Ragnarök Rising Read online

  I didn’t wait to watch their sick ritual, however much the historian in me would have loved to see such an ancient practice handed down through generations. I’d been right that the Lokisson genealogy had historical treasures buried in their bloodline, but my academic interest had vanished completely in the face of my imminent death.

  They were planning to sacrifice me.

  I had to get out of there—now. Blizzard or not, if I stayed, I’d be dead. Grim had said as much. I shook off the strange notion that he, out of all of them, had been the one reluctant to end my life, and slipped out of the barn. There wasn’t time to ponder how the cold and, frankly, scary alpha had been the only one seemingly concerned with taking my life.

  But as I stared wildly across the dark courtyard, I knew I’d die if I ran into the snow-covered wilderness without any preparation. The snow was already too deep for even Saga’s truck to make it through, and even if it hadn’t been, it’d be easy for them to track me on the sparse roads.

  Not to mention, they would hear me the second the engine kicked in.

  No, I had until the morning. I needed to wrap up warm, and then I needed to plan my escape so I wouldn’t die in the wilderness, or get captured and dragged back to play the unwilling sacrifice in the brothers’ little horror show.

  5

  Annabel

  The snow beat against my heated forehead despite my best efforts to hide in Draugr’s thick mane, and my teeth hadn’t stopped clattering since I’d passed the ridge that protected the Lokisson farm from the worst of the grueling winds howling down from the frozen glaciers.

  I’d packed warmer than I’d normally dress back home—because Iceland—but I hadn’t expected a full-blown snowstorm. Even my rapidly increasing fever couldn’t hold off the ice from settling deep in my bones as I drove Draugr forward in a rapid trot.

  The dark horse wasn’t keen on our little excursion, and I had to dig my knees into his sides to ensure he didn’t turn around and run straight back to the warm stable.

  Back to the Lokisson brothers.

  The psychopaths had planned this. For ten long years they’d waited for me to finally make it to Iceland. Wherever their parents were, they had to be in on it, too. They’d tricked me, tricked my parents.

  A debilitating cramp made me cuss and press a hand to my midsection, but there wasn’t time to stop. Whatever illness plagued me, I had to wait to deal with it until I was safe.

  I’d snuck out of the house at the crack of dawn and made my way to the stables with the small pack of food and water I’d gotten ready as soon as I’d returned from the barn last night. I’d picked Draugr despite Grim’s warnings that he was a fiery mount, because I knew I needed a horse strong-willed enough to plough through the storm.

  Just then, Draugr dug his hooves in, coming to an abrupt stop that tossed me forward in the saddle.

  “Come on,” I whimpered, but he just tossed his head with an angry whinny and pulled hard on the reins, nearly succeeding in taking control from me. Grim hadn’t lied when he said Draugr wasn’t an easy horse to ride. He might be a psychopathic murderer, but he wasn’t a liar. Great.

  “If you don’t stop this right goddamn now, they’ll catch up to us, and then I’m dead. Do you understand?” Of course he didn’t understand—he was just a horse, after all. But right then, he was the only living being within a sixty-mile radius of this white-out hell I had even the smallest amount of faith in, and so I pleaded with him as if he could understand me as I drove him on.

  Finally, moments before I burst into panicked tears, he took another hesitant step forward. And another. Slowly, he carried me away from the insane brothers, and I drew in a shuddering breath of relief and rubbed my knuckles gently against his neck. “Thank you.”

  Draugr snorted, and in my fevered mind it sounded irritated.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled, burying my face back in his mane. “I promise, if I make it out of this alive, I’ll make sure you get so much prime quality hay, you’ll be at risk of exploding. I—Holy SHIT!” My promises of gratitude died on a shriek when the blanket of white broke before my eyes, and I finally saw why Draugr had been so hesitant.

  Immediately to our left was a tall cliff wall, shielding off the worst of the howling wind and whirling snow. Ahead was the narrowest of rocky paths, and to the right a sharp fall into a ravine filled with snow-clad rocks deep below. It had to be at least fifty yards down—also known as guaranteed-broken-neck distance.

