Dreams of a Dark Warrior

Regin’s jaw dropped, and the fracas ground to a halt. Chase was
huge,
and scarred, and he looked
dangerous
. His muscles rippled, his eyes burning with ferocity as his gaze locked on her.
    And gods, she was so freaking in love with him.
    “Chase!” She ran to him, and he caught her up in his arms, clasping her tight. “You’re alive!” She rubbed her cheek against his chest. “And uh, really
strong
.” He loosened his grip on her. She drew back to see him casting her foes a look of such pitiless menace that even the stronger ones backed down.
    Then he set her behind him, bowing up his chest, a low growl rumbling from it.
A creature with which one did not fuck.
    Once the beings retreated in a wave—cloistering themselves behind the gates, as if that’d protect them—he turned to her. He took several deep breaths, grappling for control. Finally, he grated, “And what were you doin’, Regin?”
    She jutted her chin. “About to grease every last one of them.”
    He cast her a chiding look. “And you did no’ tie one hand behind your back? Where’s the sport, lass?” Thenhe wrapped the crook of his arm around her nape. “You’re no’ goin’ to fight my battles. I’ve done these things, and I’m ready to pay the price.”
    “The hell! I’ve finally got you—you think I’m letting you go that easily?”
    “We can’t run forever. I have to face anyone who’d challenge me.”
    “Just hear me out. While you were napping, I was busy chatting up our allies. Didn’t you know—your woman’s a golden-tongued ambassador! My sisters always said I graduated from the shock-and-awe school of diplomacy, but joke ’em if they can’t take a fuck, right?”
    Chase nodded gravely. “Joke ’em.”
    “So anyway, we’ve got some wicked strong allies lined up. These tossers here just missed the memo. The Valkyrie are all on board; a slight against you is a slight against them. All’s forgiven with the witches. In fact, Malkom Slaine even feels bad for fileting you! He and Carrow literally shuddered to think what their lives would have been like if you hadn’t dispatched Carrow to hell. There was talk of sending you a card at Beltane! So the Valks are down, and the witches are down. Oh, and I talked to Brandr. Get this—”
    “The berserkers are down?”
    “Way to steal my thunder, Chase.”
    “Regin, I can’t depend on you or any others to fight my battles. I made my own mistakes. That means I must also make sacrifices.”
    Nïx gave a delicate cough from the porch swing. “No one’s sacrificing anything.” She called out to any creature who still remained within earshot, “Declanthe Fierce is under
my
aegis. If you kill him, you risk my displeasure.” Lightning bolts scored the sunny sky like bomb blasts, sending beings scattering. Nïx called after them, “But by all means, smack him around!”
    Sunny day?
Sunny
— “What are you
doing
?” Regin shrieked to Chase. “Why aren’t you burning? Where are your fangs?”
    He rubbed his tongue over his teeth. “Do no’ have any.”
    “So how’d you heal?”
    When Nïx rose to enter the house, Regin grabbed Chase’s hand and hurried after her. “Whoa, there, soothsayer. How can he go out in the sun?”
    Nïx blinked. “Where’d everyone go? What were we talking about?” Her eyes went wide. “I remember! Chase is an immortal now.” She gazed at Brandr, Lucia, Natalya, and Thad. “We’ll all have an ice-cream cake to celebrate! Except for we don’t have a freezer!”
    “Nïx, why didn’t he turn into a vampire?”
    “I suppose because he never died.”
    Regin turned to him. “I get to
keep
you? You’re immortal!”
    “Aye, though I don’t understand how.”
    “I believe I do,” Brandr said. “While you were unconscious, I looked at your dog tags. The charm on the back of one is the mark of Wóden. You’ve carried it on a standard, a naval flag, a cavalry crest, and tattooed upon your chest. Your battle with the Pravus might just have been your two hundredth.”
    Declan’s heart started hammering. If this could be true …
    “I believe you earned ohalla, brother,” Brandr said. “The battle count must have been cumulative, the number following the soul, not the body.”
    “But Wóden wouldn’t gift me with it. Not after my deeds in the past.”
    Regin quickly said, “Let’s don’t ask too many—or really
any
—questions. You’re an immortal, and you’re a berserker. That’s all we need to know.”
Thank