Dead Embers by T. G. Ayer Read Free Book Online Page A

been for her malignant interfering, Aidan would've
been just fine, training in Valhalla instead of lying unconscious in the middle
of this dead realm.
    Astrid suited this cold world, with her icy eyes and her
pale emotionless face. She suited her mistress too. Both beautiful, both cold.
    "Come." The word fell like an icy crystal from
Astrid's lips.
    Feathers fluttered behind me, and I swallowed a sigh of
relief knowing Hugin remained with me. Annoying as he sometimes was, the
enigmatic bird gave me comfort. And he was my only ally here.
    I met Freya's eyes and bowed my head in a polite farewell,
releasing my gritted teeth only when I walked off. Astrid led me through a
doorway much smaller than the main entrance to the hall, and stopped almost
immediately to swing open the first door on her left.
    "He is in there. You may stay as long as you wish, but do
not touch him." Then she left in a flurry of cool lavender fragrance.
    Aidan lay on a low bed carved out of stone and bordered with
the twisting branch design that had become so familiar to me. A thin layer of
white feathers protected his prone flesh from the cold stone.
    I walked to him, knelt quietly beside him. My fingers
reached automatically for his hand, but I yanked them back just in time, my
muscles cramping with fear. Astrid's warning rang hollow in my ears. What would
happen if I touched him? Would it hurt him, delay his cure? I fisted my hand as
my gut twisted.
    I may have sounded confident when I told Freya that coma
patients could hear people who talked to them, but right then, as I gazed at
his pale face, longing to run my fingers through his black tousled hair, I
ceased to believe it.
    Tears warmed my cheeks, and I brushed the heated despair
from my face.
    " Do not fear, Brynhildr. Freya will be able to leech
the poison from him ." Hugin, all but forgotten, landed again on my
shoulder.
    "What? What do you mean, 'leech'? I thought she was
trying to find a cure."
    " That is the cure. Over time, the power of Loki's
poison will fade, and the weaker it gets the easier it will be for Freya to
draw it from him ."
    "How does she do it?"
    " The same way she placed the curse on him ."
    I swallowed a gasp, recalling the twisting green smoke Freya
had drawn from Aidan's mouth when she'd removed her curse. A curse she'd used
to force me to find her precious necklace. Although I'd grown fond of my amber
pendant, I'd been very happy to be rid of the damned thing. Honestly, if I'd
known the mess the bloody thing would get us into, I would never have accepted
it, never would have worn it at all.
    "So what? She spews some fancy Freya-smoke into him and
then sucks it back out again? That's it?"
    " Yes, that is correct ." The bird bobbed his
little head up and down, his emotionless eyes staring, glassy and glossy.
    I shivered as I pictured how close Freya would have to be to
Aidan, how close her lips would need to be for her to blow the golden smoke
into him. In my mind's eye, I saw the swirling golden smoke dip and rise and
fill Aidan's mouth. Then it would disappear, followed moments later by a solid,
twisting, almost living black poison that would curl and writhe as it rose from
his mouth again. Not my idea of a pleasant cure.
    My shoulders slumped, and I tried to think about something
else.
    "Why can't I touch him?"
    " There is no reason why you cannot touch him ."
    "But Astrid said . . ." My words trailed into the
shadows as I glared at the closed door. The bitchy Valkyrie had used the big
guns. Well, at least I had a magical bird to tell me the truth.
    " The Valkyrie Astrid has her reasons for the nature
of her hatred. You must pay no attention to her, Bryn. There is far too much at
stake for you to be led off your path by any enemy ."
    "Enemy is a harsh word, Blackbird." But he was
right. Astrid was no friend of mine. At least I'd now have my time with Aidan,
no thanks to her.
    I crawled closer to him and leaned my arms on the stone bed,
right beside his shoulder. His hair