Aleksandra Read online

  Aleksandra

  Flight of the Night Witches, book 2

  Heidi Vanlandingham

  Shadowheart Press

  Aleksandra is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  * * *

  Aleksandra: © 2020 by Heidi Vanlandingham

  Contact: [email protected]

  Cover design © EDHGraphics

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  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Also by Heidi Vanlandingham

  For all Buy Links: www.heidivanlandingham.com

  * * *

  Western Trails series

  Trail of Injustice (1)

  Trail of Hope (2)

  Trail of Courage (3)

  Trail of Secrets (4)

  Mia’s Misfits (5)

  Mia’s Misfits is also in ABC Mail-Order Bride series

  Trail of Redemption (6)

  * * *

  American Mail-Order Bride series &

  Prequel to Mail-Order Brides of the Southwest

  Lucie: Bride of Tennessee

  Mail-Order Brides of the Southwest series

  The Gambler’s Mail-Order Bride

  The Bookseller’s Mail-Order Bride

  The Marshal’s Mail-Order Bride

  The Woodworker’s Mail-Order Bride

  The Gunslinger’s Mail-Order Bride

  The Agent’s Mail-Order Bride

  WWII

  Heart of the Soldier

  Flight of the Night Witches

  Natalya

  Aleksandra

  Of Mystics and Mayhem series

  In Mage We Trust

  Saved By the Spell

  Coming May 20, 2020

  The Curse That Binds

  Mistletoe Kisses

  Music and Moonlight

  Sleighbells and Snowflakes

  Angels and Ivy

  Nutcrackers and Sugarplums

  Box Sets Available

  Mail-Order Brides of the Southwest: 3-Book collection

  Mistletoe Kisses: 4-book collection

  Western Trails: 2-book collection

  Contents

  Newsletter Signup

  Glossary Terms

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Newsletter Signup

  Book 3, Flight of the Night Witches

  Heart of the Soldier

  In Mage We Trust

  Also by Heidi Vanlandingham

  About the Author

  About the Book

  Russian-Japanese pilot Aleksandra Rybakov searches for her place in the world and finds it as a Night Witch. After a fatal crash during the Battle of Kursk, she is offered a second life with the bonus of immortality by the Norse goddesses Freyja and Idunn, but there’s a catch. To defeat an army of monsters, she must find her courage and believe in herself or lose everyone she loves.

  German resistance fighter Jakob Matthau saw his life ripped away when his parents were thrown into a Nazi death camp. Fueled by anger and vengeance, every battle he wins is one step closer to freeing his family. When the beautiful Night Witch Aleksandra introduces him to a world filled with magic and monsters, can they win the most difficult battle of their lives or will billions die in Hitler’s final solution?

  If you love paranormal romances, sign up for my reader list, and as a thank you, I will send you my exclusive ebook:

  No Place Like Hell

  A demon mage looking for answers. An Erinys protecting her child. A rogue ruining everything.

  To download, go to http://tiny.cc/nl-pnr

  Glossary Terms

  Norse Pantheon: Made up of two clans: the Aesir who are considered the main gods and goddesses and the Vanir who are the fertility gods and goddesses. Asgard is the home of the Norse pantheon.

  Freyja: Also known as Frigg and is Odin’s wife, but she has nothing to do with her husband. Practices seidr, or Norse magic, and has a fondness for love, fertility, and beauty.

  Idunn: (Pronounced IH-dune) The goddess of immortality and grows a special fruit that sustains the gods’ and goddesses’ immortality.

  Odin: Supreme deity in Norse mythology and also known as the war god. He is in charge of the female warriors known as Valkyries.

  Valkyries: Group of female warrior spirits who help Odin gather dead heroes from the battlefield to Valhalla, which is the hall of the fallen.

  Thor: Son of Odin and is called the thunder god. Using his hammer, Mjöllnir (Lightning), he defends the Aesir gods and Asgard.

  Heimdall: (Pronounced HAME-doll) Guardian of the gods’ stronghold, Asgard and lives in the fortress (Sky Cliffs) that sits at the top of the Bifröst.

  Bifröst: The rainbow bridge connecting Asgard to Midgard (the human world: Earth).

  Módi and Magni: Thor’s two sons who will both inherit his hammer, Mjollnir, when Ragnarök begins. It is not known whether they will have to give it back after Ragnarök ends and the new world begins.

  Huginn and Muninn: (Pronounced Hoo-gin and Moo-nin) Two raven spirits that help Odin gather information and are able to communicate.

  Yggdrasil: The mighty tree at the center of the cosmos, which holds together the Nine Worlds (the homelands of the various types of beings in the cosmos) by its branches and roots.

  Mimir’s Well: Located beneath the roots of Yggdrasil. The powerful water is known to contain wisdom.

