Valkyrie's Sacrifice (Academy of Immortals 3)

She laughs, and I have a flash of memory of her standing over me in that dormitory hallway on my hands and knees, fingers bleeding from picking up the glass that she dropped.

“Gods no, we can’t kill you, Hildi. No one can. That’s now how this game is played. There’s only one ending and you have to be there to see it through.” Her hands tighten and I struggle against her, fighting for air. “But, we can break you, use you, feed from you, until that day comes.”

Black spots hover over my eyes and I feel the graze of her teeth over my skin. A shudder runs through me; my body both wanting and fearing the plunge of her teeth. The venom, it’s overwhelming, consuming.

My gaze lands on Miya—spent and lost. If we don’t get out of here, and fast, we’ll all become like him and when it’s time to go to the City of Dis, that’s what we’ll be like. Weak and compromised. Across the room Armin is also caught in a headlock, while Rupert is pinned to the floor. Luke has blood pouring from his mouth, my dagger, dripping with blood, in his hand. Elizabeth no longer has her sword, instead it’s pressed against her throat by a massive vampire, baring his teeth.

My body falls limp, the loss of oxygen making it through my limbs, and Marielle tosses me across the room. I land with a crash against a table, my head banging into the wall. The sound of a shattering glass filters through the fog and I blink, barely awake.

I see Marielle coming—walking slowly, her hips swaying as she eyes me like her next meal. I scramble to get on my feet, for leverage, for something…and my fingers graze something pointed and sharp. I pick it up, feeling the slipperiness of blood, and hold the piece of mirror in front of me.

The Vampire Princess laughs. “You think that’ll stop me?”

I swallow, knowing it won’t. I tilt the mirror until I can see my eye reflected back and take a shot in the dark, whispering, “Help.”

“There’s no help here, Valkyrie. Just gluttony that leads to pain, that leads to desperation…” She looks

at her father, who smiles proudly. “Begging actually makes your blood sweeter. Did you know that?”

Again, I look into the mirror while balling my hand in a fist. Warmth surges from the ring, surging up my arm. A shadow moves in the mirror and again I plea, “We need your help.”

I don’t feel Marielle’s hand as she lifts me off the table, but I do see her dark soulless eyes. I hear the screams of my allies, my lovers, as the vampires descend.

And then, just before the pain, I feel nothing.

22

Luke

One minute I’m getting my ass kicked, the next I’m standing in a dark cabin staring at my four perplexed allies. Miya is on the floor, still unconscious. Hildi and Rupert both drop to the ground to check on him. I run my eyes over her to make sure she’s okay. Physically, yes. Emotionally…only the gods know.

“What the hell happened?” I ask, glancing down at the blade in my hand. It’s Hildi’s and it’s covered in vampire blood. I drop it on the wooden table a few feet away.

“I called to the Guardians for help,” Hildi says, trying to rouse Miya. “Sometimes Morgan comes to me through mirrors. My ring—it acts like a conduit or something.” She shakes the Samurai. “He’s not waking up.”

“He’s not going to,” a voice says. I reach for the dagger but stop when I see the face in the mirror.

“Professor Christensen?” Hildi asks. I stare at the man who I know as an ally of the Guardians. He had once been an administrator at the Academy. He’d vanished when Hildi killed Headmaster Gardener and Roland took over.

“It’s me,” he replies, “although not in the flesh.”

“Where are you? Where are we?” Armin asks.

“You’re in a safehouse inside Hell.”

“There’s a safehouse in Hell?” I ask, never having heard of this.

“It’s off the grid. A place for souls to hide while doing the gods' work. It’s for very limited use.” He glances at me. “Somewhere your father can’t see.”

Hildi stands and approaches the mirror. “What did you mean when you said Miya won’t wake up?”

He looks at the unconscious Immortal. “As you know, Miya is a man of incredible resolve. Years of enslavement and torture allowed him to create defense mechanisms to protect his body and soul. In the Third Circle, he pushed himself not to succumb to the vampire’s gluttony; fighting against the venom of desire and want. He retreated somewhere deep, somewhere inside his mind that he’s unable to withdraw from.”

“You’re saying he mediated himself to safety,” Rupert says.

“Something like that. He’s deep in a protective state.”

“How do we get him out of there?” Hildi asks.