“Was she okay?” Hlif asked with a frown.
Harald shrugged. “I found her the very next day trying to get back on my stallion, her broken arm in a sling.”
Shawn saw a myriad of emotions flit over Hlif’s face before she glanced to Magarethe. “I believe it’s time that we let Magarethe in.”
“Do you think she’s ready?” Shawn regarded the older woman where she sat looking at them with a suspicious look on her face. Perhaps, she wasn’t ready yet, but the woman was aware that something was going on.
“She better be,” Hlif said firmly. “When Bo wakes up, I intend to tell her everything. We better do it now.” She walked over to Magarethe. “There is something we need to tell you.”
Magarethe looked from her to Shawn and then to Harald. “Will you tell me who he is?” She pointed at Harald. “He's an exact replica of my grandfather.”
“We’ll tell you everything. All I ask is that you keep an open mind.”
Magarethe looked faintly alarmed, but nodded. The mathematician in her, ready to rationalize the situation. “I can do that.”
***
Loki inhaled the crisp air. It had been decades since he’d been here. He had hoped to come back here again. To the place where it all started. Odin had banned him from ever setting foot in Iceland again. Not only did he have to be on the lookout for his sister, who after two thousand years had probably come up with the most depraved ways to kill him, but he could expect a visit from Odin as well. That’s if the old man was still interested in what was happening in the mortal realm. It had been centuries since he’d last heard news from Valhalla.
“Are you okay, sire?”
Loki shook off the morose thoughts. “Yes.” He crossed the tarmac to where two black SUV’s waited. If he was lucky, all he’d need was a few hours to find Bo Witteman, deal with her, and be out of here. He had an island in the Caribbean where he could lay low for a few decades. Maybe then, he could approach Odin. His father couldn’t resist a soul, especially one rivalling that of one of the bravest Viking warriors to have ever existed. “I want to see Erik immediately.”
“He’s waiting at the hotel for us.”
Loki nodded and got into the car. On the drive to the hotel, he couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that he’d felt since he rose this morning.
***
“The fish is delicious. How is it that a demi-goddess can cook? I thought you had legions of servants in Valhalla?”
Hlif smiled as she skilfully picked the flesh off the bone and fed it to Gurith. Gurith quickly opened her mouth to accept the tender meat as well as the kiss that followed. As a queen, she was used to being served, but it was different with Hlif.
Hlif pampered her. The Valkyrie fulfilled her every need. She was a welcoming oasis to Gurith after a long gruelling day, burdened by the responsibility of her reign. Hlif’s love was unconditional and she made love to her as if every kiss was as vital as the air they breathed. At night, she held Gurith with such possessiveness as if she was daring sleep to take Gurith from her arms, which it did. However, it didn’t stop Hlif from holding on to her the next night with the same desperation.
“I lived as a human for the first few decades of my life.” She ate a bit of the fish and sipped from the wineskin. “I had to learn to cook or else I would starve. Besides, I live alone in Valhalla.”
Gurith sat up from where she was leaning against Hlif’s side. It never crossed her mind to ask whether Hlif had a partner in Valhalla. Hlif never wanted to talk about her life in Valhalla.
“You live alone?”
“I do.”
Gurith suddenly felt deeply insecure. As far as she knew, Hlif had never lied to her in the six summers that they had been together. But there were also the long months that her beloved was not with her. How was she going to compete with a goddess or a Valkyrie for Hlif’s attentions? She reached for the wineskin and took a long drink, not caring that the wine was strong.
“Is… is it not lonely?” She looked everywhere, but at Hlif. “Especially, during the long stretches that you’re away from me.”
Hlif was quiet. The howling wind outside was the only sound in their tent. “No, I am not lonely. Not since meeting you.” She carefully began to pick the flesh off the fishbone. “I was with someone before I met you, but I couldn’t be with her anymore after I realized how I felt about you.”
“How long were the two of you together?”
