Page 19 of The Stolen Bride (Kings of Fury #2)

Chapter

Nineteen

Between a Berserker and a Hard Place: Finding the Least Worst Option

–HOW TO TRAIN YOUR BERSERKER

By Elizabeth “Elle” Darcy-Bruce

A s those threatening words against my berserker rang in my head, Valkara—my supposed mother—pulled the pin on a dozen rage-grenades. Viktor was not hers. His turul wasn’t hers, either. Not ever again.

She tsk-tsked, not the least bit frightened by my pending berserkerage. “Better keep yourself under control, daughter. Harm me, and both you and your sister will pay a terrible price.”

“Too bad for you, complying with my enemy isn’t in my wheelhouse,” I retorted, but I didn’t attack. Any second, Viktor and Bodi would blaze into this chamber. No way Deco and his band of shifters could overcome the royal brothers .

“Don’t think your firebrand will rush to your rescue,” Valkara stated.

“I don’t need rescue.” But backup would be nice. Viktor’s presence would ensure I didn’t kill someone I shouldn’t. “You can’t say the same.”

She lowered her chin. “You think so? Let me show you what I can do.”

A sharp pain cut through my head, and I grunted. In a split second, I lost sight of the world around me. A thick fog enveloped my brain, so much thicker than what I’d encountered in my dreams. My name whispered in a thousand distinct tones, becoming a scream. The sensation felt unsettling and foreign, yet somehow familiar. Sweat beaded on my brow, my nape, and my lower back.

I gripped my temples and tried to breathe. I couldn’t breathe. Come on, come on. My lungs burned. My thoughts raced, but went nowhere. My body moved without permission, but I wasn’t sure what it was doing. I couldn’t…I didn’t…

The whispers quieted, the fog vanished, and I blinked open my eyes, suddenly able to draw air into my nose. Noticing my surroundings, I frowned and spun. I occupied a seven-by-seven cell with three barred walls and a rocky back one. Inside was a cot draped with a ratty blanket, and two pairs of shackles. There was also a stained toilet. Hooks and shackles splattered with crimson hung from the ceiling. The floor bore dark, ominous stains, too. The oppressive air smelled of mold and hopelessness.

Small, grated windows allowed slivers of light into the cell block. Other cages stretched out beside mine. This must be Deco’s dungeon. Scratches marred the cold stone back wall. No, not scratches–tick marks. They tracked the number of days of confinement. Outside the cells, in an open area probably reserved for guards, two wooden chairs bracketed a vertical rack. Like, an actual rack. A medieval torture device.

Nearby it, a small wooden desk occupied a corner, a bank of screens above it displaying the interior of each cell, including mine. A jarring blend of state-of-the-art tech and ancient brutality. No sign of the primordials.

I made an obscene gesture at the camera. I must have walked in here on my own, and oh, the knowledge burned. Valkara won this round.

She emerged from the shadows and smiled at me from beyond the bars. My pulse raced with both fear and frustration. To lose control of my own body…

And this was what Viktor dealt with on the daily? No wonder he’d become feral! He’d been in a fight for his free will and deep down, he must have known it.

“Do not worry,” she said, withdrawing a dagger from a sheath at her waist, that smug smile still lighting her face. “Viktor will join us shortly. Be a good girl and convince him to kill you.”

Ha! “You’re the one who’s dreaming if you think that’s gonna happen.”

“If you don’t, your sister will die. Among others.”

A twist of the invisible blade in my gut. Mother Dearest had done exactly as I’d feared. I gripped and shook the bars. Now it was my turn to play the game. “You expect me to accept death on behalf of a woman I’ve known, what? Less than two minutes?”

“I do, and you will. For the greater good. That, my dear, is real. Allow me to show you the future awaiting us if Viktor fails to kill you.” She closed her eyes. Once again, a fog crept into my mind. This time, a scene opened up. A vision. In it, I stood in a forest, sobbing. Viktor, who looked as if he’d just witnessed the end of the world, held an unconscious, or dead, Juniper in his arms, both of them splattered with crimson.

In the present, I pressed a hand over my churning stomach. No. No, no, no. What had happened? Had he…was she…?

Vision Clover screamed in anguish. Then she–

No, I began to change. I grew a beak and wings. Sprouted feathers. I developed the hindquarters of a lion, complete with a tail. The largest talons extended from my nail beds, a grotesque monster-griffin taking my place.

