Книга - One Night With The Valkyrie

One Night With The Valkyrie
Jane Godman


Falling for the immortal warrior princess… While tracking down his brother, billionaire Adam Lyon is struck dumb by a vision of a beautiful woman in armour. But when this vision comes to life, she turns his entire world upside down. Adam soon discovers that valiant Valkyrie Maja is indeed a dream come true, but their passion violates the laws of the gods.Maja brings heroic souls to Valhalla, so why did she spare one mortal man's life? Not only does that violate Odin's orders, but she soon finds herself swept up in an illicit desire for sexy Adam. Battling to save their very lives, the CEO and the shield maiden’s forbidden love hangs in the balance – as does the fate of the world…







Falling for the immortal warrior princess...

While tracking down his beloved brother, billionaire Adam Lyon is struck dumb by a vision of a beautiful woman in armor. But when this vision comes to life, she turns his entire world upside down. Adam soon discovers that valiant Valkyrie Maja is a dream come true, but their passion violates the gods’ laws.

Maja brings heroic souls to Valhalla, so why did she spare one mortal man’s life? Not only does that violate Odin’s orders, but she soon finds herself swept up in an illicit desire for sexy Adam. Battling to save their very lives, the CEO and the shield maiden find their forbidden love hangs in the balance—as does the fate of the world...


“I am not a figment of your imagination, and I do not steal souls,” Maja protested angrily.

Leaning over the bed, she prodded him in the chest with one finger. “I escort the fallen to their next destination.”

Adam appeared to find her anger amusing and pulled her closer. “I don’t care what you do. Let’s leave my brother out of whatever the hell is going on in my screwed-up head.”

Squirming to break free of his hold, she was conscious of his superior strength.

His nearness was having the strangest effect on her. Although she was still struggling to escape, she was no longer sure getting away from him was what she wanted. A strange sensation was sweeping through her as the warmth of his touch seemed to seep into her bones. Adam drew her toward him, and she faced a decision: keep fighting or give in. His lips were inches from hers.

Slowly, enjoying the flare of surprise in his eyes, she lowered her head and kissed him.


JANE GODMAN writes in a variety of romance genres, including paranormal, gothic and romantic suspense. Jane lives in England and loves to travel to European cities that are steeped in history and romance—Venice, Dubrovnik and Vienna are among her favorites. Jane is married to a lovely man and is mum to two grown-up children.


One Night with the Valkyrie

Jane Godman






www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)


I love paranormal romance. It’s a genre in which everything is supercharged—including the romance. Additional powers, other worlds, magic and danger... All those things provide both readers and writers with a minivacation from reality.

This story is dedicated to my fellow paranormal-romance lovers, who encourage me to keep building fantasy worlds and creating larger-than-life characters. Thank you for your support!


Contents

Cover (#u30d8435b-744f-52b0-8abf-0c4460529a56)

Back Cover Text (#u5591640b-8e99-5c37-a149-e357876dbe27)

Introduction (#u1bffb3d6-59b7-5daa-a3cd-6abb683c7ddb)

About the Author (#ud43e505c-d226-5477-9c0e-b5e33f2d02a6)

Title Page (#ue07a4409-b4a3-597f-aaa7-0124629404a8)

Dedication (#u7abd8894-d3f4-5d27-8d93-24e1b945b92c)

Chapter 1 (#u2b8ea967-d67d-5de5-898e-c0b8d855a845)

Chapter 2 (#u8eff9bbd-a453-558f-80e7-b7cc0304c409)

Chapter 3 (#ud72cc37b-b089-5a93-b6c8-6327d29588e6)

Chapter 4 (#u35e1d5f9-d797-558c-b852-e01d1669c679)

Chapter 5 (#ua9b4c728-6b4f-566b-b830-51f0b52fda62)

Chapter 6 (#u9ab9089f-e4cb-5bad-8ad9-bc040f18c809)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)


Chapter 1 (#u9723b41f-6060-5634-8f6e-dc7ed6b82fba)

Adam Lyon had dodged many bullets in his life. Until now, they had always been of the conversational variety. For the first time ever, the fire and fury being unleashed around him was not in a boardroom...and it was not of his own making.

He thought of his time in Syria in numbers. Two weeks. Seven towns. Ten uncomfortable hotel beds. Fifteen thousand dollars. One question his guide had asked over and over.

“Where is the American called Lyon?”

Despite its seriousness, the question had become a source of amusement between Adam and his guide, Yussef. Something to lighten the darkness of their mood. As they toured the Damascus bars with Danny’s picture in one hand and a wad of American money in the other, Adam had joked that at least Yussef had made it clear they were seeking a Western mercenary, not a man-eating beast from the United States.

The answers—or half answers and hints—he got in one of those bars had brought him north to this desolate, shelled-out town called Warda. They were the reason he was now crouched in the corner of a half-ruined, empty office building with all hell raging outside. His arrival had coincided with an intense new outbreak of fighting.

Yussef had brought him to this building, the deserted workplace of one of his friends. The terrified guide had advised Adam to hide here while he attempted to negotiate a way out of town. He explained that Warda was the center of an ongoing battle for supremacy between ultrahardline government fighters and radicalized rebels.

And you walked into the middle of this place before you checked that out. Nice going, Lyon.

That had been an hour ago, and Yussef had not yet returned. Adam might have known the guy for only two weeks, but Yussef didn’t seem the type of person to run out on his responsibilities. Apart from anything else, Adam hadn’t paid him for his services, and he knew Yussef had a young family to feed. No, he had a horrible feeling about the reason why Yussef had not come back. His only hope had been killed, injured or captured. Which left Adam on his own. Not a new situation, but not one he had ever faced with bombs and bullets going off all around him.

As an American in Syria, Adam had known all along he was kidnap fodder for both sides in the ongoing conflict. He hadn’t entered into this trip lightly, and hadn’t gotten into this country easily. It had been a question of weighing his own safety against the need to find his brother. In those circumstances, Danny would always come first. A year ago, Danny had volunteered with a medical charity and come to Syria. Now, as the ground beneath his feet shook in time with the explosions just outside the building, and his ears rang in protest, he realized that kidnapping wasn’t his most immediate problem.

I am in so much trouble here. Now there are two missing Lyon brothers, and no one back home knows where either of us is.

The thought galvanized him and he got to his feet, pleased to find his legs were steady. There was no point sitting here waiting for death. May as well head on out and meet it face-to-face.

As he staggered toward what remained of the front door of the building, the shooting outside intensified. Something else happened at the same time. Everything got suddenly darker and a whole lot weirder.

Automatically assuming the change was caused by dust from the explosions, Adam rubbed his eyes to clear them. It didn’t help. If anything, his vision darkened even further.

This is it, he decided. I’ve been hit. They say you don’t always feel pain.

He was about to grope around his body for a bullet wound when the door flew inward and a black cloud filled the foyer.

“What the...?” Chemical weapons. I am so screwed.

The amorphous mass of darkness that had poured into the space began to shift. Within the quivering cloud, Adam could make out three winged figures. Although their features were indistinct, they were female and they were on horseback.

Hallucination. But what a way to go.

One of the figures moved slightly ahead of the others, materializing more fully. Her voice echoed in the small space. “I seek the American Lion.”

Adam decided he may as well go along with his own delusion. That whole lion joke between him and Yussef had clearly taken a grip on his imagination. “That makes two of us. If you find him first, tell him his brother said ‘hi.’”

Fascinated, he watched as the forms manifested themselves completely. His senses seemed to be heightened to the point where he could observe every detail of the illusion in front of him.

The horses’ coats shone like satin as they plunged and reared with restless energy. Adam was only mildly surprised when each animal unfurled giant wings at the same time as it snorted steam and pawed the ground. This was all going on inside his head, after all, so why should anything that happened come as a shock to him?

The woman who had spoken dismounted and took a step closer to him. Adam took a moment to congratulate himself on the quality of this fantasy. Two weeks of enforced celibacy had clearly done wonders for his imagination. It also seemed he might have a previously unexplored warrior-princess fetish.

This tall, slender vision possessed silken skin, impossibly blue eyes and flowing, gold hair. She and her companions were dressed in identical silver helmets adorned on either side with decorative wings, and a tight scarlet corset over which was fastened a fish-scale breastplate. Each of them wore a cloak made of feathers so pure and white they could only have come from the breast of a swan. They carried shields and spears, and had short swords in sheaths strapped at their waists.

In other circumstances, Adam might have spent more time enjoying this visual feast. Since Armageddon seemed to be unfolding in the street outside, he didn’t have another minute to waste. It couldn’t be wrong to barge past a figment of your own imagination, could it? As he took a step forward, the woman placed an unexpectedly solid-feeling hand on his chest, halting him.

“I am Maja, Valkyrie shield maiden.” She spoke clearly enough to be heard over the sound of automatic gunfire. The echoing note had gone and her voice sounded almost normal, although her accent was hard to place. “I must take the bravest of the fallen back to the great hall of Valhalla.”

As Adam gazed into Maja’s incredible eyes, trying to decide how his mind had endowed a make-believe creation with so much detail, one entire wall of the building collapsed.

Although his body was intact—there were no bullet wounds, after all—this shock-induced delusion hit him hard. Dark spots danced at the edges of his vision as dizziness overtook him and the dust scented floor rose up to meet him as he sprawled at Maja’s feet.

* * *

The man facing her with an expression of bewilderment clouding his handsome features was not a warrior. He was clad in pants made from a faded, heavy-duty blue cloth and a lightweight, khaki jacket, under which he wore one of those garments she had heard described on other earthly visits as a T-shirt. On his feet were scarred and dusty boots. Not combat clothing, Maja decided. He carried no weapons. More importantly, he was alive.

Maja wasn’t interested in living people. Her task was simple. Odin the Allfather wanted the souls of the bravest warriors who died in battle. They would join his army-in-waiting. The role of the Valkyries was to swoop into the scene of conflict and escort those souls to Valhalla, the great Hall of the Slain, within which Odin’s elite fighting force lived.

This land called Syria had recently become a scene of such great strife that even the Valkyries had turned their attention in this direction. Although their chosen warriors were usually Norsemen, Odin wanted the finest for his army. If that meant widening their search, then his shield maidens must follow the Allfather’s will. Brynhild, the Valkyrie leader, who was also Maja’s older sister, had been at the end of her wits as she planned this mission. There was desperate fighting going on in two places at the same time and Odin’s demands were becoming more difficult to fulfill.

“The American Lion.” Brynhild had shaken her head as she pored over her charts. Finding the bravest warriors wasn’t an exact science. Brynhild could predict where each fighter would be; she had an idea of the danger they would face, but she couldn’t be certain who would die. Odin remained insistent. Only the best would do for his army.

“One name crops up over and over in the stars. The Allfather is determined to have the warrior known as the American Lion. The Norns tell me he will be here in the town of Warda—” Brynhild had pointed to a dot on her map “—and there will be intense fighting there today.” She had moved her finger to another location, also in Syria, but many miles away. A frown descended on her face. “Yet there will be ten other warriors, all of whom Odin wants, in this other town at the same time. Each of them is less likely to survive than the American Lion. Do I risk the chance at ten warriors on the gamble that the American Lion will die today?”

“Why don’t I go to Warda, while you take the other town?” Maja had said.

It would be a chance to prove herself. To step out from beneath the shadow of her older sisters. The skepticism in Brynhild’s eyes as Maja had made the suggestion told her everything she needed to know.

I am still seen as the baby of the family.

It was always the same. Maja was the youngest of the true Valkyries. The twelve true daughters of Odin made up the group of female fighters whose job was to claim the finest souls for their father.