  “Omigod, oh fuck!” I pulled hard on Draugr’s reins, forcing him to a full stop. It was a miracle we hadn’t both fallen to our deaths. Panic souring in my throat, I cast a desperate look over my shoulder to see if there was any way we could trace our steps back, but the path was far too narrow to turn on. Draugr would have to back without being able to see where he set his hooves. It was guaranteed death.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I tried to force my breathing to calm so I could focus, but now we were out of the icy wind, my fever was making itself known again, fogging up my thoughts. I clutched my shaking hands around Draugr’s reins, not wanting my panic to transfer to my mount.

  The path ahead looked even worse than the one behind us, with far more broken parts making the icy rock treacherous for any who’d dare set their feet—or hooves—there. There wasn’t even enough room for me to dismount and try to lead Draugr, if I’d even be able to trust my quaking body. I looked behind me again, wondering if there was any way I could guide Draugr from his back.

  “You look like you’re in trouble?”

  A jovial shout made me jerk and snap my head forward again. Across the ravine, on the other side where the treacherous path connected with steady ground stood a redheaded man. His lower face was shielded from the weather in a thick scruff, and his long hair danced in the wind despite the cliff shielding us from the worst of it. To me, he looked like a rugged angel.

  Wild hope soared in my chest, and without meaning to, I burst into tears. I’d never been much for the damsel in distress act, but right then, there was nothing I could do to contain my relief.

  “Y-yes! We’re stuck!” I managed between sobs. “Please, can you help us?”

  “Yeah. Just stay put. I got you, pet.” He cocked his head as he took in my predicament and then climbed onto the path with easy, agile movements. Whoever he was, he was clearly very familiar with the terrain.

  Despite the jagged rocks and slippery ice, he reached us within moments, and grabbed Draugr’s reins.

  But the horse seemed less thrilled about our rescue than I was. He tossed his head with an angry whinny, ears pointed flat backward as he snapped his teeth at the stranger.

  “Whoa, fuzzy,” the man rumbled, pulling back his fingers before they got chomped on. “You better behave yourself, or I’m only bringing your lady friend back to safety.”

  Draugr tossed his head again and stomped, making loose rocks clatter down the cliff to the ravine far below.

  I yelped and clung on to his mane, but despite his less-than-friendly demeanor, I wasn’t keen on leaving him behind. He’d gotten me this far, despite the blizzard, and it was my fault we were stuck out here. “Come on, Draugr. You need to let him lead you. Please be good—I don’t want to die here, and neither do you.”

  He snorted angrily in response, making another lunge at the redhead with his teeth, but it was half-hearted. The temperamental horse seemed to understand that he was our best hope off the cliff, even if he had some weird, horsy dislike toward him.

  “That’s better,” the man rumbled, though he kept a wary eye on Draugr as he grabbed his reins from me and pulled him over his head. “Nice and easy, now.”

  Slowly, feeling his way with his feet, the stranger walked backward, reins in hand, mumbling words of encouragement as Draugr reluctantly followed him. Somehow, he knew exactly where to put his feet, and how to guide the horse around the slippery traps that littered the path, but it wasn’t until we got to the other side and he climbed up the short, dirt-covered ledge there
that my heart finally stopped thumping uneasily in my chest.

  Draugr scrambled up the ledge after him, bringing us to the top of a flat plateau. Immediately, the icy wind we’d been shielded from on the path hit against me, so powerful and dense with snow it was like being hit with a bucket of ice water.

  “We need to get to shelter!” the redhead said. He had to shout to be heard over the roar of the storm.

  I nodded, more than happy to let him take charge, and huddled against Draugr’s mane as the stranger led us farther into the white wilderness.

  I don’t know how long he plowed through the mounting piles of snow, and I only looked up from Draugr’s warmth when the wind abruptly stopped tearing at my flesh.

  I blinked in surprise at our surroundings as he led us past a tall cliff wall shielding what looked to be a cave opening from the storm. So he wasn’t taking me to his house, then.