  Huldra: Beautiful, seductive forest creatures who look like normal women, but they each have a bark-like covering over their backs and long tails. They lure men into the forest and steal their souls.

  Ragnarök: The ‘final battle’ where everything will be destroyed and then reborn.

  Midgard: One of the Nine Worlds in Norse beliefs and known as Earth.

  Seidir: Pronounced Saydir. A form of pre-Christian Norse magic and shamanism discerning the course of fate, working within its structure to bring about change, often by symbolically weaving new events into being.

  Roman/Greek Pantheons: The Roman gods and goddesses, mostly taken from the ancient Greek culture, were renamed but kept the same attributes.

  Hera is the Greek name for the Roman goddess Juno. She is the queen of the gods/goddesses and is married to the Greek god, Zeus. In Roman culture, Juno is married to Jupiter. She is the goddess of heaven, women, and marriage.

  Athena (Athene) is the Greek name for the Roman goddess Minerva and is the goddess of wisdom, war, and crafts.

  Hestia is the Greek name for the Roman goddess Vesta and is the virgin goddess of hearth and home.

  Fuhrerhauptquartier Werwolf: Adolf Hitler’s easternmost bunker located 7.5 miles north of Vinnytsia, Ukraine.

  Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye ( FPO): United Partisan Organization (referred to as FPO by its Yiddish initials) was a Jewish resistance organization based in the Vilna Ghetto that organized armed resistance against the Nazis.

>   Prologue

  Asgard, home of the Norse gods

  Freyja stared at the idyllic scene unfolding before her. Her best friend, Idunn, poured four cups of tea from a treasured teapot, the delicate pale green porcelain almost transparent. The heady aroma from the many flowers blooming around Idunn's cottage filled Freyja with much-needed serenity. Something wasn't right with her plan to harvest gather human souls and turn the tide of the world war unfolding on Earth. Someone seemed to be thwarting her every move to build an army of noble fighters.

  Her gaze landed on Natalya and her husband, Mikhail. The former Russian Night Witch had proven to be a worthy first choice for her new army. Natalya had handled the transition to near immortality with an amazing assuredness, erasing any doubts Idunn had when Freyja first told her about the daring plan. Mikhail had been an added bonus, the catalyst to changing her mind about forming an all-female team.

  Of course, stealing warriors’ souls from Odin was never a good idea, but Freyja couldn't just sit back and let the ruling Aesir god destroy Midgard and the humans living there. Odin's high from the chaos and destruction had become an uncontrollable addiction. With each stolen spirit, both Freyja and Idunn risked Odin's wrath, which was never a good thing. His punishments were more than horrific. Odin was not a god of justice; instead, his world was full of vengeance, hate, and gluttony.

  She had managed to not be on the receiving end of his punishments, but the same couldn't be said for Loki or Thor. The magic she wielded, her seidr, gave her foresight and the power to change events and, so far, had stood her in good stead. Now, however, Odin had that same magic. Hers was the more powerful of the two, but she could never make a mistake, especially when playing with peoples' lives.

  Her gaze followed Mikhail's hand as he fed Natalya a small bite of cake, his actions filled with love and adoration for the pretty blonde. It wasn't the first time the thought returned, unbidden. Freyja couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have a man love her so unconditionally. Of course, Mikhail and Natalya had just married so the tenderness and gentle actions were to be expected.

  "Freyja, are you going to stand there all day and stare or come over here and join us?" Idunn's sweet voice wafted through the silent glen. "I baked your favorite lime tarts." Idunn held up a plate filled with the delicate pastries.

  Freyja took a seat next to her best friend. Grabbing one of the tarts, she ate it in two bites. "Ohh, that is so delicious." Before she'd finished chewing, she reached for another.

  "Maybe if you took smaller bites and actually chewed the food, you would taste it better. I made plenty, so you don't have to scarf them down like a starving animal," Idunn chastised and took a dainty sip of tea, the steam curling around her head like a pale gray halo.

  "I'm perplexed, and you know I don't react well when that happens." She stared a moment at the treat then with a slight one-shoulder shrug, she once again bit the tart in half. "It is delicious, though," she said with a full mouth. "Better than the last batch."

  "I used less sugar this time, and I quite agree. A tart should be...well, tart." She chuckled at her own humor and reached across the table and chose two round, white cookies, balancing one of them on the edge of the plate. "You must try one of these. It is Natalya's recipe for..." She frowned.

  "Russian tea cake," Natalya said, reaching for one herself and biting into it. She chewed with a happy expression on her face. "My babushka—my grandmother—made these when I was young. As soon as our chores were finished every Saturday morning, my sister and I would run down the lane to her house. She always had a fresh batch waiting for us to devour. My stomach would ache from eating too many, but I never cared. They were simply divine."

  Freyja bit into the powdery cookie and slowly chewed, her eyes widening in delight. "Oh my, they are very tasty." She ate the rest and moaned, her hand covering her abdomen. She should have eaten at noon instead of peering nonstop into the God's Glass. So much sugar on an empty stomach wasn't pleasant.