The vision opened further, revealing the encampment beyond our little clearing. In it I saw Bodi and others I didn’t recognize, all going about their days.

The moment my transformation completed, I spread my wings, squawked–and Viktor transformed as well. He dropped Juniper and the two of us turned on each other. Fighting, raging. In the end, I won only because he hesitated to deliver a death blow. I ripped out his heart. When I finished with him, I flew into the campground, utterly wild now that I’d killed my firebrand. Though a multitude of berserkers erupted, attempting to fight me off, I killed everyone in my path. Down went Bodi, minus his head. Every single creature in my vicinity died. Men, women and children. Animals, too. And I wasn’t done. I stalked off, hunting for my next victims.

The vision faded, and I doubled over with nausea. This was the world’s fate if I didn’t convince Viktor to kill me? “That–that’s a lie,” I sputtered. It must be.

“I cannot weave lies, only truth. That’s the destiny awaiting each of you if you live today,” Valkara confirmed. “You are linked to Viktor and when you shift–and you will–you’ll become as strong as he is. Stronger, since you are flesh of my flesh. None of his berserkers will be able to stop you. You’ll rampage, leaving only destruction in your wake. But one simple sacrifice can stop such a catastrophe from occurring. Of course, Viktor will refuse to end you. We all know he’d rather die than harm his firebrand. But I can take care of that. Confuse him in the fog so that he lashes out without thought. All you must do is accept your fate without a fight.”

No. No! “If you can weave only truth, the vision you showed me throughout my life is the future, not what you’ve shown me today. I haven’t lived that moment yet.”

“What I showed you was the future, yes. If Juniper had ended up with Viktor. But the two of you traveled a different road, taking us to a new destination.”

No! “Then today’s vision proves we’ll all escape,” I croaked.

“Exactly. Unless you choose another path.” She tossed the dagger she held through the bars. It landed on the cot and bounced. “Let him kill you with this, rather than his claws. It’ll hurt less.”

So doomed if I did and doomed if I didn’t. “How do I know you’re telling the truth about showing only the truth?”

“You don’t,” she said, all but bubbling over with giddiness, sensing how close she was to victory. “You’ll have to take my word on it.” A pause. Then, “As soon as you’re dead, I’ll release Juniper. I vow it.”

No. No! She couldn’t be trusted. Look at how she’d tricked Viktor all these centuries. How she’d used Malachi. “When you have all the primordials in your control, what’s your plan?”

“Have no fear, my sweet Clover. We won’t be staying on this forsaken planet.” Intensity flashed in her eyes, hinting at sinister intentions. “No, I have other places to be. The only reason I’m still here is because patience is needed when dealing with primordials. Rush them, and pay the price.”

For the first time, I actually believed the words that came out of her mouth.

I sagged against the bars. This was bad. Very, very bad. What should I do, what should I do? I don’t think I had the emotional fortitude to unleash a berserker rage-out right now. Too much sadness welled, snuffing out the flames.

Satisfied that I’d finally accepted my fate, she sauntered off and eased onto a chair near the rack, obviously waiting for something. Or someone.

My thoughts drifted to Viktor, my love. The man who might kill me–an act so horrific that it would shatter him. He’d break and forever descend into his primordial self.

By following Valkara’s orders, I would condemn us both, but possibly save Juniper. Perhaps even a world. The greater good. I wracked my brain. There must be another way. An out that didn’t involve our deaths. My hands trembled, and my eyes brimmed with the tears I refused to shed in front of the tyrant who’d birthed me. If I died, my only regrets would be not receiving Viktor’s mark and never getting to know my twin.

And why weren’t we allowed to be together? There was a reason Valkara had separated us at birth. I’d sensed it before, and I knew it now.

I popped to my feet and began to pace. That power, our connection, both had zapped between us even through a hologram. Our mother must fear what we’d be able to do if we were physically close. Yes, yes. That made sense.

My gaze returned to Valkara. Her eyes were closed, her lips moving. Was she distracting Viktor even now? My chest clenched. How did I overcome this situation?

If I could get to Juniper, we could figure out whatever it was our mother feared we could do–something with our hands, I’d bet, because I hadn’t forgotten the warm tingles or magnetic pull. Maybe, just maybe, we’d have the strength to end the reign of Valkara and Deco before they harmed my guy.

Team Good.

If the heroine I’d read about in those cozy mysteries could have Team Truth, then I could have Team Good and live happily ever after. A family.

Pounding, racing footsteps caught my attention, and my ears twitched. Please be Viktor, alive and well, ready to take care of business.