There was a hierarchy among the ranks of the Valkyrie. For many centuries Odin’s daughters had been the only ones considered worthy to bear the title of shield maidens. As the population of the mortal realm grew and humans became more adept at finding ways to kill each other, Odin had widened the numbers of Valkyrie to include faeries, dryads and nymphs. Known as his stepdaughters, these new recruits were of lesser rank than Odin’s own flesh and blood.

Yet I am treated like a new recruit! Like a stepdaughter, rather than a true daughter.

Maja knew she was seen as a problem to be solved. She was that unheard of a rarity...a disobedient Valkyrie. Most of her rebellion took the form of minor insurgencies, such as wearing her helmet at the wrong angle or arriving for training a few minutes late. Now and then, however, she had been known to use the worst word of all. She had asked why. There were regular how-do-we-solve-a-problem-like-Maja conversations between Odin and Brynhild. They didn’t know what to do with their bad Valkyrie.

Maja had no idea why she was different. One of the difficulties about being the daughter of gods was that her parents were not exactly approachable. Growing up, she did her best to conform, tried to fight the desire to question why the Valkyrie way was the best way and accepted her punishment when she inevitably failed.

She was never given the same level of responsibility as her sisters, even though she had demonstrated her capabilities over and over. It made her more determined than ever to show them what she could do.

After some intense debate, she had worn Brynhild down. Even as she mounted her great winged steed, Magtfuld, Maja got the feeling her sister was indulging her, allowing her to have her own way, but not expecting anything of her. It infuriated her that Brynhild might think she wasn’t up to this simple task. She had arrived in Warda fired up and ready to take this American Lion back so she could lay his body in triumph at the feet of the Allfather.

It was intensely annoying to arrive at the location Brynhild had given her to be confronted by the wrong man. A living, breathing man. A man who, now that she looked more closely at him, dared to have a hint of amusement in his dark brown eyes alongside the perplexed expression he wore. It was as if he couldn’t quite believe this was happening.

Those eyes made Maja pause. Maybe it was because she had never interacted with a living human being until now. Maybe it was because they were so incredibly beautiful. Whatever it was, she wished she had more time to spend looking into them.

When he fell, she experienced an unexpected dilemma. Her hand had actually twitched with the impulse to reach out and help him up. Luckily, he had hauled himself to his knees before she had forgotten herself and touched him.

“This has been fun.” He had to shout to be heard above the chaos around them. “But I think it’s time I was going.”

As he spoke, a group of men wearing dark clothing and carrying machine guns burst in through the damaged wall. They carried a white flag that bore a painted image of a hooded, grinning skeleton carrying a scythe. Putting his words into practice, the man darted out the open front door and into the main street of the small town. His action left Maja with a scant second in which to react. Since the American Lion was not where he was supposed to be, she should probably leave Warda right now. That would be the Valkyrie way. But the man had mentioned his brother. Did that mean he had further information? Was his brother the American Lion?

“Go to Brynhild.” She issued the order to her companions, ignoring their disapproving looks. She was the shield maiden in charge on this mission. They would not dare voice their reservations out loud. “Tell her I have been delayed, and that I will rejoin her at Valhalla later.”

Obediently, the two Valkyrie departed. The fighters who had entered the house paused in astonishment to watch the winged horses rise into the air. Within seconds, the Valkyrie and their steeds had become a swirling cloud. Less than a minute later, they had disappeared. Maja’s own horse would remain hidden in the shadows until she needed him.

Maja cast another glance around the damaged foyer. How could Brynhild have been so mistaken about this location? With a shrug and a swirl of her swan feather cloak, she ignored every prompting of her Valkyrie training and followed the man who had spoken of his brother out into the street. As long as she didn’t interact with him, or—the Norns preserve us—interfere in his future, what could possibly go wrong?

* * *

Adam glanced left and right as he exited the office building. Although he’d believed he’d blacked out back there, he now knew he hadn’t. In the same way, he knew his body hadn’t suffered any physical damage. He had been fully conscious when he’d imagined the Valkyrie, clearly suffering the effects of shock.

This was a living nightmare, and his subconscious was clearly responding with a subliminal message. Don’t worry. We’ll send a beautiful Valkyrie to the rescue. Just as he had been coping with that little treat for his senses, the arrival of a group of armed men bearing the dreaded Reaper flag—probably the most feared symbol in the world—had brought him sharply back to reality.

The terrorist organization known as the Reapers had risen to prominence in recent years, spreading its brand of hatred and fear across the globe. The Reaper himself, the shadowy leader of the group, was the most wanted man in the world.

Captured by the Reapers, the most feared killers on the planet? I don’t think so.

Now, Adam’s heart pounded against his rib cage and the hairs at the back of his neck stiffened until they felt like pins being driven into his flesh. The car in which he and Yussef had arrived was ablaze in the middle of the street. The roar and crash of grenades and the staccato sounds of gunfire were deafening. As he tried desperately to find a way out of this living hell, a small figure caught his attention and he paused, his eyes narrowing as he followed its progress through the dust and smoke.

The boy—Adam decided it was a boy—was bent almost double as he ducked inside a drainage ditch at the edge of the road, clutching something tightly to his chest. As he drew level with Adam, with only the span of the street separating them, another grenade went off, throwing the fleeing child off his feet.

Adam moved swiftly, closing the distance between them, sliding into the ditch and crouching beside the boy to inspect him for injuries. The child seemed stunned rather than maimed, and he gazed up at Adam with wide, uncomprehending eyes. As he checked him over, Adam saw that what the boy was carrying was a small dog. Despite the mayhem going on around them and the strangeness of the situation, the bedraggled canine licked Adam’s hand and wagged its tail.

Cradling the boy against his chest, Adam shielded him and the dog from the gunfire with his own body. From his size, he judged the child to be about eight years old.

“Where are you going?” He mimed a gesture to go along with the words.

“I speak English.” There was a trace of pride in the words. The boy pointed in the direction of the road out of town. “I go to the mission.”

Another grenade hit close by and Adam decided waiting around in a ditch wasn’t the best idea for either of them. Scooping up both the boy and his dog, he stayed low as he broke into a run. He had gone only a few hundred yards when the bullet hit him. Even though there was surprisingly little pain, he recognized what had happened instantly. It felt like someone had punched him hard in the back of his left shoulder.

I’ve really been shot this time. There should be more pain.

Blood, hot and sticky, began to pour down his back. The pain did hit then. Like a demon digging its claws gleefully into his muscles and sawing on his flesh with razor-edged teeth. As his vision blurred, Adam staggered and veered wildly across the road. Determinedly, he kept going. Getting the boy to safety was all that mattered.

“Let me help you.” The voice was cool, feminine and vaguely familiar. It sounded like the speaker was used to giving orders. As an arm slipped around his waist, he gazed into the clear blue eyes of the woman who had burst in on him as he sheltered in the ruined office building.

Her name came into his head through the mist of unconsciousness that was trying to claim him. Maja. Since leaving the house, she had disposed of the horse, helmet, cloak and weapons. Even without those items she was still the same unmistakable warrior princess.

Great. Just when I think I’m being rescued, it turns out to be a figment of my pain-filled imagination.

“Lean on me.” For an apparition, she was surprisingly strong, and Adam was grateful for her support. With her arm around his waist, he could drag his feet along with her in something that resembled a walk. Somehow, he was still able to carry the child and the dog.

“This way.” From within Adam’s protective hold, the boy gestured to a large, run-down building, half-hidden behind a drystone wall lined with dusty olive trees. “The lady will help us.”

The next few minutes passed in a blur. As Adam staggered into a tiled courtyard, Maja vanished. At the same time, a tall, gray-haired woman came out of the building and issued a few commands in English. Three men in local dress emerged and followed her instructions. One of them took the boy from his arms, then Adam was carried inside and strong hands lifted him onto a portable examining table.

Exquisite pain followed as the woman probed the wound in his shoulder. After that, he dipped in and out of consciousness. He was aware of her clipped English tones telling him how lucky he was. He tried to laugh, to make a joke about the sort of luck that had brought him to Warda on this day. He wasn’t sure his voice had worked, but it didn’t matter because sweet, blessed darkness swept over him once more.

When he regained consciousness, he was in a small room. He took a moment to assimilate his surroundings. He was lying on a narrow bed with a broken ceiling fan above his head and a window with cracked shutters painted a faded shade of green. Oh...and his shoulder hurt like a demon.

“Where am I?” Since he was alone, he had no expectation of a response when he tried out his voice. Sure enough, it sounded like he had gargled with broken glass.

“Tarek called it ‘the mission.’”

Startled, Adam began to turn his head in the direction of the voice. The movement caused darts of sheer agony to shoot through his shoulder. He guessed the woman who had removed the bullet had done so without the benefit of anesthetic. He continued the movement of his head, slowly this time, and carefully.

Maja was seated on a chair near the window, her blue eyes fixed on his face. Her expression was one of mild curiosity. As if he was an interesting specimen she was studying and about which she was making mental notes.

“Who is Tarek, and who the hell are you?”

“Tarek is the child you rescued. And I have already told you I am Maja, Valkyrie shield maiden.”

“Of course you are.” Adam closed his eyes, too weary to pursue this strange alternate reality his mind appeared determined to force him into.

“Are you going to die?” The question had the effect of opening his eyes again. Fast.

“What sort of question is that?”

She got to her feet and he took a moment to appreciate the way the red corset fitted her curves. Who needed painkillers with that sort of distraction around? “What you did with the boy was brave. If you die, I can take your soul back to Valhalla and my journey will not have been wasted.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m planning on sticking around.” That was his ambition. Whether the government forces and the rebel opposition who were unleashing mayhem on the local area allowed him to fulfill it? That was another matter. Although sound was muted by distance, he could still hear the battle raging.

She bit her lip. “I was afraid you might say that.”

With those words, the ultraefficient, ice maiden facade slipped slightly and he saw another side to her. Briefly, he caught a glimpse of a frightened expression flitting across her perfect features. The swift change intrigued him, and he made an attempt at getting himself into a sitting position. It wasn’t successful.

“Can you lend a hand?” She might be something his mind had conjured up, but he seemed to be able to put her to use to get his body working. Sure enough, Maja slid an arm around his waist and, with some effort on both their parts, Adam managed to maneuver himself upright. “And some water would be good.”

She reached for the glass at the side of his bed and held it to his mouth. “None of this is helping.”

Adam took a long gulp of the lukewarm liquid. His shoulder was more painful than anything he could ever have imagined, but his head was clear. He still needed to know where Danny was, and Maja was a distraction he could do without. But she was looking at him with such wretchedness in her eyes that he found it impossible to ignore. “Helping what?”

“My defense.” She placed the glass back on the table next to the bed. “By interacting with you, I have broken the Valkyrie Code.” Her lower lip wobbled slightly. “By saving you instead of letting you die and securing your soul for Odin’s army, I may have signed my own death warrant.”


Chapter 2 (#u9723b41f-6060-5634-8f6e-dc7ed6b82fba)

Maja knew she was putting off the inevitable. Sooner or later, she would have to return to Asgard, the home of the gods. Once there she would have to confess all to Brynhild. Not only had she failed to find the American Lion, she had interacted with a mortal. Worse than that, she had committed one of the worst possible sins known to a Valkyrie. She had saved a man from death. A man who had likely been about to die in the performance of an act of great bravery.

This man had been a prime candidate for Valhalla. While he didn’t seem to be a warrior, the courage he had demonstrated when he rescued Tarek had been remarkable. Maja was sure many of the so-called heroes of Valhalla would have abandoned the boy to his fate. Her heart had lifted with an emotion she didn’t recognize as she watched him cradle the child in his arms and break into a run.

She didn’t know what had prompted her to go to this stranger’s aid when he was shot. Maybe it was the wild streak in her nature that Brynhild had always deplored. Maybe it was those intriguing dark eyes of his. Whatever it was, she had acted without thinking. Thoughtlessness was not a trait that was encouraged in the Valkyrie.