  “It’s too dangerous to stay out in the open while the storm’s still raging,” the man said, as if he read my thoughts. He looked at me over his shoulder. “I’ve got some food and firewood stashed here. We’ll be safe until the weather calms.”

  I nodded. It wasn’t exactly like I was going to be picky with accommodations if it meant not dying at the bottom of a ravine, or in the middle of the frozen wilderness. “Thank you. Thank you so much. I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t show up.”

  He grunted, dismissing my gratitude with a shrug of one shoulder as he stopped Draugr so I could dismount. “What are you doing out here, alone in the middle of a storm? You’re the Lokisson’s guest, right? I’m surprised they let you out of their sight in such dangerous conditions.”

  Another shudder passed through me, this one not summoned by the cold. “They… I had to escape. They were planning… I think they were planning to murder me.”

  I knew how insane it sounded, but the redhead only pinched his lips together in a grim expression. Without commenting, he reached out and grabbed me by the hips, lifting me off the horse. The ease with which he lifted me was startling, and for the first time I looked properly at him.

  He was very tall and very broad in the shoulders, about the same size of Saga, and from the width of his jaw and sharpness in his crystal green eyes, I realized that he too was an alpha. He was ruggedly handsome in that outdoorsy Scandinavian way, but I also got the distinct impression that he was as cunning and ruthless as the Lokisson brothers and most other alphas.

  But so long as he wasn’t a psychopathic murderer, too, I’d take my chances with him.

  He seemed to be studying me, emerald eyes sliding across my features as if he was searching for something. And that’s when I realized I’d seen him before.

  “You were at the farm!” I blurted. “You were... watching us?”

  His soft lips curved up ever so slightly at the corners. “I was.”

  “Why?”

  He sighed and turned to the cave, resting a hand on my lower back to guide me over the rocks littering the floor in front. “Because word got around that they were bringing a lone omega to their farm. I was… concerned. They are not what you would call honorable men.”

  I blinked again. “And omega? But I’m a beta.”

  He looked at me out the corner of his eye. “A beta?”

  “Yeah. Guess the rumor mill got that wrong. I hope you’re not regretting risking your ass to save me now.” It was meant as a joke to ease the mood, but just then another cramp hit my abdomen, and I faltered, curling in on myself with a moan.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked, grasping onto my shoulder to steady me.

  “I’m sick,” I groaned. “F-fever and cramps.”

  “Hmm,” he said, rubbing my lower back with surprisingly nimble fingers for his size. It eased the horrid pull in my uterus and ligaments, and I sighed gratefully. “Let’s get you inside.”

  I didn’t protest when he swung me into his arms and carried me the rest of the way to the cave. The jagged opening broadened into what looked like a sixty square foot rounded cave. It was too dark to make out much other than that, but when the redhead set me down, it was onto a soft surface. I patted my hands and felt supple leather and fur under them.

  He went a few steps away and knelt down, and seconds later sparks erupted in front of him, and then a flickers of orange flames illuminated his outline and made his red hair gleam. Seemed he’d thought ahead and brought a fire starter.

  I looked around the cave and noticed a small pile of firewood by the far wall, and a rucksack made from what looked to be leather next to the nest of furs I was sitting on. It appeared this cave was indeed a pretty well stocked emergency shelter, if a bit rustic.

  The alpha turned back around to me, an honest-to-god waterskin in one hand. Like they had in ye olden days.

  Maybe he was eco-minded. A rugged Icelandic alpha who had shelters dotted around the wilderness probably cared way too much for the environment to leave plastic bottles scattered around.

  “Drink,” he said, holding the skin to my lips. “It will make you feel a bit better.”

  I hesitantly obeyed, not exactly used to having someone else hold my bottle for me. The water inside was cold and crisp, making me aware of my fever’s return. It felt refreshing rather than too cold, and I drank greedily until it was nearly empty.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked, a weird hoarseness to his voice that made my abdomen contract sharply.

