They lay together in the silence after their loving, still entwined. She settled into the crook of his arm, her head once pillowed on his chest.
“You’re still weak.”
“Yes.”
“You need to feed, don’t you? I mean… since you’ve found me, you can feed again, right?”
He hesitated. “Yes.”
“Would you feed from me?”
“No.”
Surprised, she straightened again. “Why not?”
“Because I’ve chosen you. I can never feed from you, now.”
“Why?”
He brushed a stray lock away from her eyes. “Because. I can’t.”
She shifted so that she was kneeling beside him. “What does it mean when you say you’ve chosen me?”
Erik looked taken aback. “Didn’t you feel it?”
“I felt… something.”
He took her hands, entwining his fingers with hers. “You felt my soul and your soul becoming one. We are now one spirit in two bodies. We can never be apart.”
“Like being married?”
“Oh, no. Being chosen is so much more than that.” He looked into her eyes. “Nika, I have looked for you across a hundred lifetimes. I have walked through a thousand years just to see your face. We are bound together, soul to soul.”
“But I’m still human,” she whispered.
“You are half Draugr.”
“But I’ll die someday…”
He stroked her hands with his thumbs. “As long as I am alive, you will live. Eternally young, eternally mine. And I will be eternally yours.”
“And if you die?”
He kissed her. “Then I hope you will remember me.”
She was strangely disappointed. “I won’t die?”
“No… unless you want to. Some Draugr have pined away after their chosen mates died.”
Nika understood. “Dying of a broken heart.”
“Something like that.”
She kissed him. “I don’t want to live without you.”
He pulled her back down to lie beside him again, his arms around her. “Let’s not talk about dying. There’s been too much of that today.”
“I’m so sorry about Rolf. Were you very close?”
Erik’s eyes grew moist, and he blinked the unshed tears away. “He was my brother.”
His cell phone rang at that moment, startling them both. He hunted down the offending object and answered the call.
“Thorvald,” he said.
“Your team is dead.” It was Sigrunn’s voice. She sounded smug. “I killed the three in the vault myself.”
He closed his eyes. “Are you calling to gloat, or is there something you wanted?”
“I want your woman, and I want the sword.”
“Well, that’s just too damned bad.”
“Don’t make me come to get them.”
“Make you? I wish you would.” He ended the call, then told Nika, “Things are going to get very interesting, very soon.”
“They’re coming for the sword, aren’t they?”
“Yes.” He smirked. “Too bad they don’t know where it is.”
“They can find it. It will call to them.”
“That’s what I’m counting on.” He gathered up his clothes. “We need to get into Hrothgar’s room. He has the team’s supply of dreyri.”
“What is that?”
“It’s the blood we drink. I need to recover my strength before they come.”
They dressed again, and Erik collected the sword. He took Nika by the hand and took her with him into the hallway.
Hrothgar’s room was across the hall, and he had the spare key, so entering was not a problem. They went inside and Nika applied the deadbolt while Erik went to an ornate wooden chest on the bedside table.
Inside the chest were dozens of vials of blood, each one stoppered with a cork. He opened one, and the scent dazzled him. He saluted her.
“Cheers.”
She watched as he drank vial after vial. His long years of abstinence had created a deep need, and his attempt at healing Rolf had created an abiding thirst. After his fifth vial, he closed the chest. His pallor was gone.
“What would happen if I drank one of those?” she asked.
He was surprised by the question. “Why would you want to?”
“Would it make me stronger, so I could face them better when they come? You’re not leaving me behind this time.”
He considered her for a long moment, then said, “No. I’m not.” He opened the chest again. “If you drink the dreyri, your mortal half will die. You will become all Draugr. Is that something that you are willing to do?”
Her answer was to step forward and pull a vial from the chest. She uncorked it and brought it to her lips. It was cold and congealed, deeply unpleasant and tasting of iron and salt. She swallowed it all.
Her stomach convulsed, and then she was filled with agony and ecstasy like she’d never known, a braid of conflicting sensations wrapping around her heart. She reeled backward, dropping the empty vial and staggering away from the chest. Erik went to her and caught her in his arms, holding her tight through her transformation.
Her mind was a violent sea of images, memories from a dozen lifetimes combined with the sudden awareness of the goddess within her soul. She shuddered and shook in her lover’s arms, and then it was over.
She looked at Erik and saw him with new eyes. He was surrounded by a halo of light, golden and white, just barely visible but definitely there. It was an aura of power and magic, and she gasped when she saw it.
“Take it slow,” he coached. “You’ll adjust if you give it a moment.”
She took a slow, steadying breath. Her senses were sharper than before, and she could sense the ebb and flow of magic emanating from the Rune Sword. She pulled out of Erik’s embrace and went to the sword.
Slowly, as if she were sleepwalking, she pulled the sword free from its wrapping and held it in her hand. It seemed to throb in her grasp. The soul stone glimmered in its setting, and she could sense the seething rage of the entity trapped within it.
She remembered. She remembered everything.
“To reanimate Hakon, they need to sacrifice one of the Valtaeigr. Only our blood will be enough to power the ritual.”
“The only Valtaeigr here are you and Astrid, and I can guarantee that she’s not the one they’re going to use.”
“What is Sigrunn?”
“She’s only Draugr.”
She stroked the Soul Stone. “What does Astrid stand to gain from changing sides?”
“Honestly, I have no idea.” He watched her warily. “Unless she means to ally the Valtaeigr with the Draugr instead of with the Huntsmen.”
“Why would she do that?”
“I don’t know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “We need to get Hakon’s body back and destroy it. That’s the only thing that will end this nonsense.”
She held the sword out to him. “All right, then. Let’s go.”