The consequence of that action was that she was sitting in this box-like room, with its cracked plaster and concrete floor. The only pleasant thing to look at within its four walls was the man himself. Maja had never seen a man as handsome as this one. From his dark, wavy hair to his chiseled features and muscular body, everything about him was perfection. But it was those eyes that drew her attention over and over. Darker than the storm clouds that surrounded Asgard, they could appear soulful one second, then lighten with humor the next. Maja felt herself being drawn into their depths. Which was an unforeseen circumstance. She had been told humans couldn’t weave spells, yet he seemed to be working a strange and powerful magic on her.

“I don’t understand.” The man’s voice forced her to focus on what he was saying instead of the melting darkness of his gaze. “How could you be punished for helping me?”

“Because I am a Valkyrie.” Why was he finding this so difficult to understand? Surely everyone knew what a Valkyrie was? “My mission is to take the souls of the dead back to Valhalla. By saving you, I have deprived Odin of a warrior for his army.”

“Maja.” Those incredible eyes fastened on her face.

What now? She had spoken to him, saved his life. According to the Valkyrie Code, the only thing she could do now to make things worse would be to have sex with him. If he asked her to do that... Maja felt a blush burn her cheeks. Was he going to ask her that? Surely not. She didn’t know much about these things, but she’d have expected some sort of preliminaries. And just because she had broken part of the Valkyrie Code, that didn’t mean she was likely to further, and forget her vow of purity. Not even for a man whose gaze did strange things to her insides.

“Yes?” She hoped the slight squeak in her voice hadn’t betrayed the unchaste trend of her thoughts.

“Why do you seem so real? Am I going mad?”

Before Maja could answer, the door opened and the woman who had operated on the man’s shoulder to remove the bullet entered. Maja promptly faded into invisibility. She was aware of the man looking around him in surprise at her disappearance, but he said nothing. Apparently, mortals were smarter than she’d been led to believe. Maja wanted to hug him to express her gratitude. Maybe even kiss those perfectly carved lips. The problem with that idea was that she would have to tell Brynhild about it on her return to Valhalla. Honesty was high on the list of Valkyrie values. Lying, or hiding the truth, never occurred to Maja. Somehow, she didn’t imagine her sister would approve if she discovered kissing a human had been added to the growing list of crimes.

Maja had only ever heard of one case of a Valkyrie breaking the Code. On her first mission, Silja had become separated from the group and had asked a mortal man for directions. On her return to Valhalla, Odin had ordered her execution, but Brynhild had intervened. Silja was now locked away in a tower in Valhalla, forced to spend the rest of her life in isolation. Maja wasn’t sure her own future held anything as lenient.

“Ah, you’re awake.” The surgeon had a hearty, clipped manner of talking. “You passed out while I was removing the bullet. Since we don’t have access to anesthetic here, it’s often a relief when that happens.”

“Is this a hospital?” the man asked.

“No, although I am a doctor.” The woman held out her hand. “Edith Blair.”

Maja watched as he took the hand and shook it. “I’m Adam Lyon. Thank you. You saved my life.”

“Tarek tells me of your own heroism. He said he would have died in a ditch if it wasn’t for you. He has been talking of superheroes ever since.”

Even though she was invisible, Maja held her breath. Would Adam—she wrinkled her nose at the strangeness of the name—give her away?

“Maybe Tarek has been reading too many comic books?” he said.

The frown on Edith’s face eased slightly. “Maybe. It’s very hard to provide a rounded education for these children. Even harder for Tarek, who has learning difficulties.”

Briefly, a flash of pain crossed Adam’s features. Edith appeared not to notice it, and it was gone as fast as it appeared. Maja wondered why those words had provoked such a strong reaction in him. Learning difficulties? What did that mean?

Edith shook her head. “I warned Tarek not to go out today, but that dratted dog of his escaped and he insisted on going out to find it.” She pursed her lips as she studied Adam. “I would normally suggest rest, but these are not normal circumstances. I’m surprised no one warned you about the dangers of this region for an American, Mr. Lyon.”

“They did.” Adam’s face was expressionless. “I’m looking for someone and it’s likely he’s in this area.” With his good hand, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and withdrew a photograph, which he held out to Edith. “This is my brother, Danny Lyon. Have you seen him?”

She studied the picture carefully before shaking her head. “I’m sorry.” Her manner became brisk as she rose to her feet. “I’ll have someone drive you to the border with Lebanon in the morning. The worst of the fighting seems to be over, so you should be safe tonight. You’ve had a lucky escape, Mr. Lyon.”

Maja made sure Edith was gone before she reappeared.

“Invisibility is one of your more unsettling habits.” Adam’s expression was unreadable as he observed her.

“You said that was your brother.” Maja pointed to the photograph. “Is he the American Lion?” Adam had said his own surname was Lyon. It was close enough. Perhaps all was not lost. It seemed safe to assume there was a connection.

Adam regarded her through narrowed eyes. “Maja, even if you are a figment of my imagination, I am not going to help you steal my brother’s soul.”

“I am not a figment of your imagination, and I do not steal souls,” she protested angrily. Leaning over the bed, she prodded him in the chest with one finger. “I escort the fallen to their next destination.”

Adam appeared to find her anger amusing, a fact that stoked her fury even further. Grasping her wrist, he pulled her closer. “I don’t care what you do. Let’s leave my brother out of whatever the hell is going on in my screwed-up head.”

Squirming to break free of his hold, she was conscious of his superior strength. Despite his injury and the pain he must be in, he held her easily.

His nearness was having the strangest effect on her. Although she was still struggling to escape, she was no longer sure getting away from him was what she wanted. A strange sensation was sweeping through her, a combination of lassitude and excitement. The warmth of his touch seemed to seep into her bones. As Adam drew her toward him, she faced a decision: keep fighting, or give in to the promptings of her body. His lips were inches from hers, the smile that flitted across them too tempting to resist. Slowly, enjoying the flare of surprise in his eyes, she lowered her head and kissed him.

* * *

Adam decided that, at some point, he must have floated out of his own body and into a trance. His theory wasn’t finely tuned, but he had conjured up Maja back in the office building. Maybe out of shock or terror? A desire to escape the situation? Then, when the bullet was being extracted from his shoulder, it seemed he had developed the fantasy even further. He didn’t care how it had happened. There was no point trying to make sense of it. As dreams went, this was the sort he needed right now. Even a truckful of painkillers couldn’t have numbed the ache in his shoulder the way Maja’s kisses did. Her lips met his with shy, sweet promise. He’d forgotten what this sort of kiss was like. First-time kisses. Nervous kisses. Not-quite-perfect kisses.

“I’ve never done this before.” She raised her head, a blush staining the creamy perfection of her cheeks. “Am I doing it right?”

In response, he pulled her back down and took over. Adam had kissed many women in his life. As his lips met Maja’s he realized with a pang of sadness that this had become a meaningless activity to him. It served a purpose only as a lead-in to sex. But kissing Maja took him on a whole new adventure. Possibly it was the circumstances, the danger, almost dying, the fact that she couldn’t possibly be real...but this was the most erotic experience of his life. When he slipped his tongue inside her mouth, he sensed a moment’s hesitation before she tentatively returned his caress. A soft groan escaped him as he tangled his good hand in the silken mass of her hair. Liquid fire throbbed through his veins, sending a hit of heat straight to his groin. He had never wanted anyone the way he wanted this woman, this woman who was a fictional character from his fevered imagination.

Maybe if I keep kissing her none of that will matter.

The weight of her body pressing down on his was perfection. He never wanted to return to reality. He inhaled her scent. She smelled like spring meadows. As out of place in a Syrian war zone as...well, as a kiss with a Valkyrie. And she tasted like honey. He wanted to lick every part of her to find out if the rest of her body tasted as sweet. As he slid a hand over her shoulders and dipped lower into the back of her corset, tracking her spine, he marveled at the satin feeling of her flesh.

Sometime later, he was never sure how it happened—to be honest, he didn’t really care—she nestled into the crook of his good arm on the bed next to him, her tempting Valkyrie curves pressed up against him as the kisses continued. He marveled at the way his brain was feverishly finding release from the nightmare he had endured.

Since arriving in Syria he had witnessed the horror of shattered lives. This was a land of blood, pain and tears. And now he had come close to death himself. Was his resourceful mind creating this image of feminine loveliness to compensate for the hell of this place? Okay, if he was going to make her absolutely perfect, he might not have gone for the whole warrior-on-horseback theme. That was a kick in his psyche he hadn’t seen coming. But as fantasies went, Maja was more than adequate. If she was here to compensate for the horror of the day just gone, she was doing a damn good job.

He had reached a point where the pain in his shoulder was nothing compared to the throbbing of his erection. The heat of Maja’s body was driving him crazy with desire. How could a dream feel so deliciously warm?

“Maja, I need...” As he spoke, he fumbled to undo his jeans with his right hand.

Her eyes widened as she leaned on her elbow. “I have never seen a naked man before.” Her voice was a husky murmur as she watched him free his rock-hard cock from the confines of his briefs. “Can I touch you?”

Not only was his horse-riding apparition a gorgeous, blue-eyed blonde, she was also a virgin. That was another unexplored side to his fantasies he hadn’t anticipated. Reaching out a hand, she stroked it downward in a long, slow movement, tracing the long, thick length of his shaft. Any pang of conscience Adam may have had, any thoughts of discussing the implications of losing her virginity with her even though she was a figment of his imagination...all of those mixed-up thoughts flew out of his head.

He hissed in a breath as her other hand moved inside his clothing to cup the heavy sac between his thighs. Pure sensation ricocheted through him.

“So strong,” she whispered, color staining her cheeks as she drew in a ragged breath. “So much power right here in my hand.”

Adam used his good hand to tug her corset and the chemise beneath it roughly down. Her breasts were creamy and firm, tipped with delicate pink nipples. As his lips moved down her neck, she arched her back, squirming against him. Her hands continued to caress him, driving him into a frenzy. Moving lower, his lips covered her nipple, sucking her as she gasped. Pleasure threatened to overwhelm him. His cock hardened and throbbed with an urgency he had never before experienced.

What was it that made her so different—apart from the fact that she wasn’t real? It was in her response to him. The way she quivered at his touch, her expression when she looked at him and the tiny sounds of appreciation she made. Adam wasn’t a vain man, but he knew he was considered handsome. Cynically, he sometimes wondered if it was him or his bank balance his partners found most attractive. Those doubts didn’t arise with Maja. It was clear she couldn’t get enough of him and that, in turn, increased his own desire to furnace levels. His hand moved lower, finding the heat at the apex of her thighs. This corset hadn’t been designed for a one-armed man to remove with ease. His creativity had deserted him when it came to the costume department. Luckily, Maja herself came to his aid, wriggling out of the offending article until she was lying naked in his arms. And as his fingers skimmed the soft curls between her thighs, the fantasy was back on track.

Maja wound her arms tightly around his neck, pressing her face against his uninjured shoulder as her legs parted to allow access to his probing fingers. She gave a soft moan as his thumb brushed her clit, and the sound was so incredibly erotic that Adam almost came there and then. He slid one finger inside her and she rocked against him, welcoming the intrusion. Adding another finger, he kept up the pressure with his thumb, circling the tiny, hard bud until he felt her shudder as her internal muscles clenched tightly around his fingers.

“Oh!” She tilted her head back, staring at him with a question in her eyes. “What just happened to me?”

He gave a soft laugh. “It’s called an orgasm. Didn’t they teach you that at Valkyrie school?”

The blush deepened further. “We are not taught anything about our bodies, and definitely not about sex. Since it will never happen to us, we have no need to know.”

