Page 5 of Before the Bond Breaks
When we first came to the human world, we didn’t know what other types of beings or creatures lived in this world. It didn’t take long before the witches started taking an interest in us. My clan were shifters infused with magic. Our powers rival that of a coven of witches. So, of course, they needed to know we weren’t a threat to them or their families.
It was through the witches that we learned there were several groups of magical beings that included the witches and a few others like the fae. A few decades ago, a dragon clan had come to this world. Jenson had put them on a watch list for the first few years, but the dragons stayed to themselves and settled down in northeast Florida where they opened a security agency. So, we left them alone, and they did the same.
There were other darker, meaner creatures that walked among us. Those were the ones that threatened the balance between the magical beings and the humans.
Larc had called the creatureeitrbornafter we killed one and discovered its blood had traces of a poison calledeitr. The black venom had properties to create life, but the poisonous properties corrupted that life, turning the creatures into evil shapeshifting monsters with too much power.
I followed Jenson down the hall to my office. After stepping inside, I shut the door and moved to my desk, which sat in the center of the back wall. The office was big enough my inner circle could fit inside comfortably. Two sofas sat facing each other in the area between the door and the desk. A few oversized chairs sat between the ends of the sofas to form a circle.
On the left side of the room was another door that led into the basement where we kept our home base for tracking the monsters. The large underground room was an open space that held magical relics my clan and I had collected from the creatures Balder created. It also housed a portal that led anywhere we wanted.
Jenson dropped onto one of the sofas. “A Valkyrie was found dead in the forest this afternoon.”
Okay, that definitely got my attention. Like shifters, Valkyries were immortal and hard to kill. “One of ours?”
When Maze and her sisters left Vanaheim to track down Balder, a dozen or so other Valkyries stayed behind to help Freya—the goddess of beauty, magic, and war—and the shifters rebuild the palace and figure out our next steps. After a century, Freya sent us here, to the human world—Midgard.
Jenson shook his head. “One of the seven Maze took with her. A sentry found the body and reported it to Freya.”
“Why are you just now telling me about this?”
Jenson worked his jaw. No doubt he was clenching his teeth. “Because Freya just told me. She called the fucking sheriff when Kai found the body.”
My brother’s annoyance usually amused me, but this situation wasn’t funny. A dead Valkyrie meant we were dealing with more than a monster army.
“I think it’s time we paid Maze and her sisters a visit.”
I locked my gaze with Jenson’s. He was right, of course, but that didn’t mean I was ready to face my mate just yet. “Maze must know about this. The Sheriff would have called her.”
Freya hadn’t gone to Maze or any of the Valen sisters, even though the goddess knew they’d been living in the next town over for weeks. When I asked, Freya said Maze wasn’t ready yet. The goddess never explained her actions. She said that all things fall into place when they are supposed to.
I wasn’t a patient man, and neither was my wolf.
Jenson stood and headed to the door. “Sheriff works with Valen Protection Agency on all things magical, so I’m sure you’re right that Maze knows. She would have also sensed that our clan was close by. Our scents are all that forest.” With a hand on the doorknob, Jenson paused before adding, “I’ll gather a small team to head out, and we’ll meet you here in an hour.”
I nodded, pushing away the uneasy feeling in my gut. Dread made my magic and my wolf stir within me. Not in a good way. My magic wanted to protect me while my wolf wanted to claim Maze, so we’d never have to guess where she was anymore.
But the man didn’t want to bond with Maze. Not like I wanted to two hundred years ago. Then, it was a duty to bond withthe Prime Heir to kick off the soulbond for my clan and the Valkyries. Truthfully, I still wanted to bond with Maze, for the good of my people, but we wouldn’t be mating out of duty. I refuse to be tied to someone who didn’t love me.
My new challenge was making Mazelina Valen fall in love with me.
3
MAZE
About forty-five minutesafter bringing Jessica’s body back to headquarters, I sat in the Valen Protection Agency’s media-slash-conference room. A large white screen took up the wall in front of the room. Three rows of seating sat against the back wall. Each row had four reclining chairs. I sat in the third chair on the first row with Candra on my left and Nicky on my right. Winter was connecting her magically modified laptop to the projector.
Winter wasn’t just my right-hand and logistics lead; she could infuse magic into technology and she was also a seer.
When Winter finished connecting everything, she studied us for a moment. Sadness was etched across her face. She was stalling. My techie sister had already seen Jessica’s memories. By the harsh lines around her mouth and her drawn brows, Jessica’s last memories weren’t going to be easy to watch. I didn’t expect them to be.
“There are places where the memory skips time. I believe those are parts Jess didn’t want us to see. When you watch them play out, you’ll understand why.” Winter turned to the table wherethe projector sat and picked up the remote. Then she sat beside Candra and started the video.
The screen flicked to live, and we were inside Jessica’s head.
Rain blurredthe city streets as Jessica ran. Her lungs ached, every stride sharper than the last. Behind her, the corrupted shifter’s heavy, relentless footsteps closed in on her. He’d been after her for three blocks after trying to kidnap her. She had punched him in his face and kneed him in the balls before taking off down the street. It didn’t take him long to catch up with her, even with her supernatural speed.
She didn’t know why the shifter wanted to take her, but she bet it was for the same reasons the witches had gone missing. And Jessica had asked a few too many questions and had gotten a little too close to discovering who took those witches.
