It was glorious. Amazing. She’d never felt so free.

Wind whipped at her face as they dipped and glided, the late afternoon sun warming her cheeks. She let out a whoop of excitement as Etienne flapped his mighty emerald wings, taking them higher before tucking them tight against his body and diving in a free-fall toward the ground.

Her stomach dropped, but she felt no fear. Etienne would never let anything happen to her. She closed her eyes and let the exhilaration roll through her in waves, extending from her belly all the way out to her fingertips.

She plastered herself more tightly to her dragon’s back as he opened his wings again and leveled out.

This was living.

She’d barely completed the thought when a shiver ran through her and the reddish light behind her lids faded to black. The warmth of the sun was eclipsed by a blast of icy air that stole her breath.

She fought back a wash of dread, forcing her eyes open despite the battering wind. The last of the light faded to black, almost as if it had been sucked into a vortex of darkness.

Etienne’s warm scales turned chilly beneath her hands and she flinched. What the hell was happening?

A chorus of bloodcurdling screeches filled the night, coming from all directions.

“Etienne?” she shouted, squeezing her thighs more tightly around his cold neck. “What is that horrible sound?”

He didn’t answer, but it only took a moment to figure out why. His body had turned to stone.

Almost as if in response to her stunned realization, his massive form shuddered in midair and then began to plummet, hurtling toward the rocky cliffs as she screamed.

Black, feathered birds with ice-blue eyes assaulted them from all sides, screeching, pecking and clawing as she tried to beat them away with her fist.

“Stop, please! Leave us alone!”

Tears streaked down her cheeks only to dry an instant later as they picked up speed, bulleting downward so fast, their assailants couldn’t keep up.

How close were they to the ground? A thousand feet? A hundred?

She swallowed back the rush of nausea and forced herself to peer past Etienne’s diamond-shaped head. The jagged, rocky terrain filled her vision and she gasped. It was over.

They were doomed.

Taya bolted upright with a start, her heart hammering wildly in her chest as she glanced around the dimly lit room. Her whole body was slicked with sweat and she swallowed hard to dislodge the lump of terror wedged in her throat.

A dream. It was just a bad dream.

Only it wasn’t, really, was it? Not entirely. The ending bit…the part where she and Etienne were doomed?

That part was all too real.

Memories from earlier that day assailed her and she squeezed her eyes closed as a wave of dizziness passed over her.

A dark woman in leather.

A line of dragon shifters almost extinct.

A harem.

They may not have plunged to the ground, and Etienne certainly wasn’t made of stone, but what they’d had…or what she’d thought they had?

It truly was good as dead.

He had lied to her more than once, and the things he’d been untruthful about were so very important, she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to forgive him.

Not that he needed her forgiveness. He’d known from the start that they could never be together. She’d clearly been nothing more than a diversion to him. A way to pass the time.

A sharp pang pierced her chest as their night together flashed through her mind. Those hands. That mouth. His scent. The memory of it made her want to weep.

She sniffled loudly, rose to her feet and glanced at the clock. Five PM. She’d been up most of the night before with Etienne and spent the morning and half the afternoon in tears before succumbing to exhaustion sometime in the afternoon. One would’ve thought getting some rest would’ve helped but the dream had only made things worse.

Stop thinking about it.

She needed to put it out of her head and get a grip. Now more than ever, she needed to be strong. If what Mina had told her was true, there were some very bad people after her. Clearly, Etienne wasn’t going to be around for her forever, which meant she needed to learn how to take care of herself in this new world she’d stumbled into.

And in order to do that, she needed more answers.

She flipped on the bedside lamp and squared her shoulders before heading for the door. As vain and hopeless as it was, she couldn’t stop herself from taking a glance in the mirror as she passed and running a hand through her tousled hair.

“Give it a rest, you idiot,” she muttered under her breath. “He couldn’t care less what you look like.”

She’d just managed to get her breathing under control and lay one hand on the doorknob when a low knock sounded.

Her pulse stuttered out of control and she wet her dry lips. How could she have thought she was prepared to face him already, questions or no? The way she felt right now—like her insides were twisted in knots—she wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready.

“Taya?” A low but brisk female voice murmured. “It’s time to get up. We’ve got things to do.”

Taya squeezed her eyes closed, resisting the urge to bang her head against the door.

Mina.

The last person she wanted to face right now, with the possible exception of Etienne or the assassins who were on her trail. Given the way her last encounter with the woman had gone early that morning, she had no doubt that the door wouldn’t stay closed long if Mina wanted in, so there was no point in putting it off.

She turned the knob and yanked.

“Wow, do you look like shit,” Mina observed, pursing her full lips as the door opened and she scanned Taya’s face with her startlingly blue eyes. “I guess I can’t blame you. It’s been a trying day.”

That was the understatement of the century but Taya let it slide without comment as she stepped aside to gesture the other woman into the room with a wave of her hand.

