Shielded: A Valkyrie Saga Book 1

Trapped - Chapter 25

If you didn't count the wolf that was pacing in front of us, I was the only one that was fully conscious. I was so over loaded with worry that my mind was fuzzy and blank. Ray's screams as she selflessly gave her life force over to save my twin will be something I will never forget. They will haunt my dreams for years to come. 

She has yet to even stir since she passed out cold, but she still has a pulse. Max had slumped over Connor's chest and his shield had dissipated the moment that Ray wasn't giving him a power boost. He had forced himself to check Con's pulse and the sealed bullet wound before sitting back and resting his head against one of Connor's biceps. Con had woken up enough to survey our surroundings and reach out to hold Ray's cold hand before falling asleep with exhaustion after being healed so forcefully. I had picked Ray's limp body up and cradled her in my arms as I sat down next to Max and my brother, ensuring to place her hand back in Connor's grasp. 

And that is how we still were, thirty minutes later when the cavalry finally arrived.

At least ten powerful Valkyrie from the Blade and Royal Guard Clans burst through the stairwell doors and demanded to know what happened. Noland Smith, the highest ranking Blade Clan member that had been taken, explained how we had just appeared out of nowhere to disable three of their kidnappers but that a fourth had opened fire, hitting Connor. Noland then told them how Ray had powered up Max through his shield and when he had tried to stop her, all four of us had simply disappeared. However, they knew we were still here because they could see Max's shield for the first five minutes. But then his shield fell and they hadn't seen any sign of us since. 

That was because Ray had sealed us in the void and now we had no way back to the physical plane without her.

Elijah was among the party that was now demanding answers and he told everyone in the factory to be quiet before calling out to us. He emphasized that it was safe to reveal ourselves and that they were here to help us. I personally would love nothing more than to let Elijah take over and fix everything. 

In fact I needed him to tell me that it was going to be okay. That the woman I was falling for wasn't lying brain dead in my arms after sacrificing herself to save my other half. I needed Elijah to tell me that, because the only thing I could think about right now was Ray's face after Con interrupted us on the beach and it was slowly ripping my heart into pieces. God, I just wanted to show her how much she meant to me, how deep my feelings for her really were and instead I ended up breaking her heart. Because that is what her face had expressed. 

That I had fucked up not only her hard earned trust, but I had broken her heart.

Max roused at Elijah's calls and he tried to respond, but it was useless. We couldn't interact with the physical plane while sealed in the void. Ray had explained it before, but I didn't really believe it until everything that had happened tonight. Once Max came to the same conclusion that we weren't going to get any aid from the dozen people clearly visible before us, he started examining the limp girl in my arms. He pulled her eyelids open, checked her pulse, and even tried to shake her awake but Ray remained unresponsive. 

The wolf stopped pacing and started sniffing Ray's body while letting out this pitiful whine. Ray had met this Shifter mere moments before the shit had hit the fan, but he was already snared in her web. Now he was just as concerned about her as we were.

When Max didn't get any response from Ray, he turned his attention to Connor and thankfully had more luck with him. My brother wasn't happy about it, but he woke up and I have never been happier to see his grumpy scowl. He rubbed at his chest and my eyes dropped to the still pink scar that decorated the left side of his chest. Healing him, hadn't done anything to remove all of the blood he had lost and both him and Max looked like extra's out of some horror show.

"Fuck, that hurt," Connor mumbled and I let out a slightly hysterical laugh. He had been shot in the mother fucking chest - of course it hurt. Connor's eye then focused on Ray and he scrambled up to his knees to kneel in front of me. "Jesus Fuck, is she --"

"She is breathing," I stated simply because beyond that I just didn't know. Connor brushed her hair away from her face and ran his knuckles down her cheek. He then took one of her limp hands and examined her absolutely destroyed palms. They looked like she had held them to the inside of an oven. Even the gauze that had been wrapped around her left hand had been completely burned away.

"Why would she do that?" Connor asked in a strangled voice that was clogged with emotion. "Why would she put herself through that just to save me? She is a fucking female Valkyrie with five Gifts. I am a nobody. Why would she do that?" By the end Connor was yelling and the wolf started growing. He didn't like that my brother was yelling at the still unmoving woman, but I understood. Connor was trying to come to terms with the enormity of what Ray had done to save him.

"She did it because she thinks that you are special," I replied and felt a tear slip down my cheek.

"She did it because she is better than all of us," Max said in a soft voice and reached over to pull her feet into his lap. 

By this time the Valkyrie on the physical plane had organized into a line and were walking the entire factory floor with their hands spread out, clearly trying to find the invisible group of people. 

But it wouldn't work, we were trapped in the void until Ray woke up to bring us out. If she woke up.

--Blake

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A/N: Big shout out to @Polluticorn for pointing out a plot hole in chapter 4. I totally didn't catch it. Thanks for the help!

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