The Valkyrie’s Sword (Warbler Peninsula Book 2)

“Somebody Help Me” Excerpt
The Valkyrie’s Sword
Copyright © 2017 Siobhan Muir
All rights reserved

:You have a choice to make, Balder.: Tiffany fixed her pale blue eyes on him. :I suspect this wise woman is the reason we were drawn here to this town. She may be able to help us both—you with your redemption, me with my state of being. You said that’s what you wanted. So you have to choose. Either you stay the way you are or you make real, if frightening, strides toward change. The choice is yours.:

He swallowed hard as the panic continued to build. “How do you know she won’t kill me?”

Tiffany shook her head. :I don’t. But most wise women are healers and spiritual advisors rather than warriors. I suspect she won’t resort to violence unless you do something stupid.:

He wiped the rain out of his eyes and bit his lip to contain the fear. I can’t guarantee I won’t do something stupid. But he nodded and deliberately picked up his feet to stepped onto the wise woman’s land.

A ripple of energy flitted across his view as his feet hit the ground beyond the road and motion caught his eye near the trees boxing in the property. A man dressed in black with the same hard look of his brother assassins watched him approach the house. Balder stopped and focused on him. Why was he here? Had he already come for the wise woman? What had made her a target of the Sword of God?

When the man flitted between the trees to get a clearer view of him and Tiffany, Balder realized the assassin was another ghost. He shot a look at Tiffany, but she apparently couldn’t see the other apparition. When he returned his gaze to the ghost, the man in black nodded and Balder had the feeling he’d passed some sort of test.

Thanks be to God. I don’t need to placate another ghost.

:Balder, I think this is the home of a Morukai.: Tiffany laid a hand on his arm and the voices retreated a little.

“What’s a Morukai?” He groaned as he swallowed against the rising bile produced by the programming in his head.

:Another Elder Race, but one devoted specifically to be the shamans of the Goddess. I think the Sword of God referred to them as the Antisaints.: She gave him a significant look. :If this is the house of a Morukai, you better be on your best behavior, because I’ll kick your ass if you make any stupid moves.:

“I’d like to see you try.” He tried to sound snarky, but he knew she could make him writhe with pain and fear until he lost consciousness. She only snorted and waved toward the house.

Balder approached the porch steps and the voices screamed at the sacrilege of the place. An Antisaint lived here and the urge to destroy it locked his muscles. He groaned and pushed through the rising fear.

:Just a few more steps to the door, Balder. Don’t stop now.: Tiffany’s words broke through the indoctrination warbling in his head and he made it to the first step. :That’s it. Take another step. Don’t give up.:

He gritted his teeth and forced himself to move. Each step made the voices in his head scream louder, shrieking and wailing as if they knew their deaths were imminent. Sweet mercy, let me make it to the door so I can say I’ve done my duty.

He reached the doorway and raised his hand to knock just as someone stepped out onto the porch.

The woman must have been over six feet in height and had a glorious mane of golden hair woven into a thick braid. She wore a leather jacket, jeans, and boots up to her knees. She smelled of aromatic cedar smoke and leather, and she had eyes the color of storm-tossed gray skies. Good God, it’s the woman from the truck that passed us.

She jerked when she realized he stood beside her and he backed up to give her space.

“Excuse me.” Her expression said he could go jump in the lake for all she cared, but she strove to be polite.

“It’s not a problem. I didn’t mean to get so close.” Her scent teased him as he dipped his head. The voices in his head raised hell over her proximity, and he grasped his pant legs in an effort to keep from throwing a punch at her. No, I’m done with violence.

He had the odd sensation of wanting to get closer, but not for the reason the voices suggested. She’s so beautiful and strong. Her strength and fierceness were seductive, and he wanted to bow to her even as he stood his ground.

“Why are you here?”

The voices shrilled a warning, urging him to take her on, and he jerked in an effort to resist. They screamed that he’d come to a den of sin and decay, the home of a creature so heinous, even his standing here was a sin.

No, Tiffany and Angelina said this is a wise woman, a healer and a spiritual advisor. They helped people with their problems. They helped everyone. Including bastards like me, I hope. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to find his words.

“I’m here for the Morukai.”

The woman bristled. “In what capacity?”

At that moment, the voices overran his ability to fight and he sank beneath their fervor. But before they dragged him down into the howling abyss, he threw two more words out. Words that held more truth than anything he’d ever said before.

“For…help.”

He would’ve said more, but the screaming of the voices drowned out his resistance to their urges and sucked him down into insensibility before Tiffany could curb them again.

Somebody help me!