Dark Deceit Read Online Free Page A

his chin. Korvain reigned in his anger before Darrion
noticed and swiped the blood away with the back of his hand.
    ‘Laugh again and I won’t miss,’ Darrion warned, his voice lowering,
his nostrils flaring with rage. His boss turned back to his original target and
threw the last blade. Thunk.
    ‘Alright, so you want a Valkyrie dead. There’s just one little
problem.’ That was a fucking understatement. The Valkyries were just like Odin:
truly immortal.
    Korvain’s statement was greeted by silence, the fucking cricket-chirping
kind of silence. He paused, waiting for Darrion to jump on in and play
fill-the-blanks, but that didn’t happen. Korvain pushed on. ‘They’re
untouchable. Unless you’ve figured out a way to strip them of their
immortality, you’ll never even get close to hurting them.’
    Darrion’s cold blue eyes turned back to him, and the strangest
emotion came onto his face. Korvain could have sworn he was actually smiling.
    ‘You’ve found a way?’
    The Mare nodded.
    ‘Why don’t you kill her yourself then?’ Korvain asked.
    ‘I’m asking you to do the job.’
    Korvain started to pace. You didn’t say no to Darrion. You negotiated
until you found a figure worth risking your life for. ‘Fifteen,’ he said.
Darrion’s eyebrow arched. ‘Take fifteen off my contract and I’ll do it.’
    Korvain only had another seventeen years left of a fifty year term to
serve as Darrion’s attack dog, but if he could shave off some of that time,
maybe he’d make it through alive. He would be free of the blood tie.
    His boss’s eyes narrowed. ‘Seven.’
    Korvain squeezed his sweat-slicked hands into fists. ‘Twelve.’
    ‘Ten.’
    A pause.
    A deep breath released.
    ‘Ten.’
    Darrion nodded. ‘Your mark is Brynhildr.’
    Bryn was Odin’s first creation, his oldest Valkyrie, his strongest. Korvain’s
mind started churning over all the possibilities, the opportunities, the
options. ‘How?’
    ‘Have you heard about the Valkyrie’s feather cloaks?’ Korvain shook
his head. ‘This information has just come to my attention from a source I don’t
trust entirely, but I don’t trust anyone entirely,’ Darrion said mildly. ‘Apparently
Valkyries have a feather cloak they must keep in their possession.’ He took a
dagger from the holster on his thigh and slumped down into a chair. Picking
under his fingernails, he said, ‘Strip the feathers off the cloak and they
become mortal again. Strip the feathers and you can kill them.’
    ‘Who told you this?’
    He pinned Korvain with an icy stare. ‘I told you, a source.’
    ‘An untrusted source,’ Korvain reiterated, holding that stare.
    Darrion nodded slightly, his neck muscles twitching infinitesimally.
Korvain blew out a frustrated breath. Darrion probably didn’t even trust
himself he was so paranoid.
    Korvain said, ‘This is what I’ve understood: get the cloak. Strip
the cloak. Kill the Valkyrie. Are we about on the same page here?’
    ‘Yes. Kill her Korvain and I will take ten years off your contract.
Fail and I’ll own you for the rest of your unnatural life.’
    Korvain crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. Well, how could
a guy say no to that?

Chapter Three
    F rigg’s body
reformed at her house in Charleston, the house her darling husband had bought
for her as a peace offering. At her back were her two most trusted Aesirean
guards, Tiki and Vali. Seeing Darrion again had left Frigg shaken, uneasy. He
was still the best lover she had ever had, even with his mean streak.
    She turned to her men. ‘Leave me.’ The goddess waved them away as
she swept upstairs to take a bath. Her handmaiden, Fulla, was waiting in her
room. The poor thing was still shaking from her encounter with the Mare.
    The young woman turned her wide eyes to Frigg when she entered.
Dropping into a low curtsey, she addressed Frigg as she’d been instructed. ‘My
queen?’
    ‘I wish to take a bath. Draw one for me.’
    ‘Yes, my queen.’
    Fulla