Night's Beauty (The Valkyrie's Passion Prologue): A Valkyrie/Shifter Romance by Renee Jordan Page A
Authors: Renee Jordan
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black purse to my stomach as Haleigh walked back to Kris. The big man put an arm about her slender frame. The floodlight mounted above the garage door made Haleigh's red hair seem to glow. She had such a wonderful hair color. Mine was black.
How boring.
I sometimes wondered if my parents named me Raven because that's how black my hair was. Just because I was fully Scandinavian didn't mean I had the golden-blonde hair we were famous for. I had the blue eyes, the height, and the strong cheekbones of a fierce, Swedish warrior-maid. My mom was the same. Whenever I thought about her, dead for nearly sixteen years, I pictured her as a warrior-woman, a Valkyrie watching down at me with my dad at her side.
He had been a logger, too, now that I thought about it.
A bear had killed them when I was five. We lived in a pretty remote house. Well, it was more of a cabin. The woods came right up to our backyard. I remembered little about the attack. The authorities said I witnessed it, but there was a hole in my mind. I remember being happy with mom and dad one moment, and then I remember the park ranger wrapping the blanket around my neck and wiping away the blood.
“Good night,” I waved, trying to banish those morbid thoughts. Seeing Kris stirred up memories of my dad.
I had dressed-up for the party, shedding my usual blue jeans and cute sweaters for a classy, black cocktail dress with spaghetti straps that left my shoulders bare to the cold, foggy night air. My heels clicked as I walked down the driveway to my car. It was a cheap Honda I got for a steal. My boss, Freddy, sold it to me for a measly $500 last year. It was a stocky, dependable car.
“Drive safe,” Haleigh waved as I opened my driver door.
“I will.”
I sank into my car and started it up. The dashboard clock read 12:15 PM. I yawned as I put the car into reverse. I had at least an hour drive back to Seattle. On the positive side, there wouldn't be any traffic on the return trip.
Kris had a long driveway surrounded by dark woods. But it was also wide; I performed a three-point turn so I didn't have to back the entire way down it. The driveway twisted down a hill, the house disappearing out of sight and plunging me into darkness. The fog rolled out of the surrounding woods in thick billows, illuminated white by my headlights.
I almost missed where the road started. I hit my breaks, my heart hammering. I quickly looked to the right and left. There was no traffic. I sighed in relief and made the turn onto the road. It wasn't much wider than Kris's driveway and wound down the mountain to Highway 516 that would take me to Covington and beyond.
I cranked up the music, listening to thudding R&B to keep me awake on the long drive back home. My phone, cradled in a mount on my dashboard, warned me that Highway 516 was one mile away and I had to make a left turn.
A few cars were traveling down the two lane highway. I yawned again, shifting in my seat, my fingers tapping the steering wheel to a Rhianna song. Lights drifted through the fog ahead as I neared the outskirts of Covington. The fog grew thicker, forcing me to slow down. A sea of white billowed before me, glowing as the mist reflected back my headlights.
A new light blossomed suddenly to my right. I blinked as a man glowing with an aura of pure, white light dashed in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes, my heart thudding in my chest. In the moment before my car struck him, I witnessed a broad-shouldered man, a thick, blond beard covering a strong chin. He was dressed in furs and clutched at a thin piece of wood thrust through his chest.
I hit him.
Or I should have. My car passed right through his glowing body. Light blazed inside my car as my engine died. Energy touched me. I shuddered as I was engulfed by white, and then darkness crashed down upon me.
~ ~ ~
The child played happily on the deck of the cabin. Her parents were laughing in the grassy meadow surrounded by dark trees. The mother was
How boring.
I sometimes wondered if my parents named me Raven because that's how black my hair was. Just because I was fully Scandinavian didn't mean I had the golden-blonde hair we were famous for. I had the blue eyes, the height, and the strong cheekbones of a fierce, Swedish warrior-maid. My mom was the same. Whenever I thought about her, dead for nearly sixteen years, I pictured her as a warrior-woman, a Valkyrie watching down at me with my dad at her side.
He had been a logger, too, now that I thought about it.
A bear had killed them when I was five. We lived in a pretty remote house. Well, it was more of a cabin. The woods came right up to our backyard. I remembered little about the attack. The authorities said I witnessed it, but there was a hole in my mind. I remember being happy with mom and dad one moment, and then I remember the park ranger wrapping the blanket around my neck and wiping away the blood.
“Good night,” I waved, trying to banish those morbid thoughts. Seeing Kris stirred up memories of my dad.
I had dressed-up for the party, shedding my usual blue jeans and cute sweaters for a classy, black cocktail dress with spaghetti straps that left my shoulders bare to the cold, foggy night air. My heels clicked as I walked down the driveway to my car. It was a cheap Honda I got for a steal. My boss, Freddy, sold it to me for a measly $500 last year. It was a stocky, dependable car.
“Drive safe,” Haleigh waved as I opened my driver door.
“I will.”
I sank into my car and started it up. The dashboard clock read 12:15 PM. I yawned as I put the car into reverse. I had at least an hour drive back to Seattle. On the positive side, there wouldn't be any traffic on the return trip.
Kris had a long driveway surrounded by dark woods. But it was also wide; I performed a three-point turn so I didn't have to back the entire way down it. The driveway twisted down a hill, the house disappearing out of sight and plunging me into darkness. The fog rolled out of the surrounding woods in thick billows, illuminated white by my headlights.
I almost missed where the road started. I hit my breaks, my heart hammering. I quickly looked to the right and left. There was no traffic. I sighed in relief and made the turn onto the road. It wasn't much wider than Kris's driveway and wound down the mountain to Highway 516 that would take me to Covington and beyond.
I cranked up the music, listening to thudding R&B to keep me awake on the long drive back home. My phone, cradled in a mount on my dashboard, warned me that Highway 516 was one mile away and I had to make a left turn.
A few cars were traveling down the two lane highway. I yawned again, shifting in my seat, my fingers tapping the steering wheel to a Rhianna song. Lights drifted through the fog ahead as I neared the outskirts of Covington. The fog grew thicker, forcing me to slow down. A sea of white billowed before me, glowing as the mist reflected back my headlights.
A new light blossomed suddenly to my right. I blinked as a man glowing with an aura of pure, white light dashed in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes, my heart thudding in my chest. In the moment before my car struck him, I witnessed a broad-shouldered man, a thick, blond beard covering a strong chin. He was dressed in furs and clutched at a thin piece of wood thrust through his chest.
I hit him.
Or I should have. My car passed right through his glowing body. Light blazed inside my car as my engine died. Energy touched me. I shuddered as I was engulfed by white, and then darkness crashed down upon me.
~ ~ ~
The child played happily on the deck of the cabin. Her parents were laughing in the grassy meadow surrounded by dark trees. The mother was
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