Valkyrie's Kiss Read Free Page B

person, no, ” I said, shaking my head. “ But
Death is a being, of sorts. It can
take on the guise of any life form. It can move from one life form to another,
though it is weakened during the times between bodies, and Its purpose is to collect souls. ”
    “ God, ” Jess said, running a hand through his hair, blinking. “ What does it do with the souls it takes? ”
    I shrugged. “ Depends. Some are
taken to Its lair, of course. Others ascend. I don ’ t really know what happens to them after that. ”
    “ But
you collect souls yourself. ”
    “ No.
I can mark a soul for Valhalla. The souls I do not mark? I ’ m not sure what happens to them. ”
    “ I
don ’ t understand, ” Jess said, shifting his legs, moving into a crouch, legs splayed wide, resting
his arms on his thighs. “ If you ’ re a goddess, you ’ re
part of the — you know — the afterlife. ”
    “ I ’ m sorry to disappoint you, but there isn ’ t one cohesive system that accounts for everything in the
universe. There are other worlds, worlds apart from the mortal life you know on
earth. There are worlds beneath this world and above. Each of these worlds has
a history and a litany of gods and demons, mortal creatures, and immortals. ”
    Jess shook
his head. He rose to his feet and began pacing. “ This
is crazy. It ’ s just crazy. ”
    “ I
know it must sound crazy, but the universe is a swirl of strange worlds and
strange creatures, full of unexplained and inexplicable things. On some level,
you must know this. ”
    “ Yeah,
I guess I do. I guess I ’ ve learned that on the battlefield. It ’ s one of the hardest things to accept in combat. You can
draw battle lines on a map, you can plan a mission down the last detail, but
the real thing is, well, it ’ s a mess. ”
    He took my
breath away. He stood there, silhouetted against the star struck night sky,
puzzling over the mysteries of the universe with me, as if it were quite
natural. He was overwhelming and captivating and completely attractive.
    “ I
know this is overwhelming, Jess, ” I said, getting to my feet and trying to keep my voice steady and reassuring, “ but you don ’ t need to work out the mysteries of the universe right now.
We have a bigger, more immediate problem. ”
    Jess just
looked at me, his jaw set as if he were bracing for my next words.
    “ Death
has an overdeveloped sense of smell. It ’ s
a relentless tracker. ”
    “ That
makes sense I guess, ” Jess said, uncomprehending and so sweetly innocent.
    “ I ’ m afraid, well, it ’ s
possible that It has your scent now, ” I said, meeting his eyes, “ It ’ s angry with me for setting in motion a chain of events
that saved the girl. It was counting on having her soul, and I believe It will want revenge. An accounting. ”
    “ What
are you saying? That It will find the girl and kill
her? ”
    My heart
filled with pity and some other, welling, crashing emotion that I had no words
for. “ No, Jess, ” I said, shaking my head sadly, “ I ’ m saying that It wants you, and if I don ’ t find a way to stop it, Death will find you, and kill you. ”
    “ Oh. ”
    “ That ’ s why you can ’ t
go back to your unit just yet. I have to find a way to keep Death from
following you there. ”
    “ Can
you do that? ”
    “ I
will, Jess, ” I said, going to him. I put my hands on his shoulders,
turning him to face me. “ I ’ ll do everything in my power to free you from Death. I
promise. ”
    Jess
stepped away from my touch. That muscle in his jaw twitched, and his fists were
clenched. I ’ d frightened him, moving so close, so fast.
    "We
should get some sleep," I said, stepping away from him. It hurt to see the
fear in his eyes, but I shouldn ’ t have expected anything else. He was only human, after
all. I busied myself building a bed using Jesse ’ s
emergency blanket, kicking away stones that might dig into his flesh while he
slept.
    When it was
complete, I stretched out on the blanket