Hlif fixed her stormy eyes on her. Her gaze was open and calm. “On and off for a century or two.”
Two hundred years! Hlif left her lover of two hundred years for her! Now she was truly worried. Compared to their measly six years together, two hundred years was an eternity. She felt a soft touch on her head and looked at Hlif to find her watching closely.
“Idunn knew that I would not be able to touch another woman after you. She wanted me to be happy.”
It was worse than she thought. Idunn was the goddess of youth and beauty. Hlif had been with the most beautiful goddess in Valhalla. She took another long drink from the wineskin.
The interior of the tent suddenly disappeared, replaced by the stark, sterile inside of a hospital room. Bo’s eyes were wide as she looked around. There was a soft clearing of the throat and her eyes shot to the corner of the room. A rather tall, muscular man leaned against the wall, staring back at her. His grey beard and curly grey locks were stylishly cut and he was dressed casually in jeans and a black shirt that pulled tight over his wide chest. His eyes were an impressive dark grey and Bo felt the heat of the penetrating stare.
“Who… who are you? Why am I here?” She swallowed, but her mouth was painfully dry. The man approached the bed and stared down at her. Up close, he was very intimidating, but Bo reckoned that if he had wanted her dead, he probably had ample time to do so. “What do you want?”
The man shrugged his massive shoulders as he studied her through narrowed eyes. “So, you are the human who made my daughter renounce her place by my side.”
His daughter? What was the man talking about? She opened her mouth to ask him to be more specific, but no sound was forthcoming. Her throat was too dry. The man sighed and reached for the carafe of water on the bedside table and poured some in a glass.
“You need to drink this slowly.” He effortlessly lifted her shoulders from the bed and held her up as she drank thirstily. “Slowly, I said.”
When she had her fill, he laid her back against the pillows. Bo studied him closely. She couldn’t recall ever having seen him. “Do you work here?”
He smiled, a beautiful smile that made mischievous dimples appear in his sun-browned cheeks. “Do I look like a hospital worker to you?”
She took in the expensive cut of his clothes. He reeked of power and money. “I guess not. Then why are you here?”
“To see for myself what it is about you that has captured my daughter’s heart and mind.”
His daughter again? “Who is your daughter?”
“Ah, humans! You have such a limited attention span. Who is my daughter?” He folded his arms over his chest, his gaze pensive. “Maybe you still haven’t remembered yet.”
All this talking in riddles was giving her a headache. “Just tell me who you are and then you can leave. You’re giving me a headache.”
He smiled again and bowed deeply. “My name is Odin, the Allfather and ruler of Valhalla.”
She gaped at the man. Valhalla? Did the man really think she was stupid? Odin and Valhalla were myths. Many Viking warriors had given their lives in the hope of reaching that elusive paradise. She closed her eyes briefly, hoping for the pain to subside.
“Odin is not real.”
“If so, then how is it you’re sleeping with my daughter?”
She glared at the man. He was making her headache worse. “Look, I think you’re mistaken, sir. Maybe you have the wrong room.”
He leaned closer, his eyes flashing with annoyance now. “You are Gurith Haraldsdottir or at least the reincarnat
ion of her and the lover of my daughter, Hlif.”
Gurith. The dreams? Were they even dreams? She blinked at the man. He mentioned Hlif. Said she was his daughter. He was studying her with the intensity of a scientist inspecting a bug under a microscope. If he was indeed Odin and Hlif’s father. Then… Bo’s heart began to race. That would make her Gurith. Her face grew warm as erotic memories flashed before her eyes. She’d thought her attraction to Hlif had caused her to insert them both into a role-play scenario. She bit down on her lower lip. Hlif couldn’t be Odin’s daughter. If she were, that would make her a demi-goddess. Like the Hlif in her dreams. Or was it visions?
“I wasn’t dreaming?” she asked carefully. “The dreams of Hlif and me in some kind of an old castle...”
The man threw up his hands. “I believe those were past memories. What do you remember?”
