She shivered, thinking of the cold bleak plateau populated by lost souls. Her travels had only taken her to the damned realm once at the start of her time as a Valkyrie, accompanying a warrior who had fled the battlefield and left his comrades to die. The coward screamed and cried, whined and babbled insanely as he ran away, already haunted by his personal demons.
It was a horrible, lonely place, and those Valkyries assigned to deliver the accursed souls to it kept to themselves, staying on the other end of the barracks. They had a dour state about them, eyes downcast and dark, sad circles under their eyes.
She never asked what they had done to be sent there and never wanted to find out.
Erik squeezed her hand, bringing her out of her thoughts.
“I’m fine,” she replied. “Just thinking too much.”
“Less thinking. More sleeping.” He blew her a kiss. “Get ready to be interrogated by Helen and Lucy all day.”
She held back a chuckle, turning it into a smile. “You won’t be getting your own questions from the other men?”
“Doubtful. We know where the line is and when not to cross it when it comes to women. And they’re afraid of you beating them up.” He turned on his side as he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “We’ll just smile and they’ll compliment me on my excellent taste.”
“All right then.” She closed her eyes and sighed, letting her mind wander. She floated in a light dream state for a few minutes, her fingers tight around Erik’s as she dozed off.
…
Erik couldn’t sleep. He was wired, his senses on high alert.
Before their return, Brenna had come a third time in his arms from his hands alone, biting his shoulder hard to keep from screaming. He could still feel her teeth sink into his skin, the loss of control thrilling him beyond explanation. It’d taken the last of their energy to come back to the campsite. He’d considered staying out in the darkness, curled around her naked body under the stars, but it was too dangerous.
The pair got dressed, packing the blankets and sleeping bags in silence. Brenna passed him the pistol, which he tucked into his waistband.
No matter how much they wanted to deny it, they were being hunted, and they’d risked enough being away from the group.
It was worth it.
Mark coughed and poked the fire with a stick, prodding the dying embers.
As he lay on the sleeping bag, Erik winced inside, thinking of the upcoming fight. There was no way Kara would give up searching for them—of that he had no doubt. Without a mystical weapon like the Valkyrie’s lance, he would be unable to stop or kill her.
Before he dozed off into a restless sleep, he put his mind to work.
There must be a way.
There must…
He woke to the familiar sounds of coffee being made.
“How many eggshells you putting in today?” Helen asked Jake.
“For you, three.” He laughed as he cracked the eggs into a large metal bowl. Lucy’s giggle rose over the jokes, with Brenna’s playful laugh joining in as they headed along the road to the washrooms.
Everything was solid. At least for the time being.
“Hey. Sleepyhead.” Jake grinned. “Time to start breaking down the tents.”
Erik smiled and began to roll his own sleeping bag. They might still be hunted and running for their lives, but today was a damned good day.
It wasn’t too long before they were back on the road, headed East. He heard the women in the back of the van, their conspiratorial whispering sending surges of desire and curiosity through him as he picked out Brenna’s distinctive laugh from the trio. Given the smiles and laughter, he suspected much more was going on than discussing the upcoming school visit.
He sensed Jake’s mood shifting as they drove, the way he ran his hands over the leather-covered steering wheel a very visible tell. He had something to say but was working up to saying it—a bit unnerving coming from the Vietnam veteran.
Another fifteen minutes and the dam broke.
“Don’t want to dump on your current happiness but you have any recent thoughts about what to do with your hunter?” Jake inquired. “Been a few days since you been doing eye juggling with the mirrors. You getting comfortable with not jumping at every strange sound.”
“No. I’m worried about getting complacent. But you know you can’t stay on alert all the time. Wears you down, makes you easier to target,” Erik admitted. “She’s out there somewhere. Not too far behind us—I’m sure of it. We got lucky at the county fair, but she’ll figure it out.”
Jake scratched his beard. “Thing is, you can’t run forever. You can try, but at some point, she’s going to catch up to you.” He gestured at the road. “Here’s another bit for you to think about. When we hit Washington, we’re going to be splitting up. Helen’s got family there she’s going to stay with on a vacation, and Lucy’s heading south to meet up with her stepdad. Mark, well…who knows with him. I’m driving back to San Francisco with an empty van.” He eyed Erik. “I hate driving alone. Just sayin’. Seat’s open if you want it.” He glanced over his shoulder at the women behind them. “For both of you.”
“You don’t want to keep traveling with us. I’ll have a target on my back, just like I do now.” Erik checked the side mirror.
“Think it over. Don’t need to make a decision right now.” He grinned, showing his teeth. “We’ll buy a third tent today as soon as we find a store. Easier than having you two sneaking around in the grass, getting bug bit.” He glanced over, raising one eyebrow. “Along with a pharmacy. Don’t want to sound like your old man but I figure you’d want to stock up on some supplies.”
Erik coughed into his hand, ending the discussion.
Jake chuckled as he tapped the gas, sending the truck speeding down the road.
