“Nei,” her mate says, his tone firm.

Rissa sighs, her shoulders drooping. She slowly reclaims her seat, watching as Reaper’s shoulders shake with the force of his grief. Tori is missing—vanished into thin air.

We suspect one of the Blooded warriors we invited into our counsel betrayed us. He opened a portal and carried her through while we were out searching for the Valkyrie Abigail saw in her vision. We’ve been betrayed. Worse, the Forsaken have access to portals. They can open them anywhere at any time.

My heart trembles with fear for Abigail.

I know Adriel shares my concern. I see it burning in his eye and stamped across his face. He’s terrified for her.

“She’s in Eitr.”

Everyone glances toward the door to find Abigail standing in the entryway, watching Reaper. Even with tears shimmering in her lashes and her face pale and drawn, she’s beautiful—like the dolls made of porcelain that humans cherish.

Her simple T-shirt skims her generous curves, hinting at the lush body beneath. She’s soft and round everywhere, so warm and alive. My hands twitch, aching with the desire to feel her beneath them again, coming apart for me and Adriel as she did in the middle of the night.

She steps into the room, the harsh overhead light casting a halo around her fiery hair. Those striking blue eyes, always so round and expressive, hold a depth of wisdom far beyond her years. She’s seen far too much death and pain, but she’s still the brightest Light I’ve ever seen.

“You’ve seen her,” Reaper rasps, spinning to face her, hope and desolation warring on his face.

Adriel and I share a look. Is this what she was hiding then? Is this why she was so upset last night? She knew Tori would be taken?

She shakes her head silently, holding out her hand. Only then do I notice the paper clutched between her fingers.

“I found this,” she whispers.

Reaper grabs it, his eyes scanning over the paper. “Nei,” he chokes, his hands shaking as it flutters to the floor. “Nei.”

I lean down, snatching it up.

“What does it say?” Rissa asks.

My blood runs cold as I read it. Nei. Gods. They can’t do this. They can’t ask it of us. And yet...they are.

“They want me in exchange for Tori and the other Valkyrie,” Abigail whispers. “If you turn me over, they’ll let them go.”

“No!” Adriel shouts, jumping to his feet. “No!”

Reaper falls to his knees, his head in his hands as I choke on fury. To save mine and Adriel’s mate, I damn his. To save his, I damn mine and Adriel’s. It’s an impossible choice. It’s no choice at all.

“We can’t leave them there,” Abigail says, tears slipping down her cheeks. “If it’s my life for theirs, I choose theirs.”

Adriel stalks toward her, his one eye wild. His pain flows down the bond between us, searing me. “Nei, Valkyrie. You don't get to make that choice.”

“But—”

“Nei,” he snarls.

“He’s right.”

Everyone glances at Reaper. Tears fall freely down his cheeks. He doesn’t try to hide them. If the capture of a mate by pure fucking evil isn’t worthy of tears, what is?

“We won’t trade one life for another, Valkyrie. Not even to save my mate.” He hauls himself to his feet, his expression one of pure agony. “But I won’t leave her to die alone. I’m going to Eitr. If I can’t free her, I’ll die at her side where I belong.”

“Reaper, nei,” Malachi groans, the first words the normally talkative Fae has spoken in half an hour. The beads in his braids click as he shakes his head. “They’ll kill you on sight.”

“Then I die on sight,” Reaper growls, rage simmering in his eyes. “But she won’t spend a second longer there alone. I refuse to allow it.”

Malachi sighs, his blue eyes falling closed before he hauls himself to his feet. “Then we die together, brother. I’m going with you.”

Dax and Rissa share a look before Dax nods reluctantly.

“Us too,” Rissa says, speaking for them. “You need my Light.”

I sigh, making the decision that may damn us all. But there is no choice. We won’t leave a Valkyrie to die. Not now, not ever. “We’re all going,” I say, my voice soft. “And we’re bringing them home.”

“Nei, not all,” Adriel growls, turning that one wild eye on me. “Abigail is not going.”

“Nei,” I agree. “She is not.”

A piercing bolt of grief stabs me in the chest, coming from Abigail. Adriel feels it, too. We both turn to look at her at the same time. But before we even finish the turn, the sensation is gone, the bond between us masked yet again.

Faen. She’s still hiding something.

“Stay safe,” she whispers, backing toward the doorway. “I’ll go let the others know.”

Adriel and I bolt out the door after her, only to find her practically racing down the hall away from us.

“Halt right there, ást-meer,” I growl.

She stumbles to a stop, her head hanging low.

Adriel and I stride toward her.

“What aren’t you telling us, Abigail?” he demands, crowding her against the wall with one hand on her hip to hold her in place.

I step up beside him, refusing to give her a single inch of space. “Talk to us, ást-meer,” I murmur, touching her cheek. “Tell us what you’ve seen.”

“Nothing!” she cries, trying to shrug away from us. “I haven’t seen anything.”

“Liar.” Adriel tips her head back, leaning down to nip her bottom lip in punishment for her untruth. “You’re afraid of something. Tell us.”

But commanding Abigail to speak is like trying to catch smoke. Neither cooperates. Neither listens. They both stubbornly do as they will, unaffected by our demands, our wills, and our wishes.

She guards her visions and the sanctity of the future as fiercely as any Valkyrie ever guarded the Veil. When the Norns chose her for this Gift, they chose well.

Instead of responding, she bites Adriel back.

Adriel growls, wrapping his hand around her throat as he kisses her fiercely. My cock grows hard as I watch his tongue duel with hers, taming hers into submission. She grips his shoulders, whimpering into his mouth.