She gave him a suspicious look. “How do I know I can trust you?”
“You don’t. But if you ask me nicely, I might just tell you everything I know about you and my daughter.”
If the dreams or visions were true, it meant that Hlif knew who Bo was the moment they had met. Was that even possible? Was Hlif also a reincarnation of Gurith’s Hlif? It had to be. Otherwise, that would mean that Hlif was very, very old. Humans simply didn’t live that long. She glanced at the man. He was looking at her with an expectant look in his eyes.
“Can you also explain to me what I’m doing here? Please.”
Odin smiled and pulled a chair close. “Your being in hospital, I know nothing about, but the other part, yes. It all started almost two millennia ago.”
***
Magarethe was looking at them as if she was seeing them for the first time. Her gaze kept returning to Harald. The man calmly returned her frank regard.
“So, it all started with you? The reincarnated you?”
“I believe so.” He sighed deeply. “Trust me when I say that when I decided to not have myself reduced to a peon on a battle board, I never thought I’d feel its impact for millennia to come.”
Hlif could see Magarethe was trying hard, but failed to actually believe them. Magarethe’s sharp gaze fell on her and Hlif shrugged. “How do I know all this is true? Am I really supposed to believe that you were there when all this happened? That would make you over two thousand years old?”
Hlif felt herself cringe inwardly, even as she said the words. “There is a way of proving all this to you.” Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Shawn turning to face her. “I can’t do it here.”
Magarethe shook her head. “I’m not leaving Bo here alone.”
“We won’t be going far. An empty room will do.” She held out her hand to Magarethe. “If we’re quick about this, we should be back before the next update from the doctor.” She led them down the hall, peering into rooms until she found what looked like an unoccupied storage room.
Hlif turned to Harald, who was the last man to enter. “Barricade it behind you.”
The man pushed a large cupboard in front of the door before he turned to her.
“When I found out that Odin wanted Gurith’s soul, I refused him. As a result, he banished me from Valhalla and stripped me of my powers. Loki seemed to have defied our father and came for Gurith.” Hlif felt her blood boil as she mentally relived the day. “She took her own life to thwart Loki’s plan of using her to buy Odin’s favour. I blamed Odin and denounced him as my father and master – an act that enraged him so much that he cursed me.”
Hlif noticed that she had everyone’s attention. She lifted her hand and began to loosen the tiny braid in her hair. “There were only three other known instances of the curse being cast. It entails the cursed to remain in stone form during the day, only able to come alive after the sun has set.”
She looked down at the blonde lock in her hand and held it out to Shawn. The man was staring at her, wide-eyed. He was probably well acquainted with his daughter-in-law’s history, but this would be the first time he actually witnessed a transformation.
“If you bring this close to my person, a few minutes after my transformation, I will change back.” Hlif could hear a faint trace of dread in her own voice and by the expressions on the other three faces; she knew that they had heard it too.
“What… what is that?” Magarethe looked scared now as her eyes gaze flitted between Hlif and Shawn.
“It’s a lock of Bo’s hair. Any other explanations have to wait until later. Shawn.”
The man carefully took the lock and Hlif felt a familiar numbness in her extremities. She had always hated the feeling, knowing that very soon it would spread out over her body, caging her soul in a cold, granite tomb. Responsive enough to note the passage of time, but helpless to do anything about it. She steeled herself and focused her mind on Bo. An image of the blonde’s cheek pressed against Hlif’s chest and her arm curled possessively around Hlif’s middle, flitted on a loop before her eyes as her body stiffened from the inside out. It didn’t take long, a few seconds, and the only thing that remained of her was a 6 foot 5 life-sized statue.
She couldn’t move her eyes, but she could see the reactions of the other three people in the room.
Magarethe’s face was ashen and her mouth was open in a silent gasp as she clasped her cheeks. The archaeologist was blinking rapidly in shock, his face a caricature of horror. Harald’s expression was one of comprehension. As if he finally found the answer to a question he had long been searching for.