Although the words struck him as strange, Adam couldn’t wait any longer. His injury meant there was no way he could do this conventionally, or gracefully. Using his good arm to lift Maja across his body so she could straddle him, Adam claimed her lips in a kiss and pulled her down onto his steel-hard cock. Even in the grip of a fantasy a brief, bizarre thought about protection flashed through his mind. He dismissed it. This was his imagination; the responsibilities of reality were not going to derail it.

No matter how much pain or danger he was in, his body was demanding more from this woman than he had ever believed it was possible to crave. Maja gave a little cry as he entered her.

“Is this okay?” A condom might be a detail too far, ensuring his partner’s well-being wasn’t. He was still the same person, even in a dream.

“It feels so good. Pleasure and pain at the same time. We were taught this is wrong...” Her voice was hesitant at first, then, biting her lip, she ground her pelvis against his. “But nothing ever felt so right.”

Running his good hand over the luscious curves of her ass, he released a groan of male exultation. Nothing had ever approached the surging, blistering heat of desire that flamed through him. Would he ever be able to cope with reality again after such an incredible dream?

Stop overthinking. Your body is compensating for the trauma it’s been through. Just enjoy it.

His lips found the hard, pointed tip of a nipple again and drew it into his mouth. Maja’s soft, feminine cries filled the air as her hands moved to his head, holding him tightly to her. As he sucked her sweet flesh—tasted her, branded her—he felt his desire spiral out of control.

Above him, Maja writhed with pleasure, moving in time to his rhythm. Encased in the satin confines of her tight muscles, Adam thrust his pelvis up, and she met his movements with perfect timing. They were both poised on a knife edge, ready to tip over. Adam felt his body tighten and wished he could make the feeling last forever. To keep these wild, searing sensations crashing through him, knowing he would never be able to recapture such perfection.

“God, Maja. I’m not going to last long.” The words were a hoarse groan.

Each movement was like a white-hot surge of ecstasy building, tightening his sac and moving like lightning up his spine. Maja gasped, her muscles clenching and unclenching around him as she panted her way through another orgasm. Pure rapture hit him, firing its way along his nerve endings in a series of ever wilder explosions. Never like this. This was the storybook orgasm to complete his perfect fantasy.

Maja lay very still on top of him, and when he had recovered his breath, Adam smoothed a hand down the length of her hair. “I’m sorry. That was over way too soon.” Was he seriously apologizing to the star of his erotic dream?

She lifted her head, a hint of mischief in her smile. “I might not know much about these things, but I don’t know why you are saying sorry. That was very nice.”

He laughed. “Maja, if I wasn’t injured, and if this wasn’t some sort of crazy delusion, I’d show you that we can do a hell of a lot better than nice.”

The smile disappeared and a frown appeared in its place. “This can’t happen again.”

Since this was going on inside his head, surely he should be the one to make those decisions? Adam was too tired to ask the question out loud. Instead, he drew Maja back into the crook of his uninjured arm and closed his eyes. She felt good there. Warm and comforting. Almost immediately, he felt sleep begin to tug the edges of his consciousness. He needed to rest, but he wondered if slumber would drive away this wonderful, wakeful dream. It was a disappointing thought. He doubted if he would ever again conjure up an image as powerful and realistic as Maja.


Chapter 3 (#u9723b41f-6060-5634-8f6e-dc7ed6b82fba)

Warda was eerily quiet as Maja made her way back to the place where she had left her horse, Magtfuld. Most of the buildings were reduced to mere shells after the bombings, although some still smoldered in the predawn light. Several cars were blazing, and she guessed they would soon join the graveyard of abandoned vehicles that littered the side of the road.

Even in this scene of utter devastation, there were signs of life returning to normal. An old man drove a herd of goats down the center of the street, seemingly not noticing the strangely clad woman who passed the other way. A family huddled in what was left of a bullet-riddled house, pulling blankets around themselves as they watched Maja, who hadn’t used her power of invisibility, with listless eyes.

I should do something. Try to help them. Even as thoughts of anonymous rescues that would remain hidden from Odin and Brynhild entered her mind, she dismissed them. You have already done enough to secure your death sentence.

How had this happened? How had she gone from being the ice-cool shield maiden carrying out her mission as Odin’s representative here in the mortal realm, to a quivering mass of raw emotion? Adam Lyon. That was how.

The thought of him almost stopped her in her tracks. Instead of continuing in her determined stride, she wanted to find somewhere to hide away, to curl up tight and examine the whirlwind of feelings that were buffeting her body. The memory of his touch was almost too much to bear. Too intense. Too perfect. Just the thought of him made her internal muscles clench with remembered longing.

No one told me how much I would enjoy breaking the Valkyrie Code!

She had been taught only that sex was forbidden, not that it was pleasurable. Maja choked back a laugh. Pleasurable? Try magical. No one told me how much I would want to do it again...and again. But even in her dazed state, she knew this was not a reaction to the physical act itself. This was about Adam. He had changed her life. Changed her. But now she had to face the consequences.

Indulging in daydreams about her handsome mortal lover wasn’t an option. After the storm of their lovemaking, she had allowed herself the brief indulgence of lying in Adam’s arms and watching him as he slept. But she had done so knowing that she must leave him. It was time to go back to Valhalla and confess both her failure and her crimes. Her failure was bad enough. If the true American Lion had been in Warda during the latest outbreak of fighting, Maja had found no trace of him. But her crimes? They must surely be the worst ever committed by a Valkyrie. The only words they were permitted to exchange with their target must be relevant to the mission. The penalty for a Valkyrie who was found to have spoken unnecessarily with a warrior was imprisonment.

But Maja had done so much more. Not only had she spoken to Adam, she had saved his life. And then, as if driven by some inner madness, she had violated the Code in the worst way imaginable. I lay with him in his bed. I took him into my body. All the things I have been warned against... Yet I cannot find it in me to feel shame. Even though I will admit my transgressions, I will do it with my head held high.

There was no place in Asgard for a Valkyrie who had lost her virginity. On her return, Maja should expect her execution date to be set immediately.

With her usual disregard for convention, she had once asked Brynhild about the reasoning behind the rule about Valkyrie purity.

“Wouldn’t it make more sense if, instead of recruiting stepdaughters, it was the descendants of the true Valkyries who enlarged our force? Our daughters and granddaughters could learn the shield maiden way from an early age.”

Once Brynhild had recovered from the shock that Maja had dared to speak of such a topic, she had taken her sister’s hand. Her expression had been the half-resigned, half-bemused one she reserved only for Maja. “You must never speak of this matter again. It is unseemly and unwise. The decree about virginity dates back to the very first Valkyrie ride. There was an incident that took place after the fighters were brought to the great hall—” Brynhild had shuddered as though the memory was still distasteful to her. “The warriors felt that the duties of the Valkyries included meeting their carnal needs. Sadly, some of our older sisters did not refuse their demands, and the result resembled an orgy. It was so shocking that Odin was forced to introduce the death penalty to ensure there would be no repeat. The distance between the men of Valhalla and the Valkyries must be maintained.” She shook her head. “We will not dwell on the past, but these things are decided for good reasons.”

The Valkyries lived a separate existence from the gods, but Maja had caught glimpses now and then of pregnant women. In addition to the scandal Brynhild had alluded to, she supposed sex, childbirth and babies would interfere with the smooth running of Valhalla.

Now she had joined the ranks of those who brought that look of horror to Brynhild’s face.

I have no defense. If I met Adam once more, I would do it all over again.

It was something she could never explain to Brynhild, Odin or to anyone else, partly because she couldn’t understand it herself. The magic of that all-too-brief time she had spent in Adam’s arms lingered in the thrill that trembled through her body. It really had felt like magic. As if an incredible, heart-stopping spell had been cast upon her. She would die as a punishment and as an example to other Valkyries who might be tempted to stray from the path of purity, but the brief life that was left to her had been changed forever by the touch of a mortal.

The office building in which she had first met Adam had not fared well. Only one wall remained in place and that was leaning precariously outward. Twisted iron girders pointed skyward like gnarled, accusing fingers and the entrance doors hung on damaged hinges. Maja, probably the only individual in Syria who could not be harmed by any of the warring factions, stepped into the deserted foyer and felt a chill finger of dread track its way down her spine.

Magtfuld was gone.

* * *

When Adam woke some hours later, it was to the discovery that he had been right. Maja had disappeared and the room was in semidarkness. The light told him it was early morning. He lay still, wondering what, apart from her absence, had changed. Then he realized the bombing and gunfire that had continued intermittently throughout the previous day seemed to have finally stopped.

His shoulder throbbed unbearably; his whole body was tense and weary, yet at the same time he was experiencing a curious sense of peace. Aware that his zipper was undone, he attempted to fasten himself up one-handed. Feeling the evidence of his release on his body, he grimaced. What sort of fantasy had that been? While the imaginary sex had been better than anything he had ever experienced in reality, it had been over too soon. Shouldn’t a man be the superhuman, lasts-for-hours star of his own dreams?

Just as well it was a dream, since I didn’t give a thought to protection.

He spent a few minutes wishing he could summon her again. It was a foolish hope. Dreams like that came along once in a lifetime, and he supposed Maja had answered a deep-seated need inside him during a combination of terror and trauma. For someone who had always been rigorously in command of every aspect of his life, it was a strange sensation. I lost control. A smile touched his lips. And I liked it.

It was just as well that the corporate world would never discover that the bad boy of the boardroom had a weakness. Finding the time to leave the helm of his vast media conglomerate of newspapers, magazines, TV and internet news publishers, and publishing houses had been difficult enough. If it had been for anyone other than Danny it wouldn’t have happened. Getting shot was an added complication. Hopefully, his injury wouldn’t put him out of action for too long once he got home. Adam had built a global brand on the strength of his personal charisma. He couldn’t spare even a minute to let that slide.

Struggling to his feet, he made his way to the curtained-off commode. With normality restored, he returned to the bed and propped himself against pillows that were as hard as bags of cement. It was impossible to get comfortable, so he settled for the best he could do...which was somewhere between discomfort and agony.

He would be leaving Syria today. For the sake of his battered body and his damaged psyche—anyone who needed the sort of illusion he had created for himself in the form of Maja had a few unresolved issues—it was time to go. He thought of the beautiful countryside he had seen on his travels, with its rolling hills full of olive and lemon trees. Everyone he encountered had been warmhearted and helpful. This was a heartbreaking land and he would leave it with regret. For the first time ever, he felt the need to do something with his life other than make money. Although he had no idea what it would mean in practice, being here had unleashed a need within him that he intended to explore on his return home. The worst thing about leaving Syria was that he would be going without having accomplished what he had come here for. He still hadn’t found any information about Danny.

Danny had battled with learning difficulties all his life. It infuriated Adam that some people couldn’t figure out that didn’t mean Danny was dumb. He was a whole lot smarter than Adam in so many ways; it just took him longer to learn things. Their father had died when Danny was a baby and their mother had remarried almost immediately. Although their lifestyle was privileged, their stepfather was not a warm man, and despite their age difference, the two brothers had grown closer than ever. When their mother died, Adam had been twenty-one. He hadn’t needed her deathbed reminder to care for Danny. His eleven-year-old brother had moved in with him. Adam had found a school that specialized in helping students with Danny’s needs. Even though the diagnosis of severe dyslexia had come late, the teachers had supported him well and Danny had thrived. He had graduated high school and, refusing Adam’s offers of help, had found himself a job in a charitable foundation working with refugees.

Adam had done his best to talk him out of coming to Syria, but Danny had a stubborn streak a mile wide. Adam smiled. It was a Lyon trait. His own was several miles wider. His mind conjured up an image of his brother in the days before he’d left. So sure of what he was doing, so dedicated, so determined.

“That’s where we differ, Danny. You have strong principles, and are prepared to stand up for them.” Adam remembered his own words just before Danny left.

Danny had returned his gaze steadily. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’re the person who raised me.”

Adam had given a self-deprecating laugh. “I have no illusions about myself.”