Rusty hinges groaned as the dungeon door burst open. It was indeed Viktor. He blazed inside the chamber, spotted me, and picked up the pace. My heart thudded. He didn’t stop at the bars, but crashed into them. No. Wrong. He ghosted through. But his body seized, as if caught in the grips of an electrical shock. Dread clogged my throat as his muscles bunched and veins bulged. Then he dropped, unconscious.

With a mewl of concern, I swooped down and checked his vitals. Relief welled from an internal spring. Still alive!

A grinning Deco sauntered through the doorway, carrying an incapacitated Bodi over his shoulder. “Poor Vik. He forgot life’s most important lesson. There are unseen forces far more powerful than even an original sentinel.”

A third man dragged in a bound Juniper.

“Let me go,” she demanded.

At the sight of her, warm tingles returned to my hands. An urge to press our palms together grew. What did this mean? What would happen?

Valkara helped the soldier anchor my twin to the rack, rougher than necessary. Icy rage invaded my bloodstream when Juniper grimaced with pain.

“I said be gentle with her,” the shifter king snapped as he entered the cell next to mine. He did this without opening a door or experiencing a shock. He simply ghosted through the bars and tossed the berserker prince to the ground. Then he ghosted out and strode toward Valkara.

How in the world? I tried to bolt after him, but the bars stopped me, solid to the touch. Impact rang my bell, slamming my brain against my skull. Dizziness flared and died as greater anger surged to the fore.

Both berserkers remained unconscious, littered with blood and gashes. Holographic scenes began to play over the air around us, courtesy of the vargbane root. A memory taken from today’s battle, displayed over and over again on repeat. How Viktor had watched me fly across the throne room and disappear through a hole in the floor.

“I’m here, baby. I’m good, I promise, and you better be good, too.” I returned to his side and checked his pulse. Too swift, but stronger. “I need you to wake up for me.”

“Oh, he’ll awaken soon enough,” Deco called, so proud of himself. “After your disappearance, he and Bodi broke into a full-on berserkerage. For a moment, I feared they might overcome my forces. But Valkara did her thing, making Viktor believe he chased you and a captor, and here we are.”

See! Valkara was a liar. What she’d shown him wasn’t the truth. Unless she’d projected a future event. Ugh.

Deco stopped in front of Juniper. “Did you miss me, nyuszi?” Smiling, he stroked the back of his knuckles across her cheek, surprisingly gentle.

Her eyes spit fire at him. “I hate you.”

Chuckling, he stuffed a gag into her mouth. “But you want me, too.”

“Don’t touch my sister,” I shouted.

He twisted to blow me a kiss. “Well, that depends on you, doesn’t it? Is the little firebrand going to cooperate?”

“She still thinks to resist,” Valkara said.

Panic frayed the edges of my composure. I darted my attention between the shifter king and my twin, asking, “How did you walk through the metal?” Could Viktor walk through when he awoke or would he seize again?

Deco spread his arms. “Valkara is full of tricks. You really should have stayed on your mother’s good side.”

The barb hit its target, and I flinched. “You know she intends to betray you the moment she has what she wants, yes?”

Valkara smirked at me. “Of course he knows.”

Deco rolled his eyes. “The silly goddess even thinks she’ll defeat me.”

Goddess?

“It’s true,” the dreamseer stated without an ounce of remorse. “I do. And I will.”

He cupped the side of his mouth, as if he was about to reveal a grand secret. “I intend to betray her, too,” he whisper-yelled. “I’ve planned for everything, and as soon as her usefulness runs out, I’ll deal with her.”

“Same,” Valkara said with a gleeful nod.

“Now, be a good little mouse and let the big falcon decapitate you.” He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get the finale started so I can claim my ten prizes.”

I truly despised this man. But all the pieces of the puzzle finally clicked into place. Why he’d teamed up with Valkara, a woman he knew he couldn’t trust. His goal wasn’t just revenge against the King of the Turuls, but to reign over all the primordials. To rule all berserker and shifter factions. He would command the most powerful immortal army in this world or any other. Able to subjugate lands. Slaughter humans. Do whatever he wanted, whenever he desired.

Both Deco and Valkara must be stopped, no matter the cost. That was the greater good.

A moan escaped Viktor.

Deco grinned. “You understand your mission, Clover, and the consequences if you fail.” He lounged on the other side of the rack while the remaining soldiers took up posts near the cells.