Since Shawn was in no state to remember the instructions about the lock of hair and Hlif had no way of reminding him, she decided to settle in for the moment until he snapped out of the stupor.
Hlif only prayed that it didn’t take too long. After having had her ‘freedom’ for twenty years, immobility was much harder to bear this time around.
***
Bo was scared.
If it were all true, then she was the reincarnation of a legendary Viking warrior queen and was being hunted by a delusional Viking god. Hlif. The first and only woman she’d ever felt an emotional connection with, was an ageless goddess and a lover from a previous life.
The scariest part of all this was that no matter how she felt about this mess being dumped in her lap, she couldn’t stomach the idea of never seeing Hlif again. The visions of the two of them together told a story of an indestructible bond between soul mates. Bo was destined to love Hlif.
“Any questions?” Odin looked excited about the prospect of questions. She didn’t have to wonder why for long. “I heard that in a movie and I like how it gives people the illusion of being part of the decision-making process, even if they aren’t. It puts everyone in a good mood.”
Bo blinked at the man. Odin, the Ruler of Valhalla. She still had her doubts, but how else could she explain the strange dreams of her and Hlif. The era was also a mystery.
“Why are you telling me this?”
The playfulness instantly left the man’s eyes. He sighed deeply. “I miss my daughter.” A look of fierce emotion flashed over his face. “I love my wife, but of all the other women I have been with, Hlif’s mother was a close second to Frigg. Just like Hlif, she was incredibly gentle and playful. A beautiful soul that shouldn’t have been tainted by the likes of me.” He stood, his sheer size causing the room to shrink. “The only thing I can do is what I should’ve done a long time ago.”
“What is that?”
“Protect the woman she loves more than life itself.” He placed his large hand on Bo’s forehead. “I would’ve loved to stay longer and get to know you better, but we’re running out of time. Loki is here and knowing my idiot son, he will defy death to get to you. It’s time for you to start remembering.”
A strong flash lit up the room and Bo felt the searing heat of Odin’s hand on her forehead. Moments before everything went black, Odin’s words echoed through her mind.
She was the woman that Hlif loved more than life itself.
Chapter 14
The moment Loki entered the hotel sui
te, the men rose respectfully. There were ten of them, all powerfully built and competent-looking.
Loki felt sorry for each of them.
They were all extremely powerless to stop Hlif. No one, save Odin himself, could stop Hlif. Her remarkable fighting ability had attracted the attention of the gods in the first place. Hlif was the leader of a small, but feared band of raiders, who were directing attacks against the settlement of a ruthless Jarl. Hlif and her small group of mercenaries had decimated the king’s fortresses, decimating his armed forces and releasing the villagers from his oppressive rule.
When the news reached Odin, his interest was immediately piqued, only to find that the warlord’s soul he so coveted, was none other than the offspring of a liaison with a serving wench twenty-five years prior. As expected, their reunion wasn’t a hugs and kisses affair. No one knows exactly what Odin had to promise Hlif for her to leave her mortal existence for Valhalla.
Loki accepted the drink one of the men offered him. What he knew for sure was that Odin didn’t have to offer Hlif the Supreme Valkyrie position. Within the first week of taking up residence in Valhalla, Hlif fought her way from the bottom of the pack to the top of the Valkyries. Her crowning as the new Supreme Valkyrie was uncontested. Apart from his tempest-coloured eyes, it seemed that Odin’s by-blow also inherited his magnificent battle skills.
He took a sip of his drink. “What do you have for me, McAllister?”
A man with greying dark hair handed over a file. “Given the information we received from you, we checked the manifests of all flights that came in from the States. Using her rental’s GPS, she was tracked to a living assistance centre and later to an address in the Old Town near the harbour.”
Loki maintained his composure on the outside, but on the inside, he was cowering. He’d forgotten what it felt like to be scared. Living as a powered immortal did that to a man. The thought of facing Hlif as a mortal was terrifying.
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