They arrived ahead of schedule and parked on the main street, Jake and Erik eyeing the sports shop while Lucy and Helen disappeared into the craft store nearby. Mark leaned against the van and lit up a smoke as Brenna hovered on the sidewalk nearby. She gave Erik a shy smile before moving back toward Mark, striking up a conversation with the heartbroken man.
Jake let out a low rumbling laugh as they entered the shop. “She’s a keeper, I tell you. A keeper.”
No one said anything as they loaded the new tent atop the van, Erik thanking the owner of the sports shop for giving them a nice discount on an older model. Next came the small drugstore, the women taking advantage of a sale to buy some nail polish while Erik discreetly purchased what he needed. Everyone made a point of looking the other way as he slipped through the checkout and back into the van, tucking the box of condoms into his duffel bag. He did catch a guilty smirk from Brenna as they pitched the tent that night next to the other two, calmly moving their gear into it.
…
It’d been a week since their first night, and his hunger hadn’t died down—in fact, if anything it’d intensified.
Along with Brenna’s. It seemed that under the stoic Valkyrie front lay a hellcat, waiting to be unleashed in bed. His back bore her scratches, a delicious pain as she explored her own urges and desires. More than once they’d almost flipped the tent end over end, bearing the light jokes from their fellow travelers as a welcome penance.
But Erik knew this wouldn’t last—it couldn’t, as long as Kara was on the hunt.
It’d been another good day on the road with Mark’s mood rising as he began to become more active with the group, making bad jokes before settling down for his night watch. It wasn’t perfect, but it’d do for the time being.
Until Kara caught up to them.
The cool night air drifted in through the small window in the tent, the mosquitoes hopefully held at bay by the tight crosshatched fabric.
“Jake’s done a good job of heading north, south—he’s crisscrossed our original trail a few times, juggled the schedule.” The words tasted stale, the truth turning them bitter on his tongue. They were tucked into the sleeping bags, the two zi
pped together to give plenty of covering. The days might be still warm, but the nights were getting colder.
He curled his arms around Brenna.
“In the long run, it doesn’t matter,” Brenna said. “If she’s got the same driving urge that I had to find you, she’ll catch up to us. Her instinct, her homing sense, will point her this way. She won’t be able to stand the headaches, the throbbing pain.” She touched her temples. “Believe me, I know. She won’t be able to drink it away, medicate it away—the only relief is if she’s making progress toward you. She might stall in one place for a week or two, but she’ll be forced to move on.”
“Did you ever do that? Stall out?”
“I did,” she admitted. “About six months into my hunt, I ended up in Seattle.”
He did the calculations. “I wasn’t far from there. Had a series of fights across the border in Canada, one-nighters in small towns. Crossed back near Medicine Hat, onto a Native American reservation for a brawl.”
She nodded. “I was tired and angry. Settled into a motel for a few days of praying and cursing, annoyed that Freyja didn’t answer my pleas and restore my status. Thought I’d be stubborn and sit there until I got an answer.” Brenna touched her temple. “By the seventh day, the migraine had blinded me. I paid the hotel bill and staggered out onto the road, weak from throwing up and still ticked off. But with each step I took, the pain lessened, each step I took toward you.” She shuddered. “I never hesitated after that, never paused in my search.”
Erik winced. “Freyja sounds pretty nasty.”
“Strict, but fair,” Brenna corrected him.
“But we don’t know what rules Kara’s playing by,” he said. “She’s got her spear, for one thing—that was denied you.”
“Yes. And her invulnerability while I lost mine.” She shifted against his skin. “But she’ll still have the urge to find us—I can’t see Mother not giving her some way of making her search easier.”
“That…” He held back a growl. “I don’t understand all this. Why not just transport her straight to our doorstep? Why didn’t Freyja drop you into my hospital room before I had a chance to leave?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Some things are beyond us, even those chosen to be Valkyries.” She sighed. “Why do you get that feeling when she’s close? I’m not complaining—it’s to our benefit, but it doesn’t make sense to me.”
“Maybe Freyja wanted to give us a fighting chance. We could have a lot of time left. It took you almost a year to get to me.” He tightened his grip on her. “I was moving, heading from town to town as the fights took me. Not too different than what we’re doing now.”
She sighed. “I know. But I was starting with a handicap. Kara was pointed right at you, at us, and she’s a smart woman. A few missteps and she’ll recover, be back on the trail.”
Erik winced, remembering his overreaction at the high school a few short weeks ago. “Do you think there’s any chance Freyja might call her off, change her mind about collecting my soul and punishing you?”
“I don’t know.” She laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes. “I don’t know anything anymore about my family.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
She didn’t think she could be shocked anymore. Over the decades, over the centuries since Mother Freyja had plucked her out of the forest, she had seen the worst of mankind—the horrible depravities inflicted on each other, the degradation and humiliation of their enemies and old allies as blood flowed and people died. Not just soldiers—she witnessed women and children, young and old, suffering and dying for the sins of others. She roamed the battlefield, collecting those Freyja deemed worthy to sit in Valhalla, and saw the raw underside of humanity—an ugly, seeping wound, one she hoped would disappear before Ragnarok.