Once Danny got to Syria, the brothers had maintained a regular communication. Calling, messaging, emailing whenever they could. Then Danny’s attitude had started to change. He had always been upset about what was happening in Syria. Suddenly, instead of wanting to help in a humanitarian way, he began to talk about taking real action. That was when Adam started to get concerned about him. When the communication stopped, his concern turned to fear.

He found out from the organizers of the charity that Danny had gotten friendly with a group of men he’d met in one of the local villages. It was only after Danny left the nonprofit that the organizers discovered his new friends were mercenaries.

Adam withdrew the photograph of Danny from his pocket and looked at the familiar face. At the clear, laughing eyes so like his own, but lacking Adam’s cynicism and ruthlessness. His fist clenched hard on his thigh.

I must find him. I have to take him home.

The opening of the door interrupted his thoughts and a small, tousled head inserted itself into the room.

Tarek smiled when he saw Adam was awake. “I can put the light on?”

Adam nodded. “Please do.”

Tarek’s presence was a welcome interruption. The dog he had carried with him on the previous day also seemed to consider himself included in the invitation. After bounding into the room with a shrill bark, the little creature leaped onto the bed and made several enthusiastic attempts to lick Adam’s face.

“He likes you.” Tarek took the chair at the side of the bed. “He knows you saved us when the Reapers were chasing us.”

The dog might have been a terrier, but his unkempt appearance meant his parentage was indeterminate. He was young and friendly, and once his initial exuberance had died down, he curled up on Adam’s legs with a contented sigh. Having him there felt curiously comforting.

“What’s his name?”

“Leo.” Tarek must have been aware of the sudden intensity of Adam’s gaze, because he clearly felt the need for further clarification. “I named him after the man who gave him to me.”

Leo. It was a long time since he’d heard his brother’s childhood nickname. Leo the Lyon. It had been their private joke. Adam felt sharp, unaccustomed tears stinging the back of his eyelids.

“Is this the man who gave you your dog?” He held out Danny’s picture.

“Yes.” Tarek laughed delightedly as he looked at the picture. “How did you know it was him?”

Although he smiled, his hand reached out for Leo, tangling itself in the wiry fur as though the dog was his comforter.

“Tell me some more about this man, Tarek.”

“You sound just like Maja. She wanted to know all about the warriors I have met.”

Adam sat up so abruptly it felt like a red-hot wire had been inserted into his shoulder. He also dislodged Leo, who whined a protest. “Maja?”

“The lady with the long gold hair. The one who was dressed like a superhero.” Eyeing him with concern, Tarek clearly felt further explanation was necessary. “She brought us here after you were shot.”

Adam slumped back on his pillows. The action dislodged something from his hair. A single feather, so pure and white it could only have come from the breast of a swan, drifted down and landed on the worn sheet next to his hand. His fingertips closed over it.

I am not a figment of your imagination. He heard her voice saying the words. Stunned, he remained still for a few minutes, letting Tarek’s chatter wash over him.

There were too many questions vying for dominance in Adam’s mind. When had Tarek seen Danny, the man who had given him his dog? What did Tarek mean when he said the Reapers had been chasing him? Surely he had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time when Adam rescued him?

Somehow, all the other questions were pushed aside and Adam asked the one that mattered most right now. “Did you see where Maja went?”

Tarek started to answer, but his words were drowned out by the sound of gunfire coming from just outside the building.

* * *

Being stranded in the mortal realm without her steed shouldn’t feel like a reprieve, but it did. Maja had no doubt that recalling Magtfuld was Brynhild’s way of punishing her. Cutting her off from any means of returning to Valhalla would ordinarily feel isolating and frightening. Right now, it felt like she had been handed a lifeline.

This was temporary, Maja told herself, as she did a final check to make sure she really couldn’t call Magtfuld from the shadows. Her guess was that Brynhild’s plan was to leave her in the mortal realm just long enough to make her suffer. Then her sister was likely to send a rescue party. The message? Don’t step out of line again. By dismissing her companions, Maja hadn’t conformed to the behavior expected of a shield maiden. Brynhild didn’t do anger. She did retaliation. Cold, calculated and carefully planned.

This way, Maja might have time to at least salvage part of her reputation. Maybe, just maybe, she could still track down the American Lion. She had an outside chance of succeeding, but she may as well make the attempt. And the key to the whereabouts of the brave warrior she sought was back at the mission. The only brief glimpse she had gotten into his whereabouts had come when Adam had responded when she had mentioned him. His words had suggested that the American Lion was his brother. Although he had refused to discuss the matter, he had not denied it. And Maja had subsequently become somewhat distracted from the topic.

A blush tinged her cheeks. Was she being honest with herself? Was she really seeking the American Lion, or was she looking for an excuse to go back to Adam? She decided the two things were so closely entwined that it would be impossible to separate them. Tell yourself that. It sounds so much better than the truth...that you cannot stay away from him.

Unearthing her cloak, helmet and weapons from the space beneath the stairs where she had hidden them, she decided the only way she would know for sure about any connection between Adam and the American Lion would be to ask him outright.

A heavenly dawn light was breaking through the wispy cloud as Maja retraced her steps. She had never had a chance to appreciate the beauty of the mortal realm on previous missions. Although humans had a terrible capacity to cause harm to each other, this world of theirs had the power to move her with its magnificence. The contrast between the destruction that had taken place within the town, and the rolling countryside around it, unveiled now by the emerging light, could not have been starker.

As Maja followed the road out of the village, she picked up the sound of conflict. They were, after all, the sort of noises with which she was most familiar. Angry, raised voices, growled instructions, cries of pain, shocked protests, and gunfire. But it was her job to know when there was hostility in the air, and her finely tuned Valkyrie senses had told that the fighting in Warda was over. Yet this disturbance was coming from the direction of the mission.

Breaking into a run as she used her invisibility as a shield, she dashed into the courtyard in time to see a group of five men dragging the three male mission workers and Edith Blair out of the old house. They forced the frightened group to their knees, holding guns to the back of their heads. One of the attackers paced up and down in front of them.

He barked a question at them in Arabic. The Valkyries had a unique understanding of all mortal languages, but the man repeated the words in English as he paused in front of Edith. “Where is the boy?”

Maja had to admire the woman’s courage as, despite the gun pressed into the base of her skull, she maintained eye contact and spoke coolly. “I know a number of boys. You’ll have to be specific.”

His lips drew back in a snarl. “Don’t play games. We are looking for the boy called Tarek.”

As he spoke, a movement just beyond the edge of the building caught Maja’s eye. Her senses were keener than those of most mortals and she doubted the leader of the group who were seeking Tarek would have seen it. The house was surrounded by a drystone wall. Roughly shoulder height, it dipped in places and had some glaring gaps in its uneven surface.

It was through one of these gaps that Maja caught sight of a man’s arm. It was the briefest glimpse, but it made her heart bound. The arm was strong, corded with muscle, and a white bandage stood out starkly against the tanned flesh of the shoulder. The man’s hand was wrapped protectively around something. Maja could just make out a mop of dark, curly hair.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Adam would protect Tarek. Now it was up to her to keep Edith and her mission workers safe. Any thoughts of the Valkyrie Code were long gone as she strode into the midst of the action.

The Valkyries were not just pretty faces who collected souls for Odin and waited on his soldiers. They were highly trained warriors. Martial arts, street fighting, hand-to-hand combat... Maja was as equally comfortable with her fists and feet as she was with a sword or a gun.

Using her invisibility to give her the element of surprise, she drop-kicked the leader of the attackers in the head. He hit the ground like a fallen statue. As Maja materialized, sword swinging, before his openmouthed followers, she was conscious of a buzz of pure elation. Being the bad Valkyrie was starting to feel very good.


Chapter 4 (#u9723b41f-6060-5634-8f6e-dc7ed6b82fba)

When the shooting started, the only thing on Adam’s mind had been to get Tarek to safety. Since he had only a sketchy idea of the layout of the house, and he guessed the gunmen were on their way inside, he decided the best option was to get outside and try and find a hiding place.

Ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder, he had shielded Tarek with his body as he pulled open the door and glanced left and right. His room opened onto a narrow corridor that, despite the noise, was still empty. Adam judged it was a situation that was unlikely to last long.

“Which way will get us out of here?”

Tarek, still clutching Leo tightly to his chest, didn’t hesitate. “Left.”

A few feet brought them to a utility area with an industrial-size sink and a washing machine that was in midcycle and seemed to be doing its best to start a small earthquake. Through an open door, Adam could see a small courtyard lined with garbage cans. Beyond that was the familiar undulating countryside.

Keeping hold of Tarek’s upper arm with his good hand, he skittered into the morning sunlight at speed, assessing his options the whole time. Making for the hills was no good. They would be too exposed out there in the open. He had no idea what these people wanted. The fact that they were prepared to burst into a charitable mission firing guns didn’t make Adam feel inclined to stick around and converse with them. As far as he was concerned, their motives could remain shrouded in mystery.

As they passed the garbage cans, they drew level with the wall that bordered the property. At the same time, the shouting from within the house intensified.

“What are they saying?” Adam asked.

“They are looking for me.” Tarek’s voice wobbled on a new note of fear.

There wasn’t time to ask for clarification about that statement. Instead, the words strengthened Adam’s resolve to get the boy out of harm’s way. The other side of the wall seemed like a good place to be right now. There were no guarantees the bad guys wouldn’t think to look there, but at least they wouldn’t be so vulnerable, and they could keep moving while hidden from view.

There was no way Adam’s injury would allow him to climb the shoulder-high wall, but its poor state of repair meant there were places where it had deteriorated and become almost a pile of rubble. After scrambling through one of these, he and Tarek clung to the rough rocks on the opposite side of the mission building, making their way along the length of the wall until they were in line with the main entrance.

Hearing Edith’s voice, Adam paused, viewing the scene at the front of the mission through a gap in the stones. What he saw made his blood turn to ice. The kindhearted English doctor and her three assistants were kneeling on the ground with their hands behind their backs, while men with guns stood behind them.

Adam slumped slightly, feeling the rough-hewn rocks pressing into his back. What the hell was he supposed to do? Save the boy or try to help Edith? He almost laughed aloud. And what exactly are you—a one-armed man—going to do against five gunmen?

In the end, it came down to one simple fact. He couldn’t cower behind a wall while people who had helped him took a bullet to the head. Even if the only thing he could do was walk out there and provide a momentary distraction for the gunmen—and let’s face it, that’s likely to be all I can do—then he would do it.

“Keep going along this wall,” he told Tarek, ignoring the boy’s look of horror. “Get as far from this place as fast as you can. Don’t look back.”

Giving Tarek a push to spur him on, Adam moved back in the direction they had just come, finding a broken-down place in the wall. Taking a breath, he clambered over the gap before his resolve faltered. Clenching his jaw to hide his fear, he stepped into the courtyard.

He fully expected the force of five weapons to be turned on him as he walked toward the group of people in front of the mission doors. Instead, no one even glanced his way. That was because their attention was focused entirely on the strange behavior of the leader of the group of militants. Without warning, he stopped screaming at Edith. His head spun so sharply to the right that Adam, still several feet away, heard a crack. It was as if his neck had just broken from an invisible kick to the head. Then the man dropped to the ground.

His followers were still regarding him in surprise, when the reason for this phenomenon was explained...to Adam, at least. Maja appeared from nowhere, holding her Valkyrie sword in both hands. As she swung the weapon above her head, her eyes met Adam’s. The expression in those blue depths reassured and warmed him. She was flesh and blood and she knew what she was doing. He took a moment to feel glad she was on his side.

“Get his gun.” She gestured for Adam to go toward the unconscious form of the leader as she approached the other militants. They were briefly stunned into immobility by what had happened, but Adam wasn’t hopeful that was going to last.

