Protector (Night War Saga Book 1) Read online

  Protector

  Night War Saga: Book One

  by

  S.T. Bende and Leia Stone

  Table of Contents

  BACK COVER COPY

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  MANGE TAKK!

  ALSO BY S.T. BENDE

  ALSO BY LEIA STONE

  Night War Saga

  Protector

  Copyright © 2017, Leia Stone and S.T. Bende

  Cover Art by: Alerim

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage system without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  First publication: 2017, Leia Stone and S.T. Bende

  Stone, Leia

  Bende, S.T.

  Protector

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For information on reproducing sections of this book or sales of this book go to www.stbende.com or www.leiastone.com .

  Back Cover Copy

  Love. Honor. Protect.

  As an Environmental Studies major, Allie knows the planet is in trouble—a series of natural disasters recently rocked the northern hemisphere, and species across the globe are going extinct. What Allie doesn’t know is that her world’s decline is a result of an ancient battle called the Night War—the Norse goddess Nott’s crusade to control the weakest of the light realms. And Allie most definitely doesn’t know that her existence is the only thing stopping Nott from dragging the earth into total darkness.

  When four gorgeous guys show up claiming to be Allie’s Asgardian protectors, she thinks they’re delusional. And when they order her to hunt down the pieces of an immortal weapon, she’s convinced they’re insane. But when Allie’s attacked, the guys’ crazy stories of demigods and dark elves begin coming together. And Allie’s not sure what scares her more—losing her life to the Goddess of Night . . . or losing her heart to one of her protectors.

  Let the hunt begin.

  ALSO BY LEIA STONE

  MATEFINDER TRILOGY (Optioned for film)

  Matefinder: Book 1

  Devi: Book 2

  Balance: Book 3

  HIVE TRILOGY

  Ash: Book 1

  Anarchy: Book 2

  Annihilate: Book 3

  NYC MECCA SERIES

  Queen Heir: Book 1

  Queen Alpha: Book 2

  Queen Fae: Book 3

  MATEFINDER NEXT GENERATION

  Keeper: Book 1

  Water Blessed

  Stay in touch with Leia: www.amazon.com/author/leiastone

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/leia.stone/

  ALSO BY S.T. BENDE

  Meet the God of War and his Norse crew in THE ÆRE SAGA.

  THE ÆRE SAGA: PERFEKT ORDER

  THE ÆRE SAGA: PERFEKT CONTROL

  THE ÆRE SAGA: PERFEKT BALANCE

  Meet the God of Winter and his Norse crew in THE ELSKER SAGA.

  THE ELSKER SAGA: TUR (a novella)

  THE ELSKER SAGA: ELSKER

  THE ELSKER SAGA: ENDRE

  THE ELSKER SAGA: TRO

  THE ELSKER SAGA: COMPLETE BOXED SET

  See the crews together in the bonus Ære/Elsker crossover novella . . .

  THE ASGARDIANS

  Get a free copy of TUR and stay up to date with the latest news from S.T. Bende by signing up for her NEWSLETTER!

  DEDICATION

  For everyone who fights to protect Midgard—you are our heroes.

  CHAPTER ONE

  “AND THAT IS WHY it’s never a good idea to upset a frost giant.” Professor Millan set down her notes and peered at us from behind thin-framed spectacles. “All right, class, that’s it for today. Read through the sections on Svartalfheim and Muspelheim in your text, and next week, we’ll finish our unit on the dark realms of Norse folklore.”

  I slammed my Classical Mythology text shut and jumped to my feet, eager to be done for the day. It was Friday, which meant instead of hitting the library like we usually did after school, my roommate Mallory and I had an intense afternoon of party prep ahead. Northern Washington University was known more for its liberal arts program than its party scene, but Mallory was from Bel Air, and she’d carved out a reputation as social queen. Her friend was hosting a party at his off-campus apartment tonight, and Mallory insisted it was not to be missed.

  “Come on, Allie. You and I are going shopping,” Mallory declared. She shoved her books into her backpack and led the way through the aisle of desks. “I saw this red A-line mini on Main that would be to die for with your legs. I’ll show you.”

  As I made my way through the throng of jostling students, I held my breath and imagined I was inside of a thick bubble. I was super sensitive to energy, and my classmates’ pre-weekend cocktail of elation and anxiety hit me hard. The trio of sorority girls to my right gave off pulses of anticipation as they whispered about the evening’s parties, while a quiet guy to my left sent out desolate vibes. A guy by the door beamed a euphoric white light, and someone behind me vibrated orange—probably from too much coffee. I’d been able to see other people’s energy signatures for as long as I could remember, and I’d never understood why, or what I was supposed to do with the overload of information that came at me twenty-four hours a day. Over the years, I’d developed some tools to keep my sanity. But I was only a few months into my freshman year at NWU, and figuring out how to deflect so many signatures at once made for a steep learning curve. I’d spent the bulk of my first few weeks on campus completely and totally wiped out.

  Kind of like I felt right now.