As much as she hated the idea of talking to Etienne when she was feeling so vulnerable, at least she knew he was invested in her safety for the time being. He had saved her life more than once and she was certain he would do his best to protect her. She didn’t know this cold-hearted woman from Adam, and she didn’t trust her one bit.

“What do you need from me, Mina?”

”Oh, no, human. The question is, what do you need from me?” Mina sauntered across the room, trailing a finger over a watercolor painting of the Eiffel Tower as she passed. “I don’t mean to be glib, but the shit is about to hit the fan. Now don’t get me wrong, I would love to give you more time to sulk, but I’m afraid that’s not in the cards right now. You’ve got to shake it off before Etienne gets home so we can make some decisions moving forward.”

So Etienne had left the château? The knowledge gave her pause. Either he trusted Mina enough to leave them alone together, or he had decided his responsibility to Taya had run its course. Neither possibility quelled her growing sense of dread.

She lifted her chin and turned to face the other woman. “I wasn’t sulking, I was sleeping,” she said coolly, proud that her voice hadn’t trembled in the least. “And we don’t need to do anything. When I figure out what I’m going to do, I’ll let you know.”

It was tough talk and she thought she’d pulled it off, but then Mina’s stare went chilly and it was hard to suppress the shiver.

She was scary as hell. When the raven-haired beauty threw back her head and let out a sharp crack of laughter, Taya nearly jumped out of her skin.

“I like it, little human,” Mina said, a grudging respect lighting her eyes. “I was wondering if you were going to grow a set of balls at some point.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Too bad it didn’t happen sooner when it could’ve helped you some. But now isn’t the time to push back. Now is the time to sit your ass down and listen if you want to stay alive.”

Mina took a menacing step toward her, and Taya swallowed hard before lowering herself into the chair in front of the vanity.

She wanted to be strong and in control of the situation, but the fact was that she was exactly what Mina had said she was.

Human.

No match for any of the beings in this new world. She would listen to what Mina had to say, and hope against hope that she found some salvation in her words. Because as it stood, right now? She felt nothing but despair and hopelessness.

She couldn’t help but wonder again if she would’ve been better off not knowing about all the things that went bump in the night. If she would’ve been happier living in the dark with the rest of the world, believing they were invincible. The top of the food chain.

But that was so far from the reality, it chilled her to the bone, and she was pretty sure they’d only scratched the surface.

Mina shifted from foot to foot, the sound of her boots on the hardwood floor breaking into Taya’s thoughts.

“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I want to help you.”

Taya shook her head incredulously. “You don’t know me, and what you do know, you clearly don’t like. Why do you care if I stay alive at all? What’s in it for you?”

Mina seemed to consider the question for a long moment before responding. “It’s not about what’s in it for me. It’s about what’s right. You’ve clearly stepped into something you had no real control over, the scope of which you couldn’t possibly understand, no matter how much you think you might. I came as a favor to a friend to give you an out. You chose not to take it, so I’ve opted to stick around for the time being and help Etienne keep an eye on you, because that’s the right thing to do.” Her lips curled into a wry smile. “Although I’m pretty sure he’s not feeling all that grateful right now. I really pissed him off this morning. I think he would’ve preferred to tell you certain things himself.”

Taya suppressed a flinch at the memory of those revelations and nodded slowly. “Yes, I imagine he would’ve.”

She thought back to the stricken look on Etienne’s face when he’d realized that Mina had filled her in on some of the details he had chosen not to.

You can never be together.

He might be lying about some things and withholding information, but there was no faking that expression. He’d looked like someone had sucker punched him in the gut. Mina’s words had hurt him too.

She shoved back a twinge of pity for him. Yes, he was in a sticky position to be sure, but at least he’d known from the start that he could only mate with a shifter. She’d had the right to know that, too.

Especially before they’d slept together.

Especially before she’d fallen completely, and head over heels in love with him.

“No matter how it seems, it wasn’t my intention to cause pain or more trouble, but it was need-to-know info,” Mina continued, oblivious to Taya’s tortured thoughts. “I suppose I could’ve given the courtesy of a little fluffing first, maybe try to grease the wheels, soften the blow. But the one thing we don’t have right now is time.” She shrugged, and, although her expression was one of regret, her posture was one of defensiveness as she tossed her shoulders back. “Besides, my kind isn’t exactly known for our squishy exteriors.”

Taya let the sorry-not-sorry apology pass without response, focusing instead on the latter part of Mina’s statement.

“When you say ‘your kind’, what exactly does that mean?”

Taya had already pieced together the fact that Mina and Etienne weren’t the same species, but she hadn’t yet worked out exactly what Mina was. And what was that saying about the devil you knew?

Mina examined her fingernails for a long moment before nodding, almost as if to herself.