Sure enough, as Maja drew closer, the man who held his gun at Edith’s head raised it and pointed it at the Valkyrie instead. His hand shook wildly as he barked an order at her. Adam could understand the reason for the awestruck expression on his face. With her proud stance and golden hair streaming out behind her, Maja resembled an avenging angel as she bore down on him.

Adam’s injury made him feel close to useless, but he was going to do everything he could to help Maja fight these thugs. It looked like he wouldn’t get the chance, for the man fired at the precise moment that Adam managed to stoop and snag the leader’s discarded gun. As the bullet hit Maja in the abdomen and she doubled over, Adam couldn’t believe the force of the emotion that swept through him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Maja go down, and he wanted to roar like a wounded animal in response. He would never have imagined himself capable of anything so primal and raw. Thought took second place to feeling. Acting on nothing but instinct, he raised his arm and fired an answering shot.

Adam’s bullet hit the rebel in the throat; the man’s body hitting the red dust shook the mission workers into action. Two of the militants had been taken out, which meant their chances were improving. Seizing the initiative, they turned on their attackers. Although gunshots rang out, Adam didn’t see anyone get hit. But that might have been because his attention was on Maja.

After being struck by the bullet, she had dropped to one knee. Now, she was up again and powering forward at a run that would put an Olympic sprinter to shame. Adam shook his head to clear it. He had seen that bullet hit her square in the center of her body. She should be dead or dying, sprawled in the Syrian dust.

She’s real, but she’s not human.

Right now, he couldn’t see a problem with that. As Maja thundered into the fight, sword discarded, Adam was very thankful to have an invincible warrior princess on his side. He watched in admiration as, in one stylish movement, she brought a foot up under the chin of one of the rebels while swinging her elbow full force into the windpipe of another. They would be debilitating blows in any circumstances. He had a feeling, from the way those men crumpled like discarded toys, that from Maja, they were more. She must have a strength over and beyond anything mortal. Those men were never getting up again. The fifth rebel clearly shared his conviction and attempted to run.

“We can’t let him get away.” Edith sounded almost regretful. “If he goes back to his masters and tells them what happened here, the mission is finished.”

Adam helped her to her feet. Edith turned her face away as one of the mission workers fired the final shot at the fifth attacker.

“We need to dispose of these bodies. Fast.” Adam’s face was grim. Had he ever envisaged a situation in which he would utter those words?

As he surveyed the scene, Maja moved toward the drystone wall. As she neared the gap, Tarek burst through the opening and hurled himself into her arms, twining his small body around her like a monkey climbing a tree. An unusually subdued Leo came to sit at her feet.

“Don’t leave me, Maja.” The boy’s desperate plea reached Adam’s ears.

Maja’s voice was soft and reassuring as she cradled Tarek to her. “You are safe now. We won’t let them hurt you.”

Her eyes met Adam’s over Tarek’s head and there was a silent appeal in those blue depths. When she said “we,” she meant the two of them. With an emotion close to shock, he realized he would be the boy’s rescuer. He would do whatever it took to keep him safe, and do it happily. For the first time since Danny’s disappearance, Adam had someone to care for. He might not like the circumstances, but he didn’t dislike the feeling.

Edith was organizing the removal of the bodies. Her men would load them onto the mission truck and drive them out into the desert. Sadly, a pile of anonymous corpses lying in the red sand was not uncommon. Their clothing, with its telltale Reaper insignia, would be burned. No one wanted the Reapers seeking revenge for the deaths of their comrades.

While that activity was taking place outside, Maja carried a terrified Tarek into the building.

“I know you told me to run.” He turned his head to look at Adam, who had followed them inside. “But my legs would not work.”

* * *

“It’s okay.” Maja could see the lines of pain etched into Adam’s face and wondered how he was still standing. “My legs were feeling the same way.”

They went into the kitchen and sat at the table that occupied the center of the room. There was a jug of water and Maja poured glasses for Tarek and Adam. They both gulped the lukewarm liquid gratefully.

“Why were those men looking for you, Tarek?” There was a gentle note in Adam’s voice that surprised Maja.

Tarek’s hand tightened convulsively in Maja’s and he turned wide eyes to hers as if seeking reassurance. “You are not in any trouble,” she explained. “We can only help you if we know the truth.”

Her words seemed to help him reach a decision and he nodded. “It is because I know who he is.” He drew a deep breath as though the words were being dragged up from somewhere deep inside him. “The one they call ‘the Reaper.’”

Maja was watching Adam’s face and she could tell Tarek’s admission had a powerful effect on him. His eyes darkened and a frown line pulled his brows together. She sensed he was trying not to express disbelief, and she was glad when he won his internal battle. She might not know much about these things, but if they were going to support Tarek, they had to show him that they believed him unconditionally.

“I don’t understand.” Maja looked from Tarek to Adam. “Who is this man?”

“The Reaper is a vicious murderer and one of the most feared terrorist masterminds in the world,” Adam said. “His network extends across the globe, but his headquarters are thought to be in this part of the world. I’m saying ‘thought to be’ because no one really knows anything about him. His true identity is carefully concealed. Armed forces have been hunting him for the last two years with no luck.”

While his words revealed a disgust for the man who could unleash that sort of terror on the world, they didn’t explain the sadness she had seen when he first heard Tarek’s words. Sensitivity wasn’t Maja’s strong point, and patience was not considered a virtue in the Valkyrie, but she decided to wait in case Adam had more to say. After about a minute, during which he appeared lost in thought, he spoke again.

“A bomb was planted in the office of my Boston newspaper headquarters after we published an article condemning the activities of his terrorist group. Luckily, a security guard saw a suspicious package and raised the alarm before it went off, so no one was killed. The building was destroyed.”

He smiled, and her heart gave a strange little leap. It was most perplexing, because there was no one she could go to for advice about that. She suspected there was nothing actually wrong with her heart, and that its erratic behavior was an Adam-related occurrence. Until now, she had never envied mortals. Their lives seemed short and drab. Now, she wondered if she might have been wrong. If she had been a mortal woman, she probably would have been able to ask someone about the unnerving effect Adam had on her. She could always ask him, of course. Maybe just not right now...

“And the heroic security guard is still alive, so he wasn’t picked up by one of your squad mates and transported to Valhalla.”

The words heralded a change in approach. They were a definite signal that he no longer viewed her as a figment of his imagination. Which meant he knew what had happened between them had been real. Real and devastating. The thought tipped her world slightly off balance. She had an uncomfortable feeling Adam knew exactly what she was thinking. How had it suddenly gotten so hard to breathe?

Tarek. He was the focus here. The only thing that mattered right now. Yes, she had a whole heap of other problems to deal with, but the child’s safety had to come first. She didn’t know any other children, but some new instinct, more powerful than anything she had learned in Valkyrie training, told her that. She turned back to the boy. “How do you know this man?”

“I don’t know him. I have never met him, but I heard my father talking about him on the phone.” Tarek clung to her hand. “I was supposed to be in bed, but I sneaked onto the landing and listened. I was frightened because my father was shouting and he sounded scared. He kept saying ‘you have to listen to me.’” He swallowed hard. “I don’t think they listened to him.”

“Do you know who he was talking to?” Adam asked.

“My father called him ‘sir.’ Only once, he said his name. Then, he called him ‘Shepherd.’ I remember everything he said because it scared me so much. He said the Reaper wasn’t one man, it was a con-sor-tium.” Tarek spoke the word carefully in the manner of one who had rehearsed it many times. Out of the corner of her eye, Maja saw Adam sit up a little straighter. “But he said one man was the brains behind it all. My father said he had two years’ worth of evidence on this guy. It was enough to bring him down. The next day—the day after my father made that phone call—they bombed the university where he worked and my father was killed. That was two weeks ago.”

Maja wrapped her arms around the trembling boy, holding him close. “Why would they come for you, Tarek? How did those men know you had this information?”

“I don’t know.” Tears filled his dark eyes. “You are the first people I have told.”

“It’s possible they were just taking no chances. Getting rid of any family members just to be sure,” Adam said. “But you definitely heard your father say the name of the man behind this corporation?” As Adam asked the question, Maja sensed he was reining in a feeling of urgency.

“It was an easy name to remember. It sounds like a name from a fairy tale,” Tarek said. “It was Knight Valentine.”

Adam’s reaction surprised Maja. Hissing out a breath, he got to his feet. Although it was clear he was still weak and in pain, he paced from one end of the small room to the other for several minutes, clearly lost in thought. That name meant something to him, and whatever the meaning was, she sensed it wasn’t good.

Maja, meanwhile, spoke softly to Tarek. Reassuring him that he had done the right thing in telling them everything, she promised they would make sure the Reaper would not be able to find him. Could she carry through that promise? She knew nothing of this world, and she was now an outcast from her own. In an act of rebellion so complete, she had ensured she could never return to Valhalla. That was just the start of her personal problems. Odin was famed for his vindictiveness. He was unlikely to let a rogue Valkyrie live in peace. Scratch that. He was unlikely to let a rogue Valkyrie live. And live where? All she knew was her warrior lifestyle, and she wasn’t human, so even if she might be able to hide from Odin, there was no place for her here in the mortal realm.

“I will get you out of here.” When Adam came back to his seat, his firm voice, together with Maja’s encouragement, seemed to boost Tarek’s confidence.

Even so, the boy raised troubled eyes to Maja’s face. “Will you stay with me?”

She lifted her own eyes to Adam’s, seeking confirmation. He nodded. “I’ll stay with you. We both will.”

Reassured, Tarek went off to find Edith, to organize food for Leo.

“How will we keep our promise?” Maja asked. “How will we get him out of here?”

Adam grinned. “I haven’t figured out the finer details. I’ll admit that getting a child, a Valkyrie—” the grin turned into a grimace “—and a dog out of a war-torn country is going to stretch my ingenuity. But I’ll think of something.”

* * *

Sitting at the kitchen table in the mission, they planned the operation long into the night. Edith had handed over the keys to her car without blinking. Much the way she had accepted the presence of a corset-clad, sword-wielding Norsewoman in the heart of Syria. Adam suspected that the Englishwoman’s life contained many interesting stories. Maja was just one more.

“You can’t fly out of Syria without a visa, and we don’t have time to obtain one for Tarek,” Edith said. She spread a map of the region on the table. Tracing various locations with her finger, she pointed out a route. “One by one, the surrounding countries have closed down their borders. You won’t be able to take Tarek across at any official points without the correct documentation, but if you have money, there are places where it can be done.”

“I have money.” Adam’s jacket might be torn and bloodied, but the concealed inner pocket still contained thousands of US dollars and his cell phone. He had a feeling that his best asset in the next few days was sitting at his right-hand side, studying the map in silence. A Valkyrie warrior who could use her invisibility to his advantage was going to be more useful than any amount of money when it came to getting Tarek out of this troubled land.

“The best way out of here will be to drive across the border into Lebanon.” Edith tapped the map. “I have a contact near the old port of Batroun. He will take you by boat to Cyprus. From there, you can arrange to travel to the United States.”

Those words were the sweetest Adam had ever heard. Even so, it seemed he had a long way to go before he could say he was safely home.

“Does Tarek have a passport?” That was Adam’s biggest concern. Maja could take care of herself. Her invisibility would prove to be a handy trick when it came to border control.

Edith nodded. “It was among the possessions that were brought here from his home. It’s in my study, along with his other proof of identity.”

“So, our biggest problem will be Leo.” Adam was thinking ahead. How the hell was he going to get the dog into the United States?

“I’m not going without him.” Tarek’s expression became stubborn as he wrapped his arms around his pet.

Edith pursed her lips, disappeared briefly and returned with a Leo-sized gym bag.

“He won’t like it.” Tarek eyed the bag gloomily.

“He’ll have to put up with it if he wants to come with us.” Adam kept his voice firm. He was in charge, and everyone else—including Leo—had better get used to the idea.

