Valkyrie's Sacrifice (Academy of Immortals 3)

The question haunts me with every step.

Why am I allied with the side that will surely lose this war?

That has already lost two of their strongest players?

I know the answer, I muse, stepping over a fallen statue.

Stubbornness, mostly. Oppositional defiance is the other.

I refuse to be a pawn in this game—not for the gods. I’m well aware that there’s no circumventing their whims. But my father. The gods-damned Devil himself. Lucifer Morningstar. The fucking prick sent me here to be slaughtered and sacrificed. His son. His Nephilim son. He loathes the human in me and what better way to get rid of me than to toss me in a game I’d surely lose.

I push open a door and look inside. Nothing but a mess like every other room in this building.

“Anything?” Elizabeth asks.

“No.”

The walls whine, shuddering with a quake. I reach for the door frame, holding tight to keep upright. Elizabeth does the same across the narrow corridor. Our eyes lock as the tremor lasts longer than the one before. Understanding flickers between us.

We have to leave. The thought leaves an empty hole in my stomach.

As soon as the floors are stable, I say, “Elizabeth—”

“No,” she replies, dashing to the next door. She flings it open. Then darts to the next, continuing her search.

I run after her, striding down the stone floors on legs much longer than her own. She’s just flung open another door when I catch up, placing my hands on her shoulders.

“Elizabeth,” I spin her around, “we have to go. I know we aren’t what the Legion wants, but we’re better than nothing.”

Her eyes are glossy, tugging on that human heartstring I’m cursed with. I look away, up and over her head. Across the room something catches my eye. “What…”

I step around her and into the room. It’s Miya’s room. Bare and utilitarian. My eyes are glued to the painting on the wall. Unlike every other object in the Academy that has fallen, cracked, shattered or has been destroyed, it’s firmly affixed to the wall.

I hear Elizabeth follow behind me as I approach the painting. It’s a serene setting, lush with color. My eyes are drawn to the painting—but it’s more than that—it’s a feeling. Calm peacefulness rolls over me, a sensation I haven’t had in weeks. I reach out my hand to touch the canvas and the image blurs.

“Elizabeth,” I whisper, wondering if what is happening is real.

“I see it.”

The urge to step forward is strong, overwhelming really. I’m mid-step when another quake starts to ripple through the foundation. Elizabeth’s hand grips my arm, clinging to me. My heart seizes, knowing for certain that if I step through this portal, the Academy will fall and we’ll never get back.

“Hold onto me,” I tell her. “Don’t let me go all the way through.”

“What? What are you doing?” she asks, fear in her voice.

Without another word, I plunge my head through and shout, “Valkyrie! Hildi Axel! Are you here?”

The landscape swirls around me—I’m neither here nor there. The tug of both worlds is excruciating. Painful. My ears pound, and my skin stretches. I feel Elizabeth’s fingers digging into my arms and my legs wobble from the quake. I give it one more shot.

“Valkyrie!”

The tug from home drags me away from the portal. The sound of rushing fills my ears but then, faint, like I’m hearing it through a storm, “Luke!”

I feel the brush of fingertips, warm and strong. I grasp them, unsure who answered my call. There’s no time to check. I yank backwards, dragging myself out of the portal with such force that I fall to the ground. I land on both hard and soft, Elizabeth cursing in my ear. A second later, a weight lands on me, followed by a heavy blow.

I blink looking up into crystal blue eyes, our bodies plastered together.

“I found you.” I brush the hair off her face, trailing my fingers down her cheek. She’s warm, soft, real.