Dark Desire Read Online Free PDF Page A

anguished tone of his father’s voice forced Darrion to close the door to his hiding place. With his heart pounding in his ears, he peered through the tiny space between the wooden slats and watched on in horror.
    A Valkyrie stepped through what was left of the door. Her golden blade dripped with the blood of the dark elves she had slaughtered, and her hard, beautiful face was expressionless as she looked over his parents and sister as if they were nothing more than vermin.
    “Please,” his mother begged. “Spare us.”
    A sneer lifted the Valkyrie’s full lips and she stepped to the side as Odin walked in through the broken doorway, his one green eye surveying the room and all the people within it.
    Ara screamed when she saw him, burrowing her face under their mother’s hair. Odin was the god their parents had told them about, the god who haunted their nightmares. His mother had said that if they were ever naughty, the All-Father would swoop down on his eight-legged horse and carry them away forever.
    His father stepped in front of his mother and Ara, shielding them from the All-Father’s view.
    The god laughed, the sound booming around the small room. “You think you can protect your women from me?” he taunted, still laughing.
    “We only want a peaceful life. We only want to raise our child and teach her our ways.”
    Odin’s expression darkened, the room darkening in turn. Darrion felt his scalp prickle with fear, and he recoiled from the small hidden door.
    “Do you think we’d let you raise your spawn so she can hunt down and kill my people? Your entire species must be wiped from the face of the Nine Worlds.”
    Darrion’s mother whimpered, shuffling away from the Valkyrie, who had just taken a step closer to them all.
    “Please,” his father begged. “We won’t—” but his words died as the Valkyrie thrust her golden sword into his chest. His mother screamed uncontrollably. She dropped to her knees beside his father’s body, Ara falling from her arms and onto the floor beside her, sobbing.
    Darrion’s fingers dug into the rough wood beneath his fingers; the splinters burrowed into his skin, but he hardly felt the sharp stab. The sound of sobbing was suddenly cut off as the same golden blade pierced the hearts of both his mother and sister.
    Darrion clamped both hands over his mouth to stop the scream burning the back of his throat from breaking free. The blood of his family leaked out onto the floor, mingling to create one huge puddle—a deep, rich crimson, the same color as Darrion’s burgeoning rage.
    As he watched on, he could feel the hatred writhing beneath his skin, an almost living thing in his blood that demanded he avenge the death of his parents and his sister.
    Odin and his Valkyrie turned their backs and left the house as if what they had just done required not a single lingering glance.
    Once their shadows were gone and the sound of their retreating footsteps was nothing more than a distant memory, Darrion removed his hands from his mouth and the harsh, rough sounds of his breathing filled his ears. He stayed hidden until night fell—until he could be sure that Odin and his Valkyries were really gone.
    Eventually Darrion fell asleep, awaking only when hushed footsteps echoed on the cold, wooden floor. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he looked through the small crack in the hidden door and saw a man standing there, looking at the bodies of his family.
    “Such a waste,” he said in a low voice and turned to leave. Darrion could sense he wasn’t one of the Aesir. Taking a risk, he pushed open the door, revealing his hiding place.
    The man stopped abruptly, his shoulders tensing, but he didn’t turn around. Darrion scrambled to get to his feet, his muscles sore from being cramped up for so long. The man turned and Darrion got his first look at him.
    With his long gray hair and a flowing gray beard, the almost luminescent green of his eyes looked out of place on his otherwise