Leo sniffed the gym bag thoughtfully, clearly decided it wasn’t too bad, and with a weary sigh, clambered inside it and curled up. Tarek laughed and clapped his hands. “He thinks it’s his new bed.”

* * *

The dog remained asleep as they set off. Three hours later, as dawn broke, Adam figured they must be approaching the point at the border where Edith had thought they would be able to bribe their way across. Following the route she had suggested, their journey had been uneventful, though the roads were poor. Adam had been driving one-handed over the potholes. His whole body was rattled, his shoulder was throbbing and he felt drained of energy.

Maja turned in her seat and studied Tarek as he slumbered in the rear, one arm draped protectively over the gym bag. Even clad in Edith’s cast-off clothing, Adam’s Valkyrie companion was proving to be a severe test of his ability to remain focused on the journey. Baggy linen pants, battered sneakers and a blouse that might once have been white but was now a faded gray color, made up an uninspiring outfit and covered her figure. Her hair hung in a braid almost to her waist and a baseball cap topped her head. How was it that she still managed to look like the hottest thing he had ever seen? Every time he looked her way, his mind went into overdrive as he pictured the lush curves beneath those drab clothes. At the same time, his body remembered how she had felt in his arms and demanded a replay.

Focus. He was in charge of this bizarre rescue mission. Driving over the border into Lebanon would be difficult enough. Coping with a hard-on at the same time? That really was not going to help matters.

“This is a seat belt.” He indicated his own. “It’s designed to keep you safe.”

He flicked a glance in her direction and encountered her steady blue-eyed stare. “I don’t need it.”

“I was forgetting. It must be useful to be invincible.” He turned his gaze back to the road. “Is there anything that can hurt you?”

“Only Odin’s will.” Something about the quality of her voice made him look back at her.

The depths of those incredible eyes were suddenly twin pools of fear and sadness. The change was so abrupt, it shook him. During the drive thus far, he had managed to avoid conversation. Tarek had been awake for most of the time, and they had talked of inconsequential things. Big topics such as what would happen once they reached safety, how Adam was going to deal with the information about the identity of the Reaper, and what had happened between him and Maja...well, they could wait for another time. A time when they were safe. But when Maja looked at him as she did now, his defenses were stripped away. He wanted to know everything about her, including why she was hurting.

Just as he was about to ask her to tell him more, they crested a hill and the sight he had been waiting for came into view. A concrete wall, roughly twelve feet high and topped by barbed wire, stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions. The road passed through the wall, but the opening was guarded by a group of men in a variety of military uniforms. They sat around a few trestle tables, eating and playing cards. Adam didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed at the interruption to the moment of intimacy.

“We’re here.” He nodded, and Maja shifted in her seat as she followed the direction of his gaze. “This is the border.”


Chapter 5 (#u9723b41f-6060-5634-8f6e-dc7ed6b82fba)

Adam slowed the car as they approached the border. Edith had explained that this was not a recognized checkpoint. The gap in the border wall was not meant to be there, but corrupt officials were turning a blind eye to its existence. The men who were guarding the border were smugglers. They would allow Adam and Tarek to cross for a price. She had stressed that they were ruthless bandits who would not hesitate to kill them if they thought it would be more advantageous. In addition to her car, Edith had given Adam one of the guns they had taken from the Reapers. It rested in the well between the front seats, out of sight, but within reach if he needed it. A constant reminder of the danger they were in.

Adam surveyed the scene. He was used to skirmishes, but prior to his arrival in Syria, they had been of the bloodless variety. He knew his business opponents would describe him as a killer...within the corporate environment. Ruthless and without scruples, Adam had a reputation for doing whatever it took to achieve his goals. He stayed within the law, but it was well known that if there was a way to bend the rules, Adam Lyon would find it.

But this? Facing a group of five armed outlaws, miles from anywhere, with only his wits, a gun and a pocketful of hundred dollar bills? This was outside his experience. Add in the fact that he had taken on responsibility for an eight-year-old child—and a dog, don’t forget the damn dog—and the whole situation strayed into the realms of the ridiculous.

He turned his head to say as much to Maja, but she had vanished. Although the passenger-side window was fully wound down, Adam hoped she was still with him, poised for a fight. Since they hadn’t discussed tactics, he couldn’t be sure. That was the problem with invisible companions. They were hell when it came to communication.

The men halted their game of cards as the car approached. One man rose to his feet and, with his machine gun held in an ostentatious pose across his chest, raised a hand for Adam to stop. With a pounding heart, he hit the brakes and wound down his window.

“Do you speak English?” Adam asked. His heart rate spiked further as the man looked in the rear window at Tarek’s sleeping figure.

“A little.” He came back and leaned on the roof of the car. “You want to cross the border?”

Relieved that he didn’t have to embark on a lengthy explanation, Adam nodded. “How much?”

A speculative look crossed the other man’s face as he eyed Adam, then the car. “Wait here.”

Abruptly, he turned away and strode back to his companions. Adam watched as they talked among themselves for a few minutes. There was much gesturing and pointing in Adam’s direction. He wished he could hear what they were saying. Were they discussing how high to set the price? Or deciding whether to kill him and Tarek, take the car and their belongings and dump their bodies in the desert?

Just when the tension was becoming unbearable, Adam’s attention was drawn to another man. He had moved slightly to one side of the group and, while the others were talking, he seemed to be distracted. Every now and then, he would raise a hand as though swatting a fly. His movements gradually became more pronounced, until he appeared to be shadow-boxing an invisible opponent.

Adam felt a tiny flicker of hope flare inside him at the thought. An invisible opponent. He had been worrying that all he had was his wits and a pistol, when in reality there was a far more powerful weapon on his side all along.

The man reeled back, raising his hands and clawing at his throat. His face darkened and his eyes bulged. As he dropped to his knees, his companions finally became aware that something was wrong, and rushed to his aid. It was too late—the man’s head was wrenched around to the right with a sickening twist and he was flung facedown in the dirt. The others halted in their tracks, their expressions stunned.

Immediately, another of the men staggered as his head jerked sharply back, and he cried out in shock. He covered his face with both hands, but blood gushed from between his fingers. Adam’s best guess was that someone—that same invisible someone—had kicked him in the face, breaking his nose and probably loosening several teeth.

Panic broke out among the group as a third member dropped like a stone. Clutching his groin, he curled up in the fetal position, a high wail issuing from his lips. Adam allowed himself a brief moment of masculine sympathy. Maja was clearly fighting hard in every direction. He was just thankful she was on his side. That superhuman strength in the form of a kick in the balls wasn’t something he ever wanted to experience.

The remaining two reached for their guns, turning toward Adam as they made the connection between him and the mayhem being unleashed. Adam reached for his own in the same instant that Maja became visible. Stooping to pick up a weapon discarded by one of the fallen men, she shot another bandit in the back as he approached the car.

Four down. At the same time, Adam fired a shot through the car’s open window, hitting the fifth man squarely in the chest.

It was the second time he had killed a man in two days. He had known when he came to Syria that he was entering a country where his own life would be in danger. Had he envisaged a situation in which he would be forced to kill? Perhaps it had been at the back of his mind. It didn’t make him feel any better. Didn’t take away the feelings of nausea and guilt. Telling himself that this man and the terrorist back at the mission would have murdered him without a second thought didn’t alter his feelings. Something inside him had changed when he pulled the trigger. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t do it again.

“Get in.” He gestured to Maja as he viewed the scene. They were leaving dead and wounded bandits in their wake. He doubted the authorities would be too concerned, but he didn’t want to hang around to find out. He grinned at her as she slid into the seat next to him. “We have a border to cross.”

* * *

“Thank you.”

Adam’s eyes were warm on her face as he spoke, and Maja took a moment to enjoy the sensation. After crossing the border into Lebanon, they had traveled for a few more hours until they reached the old coastal city of Batroun. The peaceful blue-and-gold harbor was such a contrast to the strife they had left behind in Warda that it was a shock to her system. Tranquility was outside her experience. When she came to the mortal realm, she entered scenes of bloody battle. This was a new phenomenon.

As she sat on the harbor wall, the warm sea breeze tugged strands of hair loose from her braid and caressed her face. Below them, Tarek threw sticks for Leo to chase along the sand. It was easy to imagine, for a moment, that they were here to enjoy the beach scene.

This mortal capacity to keep going was something that amazed Maja. This land had been ripped apart by war, yet its people continued to find happiness in their daily pursuits. And in each other. The thought brought her back to Adam. Everything brought her back to Adam.

She forced herself to concentrate on what he was saying instead of how he made her feel. Because how he made her feel was dangerous. Exciting, arousing...but forbidden. Was that part of the attraction? If this attraction had been allowed, would it be as powerful? Was this all part of her rebellious streak?

“Why are you thanking me?”

“For saving my life. At the last count, it was three times.” He grinned, and it was as if he had just poured boiling water over her. Instantly, her whole body was burning with longing. With an effort, Maja restrained herself from clambering into his lap. “Are you sure you’re a Valkyrie and not my guardian angel?”

“No. A guardian angel is assigned to protect and guide an individual. We have no training in that role.”

She was about to embark on a more detailed explanation of the differences when Adam caught hold of her hand. Laughing, he raised it to his lips. The action silenced her. Very effectively. It also made her blush all over.

“I was joking.” He lowered her hand, but kept it in his, placing it on his leg and holding it there. “Teasing you.”

“Oh.” Maja was still recovering from the brush of his lips on her hand. Now she had to cope with the sensation of his hard thigh muscles beneath her palm. How many different ways was he going to torture her? “I don’t know much about these things.”

“Don’t tell me... Odin doesn’t encourage the Valkyries to have fun?” Adam raised a brow.

“We don’t have time for enjoyment.”

That made him laugh even more. Maja watched him with mild bewilderment. She didn’t know what she’d said to provoke his mirth, but she liked it. Originating deep in his chest, the sound of his laughter washed over her, warm and pleasant. His shoulders shook and she could see the muscles of his abdomen tightening beneath his T-shirt. It was an extension of his smile, a joyful sound that made her want to join in, even though she wasn’t sure why.

When he had recovered enough to be able to speak, there was still a suspicion of breathlessness in his voice. “Maja, the last few days haven’t given me much to celebrate, but you have been one of the high notes.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Is that good?”

“Yes, it’s good.” Briefly, he squeezed her hand before releasing it. “Now stop making me laugh. It hurts my shoulder.”

They had come to the beach in search of the contact Edith had suggested to them, Ali El-Amin.

Having eaten bread, olives and minced lamb at one of the restaurants on the main harbor road, they were waiting now for the last of the fishing boats to return. Ali’s wife had described his boat to Tarek. Blue and white, she had said, with a picture of a butterfly on the side.

“There!” Tarek ran up to them, pointing excitedly in the direction of the water. “There is the boat with the butterfly.”

Adam raised a hand, shielding his eyes from the still bright sunlight. Maja followed the direction of his gaze. Sure enough, Ali’s boat was being dragged ashore. The man who was hauling it was young and stocky. He looked tired and dispirited as he secured his vessel and spoke briefly to some of the other fishermen. His attitude suggested disappointment with the day’s catch.

Adam got to his feet and Maja rose with him. “Let’s go and see if we can buy ourselves an illegal boat trip to Cyprus.”

* * *

Ali’s expression was suspicious as he listened to Tarek’s interpretation of Adam’s request. When he spoke, his response was brief and dismissive. Hunching a shoulder, he turned back to his fishing nets.

“He said he is not a smuggler.” Tarek’s small body drooped with disappointment.

“Ask him how much. Say he can name his price,” Adam said.

Tarek spoke again. Although Ali continued with his task, Adam got the feeling he was listening to the boy’s words. Or am I deceiving myself? Having come this far, am I refusing to believe we can’t make the final step?

