‘For what purpose?’
‘That is none of your concern.’
‘Mm.’ Vera’s laughter rippled like silk dragged over steel. ‘You were far more entertaining when you ruled the Underworld. Tell you what, hand her over, and I’ll put in asweet word with Hades. Perhaps he’ll even forgive you.’
Freya ignored the heat of Ylva’s stare, burning between her shoulder blades like fire through frost. She only tightened her grip upon the sword, raising its tip until it aligned with Vera’s heart.
‘I will not let you harm her,’ Freya said, each word sharpened like the edge of her blade.
If Vera killed Ylva now, everything would unravel. Freya’s bargaining chip for Kage would be ashes, her leverage lost. She needed the girl alive, untouched, perfect for the trap she was weaving.
‘Fine,’ Vera said at last, her smile glacial. ‘Have it your way.’
Before Freya could so much as draw breath, Vera unleashed a torrent of magic that seared through the air. Freya barely raised her blade in time, steel clashing with the unnatural force, sparks scattering like fireflies. She spun sharply, shoving Ylva back with a force born of desperation. ‘On the horse, run!’
‘No!’
‘For once in your life, do as you are told!’ Freya snarled, pushing the younger valkyrian towards safety. But there was no time, no chance to ensure her escape; another surge of witchfire struck, splintering a tree to their right, the explosion scattering shards of bark like shrapnel. Freya wheeled on her heel and lunged.
She struck with all the ferocity of her kind—blade flashing, movements honed by centuries of war. Yet Vera only laughed, a dark, musical sound, and danced aside, each deadly arc of steel treated as if it were a child’s game.
Then Vera’s hands rose, fingers curling into something cruel, and Freya felt the sickly pull of blood magic. Her body locked mid-strike, limbs stiffening against her will, her fingerstwisting into grotesque angles. Pain roared up her spine, forcing a scream past clenched teeth as her knees buckled and she crashed to the ground.
‘We may wear the mantle of goddesses,’ Vera purred, gliding closer, ‘but we are trapped in flesh. Soft, fragile, and so very easy to break.’
Freya’s eyes flared with fury as Ylva was dragged and thrown at her side like a discarded doll.
Vera stooped, plucking Freya’s sword from the snow, and with a serpentine grace, pressed its tip to Ylva’s throat. A single bead of crimson welled, sliding down the girl’s pale neck like a ruby teardrop.
‘Don’t,’Freya rasped, her voice torn, fighting the invasive magic clawing through her veins, summoning what fragments of her godhood she could still grasp.
Vera’s laughter curled through the clearing, sweet and venomous, and then she lifted the blade, poised to strike, ready to spill valkyrian blood into the snow.
Something struck Vera hard enough to wrench the sword from her grasp and shatter her concentration, the tether of blood magic snapping like a frayed cord. In an instant, Freya surged to her feet, seizing her blade mid-air with a speed born of fury, while Ylva snatched up her bow and arrow with lethal precision.
A dark shape cut through the air, wings slicing the silence before perching on a nearby branch. It cawed. A sharp, uncanny sound that curled like smoke in Freya’s chest.
Her eyes widened.
She knew that bird.
It was no ordinary crow.
No.
This was Spirox, a shadow-crow, and its master was neverfar behind.
From the depths of the forest emerged Kage Blackburn, danger clinging to him like a second skin. His dark hair fell rakishly across eyes black as midnight, his gaze briefly meeting Freya’s and Ylva’s before he ducked low, a streak of magic hissing over his head. In one smooth motion, he rose, dagger flashing as he lunged at his attacker.
A host of Fae burst from the treeline behind him, their presence pulling the battle into full chaos. Freya didn’t hesitate. She pushed Ylva towards the horses.
‘We need to help!’ Ylva protested, voice sharp with rage.
‘Not now,’ Freya barked.
‘I don’t trust you!’ Ylva’s scream cut through the din, her eyes blazing with betrayal. ‘You lied to me about everything!’
The venom in her stare silenced Freya; words clawed at her throat but refused to leave. Before she could speak, Vera’s laughter sliced through the fray, a chilling sound. The witch darted from the fight, vanishing into the trees.
