Prologue
LIV
Drusilla’s name flashes on my phone. Frowning, I look at the man sitting across from me. He has his brow arched in a silent dare for me to answer the dancing device. He’s handsome, but my sister is more important than his tender feelings.
“If you’ll excuse me, it’s my sister. It’s not like her to call, something could be wrong,” I say.
It’s the truth, completely and totally. Dru hardly calls me, she’s closer to Sybilla. They’re about the same age. I’m the oldest of three sisters, the mother-type figure. It’s not something that I had to be, we have a wonderful mother and father, but when you’re the oldest that’s just what you become—the nurturer.
“Dru, what’s wrong?” I ask as I slip out onto the balcony of the restaurant.
My eyes look over the bright city lights and I wonder when the scene stopped making me part my lips in awe. It just looks like the city now, no longer is it spectacular and amazing.
“I can’t get ahold of Sybilla. Something is wrong,” she breathes.
Frowning, I look down at the street, the noise from the cars passing by reaching my ears. It all sounds so much louder than it did yesterday. Something is off. Maybe it’s me? Maybe I’m just becoming even more jaded as each day passes in this big concrete jungle?
“What do you want me to do? I live closer to you than I do her,” I murmur.
“I don’t know,” she says with a sniffle.
I pause for a moment, staring out, but seeing nothing as I think about Sybilla being gone, somewhere. Immediately, I think about that last boyfriend of hers, if he’s done something to her? She lives on her own, in the city, any number of things could happen or she simply just could be holed up and avoiding phone calls.
“Have you called the police department to do a welfare check?” There is a moment of silence, she starts to talk, but I don’t hear her right away. “Wait, what?” I ask.
Dru lets out a grunt. “Liv, I was saying that I did. They told me everything looked fine, that she probably just went away for a few days. But Sybilla doesn’t go away, she doesn’t go anywhere,” she snaps.
“What about Mom and Dad?” I ask.
There’s a moment of silence and she sighs. “They would worry. You know how they are.”
Rolling my lips together, I lift my shaky hand and grab ahold of the banister, afraid that my knees are going to give out and I’ll be sprawled on my ass in my dress with my panties flashing the entire restaurant.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I breathe.
“Call me, please. I’m really worried.”
“I know you are,” I say sharply. Closing my eyes, I inhale a breath before I release it with a sigh. “I’m going to find out what I can. Maybe I can call a private detective or something. Just, don’t freak out, not yet.”
Ending the call with my sister, I let out a grunt before turning back around to head inside and rejoin my blind date. My friend Trinity set me up with this hedge fund douche and honestly, I just want to go home, drink a bottle of wine and take a bath.
Making my way toward my table, my feet falter. The table is empty, my date is gone. Glancing around the room, I bite my bottom lip as I sit down in my chair. A few moments later, the waiter appears with the check.
“The gentleman said he needed to leave,” he whispers as he sets the bill down in front of me.
Thanking him, I open the bill and realize that the jackass didn’t even pay. “What a dick,” I mutter to myself as I take my credit card out.
Thankfully, I can pay for the overpriced meals, but only barely. Once the bill is settled and I’ve given the waiter a decent, but not crazy good, tip I call for an Uber and decide to focus all of my attention on my sister.
Sybilla is gone, she didn’t tell anyone where she went and that is just not like her. The four of us stay in regular contact, she would have at least sent a group text if she was going to be traveling anywhere.
My belly clenches and I feel sick inside. Something could be really wrong with her. Seattle is a big city, just like New York, she could be kidnapped and nobody would even realize it. My heart starts to race as I look around on the street around me. Dread fills me. Panic pulses through my veins.
Something big is going to happen. I can feel it from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. I can’t put my finger on it, I don’t know what it could be, but it has to do with Sybilla and it is gigantic—I’m scared to death that it could be really fucking bad.
AARIC
My bed slave rolls over, placing her hand on my chest and slowly slides it down to my böllur. I’m hard, but I’m not sure I want her to salve my soul.
Grabbing ahold of her wrist, I look down at her. She’s pretty, a Llyneian named Isolda. One of my men grabbed her on a raid. A farmer’s daughter, I suppose, if I had to guess. I’ve never asked her.
“Nei,” I grunt.
She only understands a few words, but that one is clear. No. Her big brown eyes blink and her lips turn down in confusion.
“Gā,” I say, lifting my hand to shoo her away.
She releases my böllur and rolls over. Without a word, she climbs out of bed and slips away. I don’t know where she goes, nor do I give a skiter. Staring at the ceiling of my húsgørd, I wonder if this is the life that I have always been meant to live.
I enjoy being the konungr of my people. The title was passed down to me as the eldest child of my father’s. He made his way to Valhalla after a battle with sickness, my mother as well.
Thinking about my life again, I can’t help but feel that I am missing something very important. I enjoy sailing and being with my men. I have a full life, however, I don’t have an heir to my throne or a woman of my own.
I’m not sure that I want them.
With a family comes a different kind of responsibility that I’m just not sure I desire. Closing my eyes with a heavy sigh, I decide that I will settle down after my next raid. I’ve said it many times before, but this time it must happen. I am not going to become any younger.
With a grunt, I roll out of bed. Dressing, I don’t bother to brush my hair or have a thrall style it. Something has me feeling very off. Making my way toward Hillevi, my seeress, I don’t bother to knock as I enter her dwelling.
She is sitting with her back to me. She’s beautiful for a seeress, something that isn’t normal, but she is mine and I’ve paid quite a bit of gold to keep her as my personal seeress.
“Aaric,” she begins, her voice floating through the air. Her violet eyes meet mine and I let out a grunt.
“Tell me what is about to happen, Seeress,” I demand.
Her lips turn up into a small smile. “I cannot. Come sit with me, break your fast, my Konungr.”
Stomping toward her table, I sink down on her chair, sitting across from her. Her chair groans under my weight and she smiles softly.
“My life would be easier if you would marry me, Seeress,” I mutter, grinning over at her.
She shakes her head a couple of times. “You humor me. You’re about to leave on your next raid?” she asks.
Nodding my head, I wonder how she knew? It was a decision I made just moments ago. Though, I do not question her, because my seeress, she knows and sees more than I could ever imagine.