Page 17 of Toxic Vengeance

Kiyomi led her up the steps, and Eden felt inexplicably nervous. All of these women were Valkyries? It was so hard to wrap her head around that.

Two brunettes with similar features stood side by side next to a blonde. “Do you remember Amber?” Kiyomi asked.

“Vaguely, yes.” She gave the darker brunette a smile.

Amber returned it and stepped forward. “I remember you. Well, mostly I remember your back kick. You caught me off guard during a sparring session and knocked me on my ass in front of the instructors,” she said with a grin, and shook Eden’s hand. “Welcome. This is my sister, Megan. And this is Chloe.”

Eden shook hands with the others. “Nice to meet you all.” She’d worked alone her entire career, and had only been close with Chris—and then Zack. Meeting Trinity ten hours ago had been a shock. Staying in a fancy country manor headquarters with four other Valkyries was completely surreal.

“Bit of friendly advice—you need to watch out for Chloe,” Megan said, her hazel eyes dancing. “She’s straight-up crazy.”

“Am not,” Chloe argued, elbowing Megan in the ribs. Then to Eden, “She’s just jealous because my specialty’s way cooler than hers.”

Eden played along, fascinated and cautious at the same time. “What were you trained in?”

Chloe popped her gum and grinned. “Making things go boom.”

“She’s good at it, too,” Trinity said, “but we like to keep her on a tight leash around here, just in case. Okay, let’s get Eden inside and show her to her room. Where does Marcus want her?”

“The amethyst room,” Megan answered, then added to Eden, “Hope you like purple.” With that she turned and led the way up the steps into the house.

The first thing that hit Eden when she stepped inside was the smell. Clean, but old. Lemon oil or soap, the sweeter underlying scents of old wood and leather. She stopped in the foyer to glance around, unable to keep from gawking. “Holy cow.”

“I know, it’s pretty amazing,” Chloe said, hooking her elbow through Eden’s. It was evident right up front that Chloe was the social butterfly of the group, and that boundaries were probably going to be an issue. “The rooms are great, but wait until you see the study and library. And the grounds.”

Chloe chattered away to her while Megan led them up the main staircase with its scarlet-patterned runner, down the second-floor hall to another staircase that led to the third floor, and stopped at the second room on the right. “Here we go.” She swung the door open, revealing…

Purple. Deep plum carpets and drapes, elegant and expensive-looking patterned wallpaper in a pretty lavender shade, and a four-poster canopy bed that looked at least a couple hundred years old. It was draped in purple tone-on-tone damask satin, with a matching spread and pillowcases.

Eden stared from the doorway, trying to take it all in. “I’m going to be staying…here?”

Chloe clapped her on the back. “You’ll get used to it. Your en suite is through there, and your room overlooks the side lawn.” She took Eden’s bag from her and set it on the small sofa placed against the foot of the outrageously posh bed, then faced her with hands on hips. “Now. You hungry?”

“I…not really.”

Shrewd brown eyes measured her. “Too bad, because you need to eat. Come on.” She started for the door.

“You’d better offer her real food, Chloe, not just an energy drink and whatever junk food you’ve got squirreled away,” Megan said from the hall where Trinity and Kiyomi also waited.

Chloe shot her a dirty look. “Who says I hid it? It’s right there in the main pantry so everyone can help themselves. Unlike some people, I know how toshare.”

“Whatever, you just know none of us will eat that crap,” Megan said, making the others grin. The banter felt natural and easy, and Eden couldn’t help but smile a little too, some of the residual tension inside her easing. She’d never imagined being back with her own kind, but if they could help her find the person responsible for Chris’s death, then this was where she wanted to be.

“Ignore her,” Chloe said, hooking her arm through Eden’s again. “We’ll get you something to eat and then we can talk after. Sorry about your handler, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Eden murmured.

“For God’s sake, Chloe,” Trinity said with a roll of her eyes. “Give her some room to breathe.”

Chloe blinked her big brown doe eyes at the elder Valkyrie. “What, I’m just making her feel welcome.”

“Let’s maybe give her a little time to adjust to her new surroundings,” Kiyomi suggested gently, and offered Eden an understanding smile. “Being made part of this all of a sudden is pretty overwhelming.”

Eden was grateful for the understanding. This was a lot to take in all at once.

“Okay, I’ll escort you down and leave you alone while you eat, and keep things light,” Chloe said, unfazed. She led Eden back down to the main level while the others followed, chattering away as they walked, telling Eden about her boyfriend, Heath. The floors here were sand-colored flagstone, worn shiny and smooth over the centuries by the passing of countless feet.

“We’ve got a team codename, by the way,” Chloe continued on the way down the hall toward the back of the house.

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