Dreams of a Dark Warrior

questioned his ruler’s actions from the beginning and had stood up to him before. There was talk that Treves could seize the throne whenever he felt like it.”
    Which was why Philip had already had an assassin waiting in the wings. When Treves had disobeyed Philip’s command to take the castle, the king had ordered him poisoned.
    For choosing me over a victory, Treves had paid with his life. …
    The Valkyrie’s gaze grew distant, her eyes flickering color. When she faced him once more, she said, “Lemme ask you, Magister—have
you
ever stood up to your boss before?”
    Earlier he’d suspected that this tale was all part of a setup, serving her agenda. Now she’d just confirmed his suspicion.
    While Declan had been relaxing his guard with her, she’d been working him over, every word she’d spokencarefully chosen. “If I don’t act like your knight, then I’m a lapdog?” In a disgusted tone, he said, “Perhaps I should betray everything I’ve ever known for you?”
    “I could make you happier than the Order does.” So sure of herself.
    “I’m not in this for
happiness,
Valkyrie. And I don’t question commands, because I believe in the objective—protecting humankind.
My
kind.”
    “I think you want to leave all this behind to be with me. Chase, I’m only waiting on you.”
    “Abandon my mission?
Never,
Valkyrie! Who would do this work if not for me?” His gloved hands fisted. No one had ever infuriated him like she did! He was supposed to be emotionless by nature. He injected those numbing concoctions every night. So why were these rages still taking him over?
    Without thought, he stormed to his filing cabinet, yanking out a worn file of pictures—photos of the casualties in this war. If he ever doubted his purpose or resented the pain in his battle-worn body, he brought out this folder. Nothing could solidify his resolve more effectively.
    He wanted to show her what he fought against, and to observe her reaction.
To see for myself that she won’t even blink.
    “If it wasn’t for me, then the pack of viper shifters that hit this orphanage”—he tossed a set of four photos onto the desk—“would still be targeting easy prey.” The graphic pictures depicted the bodies of children and nuns, swollen and fed upon. “They’d been dragged from their beds in the middle of thenight, then envenomed until paralyzed. They couldn’t even scream.”
    She peered down at them, her lips thinned.
    “Or how about this?” He flung another picture in front of her. This one showed mauled Wendigo victims with their limbs ripped apart, their bones cracked open. “The Wendigos had sucked out the marrow while their prey was still alive. I destroyed every single one in that pack. Even the humans who’d been transformed into their kind.”
    As if she sensed she’d do well not to say anything, the Valkyrie remained silent.
    The next set of pictures made him rock on his feet; his mother and father tied up on the floor, their flesh consumed to the bone. Their expressions frozen in terror forever. “What about the Neoptera?” he demanded, his voice ragged. “I’ve eradicated dozens of them during my twenty years with the Order.”
    For some reason, he shoved the picture of his parents in front of her.
    And, damn her, her eyes flickered with sympathy. He slammed his fist down on the desk, bellowing, “Don’t you fuckin’ dare feel sympathy for them! They were mere mortals, beneath your notice!”
    “Of course I feel sympathy!” She shot to her feet, bristling. “That’s why I’ve killed as many of those creatures as I’ve come across! You’re locking up immortals who would be your allies—”
    “Ally with you? You’re
indolent
. Your own sister said that all you do is fight needlessly and get high.” They were toe-to-toe.
    “Oh, you’re one to talk about getting high, Major Tom! You’re flying out of this atmosphere most days.”
    He ignored that. “You serve no purpose, have
no
reason to exist.”
    Again that flash of hurt shone in her eyes. “I have a purpose, you asshole! Ever heard of Cruach, the god of human sacrifice and cannibalism? Every five hundred years, he rises, bent on turning all of humanity into maddened cannibal killers. Alongside my sister,
I
fight him.
Me!
I’ve faced him twice before. Only this time, he’s going viral. We’re talking apocalypse.”
    Declan had heard of Cruach before, but they had limited intel on the being.
Yet another immortal threat. Yet more