0765332108 (F) by Susan Krinard Read Free Book Online Page B

that?” she snapped, punching the power button. The images went black.
    But she couldn’t get the last one out of her mind. Dainn, every bit as handsome as Loki, his long black hair nearly swept back in such a way that it just covered his ears. He wore a suit hardly less expensive than Loki’s—the Slanderer, after all, had to have the best of everything, even for his servants—and he had garnered nearly as much attention as Loki.
    But Dainn’s face had been utterly blank. That, in itself, was no surprise. It had taken many weeks of Mist’s working with him closely and intimately before she had begun to realize that his seeming indifference concealed strong emotions he didn’t want anyone to see.
    But he wasn’t trying to conceal anything now; he was simply empty, as if everything that had made him what he was had been drained out of him and left him no more than a walking ghost.
    “Sit down,” Koji urged, guiding her back to her chair. “You need that beer.”
    Mist let him coax her, and worked her way through three beers without feeling so much as a buzz. Koji played with his own bottle but never seemed to drink.
    “Listen,” Koji said after a very long silence. “You can’t stop believing in yourself. And I’m not talking about the fact that everyone is relying on you. I mean what’s in here.” He tapped his temple with one forefinger. “You have more strength than you know.”
    How many times had Dainn said nearly the same thing? “I can’t tell anymore if my judgment is sound,” she said. “In anything.”
    “Doubts are natural. You’ll pull through this.”
    “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she said, hoping she sounded sincere. She glanced at her watch. “And now I’ve got to get moving. I have a meeting in an hour, and a few new recruits came in yesterday. I have to give them the usual warnings and pep talk. Then there’s the—”
    “It can wait,” Koji said. He stroked her face with the back of his hand. “Let me take care of you for a little while.”
    Mist closed her eyes and let him pull her to her feet. He was right … an hour wouldn’t make much difference.
    *   *   *
    Ryan crouched beside Eir, trying very hard not to vomit.
    In only a few days’ time, she had become nearly unrecognizable. Her eyes were sunken deep into her skull, and her lips were dry as brittle leaves. It was as if her skin had been stretched over her bones so tightly that he could see right through it.
    Before, when he’d been helpless to control his visions, only he had suffered. But now, seeing Eir like this, he finally understood Mother Skye’s warnings.
    He laid his hand on Eir’s shoulder as gently as if he were touching the disintegrating paper of some ancient, precious book. “Eir?” he whispered. “Can you hear me?”
    Her eyelids fluttered, but she didn’t show any sign of waking. Maybe, Ryan thought, she was in a coma.
    Maybe there was still a chance to save her.
    I’m not ready, he told himself. I can’t do this .
    The sound of footsteps outside the door pulled him to his feet. Guilt and shame were like angry dogs, doing their best to chase him into hiding.
    He stood his ground, and the intruder entered the infirmary.
    Gabi.

 
    4
    She stopped as she saw him, brown eyes widening in shock.
    “Ry?” she said.
    “Gabi,” he said, his voice cracking, “Eir needs help.”
    Her gaze fell from his face to the woman on the cot. She crossed the room and bent over Eir, quickly checking the Valkyrie’s pulse.
    “Shit,” she breathed. She looked up at Ryan. “How long you been here?”
    “Not long.” Ryan swallowed. “I found her like this. Can you help her?”
    “I don’t know.” Gabi looked around the room as if she were seeking help from someone Ryan couldn’t see. “Mist is still away. There’s no one else who can—” She broke off. “Get more blankets. They’re over on those shelves.”
    Ryan did as she’d told him, grateful to get away if only for a moment.