  I groaned in pain but managed to shake my head as I clutched my stomach with both hands. Just the thought of food had bile rising in my throat.

  Cool hands touched first my forehead and then my chin, nudging my head up so he could catch my eyes. “Don’t be afraid, Annabel. I’ll take good care of you. Just let nature take its course.”

  I nodded mutely, finding comfort in his self assuredness. He wasn’t alarmed at my symptoms in the least, and in my vulnerable state I found myself slipping into an instinctive urge to trust the alpha with my care and protection.

  He helped me ease down on my back in the furs, cool hands petting my hair and clammy skin easing some of my discomfort.

  “You know my name, but I don’t know yours,” I murmured groggily.

  “I am Magni,” he said, the roughness still evident in his voice. My abdomen panged again, but it didn’t hurt this time. Not exactly. Warmth spread down low, trickling into my thighs and softening my muscles.

  “Magni,” I repeated, testing the foreign name as it rolled over my tongue like rich wine. That reminded me of something, and I frowned up into the cave’s uneven ceiling. “You spoke English when you saw me. Not Icelandic.”

  “I recognized you, pet,” he said. “No point speaking to a panicked female in a tongue she doesn’t understand.”

  “But….” Something nagged at me. Something just outside the grasp of my hazed mind. Memories flickered like fever fantasies in front of my eyes. Of the Lokisson brothers talking to me. Laughing. Touching. “You don’t have an accent.”

  “I only recently returned to this island. Not yet stayed long enough to pick up the accent.”

  “Oh.” He looked so much like a Viking, I hadn’t even considered he might not have lived here his entire life. Another pang down low stopped me from asking where he’d been living before.

  Magni’s hand on my forehead stilled as I groaned, his nostrils flaring.

  “It won’t be much longer now,” he murmured, eyes roaming over my twitching body.

  “What won’t?” I panted, the glean in those green eyes making me twist uncomfortably as my fever seemed to move down through my body, settling like molten lava in my abdomen. He looked… hungry.

  “Your heat is close,” he said, soft lips curving up in smile that looked dangerous in the flickering shadows cast by the dancing flames. “And as soon as it breaks, I will make you feel all better, little omega.”

  6

  Annabel

  “W-what did you say?” It wasn’t that I hadn’t heard him—it was that his words made no sense. I’d
told him I was a beta, not an omega.

  His nostrils flared again as he scented me, a rough hum of pleasure at what he smelled rumbling from his throat. “You’re going into heat, pet. Your first?”

  The calm I’d felt at his presence evaporated into thin air as I stared at the alpha. The alpha who had me all alone in the wilderness. “I’m not an omega, Magni. I think I’d know! And this is not a heat, for Chrissake. I’m sick!”

  His unnerving smile hiked a little higher as he took in my mounting panic. “So many omegas have been lost under the presumption that a lack of Presenting in puberty meant you were nothing more than betas. But I know what you are, Annabel. Even if you grew up never knowing your true nature. And I will not let you suffer through your first heat without an alpha to care for your needs.”

  I stared at him, nausea clenching my esophagus tight. Why did I keep getting stuck with insane alphas in this country? Granted, this one wasn’t planning to sacrifice me to some heathen god, but Magni’s intentions weren’t any more comforting.

  “If you rape me, you’ll regret it,” I said, my tight throat making it come out in a raspy whisper. I knew I didn’t have a chance against him. I was woozy from my fever, and he was physically so much stronger than me. There was nowhere to escape to. If he forced himself on me, I wouldn’t be able to stop him. But I would make him pay. Somehow.

  Magni laughed, a rough sound that made my pelvis clench, but there was no malice in his verdant gaze when he looked at me again. “I like your fire, pet. But it is unnecessary. I won’t harm you—I swear it. You have no need to fear me.”

  “I’m not afraid!” I lied through gritted teeth. Sweat beaded on my forehead and pulsed through my veins in languid flows, making me wish I were alone so I could strip out of my clothes. Except… I didn’t want him to leave. Something inside of me found comfort in his presence, even though his words and obvious intentions terrified me.