Title
Enemies Eternal, Book II of The Road to Ragnarök
Author
Rochelle L. Wilcox
Genre
Romantic Fantasy
Book Blurb
Awaking alone in a strange hotel room, her memories of the last six weeks only vague images of places and people she has never seen and does not know, Lia longs for her old life. But that life is gone. As she learns who to fear and who to trust, Lia is forced to again flee Los Angeles and seek refuge with Freyr, Freyja and Will on the other side of the earth. There, the gods who have drawn Lia into the world of myth fight the undead and even part the sea in their resolve to protect Lia from family members who choose violence to keep the secret of their family’s existence. As Freyr and Freyja begin to see signs that Ragnarök approaches, Lia learns that she may be the key to the gods’ success — or failure — in that final battle, even as she struggles with the knowledge that Freyr’s love for her, like her life, can be only a moment in time for a man who has lived since time began.
Excerpt
They all turned, almost in unison, to look out at the lake. The sun hung in the sky directly overhead, throwing a harsh light on the waves that pounded the shore. Wind whipped Lia’s hair, lifting it up and slapping it into her face.
“Do we have time?” Freyr asked Freyja after pausing for a moment to check around them.
“He’s still a couple of miles away,” she told him with a nod.
“Then we go below.” Freyr’s voice had lost any hint of uncertainty.
Freyr and Freyja clasped hands and faced the lake. Chanting in an ancient language that sounded vaguely Scandinavian, they began to utter phrases and sentences in unison. They started with their free hands hanging loosely by their sides but after a few seconds their hands rose above them in a pose that long has signified both power and surrender.
They stood in power.
Even the Earth — ever her own mistress, slave to no one — bowed to them today. Under the onslaught of their will, she shuddered and gave way. The wind slowed and seemed to flow around the group instead of through them. And then gradually, reluctantly it seemed, the lake changed as they held their hands in the air and chanted their solemn command.
A tube began to form in front of them, small where the water met the land but growing wider as it burrowed into the lake. Almost as if a clear plastic pipe had been shoved deep into its heart, the shimmering blue water of the lake simply moved aside, succumbing to the pathway that Freyr and Freyja created. After a few minutes, a road led into the heart of the lake.
Lia’s heart pounded in her chest. She looked at her companions in awe, watching a miracle unfold before her. She thought of Moses, of God’s rescue of his People by parting the Red Sea, and wondered if they felt then as she did now. Except that Freyr and Freyja weren’t gods. She didn’t know what they were, but she knew that much.
And although Lia had just witnessed the impossible, she wasn’t surprised by what she had seen. The glimmers of memory that had escaped the hidden recesses of her mind told her that Freyr and Freyja could do this and much more. Lia’s heart beat even harder. She had just witnessed undeniable confirmation of the incredible powers of the strange group who had declared her to be one of them.
“Lia, are you okay with this?” Freyja turned around to yell the words over the roar of the water they were holding at bay. “I promise we won’t let you get hurt.”
“I know Freyja,” Lia said with a soft smile. “I remember enough to know that you will do anything to keep me safe. I’m ready.”
Freyja looked at Will. “Freyr is going to lead you in and hold up the passage in front. I’ll hold it up here until we’re safely inside. Stay close to him. If something goes wrong he can keep you in a bubble.”
“Will you be okay? Should I stay with you?” Will’s voice sounded worried for the first time today.
“No, silly man,” Freyja answered with a wink. “I can handle this.”
“Let’s go, now,” Freyr said in an insistent tone. “He’s too close to debate this.” He turned to Freyja. “Now?”
“Now,” she said.
Freyja let go of Freyr’s hand and raised both hands high into the air, chanting with more fervor than before. He started walking into the lake bed, mud wrapping around his feet like a wet towel. Lia followed, Will close behind her. Looking back at Freyja once, Lia wondered if Will had good reason to worry about leaving Freyja behind.
“Be careful, Freyja,” Lia said quietly, almost hoping that she wouldn’t hear her.
“I always am, Lia,” Freyja responded between the words of her ancient song.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B9YN2DRB?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_1&storeType=ebooks
The prequel, Fickle Fate, is available to anyone who signs up for my newsletter at https://rochellewilcox.com. Fifty years before Freyr met Lia, launching The Road to Ragnarök, the Norse Goddess of love Freyja met Will. Before him, she had fallen in love only once in the millennia she has walked the earth. But if she tells her family’s secret to Will, the man who somehow captured her heart, her family will never forgive her. It will start a war she may not win.
Author Biography
Rochelle Wilcox was born and raised in Las Vegas, where she learned at an early age the value of fantasy and escape. Raised by a single mom — one of the first women trained to deal poker in the early 70's — Rochelle spent more time in casinos than most adults. She and her husband decided to leave the desert behind and raise their sons in Northern California, where they spend as much time on the water as they can.
Despite her lifelong passion for story-telling, Rochelle's path took her to law school and then to a practice focused on media law and appeals. But her love of writing wasn't sated with briefs bound by legal principles and a fealty to facts. And so she set to paper the story that had been playing in her mind for years, based on the Norse mythology she loved as a child and built around her favorite character — the Norse God of Love, Freyr.
Rochelle has been working for 13 years on her four-part series, The Road to Ragnarök. Book I (Lost Long) relaunched on August 26, 2022, to be followed by the launch of Book II (Enemies Eternal) on September 20, Book III (Alive Again) on October 18, and Book IV (Heavy Heart) on November 15. As this epic tale unfolds, Freyr will learn that Lia’s love and her unexpected powers will be the key to the fate of the Norse gods in the battles they’ll face in Ragnarök, and that his very survival will depend on her.
Rochelle plans to retire from practicing law at the end of the year and focus full time on writing. The next series, tentatively titled Tales of the Vanir, will pick up where The Road to Ragnarök leaves off.
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