Fighting dismay, I patted Viktor’s cheek. “Wake up for me, Tor. Come on, baby. That’s it. Yes, yes, good boy.”

He blinked open his eyes, then jack knifed to an upright position. His focus whipped to me, and he scanned me from top to bottom. “You are good?”

“I’m unharmed. And you?”

“Alive.” He shifted to search for Bodi. A muscle jumped in his jaw when he spotted the prince, who moaned, beginning to awaken. His gaze moved to the pair at the rack, and his lids slitted. “The Valkara aids Deco.”

“Yes. They’re working together.”

“Go ahead,” Deco called. “Try to escape.”

With a roar, Viktor leaped to his feet and slammed into the metal bars. He beat them with his fists, breaking bones. Slashed them with his claws, ripping off nails. Kicked and heaved with all his might, leaving his body battered and bruised. All to no avail.

“Stop. Please,” I said as the shifter king laughed and laughed. Valkara tapped her feet, impatient. “There’s more I must tell you, but I won’t talk to you while you’re hurting yourself.”

Huffing and puffing, Viktor paused and fought for calm. The perfect opportunity. I stood and cozied up against him, petting his chest. His muscles relaxed bit by bit.

“Tell me,” he croaked. “Go ahead. I can take it, whatever it is.”

I could think of a thousand reasons to lie and hide the truth from him, and only one reason to tell the truth. I loved him. So, the truth it was. “Valkara is my birth mother. She gave me to Malachi as a baby, and he placed me in a home far from my sister.”

Juniper made a noise around her gag. Valkara tapped her knee and snapped, “Be quiet so I can overhear their conversation, or I’ll remove your tongue.”

My twin went silent, and my anger neared a breaking point.

Viktor jolted, but didn’t erupt again. “And? Continue, love.”

More pets. “And she foresaw my importance to you.”

“And?” he said, shoving the word through clenched teeth.

“She revealed to me a supposed end. How I’ll murder you and everyone we love unless I let you kill me.”

His entire body jerked. He flung his arms around me and hauled me firmly against his chest, shielding me from any threat. “I will not. Not now, not ever. I love you. Need you. Want you. Cannot live without you. She showed you a lie, just as she showed me lies.” He didn’t attempt to moderate his tone, unconcerned by our audience. “Only they will die today. Not you.”

Tears stung my eyes. The declaration hit deep in my bones, and I clung to him. “I love you, too,” I rasped. So much.

“Ja, but do you love me more than the foolish Benjamin? And you must answer honestly because you owe me. This one has been in my queue, attempting to claw its way out. I might be internally, eternally scarred.”

Despite the awfulness of the situation, I snorted. “It’s not even close. What I felt for him is a drop of water compared to the ocean I feel for you.”

“Good. That’s good. But I have more questions.” Viktor kissed the top of my head, then rapid-fired questions as if they were bullets from a gun.

“Will you wed me? Will you move to my world and into my palace? Will you spend forever at my side and never leave me?”

“Go ahead and say yes,” Deco taunted. “Actually, I think the line is yes, yes, a thousand times yes. It’ll make your death so much sweeter.”

My gaze strayed to Valkara, who observed us with a smug smile. Her plan was bearing fruit right before her eyes, the players she’d set up acting exactly as she’d hoped. Then I glanced at Juniper, who watched me with wide eyes. The tingles and warmth in my hands increased by leaps and bounds.

My tears spilled over. With every fiber of my being, I longed to say yes. To marry Viktor, build a life and a family with him. Wait… did he say palace? I’d only ever seen tents and a stick shack in the forest.

Rather than answer his newest litany of queries, however, I returned my attention to him and gently told him, “First, you need to hear the rest.” I didn’t give him a chance to respond. “If I die, you’ll transform into your primordial form. You won’t be able to stop it. Valkara plans to add you to her collection, completing her own personal army. Deco intends to kill her and rule the menagerie.”

Viktor shook his head violently before I finished my speech. “I told you. I won’t kill you, not even to save the worlds,” he reiterated. “And I will not apologize for that.”

“If you don’t do it willingly,” I croaked, “Valkara will mess with your head.”

“Excuse me for breaking up such an adorable reunion, but what are we going to do besides not kill the firebrand?” Bodi asked. “We need a plan of our own.”

“My patience is gone,” Valkara bellowed. “I’d hate for your last moments alive to be filled with Juniper’s screams rather than tender words of love, but that is what’s about to happen. You have two minutes.”