  "Here," Idunn said as she placed a steaming teacup in front of her and moved the tart plate back to the center of the table. "Drink the tea. It will help settle the queasiness. You skipped lunch again, did you?"

  "I have to figure out what's wrong—"

  "Wait," Natalya interrupted. "What's wrong now? It's not Lilyann, is it?"

  "No, no, your sister is fine. She's begun training a new navigator for one of the pilots in your squadron. Her navigator was injured by a bullet on the first sortie over Kursk. She is to begin a new job soon but wanted to be the one to tell you."

  "Kursk? So, Stalingrad's truly saved?" Natalya asked, her fingers curling around Mikhail's. "Should I be worried about this new job?"

  Freyja nodded. "If the Red Army can continue pushing the Germans back, the city is saved. It is now July on Midgard...sorry, Earth, and the battle began on July 5th. They have been fighting four days, but that's where it goes wrong. As for the job, it's no more dangerous than flying."

  Natalya frowned. "What are you talking about? What goes wrong?"

  "The path diverges between what I have seen with my magic and what is shown in the God's Glass."

  "That can't be good," Mikhail muttered as he leaned forward and pulled Natalya's hand against his chest, which now rested against the edge of the table.

  Freyja shook her head. "No, it's not. I must figure it out before sending the two of you on your next mission." She glanced over at Idunn. "Do you suppose Skuld is seeking revenge because we meddled in her foresight?"

  "It's possible. Skuld gets quite annoyed when people change someone's future."

  "My Lady!"

  Freyja turned in her chair to see her assistant Alva pass underneath the arbor and hurry toward them. "What is it?"

  The Huldra held out a folded piece of paper. "This was just delivered...well, truthfully, it appeared out of nowhere—"

  "Alva, slow down and start from the beginning."

  She nodded and inhaled. Freyja caught sight of the tip of Alva's tail disappearing under her skirts, telling her just how flustered the usually calm Huldra really was. "I had just finished making your bed and was gathering your clothing so I could begin the wash when I heard a tiny pop near your desk. I walked over to investigate and found this." She held up the piece of paper, which Freyja took. "It wasn't there when I straightened up your desk not ten minutes earlier, yet that's where it was—lying on the desktop. I figured it was important and brought it straightaway."

  Freyja unfolded the paper. "Thank you, Alva." She quickly scanned the elegant handwriting, not recognizing the flourished script. She forced her gaze back to the top, this time reading the words aloud.

  "I'm sending this warning to you, Freyja, because Odin must be stopped. His thirst for power has gone beyond what is acceptable, even by Asgardian standards. I cannot begin to describe the horrific deaths and abject degradation I have seen, nor will I go into detail about the bestial experiments being done in his name in Midgard. I know of your quest and your extraordinary Night Witch. She must stop the kidnapping of soldiers by the German SS before Hitler's army of werewolves is complete."

  Freyja flipped the paper over, but the back was blank. There was no name. Who had sent this warning?

  "We will go immediately," Mikhail said. "I am familiar with the horrors these beasts can create. They are almost unstoppable and have only one goal—to kill. They cannot be allowed free."

  "I agree, Mikhail, but first..." Freyja's gaze turned to her assistant. "Alva, I want you to go to Midgard—to Vinnytsia—to Hitler's Fuhrerhauptquartier Werwolf." A flicker of fear passed through the Huldra's eyes, but the girl only nodded. "I need you to do a little scouting. Find out what's going on in that bunker and what the Nazis' plans are. If you can, I would also appreciate anything you can discover about the person who wrote this." She waved the paper between them before laying it on the tabletop. "Be careful and do not be seen—do you understand me? We must not be discovered. Whoever sent this already knows too much as it is."


  Alva tilted her head. "Yes, my lady. There is not a forest on any of the nine worlds where I cannot disappear. I will return with the information you request." She turned, her long skirt swishing around her ankles as she hurried away.

  "Your little plan has gone a bit awry, don't you think?" Idunn's sapphire-blue gaze met Freyja's.

  Freyja exhaled and ignored her friend. "Natalya, I have chosen the next Night Witch. You must return to Earth and gather her soul then bring her body back here for the ritual. I believe you will be a great help in convincing her to join us. This one's talents will be perfect for the next phase of my plan."

  "If she accepts," Idunn whispered.

  "Who is it?" Natalya asked, her expression turning to one of distress.

  "It is not Lilyann," Freyja answered but didn't say anything more as she raised her arms, swirling them in a large circle in front of her, as she chanted the words in the ancient tongue of her forefathers to transport Natalya and Mikhail to Earth.

  Idunn turned to her with a slight scowl. "And just what is the next phase? You failed to tell me—your best friend and co-conspirator."