another. Ice cracks as dead limbs begin to move.
"Any brilliant ideas?" I ask as the first warrior breaks free, ice falling from its preserved flesh like shattered armor.