  With a breath, I went deep inside my mind. I closed down the seven energy centers that ran from my head to my tailbone, creating a barrier between myself and the world. Then I followed Mallory out of the classroom. Once outside, I took a few steps away from the mass of students to pull myself together. My head swam as I gently evicted the unwanted buzzing from my space.

  “You okay?” Mallory’s perfect espresso eyebrows pinched as she looked at me with concern. I had a terrible poker face, so it didn’t surprise me that I’d failed to hide my discomfort. I shoved my hand into my backpack and pulled out a bar of dark chocolate. The stuff grounded my frazzled energy; that was why I ate so much of it. Or so I told myself.

  “Sorry, I forgot to eat.” I popped a chunk into my mouth, then held the bar out to my roommate. “Want some?”

  “No, thanks.” The worry on Mallory’s face turned up a notch. “Should we stop and pick up lunch before we go shopping? You really don’t look that well.”

  It was two in the afternoon; I’d just wait and have an early dinner. I shook my head and followed Mallory out to the parking lot, crossing my fingers that she’d let it drop. My extra ability wasn’t something I talked about. My grandmother had sworn
me to secrecy about my gift when she took me in after my mom died. According to Gran, the world wasn’t safe for people like me. And since a sojourn in a padded cell wasn’t my dream vacay, I stuck to my word. I’d always figured at some point, I’d find a purpose for my odd skill set; maybe figure out how to use it to help people. But so far, that point hadn’t come. Maybe someday.

  “Allie?” Mallory pressed. “Are you sure you don’t want food?”

  “I’m good,” I assured my still-frowning roommate. “Come on, we have shopping to do.”

  That made Mallory smile. “You know it,” she agreed. She unlocked her car with a cheery hair toss. I slid into the passenger’s seat of the black Mercedes and stared out the window as the tiny town of Skykomish passed by. The city didn’t have much besides our school and a ten-lift ski resort that brought in some tourist traffic, but it did have a few shops on Main that were run by longtime—some fourth or fifth generation—locals. It was a sweet little town, and I looked forward to calling it home for the next four years.

  “How was the rest of your day?” Mallory asked as she drove. “Did your Environmental Studies professor give you a lot of weekend homework?”

  “Not really. She wanted us to write a paper about the earthquakes in Mexico last month—I guess that fault line wasn’t expected to have a seismic shift for years. Crazy, huh?”

  “As crazy as the dormant volcanoes erupting this week in Hawaii.” Mallory frowned.

  “Exactly. This morning’s lecture was on the increase in non-predicted natural disasters. There’s been a surge over the past few years.” I glanced out the window at the wall of redwoods bordering the road into town. I hoped whatever was happening to geo-plates and volcanoes wasn’t going to happen in the Pacific Northwest. I liked our trees.

  “Yeah, it’s a whole lot of weird lately.” Mallory slid easily into an empty parking space on Main and turned off the engine. She pulled her credit card out of her purse and waved it in my face. “Come on, Allie. Let’s do some damage.”

  Laughter bubbled from my throat as I stepped out of the car and slung my backpack over my shoulder. Mallory was a trust fund baby, and she spent her dad’s money like it would never end. I, on the other hand, had been admitted to NWU with a full-ride scholarship. And since Gran had recently passed away, I needed every cent of that money to get me through four years of college. Trust fund baby, I was not. And I was totally okay with that.

  Mallory shook her head as I dropped down to retie my Converse. “Please let me buy you some proper shoes.” Her perfectly upturned nose wiggled, but it only served to make me laugh. Her energy was pink, and her heart was in the right place. She was a good egg.

  “Proper, as in four-inch heels that will lead to my death?” I extracted my long, light-blonde mane from the hair-eating backpack strap gnawing at my shoulder. Down, boy.

  “Yes. Exactly. You need some proper, sexy, footwear.” Mallory linked arms with me as we walked down Main Street. “You’re never going to land a decent guy if you’re always wearing running shoes.”

  I shrugged. “First of all, these aren’t running shoes; they’re Converse. There’s a pair in every rock star’s closet across the world. Secondly, not all of us came to college to land a gu—Oh. My. God.” I stopped in my tracks, my mouth falling open. Since Mallory was still linked to my elbow, my momentum shift yanked her to a stop. She turned to stare at me in alarm.

  “What?” she asked. “What is it?”

  I had no idea. But I needed to find out. The shop two doors down was lit up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Something inside its walls radiated the most brilliant energy I had ever seen.

  “Allie?” Mallory pressed. “What’s up?”

  “Huh?” I shook myself from my fog. “Oh, uh, nothing. I thought I saw this guy. But I didn’t.” I dropped Mallory’s arm as I moved slowly toward the mesmerizing light. What in the world would have the power to do this?

  Mallory scoffed when I reached the shop door. “Eww, antique shop. No way. We need clean, new clothes.”

  She may have felt that way, but I had to go inside. I needed to see what the light was. “No worries,” I said. “I’ll meet up with you. This should only take a few minutes.”

  She seemed unsure as she checked the time on her cell. No doubt she was wondering if she had enough time to go into the shop with me and the shop she wanted before we had to go home to get ready for the party. She must have decided she only had time for one stop because she chirped, “Okay, but hurry up!” With a wave, my roommate scampered away, leaving me in front of the glorious, radiating light.

