Jane Godman - One Night With The Valkyrie

He hadn’t talked much about his brother, but it was clear he had wanted to find him. Maja understood responsibility. But there was more than duty in Adam’s eyes when he looked at the man in the photograph. There was an emotion so powerful it tugged at her heart. But there were other feelings as well, ones she couldn’t name. They were similar to the ones that made her want to wrap her arms around Tarek and protect him from harm.

“Was there an alternative to this?” she murmured.

Although they were in darkness, he turned toward her and she could see his face in the moonlight. He raised a questioning brow.

“Was there another way to help Tarek without putting yourself at risk?”

He lifted his good shoulder in a one-sided shrug. “You saw those guys who came to the mission. They weren’t playing nice. If they’d found Tarek, they would have killed him, because they suspect he knows the name of their leader. He can tell the world who the Reaper is.” Adam gave a mirthless laugh. “What they don’t realize is the world won’t listen to him.”

“What does that mean?”

He shifted position slightly, resting his good arm on the seat cushions behind her. “I read an article some months ago that speculated about the very thing that Tarek said. It suggested that the Reaper wasn’t driven by religious or political motivation. I wonder now if the anonymous author of that piece could have been Tarek’s father. Whoever wrote it believed the Reaper was a large consortium or group of businesses.”

“Some of the warriors in the great hall at Valhalla died fighting this thing you mortals call terrorism. They thought they were battling against an ideology. I don’t understand how they could have died because of something that was run by a business.”

“Exactly. The article I read was widely discredited for that reason. No one was able to believe such a thing could happen. Even though, throughout history, appalling atrocities have been committed for monetary gain, it was impossible to believe that acts as awful as the Reaper’s brand of terrorism could be done for profit.”

The boat had changed course and Adam’s face was shadowed from the moonlight, but she could tell his expression was troubled.

“But Tarek said his father had proof of this man’s identity?”

“And he was prepared to go public with his name.” Adam lowered his voice as he cast a glance toward where Tarek was still chatting eagerly with Ali. “He died the day after he spoke it out loud.”

“You knew that name.” Maja studied his profile as he turned to look out over the moonlit water. “When Tarek told it to us, you knew who he meant.”

Adam was silent for so long she wondered if he wasn’t going to answer her. “Knight Valentine is one of the best-known names in the business world. He is a billionaire property developer. No one in their right mind would believe him capable of something like this.”

“So you think Tarek’s father was wrong?”

Maja felt there was something more to this. Intuition wasn’t necessary to the Valkyries. They needed to be strong. Get in, get the job done, get out. That was what made them effective. More wasn’t required. But where Adam was concerned, Maja was developing an extra sense. Now and then, she could tune in to his feelings. She didn’t understand why that was, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. It was outside her sphere of experience to get so close to another person. But it was there. She was stuck with it. Right now, she sensed his turmoil and something more. She thought it might be anger.

“No, I don’t think he was wrong.” He turned back to face her. “I know Knight Valentine well—too well for my liking—and I know there is nothing he wouldn’t do for money or power.”

“How do you know him so well?”

“Knight Valentine is my stepfather.”

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