The problem was it felt too final. He had come here to find Danny and he was going home without him. Coming to Syria had been a long shot. It was a country with a unique set of problems. Communicating, traveling, finding information about his brother...they had all proven every bit as difficult as he had anticipated. Faced with a choice between doing nothing and making an attempt to find Danny, Adam had felt obliged to try. The realist in him told him this was always the likeliest outcome, that he would leave—if he got away at all—without any information. That stubborn streak he had? It was telling him the search wasn’t over.

Adam was exhausted, running on adrenaline and determination. The strength of will that got him through the toughest deals was about all that was keeping him upright. He knew what his rivals said of him. Arrogant. Obstinate. Inflexible. Those were among the more generous labels he had heard applied to himself. As long as he got his way, Adam didn’t care what they called him.

Now, his shoulder was in agony and the strong, reliable body that he pushed so hard in his day-to-day life was sending him insistent messages that it needed rest. This trip wasn’t like the usual demands he made on himself. This wasn’t like a fourteen-hour-day at work, followed by a sleepless night. Shock, blood loss, disappointment, and exhaustion had all taken their toll. If he didn’t get to safety soon, he would collapse.

But there was something other than his own willpower keeping him going. He cast a sidelong glance at Maja. The evening sunlight lent a golden tint to her skin and the breeze blew tendrils of hair that had escaped from her braid about her face. She raised a hand to brush them away, and even that simple gesture caught him full force. She was stunning and he could watch her forever. Every movement and expression held him spellbound.

Maja’s presence was energizing him. Not only because she had come to his rescue so many times during this adventure. He wasn’t sure he’d have survived without her, but there was more to it than the way she had rescued him from physical harm. Her allure was keeping his waning strength going. It wasn’t macho posturing around an attractive woman. Adam had never succumbed to that sort of display of virility. And without being vain, he knew he didn’t need it now. The attraction between them was mutual. He had the memory of the most explosive sex of his life as proof. But he also felt it in the highly charged atmosphere. Maja was too inexperienced to hide her feelings. Even so, he wasn’t sure subterfuge was an option for either of them. The magnetism was overpowering. Despite the danger they faced, Maja was uppermost in his mind. Pushing out all other thoughts, she was spurring him on.

“He said you can’t afford his price.” Tarek’s voice intruded into his thoughts.

Reluctantly, Adam withdrew his gaze from Maja. Reaching into the concealed pocket in his jacket, he withdrew the wad of hundred dollar bills. “Tell him this is a deposit.”

Adam was prepared to do whatever it took to get them to Cyprus, where his credit card would be good again and his cell phone would work. Somehow, having been to Syria, he felt closer to Danny. He understood Danny’s motives. Adam wasn’t giving up on his younger brother. He never would. I should have stopped him. Even though Adam had tried to talk Danny out of coming to this part of the world, he couldn’t shake the feelings of guilt. The sense that he could have done more, then and now. Tried harder to talk Danny out of it. Been more persuasive. Traveled to more of those sorry, ruined towns. Spoken to more sad-eyed people.

Ali’s attitude changed dramatically at the sight of the cash. Along with a new enthusiasm came an ability to speak English. Casting a quick glance around, he beckoned Adam closer. “Not here. Meet me at the Masa Bar. Ten minutes.” He gestured to one of the beach bars before turning back to his nets.

The Masa Bar was already filling up, but Adam found a table overlooking the beach. Ordering beer for himself and Ali, and soda for Tarek and Maja, he sank back in the comfortable chair.

“I may never get up again,” he sighed. Leo, obviously approving of this plan, curled up on his feet.

It soon became clear why Ali had chosen to meet here. The thumping beat of the music and the constant chatter of the noisy customers meant that, although their conversation had to be conducted in a shout, no one could overhear what they were saying. When Ali joined them, he drained half his beer appreciatively before he spoke.

“I can take you to Cyprus, but it is not easy.”

Adam patted his jacket pocket. “I’ll pay.”

Ali shook his head. “Go to Turkey instead. Much easier.”

“No.” Adam wasn’t budging on this.

Ali sighed and gestured for a waiter to bring him another beer. “You are a US citizen, yes? Why not call your embassy? They will get you out of here.”

“The boy is Syrian.” It explained everything. Syrian refugees were an international problem. Desperate to escape their own land, they had exhausted all the escape routes into neighboring countries.

“Ah.” Ali turned to Maja. “And you?”

She seemed confused, so Adam came to her rescue. “It’s complicated.”

Ali accepted the explanation without comment, appearing lost in thought as he drained his second beer. “Okay. The weather will be good tonight. We leave at midnight.”

* * *

In the hours between meeting Ali at the Masa Bar and joining him on the boat, they attempted to get some sleep in the car. Tarek dozed, but Maja stayed awake and worried about Adam. He looked increasingly weary. His face was pale and the fine lines about his eyes appeared more pronounced. Although he closed his eyes and leaned back in the driver’s seat, she got the feeling he didn’t sleep. When the time came, they abandoned Edith’s car in a side street and joined Ali at the harbor.

Maja was surprised when Ali led them to a dinghy instead of to the fishing boat they had seen earlier.

“Faster,” he explained as she climbed carefully into the small craft. “I am using my brother’s speedboat. We can reach Cyprus in under two hours this way.”

Maja didn’t like water. It was a fact she had decided not to mention to Adam. He had enough worries to contend with without introducing her phobias into the situation. Besides, they were getting to Cyprus by boat; they weren’t swimming.

The sea was mirror-still as the motor-powered dinghy skimmed across the water and Batroun disappeared in the moonlight. Within minutes, the dinghy bumped the side of the speedboat. Ali secured it to the stern of the larger vessel.

Even though there was no light except that thrown out by the full moon, Ali sprang nimbly from the dinghy onto the rear of the speedboat. Holding out a hand, he helped each of them in turn onto the deck. Handing out life jackets, he explained that they should remain seated during the journey. He also gave Tarek a length of rope and instructed him to keep Leo leashed the whole time.

“I am not turning back if your dog goes overboard.”

Within minutes the boat had chugged to life and they were gliding over the dark waters. Tarek soon became engrossed in the technicalities of what Ali was doing, and their conversation switched to Arabic. Ali seemed content to answer the questions the boy fired at him, and Maja turned to look at Adam, who was leaning back in one of the cushioned seats that lined the deck.

“You have pushed yourself hard,” she said.

“What choice is there?” Adam nodded in Tarek’s direction. “What happens to him if I crumble?”

Although she understood what he was saying, she was confused by the depth of his commitment to Tarek, a child he had only just met. Maja shared the same determination to ensure the boy was safe and well, but she had an advantage over Adam. She was invincible, while he was hurting, driving himself to his physical limits.

He hadn’t talked much about his brother, but it was clear he had wanted to find him. Maja understood responsibility. But there was more than duty in Adam’s eyes when he looked at the man in the photograph. There was an emotion so powerful it tugged at her heart. But there were other feelings as well, ones she couldn’t name. They were similar to the ones that made her want to wrap her arms around Tarek and protect him from harm.

“Was there an alternative to this?” she murmured.

Although they were in darkness, he turned toward her and she could see his face in the moonlight. He raised a questioning brow.

“Was there another way to help Tarek without putting yourself at risk?”

He lifted his good shoulder in a one-sided shrug. “You saw those guys who came to the mission. They weren’t playing nice. If they’d found Tarek, they would have killed him, because they suspect he knows the name of their leader. He can tell the world who the Reaper is.” Adam gave a mirthless laugh. “What they don’t realize is the world won’t listen to him.”

“What does that mean?”

He shifted position slightly, resting his good arm on the seat cushions behind her. “I read an article some months ago that speculated about the very thing that Tarek said. It suggested that the Reaper wasn’t driven by religious or political motivation. I wonder now if the anonymous author of that piece could have been Tarek’s father. Whoever wrote it believed the Reaper was a large consortium or group of businesses.”

“Some of the warriors in the great hall at Valhalla died fighting this thing you mortals call terrorism. They thought they were battling against an ideology. I don’t understand how they could have died because of something that was run by a business.”

“Exactly. The article I read was widely discredited for that reason. No one was able to believe such a thing could happen. Even though, throughout history, appalling atrocities have been committed for monetary gain, it was impossible to believe that acts as awful as the Reaper’s brand of terrorism could be done for profit.”

The boat had changed course and Adam’s face was shadowed from the moonlight, but she could tell his expression was troubled.

“But Tarek said his father had proof of this man’s identity?”

“And he was prepared to go public with his name.” Adam lowered his voice as he cast a glance toward where Tarek was still chatting eagerly with Ali. “He died the day after he spoke it out loud.”

“You knew that name.” Maja studied his profile as he turned to look out over the moonlit water. “When Tarek told it to us, you knew who he meant.”

Adam was silent for so long she wondered if he wasn’t going to answer her. “Knight Valentine is one of the best-known names in the business world. He is a billionaire property developer. No one in their right mind would believe him capable of something like this.”

“So you think Tarek’s father was wrong?”

Maja felt there was something more to this. Intuition wasn’t necessary to the Valkyries. They needed to be strong. Get in, get the job done, get out. That was what made them effective. More wasn’t required. But where Adam was concerned, Maja was developing an extra sense. Now and then, she could tune in to his feelings. She didn’t understand why that was, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. It was outside her sphere of experience to get so close to another person. But it was there. She was stuck with it. Right now, she sensed his turmoil and something more. She thought it might be anger.

“No, I don’t think he was wrong.” He turned back to face her. “I know Knight Valentine well—too well for my liking—and I know there is nothing he wouldn’t do for money or power.”

“How do you know him so well?”

“Knight Valentine is my stepfather.”


Chapter 6 (#u9723b41f-6060-5634-8f6e-dc7ed6b82fba)

“Larnaca.”

Adam followed the direction of Ali’s pointing finger and saw a line of lights on the horizon. It was the sweetest sight he had ever seen. Ali’s next words jolted him out of his happiness.

“Patrol boat. British.”

Some distance away, but between them and the welcoming lights of Larnaca, a searchlight was scanning the dark water.

“What can we do?” If Ali said they would have to turn back, Adam might just pull out his gun and use it on him. That was how close to the outer limits of his endurance he was right now.

“There is only one thing we can do.” Ali swung the wheel to the right. “I know these waters well. We get in close to the shore and keep out of sight. Play a game like the cat and the mouse.” He shook his head. “It could take many hours.”

Frustration was a slow-burning fuse inside Adam’s head. It bristled outward, brushing over his skin until his whole body was screaming with tension. Relaxation? Neutrality? Going with the flow? Not Adam. He created the flow. He controlled his environment.

Upon leaving college, Adam had taken over a small niche magazine, working day and night to turn it into a thriving business. From there, he had developed his media conglomerate, using the internet to expand until the Lyon logo became instantly recognizable. Now, at age thirty-three, he headed up an empire that comprised over a hundred companies. The name Lyon was an everyday part of the music, media, lifestyle and entertainment industries across the globe. He had always been in charge.

Coming away to Syria had been easy in one sense, because he’d hired the best people and trusted them to take over in his absence. It was difficult in another sense because he had never been out of touch with the deputies of his various companies for such a prolonged period.

He didn’t know how to do this. To hand over control to someone else. To wait it out. To be helpless.

“My sister is the Valkyrie leader.” Maja’s voice intruded on his thoughts and his initial reaction was to shut her out. His nerves were too taut for him to listen to stories about her family tree. But her voice was soothing. A bit like the lulling motion of the boat as Ali weaved in and out along the rocky coastline. “Her name is Brynhild. It is her job to find the bravest warriors and to take them to Valhalla to be part of Odin’s great army. But finding those fighters isn’t an easy task. She has to rely on the Norns, the Norse goddesses of fate. And sometimes they are not kind.”





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