  A handwritten sign on the shop door read, “Back in ten minutes.” I tried the handle, and the door opened easily. The owner must have come back early and forgotten to take the sign down.

  The overhead bell chimed as I walked through the door. Inside, I was overcome by beautiful energy. The vibrations pulsing inside this shop were so intense, I could barely see two feet in front of me. Whoa. Lock it down, Allie. With a slow breath, I re-grounded myself and closed down my sixth energy center, dimming the extra sight I had inside my head. My skin tingled as I waded through the vibrant buzz. Since this kind of pure power could only come from a living thing, I scanned the shop, looking for a person, or an animal, or maybe a really rare plant. But my eyes came to rest on a glass case holding a thick, white-blue crystal on a delicate silver chain. The stone was definitely the source of power—when I put my hands to the glass, the pulse nudged my palms, jumping as if it wanted me to pick it up. Interesting. I leaned in to get a closer look, and the energy twinkled and spun. It danced along the crystal, like glitter. It was mesmerizing. I had to have this thing. Right now.

  “See something you like?” The soft, female voice spoke from behind the counter.

  My focus snapped up, pulling me from my jewelry-induced trance. On the other side of the glass was a stocky woman with silver-grey hair pinned in a bun atop her head. As I studied her, my fingers inched unthinkingly toward the crystal. The possessive surge was illogical, and probably came off as creepy, so I pulled my hand back to my side. The woman looked between me and the necklace, and her eyes crinkled as if she understood. Maybe she did.

  “Oh! You’re here. I’m sorry, I saw the sign, but I just let myself in,” I said.

  “That’s quite all right, dear.” The woman smiled at me. With her kind eyes and silvery bun, she could have been someone’s sweet grandmother. “What can I do for you?”

  “This necklace. I’d like to buy it.” I never splurged on things I didn’t need, but there was something about this necklace that made all budgeting sense fly straight out the window.

  “Good choice. I just got that in last week. It’s very rare. Came with a traveler from Trondheim, Norway.” My heart thudded as the woman unlocked the case. This was laughable—who got this excited over a necklace?

  “I’m asking forty dollars for it.” The woman laid the gem on a felt cloth atop the case. Relief poured through me that she wasn’t asking hundreds. My fingers inched forward—I needed to touch it.

  Before my fingertips reached the crystal, a bell chimed from behind. The shopkeeper looked over my shoulder and raised her hand in greeting. “Mange takk,” she said as the mailman came forward to deliver a handful of envelopes. “I think there are some packages in the back, but I’ll send them with you tomorrow, if that’s all right.”

  “Of course, ma’am. Have a nice day.” The mailman waved as he exited the store.

  “Will you excuse me for a moment, dear? I’m going to take these envelopes to the back. You don’t mind keeping an eye on that necklace for me, do you?” The corners of the shopkeeper’s eyes crinkled as I shook my head. She ducked into a back room as I stared at the magnificent crystal in front of me. My fingertips hovered over the bluish gem, and with a surge of power, the stone vibrated. The pulsing I’d felt before amplified until the stone exuded a strength so powerful that it shook. Normally, I’d back the heck off from anything with above-average energetic c
harges, but this was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. It was so raw, so pure . . . so familiar.

  Without thinking, I reached down to clasp my fingers around the necklace. A bolt of blue light shot from the crystal, piercing my chest and sending a jolt of white-hot light up and down my spine. My body vibrated, matching the resonance of the gem, and for a moment, I felt invincible—like I could singlehandedly take on the entire world. But as quickly as it had come, the energy drained away, and I was left feeling exhausted, depleted, and weak.

  That was when everything went black.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “ALLIE, I KNOW I said the red A-line would be your jam, but there’s also this V-neck sweater dress that would totally show off your—oh my God! Allie, are you okay?” Mallory’s panicked scream broke through the blackness. Heels clacked rapidly across the shop floor, each step pinging in my ear like the percussion section of a very enthusiastic middle school band. Why was Mallory running so loud? My roommate’s angular face swam into focus as I dragged my eyelids open. They felt so heavy. I lifted my hand to rub them, but my movements were slow. My arm felt so heavy, too. In fact, all of me felt heavy, like the earth’s gravity had sucked me down and pinned me in place. What was going on?

  “Allie!” Mallory shouted. “Can you hear me?”

  “The whole county can hear you,” I groaned. My abs clenched as I tried to sit up, but my chest still felt like a Saint Bernard, or possibly an elephant, had taken up residence on my ribcage. The pressure hurt like a mother. “Ugh, I can’t move. Can you give me a hand?” With tremendous effort, I raised my arm just enough to clasp Mallory’s palm. Her face blurred in and out of focus as she helped me sit up. When I was finally upright, I released my roommate’s hand and pressed my fingers to my temples, praying the pressure would ebb the throbbing ache. Ouch. I’d been in some bad energy situations, but I’d never blacked out before. It was scary. “What happened?”