Chapter Thirty
Lillian sat with Erik at a table in his Nan's house in the dining room. Many from the pack had filtered in and out throughout the day, paying their respects to the man that Hall had once been.
Everyone wanted to remember the hard-working blue-eyed young man, not the insane berserker spouting nonsense and attacking his own kind and innocent people. It was close to the end of the day now, and she wasn’t sure who else might be coming.
She had been to plenty of funerals in her day, mostly members of her community who had died peacefully in their sleep. But this was different. Hall was young. No more than twenty, and he’d taken his own life. He had so many things still left to do in his life, and now all that was gone.
Erik had been silent for much of the time these last few days, leaving the funeral arrangements up to his grandmother. She was surprised slightly that Hall’s family didn’t handle it, but from what little Erik had related, the leader was supposed to handle this sort of thing. The death of a pack member reflected on him.
Lillian had tried to fill in and help as best she could with the arrangements, but in truth, she felt the need to stay by Erik, knowing that he was hurting more than he'd say out loud.
There was a knock on the door. Lillian rose to open it. Leif nodded to her, and then to Erik.
Lillian returned to the table. Leif took a seat as well.
"I should've done more," Erik said suddenly. “You’d saved him. You pulled him out of a being a berserker.”
Lillian reached over and placed her hand in his. "I'm not sure what else you could've done," she said. "He woke up from his hell only to realize what he had done. That’s a lot for a person to take in. You did everything you could.”
Erik didn't say anything, but he squeezed her hand in reply, then nodded once.
"But what do you think he meant when he said it wasn't over?" Leif asked. “Something else is going on, and I don’t think this stops with one pup.”
Erik shrugged. It was the same kind of warning that Hall had given Lillian in the alley. Something was coming, something larger on the horizon. The only problem was that none of them knew what the hell it was, and when he’d reached out to Corso, he didn’t seem to know either. They both doubted this was just about some vampire civil war.
"We need to find Anca," Erik said after a moment. "We need to know what that drug was." He clenched his hands into fists. “And she needs to pay for what she did to Hall.”
Lillian sighed and didn’t say anything. She hated to see Erik so hurt, but she also understood his need for vengeance against the vampire behind everything that had happened.
Leif nodded. "Corso confirmed she's been spotted in the Seattle area," Leif said. "I think that's the best place to start."
"Gwen has a trip coming up to Seattle," Erik said. "You should go with her. It's a good cover, and considering the troubled coming our way, we need to make sure that all of our people are protected.”
Leif opened his mouth to say something but closed it and nodded. Lillian wondered if he wasn't so thrilled about taking a trip with Gwen. Her sweet friend had been somewhat quiet recently, even before the final incident with Hall, and she wondered if it didn't have something to do with Leif.
“The Council is going to want to finalize the inquisition,” Leif said.
Erik nodded.
“What exactly is the Council?” Lillian had heard them mentioned before but still didn’t quite understand.
Eric turned to her. “The Council is a powerful group that makes sure that supernaturals operate within some sort of limits that assure the safety of humans.”
“Are they human?”
Leif laughed. “Mostly.”
Erik frowned. “They are human and have played a large role in keeping all the groups in check. Also in keeping them out of sight. Some people are better off not knowing the truth. Most people, really.”
Lillian nodded. Although they sounded a bit ominous, she was glad to have them there to speak for humans. It seemed like someone should. A stray thought had her wondering if the President knew. Maybe it was in the same secret file as the truth behind J.F.K. and Area 51.
Leif stood and made his way to the door. “Okay, I’ll get going. Let me know if you need anything.”
Erik nodded once.
The other man closed the door behind him.
Anna came out of the kitchen carrying two mugs. She set them down in front of Erik and Lillian. One was filled with cocoa and the other with whiskey.
She stood at the table and waited for Erik to look up at her.
“You need to understand that even if Hall died,” Anna began, “that he was still cleansed.”
“What do you mean?”
"The light," she said softly. She nodded over at Lillian. “No one should be able to deny what she is. A Valkyrie of Freya.”
“How though?” Erik said. “She wasn’t born a thousand years ago.”
“The details aren’t important. A descendant perhaps, just as you are.”
Lillian swallowed. Even though she’d already reached this conclusion. It was strange to hear it being discussed so openly as if it weren’t bat-shit crazy. Even if it wasn’t.
Anna stared at Erik. “You’ve never believed in the truth of what you are. I know that, and I’ve accepted it, because I knew you would when the time came. Do you believe it now?”
Erik nodded. “At least that she’s a Valkyrie.”
“Good.” Anna smiled at Lillian. “The light of the Valkyrie is a powerful force. Hall was cleansed before he left this earth for the halls of Valhalla."
Erik shook his head. "Do you think he's really there, Nan? I want to believe it, but it’s hard.”
The old woman placed her weathered hand against his cheek and smiled warmly at him.
"Only the brave and pure can reach the halls of Valhalla," she said. "And he had his own personal Valkyrie to usher him there."
Anna looked over to where Lillian sat and nodded to her.
Lillian looked back, though her stomach knotted in discomfort. Even though she accepted what she was, she couldn't explain the light that came from her. Or why she felt the need to do it. Or why she even thought it would work. Placing her hand on two fighting wolves was the craziest thing she'd thought to do at that moment, but it all just made sense.
“I think it’s time for me to get some rest,” Anna said.
They watched as the old woman made her way up the stairs for bed. It’d been a long day for everyone, but it was important for the pack to come to terms with what had happened. Lillian might not be able to control everything about her power, but it seemed instinct would guide her as needed.
Lillian leaned over and placed her head against Erik’s arm. He shifted in his seat slightly and pulled her in, wrapping his arm around her as he did so.
"I never believed the old tales she told us as children," he said, and took a drink from the mug. "They were stories told to frighten us and keep us in line, or just an old woman wanting to believe in some ancient and dead religion.”
Lillian could understand that. Everything she’d been told seemed more like a fairy tale than reality.
"But I don't have an explanation for what happened," he said. “I’ve always accepted the evidence in front of me, and the evidence supports what she’s told me.”
Erik turned to stare at her. His dark brown eyes searched her face for something. Maybe an answer. She only wished she could give him what he needed.
"So I find myself strangely hoping… believing that you are a Valkyrie," he said. "And I do hope that Hall has found his place among the brave."
Her heart hammered in her chest as she listened to him speak. Lillian didn't know she had an answer for that, but something in her told her it was true, and that one day they might meet Hall again.
"I hope so, too," she said softly. "And I hope that he is at peace with himself."
A lone tear slid down her cheek, and she reached out to wipe it off her face. Erik lifted her and slid her onto his lap, pulling her against him in a warm embrace.
"I was so scared when I saw you there," he murmured into her hair. "I thought I'd already lost you."
Lillian wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed against his skin.
"I thought the same thing," she mumbled.
Erik held her, and they stayed like that for some time, holding one another in the dim light of the room.
After some time, Lillian sat back and placed a soft kiss against his lips.
"I love you," she said. Just three little words, but they carried so much emotion. “I’ve been afraid to say it before. Afraid of what we had. I know a lot has happened, but I just wanted you to know that.”
Erik opened his mouth and closed it. She could see the struggle in his eyes, and although it hurt he didn't say it back, it didn't change the way she felt.
He pulled her in for a searing kiss. When he pulled back she could see the pain there.
"Let's go back home," he said.
Home.
It wasn't the same as those three little words, and yet home carried the same weight.
Lillian gave a small smile and nodded. Home would have to be good enough for now.