“Faðir? I don’t know what’s happening to me.”
Quiet fury rolled off the man I’d only heard about in rumor. Nord. The last of the original berserkers. Odin’s chosen warrior. Alek’s father.
Despite the pulse of his anger, his voice was a controlled storm as he answered, “I never wanted this burden for you.”
“Who are you?” Sunday asked, her words thin and shaky.
Nord’s gaze slid to her, his expression a careful mask of control. The instant his focus landed on Sunday, Alek began to shake, his body seeming to swell and ripple as a deep snarl of warning left his lips and eyes that had started to fade from black bled dark once more.
“No.” Nord uttered the one word with such command the world around us fell silent.
He stared at his son, his gaze narrowing just slightly as thick chains wound around his wrists like coils of a snake before solidifying into two heavy shackles. But still he struggled against the hold on him, as though his monster couldn’t relinquish control.
“You would hobble your own son?” Alek’s rasp was filled with venom.
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to save you.”
That one statement took all the fight out of Alek. He dropped to his knees, his head bowed in what appeared to be shame.
“What are you doing to him?” Sunday screamed, attempting to run to Alek, but held in place by a bloodied and bruised Kingston.
“What I must.”
“It’s okay, Sunny.”
“No, he’s hurting you.” Tears shone in Sunday’s eyes.
“He’s protecting you because I cannot.”
“But you can. You just did. I just watched you destroy five fucking demons in less than two minutes.”
“Sunny... the berserker can’t be trusted. I looked at Kingston and saw only a monster. In that moment, he was nothing more than a rival, a threat. What if it had been you? What if I hadn’t stopped?”
“No, you were just trying to protect me.”
“And I’d do it all over again. But if you knew the stories I’d been told. The people caught in the crossfire of an untrained berserker...” His voice broke, and he flicked his gaze to his father.
Nord strode forward, the rings on each of his fingers catching the light as he placed his hand on top of his son’s head. “So you understand what needs to happen?Whyit needs to happen?”
“Yes, Faðir.”
“Then stand and come with me. It is not safe for you here now.”
“What? No. NO! Alek!”
Sunday thrashed in Kingston’s hold, narrowly breaking free, but not in time to stop what was happening. I caught her in my arms, keeping her from doing something she couldn’t take back. She’d be killed on sight if she went through that portal uninvited.
“You can’t, Sunday. I’ll not allow it.”
“I hate you,” she spat at me, her words harsh but deserved.
I clenched my jaw and tightened the hold I had on her, not letting her see how deeply those three words cut me.
As he got to his feet, Alek turned his head and leveled Sunday with a tortured glance. “I love you, Sunny.” His eyes locked on mine. “Take care of her.”
And then he was gone. Vanished through a portal as if he’d never been there at all.
Sunday became a wild thing in my arms. A tempest bound in flesh.