“I guess there’s no real point in keeping it from you. As it stands, you know too much to go back to blissful ignorance, but not enough that you feel like you can leave well enough alone. In other words, just enough to be dangerous.” She folded her lean frame into an armchair beside the bed. “I’m what’s called a Valkyrie.”

Taya stared at the other woman, nonplussed. “Come again?”

Mina tapped an impatient beat out on the arm of the chair before leaning forward and blowing out a sigh.

“A Valkyrie. That’s what we call ourselves, for lack of a better term, as that’s what the Norsemen called us more than eight centuries ago. Back then, my ancestors would fly through the fields of battle and choose which soldiers to bring to Valhalla. At least, that’s what the Norsemen thought. We did pluck soldiers from the battlefield, but it was so we could influence the outcome of the war and help determine which side was victorious. Times have changed, though. Victories and defeats aren’t determined by what happens between pawns on the field of battle anymore. Now, wars are waged in boardrooms and command centers with dollars and votes while the young and powerless die for a cause they never really know the truth of.”

A bitterness colored her voice and Taya couldn’t help but wonder about the atrocities Mina might have seen to put it there.

“There are only a handful of Valkyries left and we tend to find ourselves embroiled in matters of diplomacy in the shifter world. Sort of like an external moral compass, in a way.”

“So you are a kind of, what, fixer or something?” Taya asked, fascinated in spite of herself. She’d thought initially that shifters like Etienne were humans with the ability to change form, but in the past two days, she’d been finding more and more that the rules of their world were every bit as complex as in the human world, if not more so.

“I work for the European Council of Shifters as a sort of…contractor. They ask me to investigate things for them, and inform me of their preferred course of action. I investigate and determine if their course of action jibes with my own sense of morals and act accordingly. Sometimes they’re happy with my services.” She let out a low, husky laugh. “And sometimes they’re not. But they know that without the assurance of checks and balances, the masses will revolt and things will get ugly. I guess you could say that we have something of an uneasy truce. I try to help them keep the shifter world in order and safe from prying human eyes while at the same time keeping the Council from becoming tyrannical. Power is most corrupting if it’s not shared.”

Taya inclined her head, adding the information to her growing mental database. So if she was to be believed, Mina was actually a good guy? If there was such a thing in this sur-reality.

As if she’d read her mind, Mina spoke again.

“I know it’s hard to get your head around it all, and trusting is hard for you right now, but know that Etienne wouldn’t have left you with me if he thought you were in danger. He does care for you. He told me as much.”

The rightness of that settled into her bones the second the words were spoken. Odd how, as hurt and angry as she was, she still knew that was true. Another thought struck her as she replayed Mina’s explanation over in her mind.

“Wait. You said that you would ‘fly over battlegrounds’? Does that mean that you have wings, like Etienne?”

Mina let out a snort and lifted her chin at a haughty angle. “Lord, no. Those clunky things he hauls around are an insult to wings everywhere.” She stood and shimmied her shoulders until her jacket dropped to the floor behind her and she was left wearing a second skin tank top that had been beneath. Then, she let her eyes drift shut.

A second later, a set of lush, raven-colored wings splayed out behind her, the feathers thick and glossy.

Taya let out an involuntary gasp and covered her mouth with one hand. If Mina had looked like a bad ass before, the black-as-sin feathers only added to the effect.

“Wow…”

“Yeah,” Mina said with a solemn nod.

Taya couldn’t even be irritated at the other woman’s pride. If she had wings like that, she’d probably be a little cocky, too.

“Anyway, that’s enough talk for now.” Mina tucked a lock of inky hair behind one ear and observed Taya thoughtfully. “You’ve got to be hungry after spending the day cooped up in here. Let’s get you some food, all right?”

Taya looked down at her hands, the initial awe at Mina’s display deflating under the weight of the reality setting in again. She shook her head slowly.

“No, thanks.” She hadn’t eaten anything since the night before and her stomach felt empty, but she knew there was no way she could choke anything down.

“Your call,” Mina said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “By the time we’re done, I think you’ll have changed your mind.”

“Done with what?”

“Our workout. We’re going down to the gym.”

Taya stared at the other woman in confusion. With a shifter war on the horizon and assassins en route, it hardly seemed like a good time for aerobics, and she said as much.

Mina cut off her protest with a wave of a hand as she retracted her wings and bent to pick up her leather jacket.

“That wasn’t a request. You need to learn a few basic self-defense skills. Etienne and I are not always going to be here to protect you and you certainly don’t look like you’ve got much in the way of physical strength.” She let her gaze travel the length of Taya’s body and shrugged as if to say ‘What can you do?’ before blowing out a sigh. “Lucky for you, I’ve some tricks in my bag. No time to waste. Dig around for some workout clothes and meet me downstairs in five.”

She crossed the room and had one hand on the doorknob before she turned to pin Taya with her intense gaze.

“The storm that’s coming might kill all three of us, little Taya Briarcroft. But you can be damned sure we’re going down with a fight.”