As the days and weeks passed, traveling with the veterans, she found herself filled with amazement and wonder at the other side of humanity.
The humane side, as she named it for lack of any other word.
The intimacy she had with Erik had been the last step shifting her back to the world.
Her old world.
The scarf she was knitting grew longer as they continued their cross-country drive, with Helen’s careful teaching reminding her of the tutors back in Valhalla. Patient, kind, and helping her shift from warrior to creator, Helen wielded the needles like swords, pouring her energy into creating something from almost nothing. Brenna envied her ability to do so, mentally placing her among the honored in the Valkyries’ ranks.
But knitting wasn’t the only hobby occupying her free time when she wasn’t with Erik.
It all started the night after they had taken the next step in their relationship. Mark was sitting around the campfire brandishing a small box he’d picked up in town while shopping.
“Travel chess set. Found it at the drugstore,” he announced with pride. His free hand pointed at Lucy, index finger crooked. “You owe me a game.”
She laughed and came over with a folding chair as he set up the board on the ground, the small plastic pieces settling on the thin flat cardboard.
“Ladies first,” Mark said.
Lucy leaned forward and picked up one of the smallest white pieces, shifting it up a square.
Brenna settled nearby on a fallen log, watching the two of them play. She’d seen this game before but hadn’t ever spent the time learning the rules.
Lucy laughed as she knocked over one of the black pieces with a flick of her finger, sweeping it off the board.
Mark let out a low whistle between his teeth, forehead furrowed.
Erik moved in behind him, chuckling as he studied the board.
“She’ll have you in a few moves,” he said in a stage whisper.
“No way.” Mark picked up one of the smaller pieces and moved it.
Lucy smiled.
It was over in two more exchanges, Lucy beaming as she tipped over the tallest figure.
Mark shook his head. “Didn’t tell me you were a pro.”
“Not that good. Just better than you.” Lucy set up the board again.
Mark looked at Brenna. “Want to try?”
“I’ve seen a few games but never played.” She shuffled in closer, noting Erik’s wide grin. “I’ve played hnefatafl, but…”
“The who, the what?” Mark frowned.
It took a few minutes to set up the board, using pennies to fill in missing figures. She explained the rules as she went along, enjoying the curiosity in their gazes.
“It’s also called Tafl. The idea is to take the king, of course.” She pointed at the new board. “Let’s see how you do.”
Soon everyone was gathered around the stump, studying the tiny battlefield as she deftly and swiftly won game after game. No one came close, except for Jake, who grunted as he pushed her to the edge—and still lost.
“One hell of a game,” Mark admitted as he packed up the board. “I’ll see if I can find an actual set somewhere—bet there’s an app for that. Definitely an ancestor of chess.” He smiled. “Thanks, Brenna. But I want a rematch soon.”
“Me, too,” Lucy chimed in. “Great way to clear my mind.” She glanced at Mark. “Nothing wrong with chess, of course.”
“Nothing wrong with having choices,” he answered. “Keeps the mind sharp.”
Brenna leaned into Erik’s side, relaxing as the light talk continued. Afterwards in their tent, Erik asked if she’d played the game in Valhalla.
“Yes.” She chuckled at the memory.
“Against the warriors?”
“Oh no.” She shook her head. “Most of the warriors tend toward drinking games and throwing axes at each other—often at the same time. You can’t blame them, not after all they’ve gone through. They avoid anything that might remind them of being on Earth again, and that includes such games. Besides, Valkyries want more…cerebral challenges.”
He laughed. “I can see that.” He pulled her close, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Now let me show you
what sort of games I like to play.”
But not everything had changed now that she and Erik were together. Lucy still had night terrors—a weight Brenna wished she could lift from the woman’s shoulders, but they weren’t as bad or as intense. She no longer screamed, just wept and sobbed in the tent she now shared with only Helen, her nightmares diminished but still holding one hell of an emotional punch.
Brenna was always there to help out.
Mark stayed close as well, hovering. If he was on night watch, he’d make up a pot of coffee. If not, he’d wave Jake or Erik away into their tents while he took over the task.
“I’m awake anyway. No use all of us losing any more sleep.” A wave of his hand was often enough to send them away while he settled in the folding chair.
Sometimes Lucy would crawl out to curl up near the fire while Helen and Jake went back to sleep and Brenna returned to Erik’s arms. More than one morning the couple had come out to find Lucy sound asleep in Mark’s lap.
“Don’t make too much of it,” Erik said to her during one of their quiet meals together. “Comrades under fire finding comfort with each other. He’s raw from losing his wife, and she’s too wise and smart to take advantage of it.” He looked over at the campfire where Lucy busied herself collecting the breakfast dishes. “None of our business what goes on between them. We just got to support it.”
They were all warriors, and in another time and place she would welcome them eagerly to Valhalla. Now…
Now everything was different.
The otherworld hovered over her like a sword hanging on a spider web—about to drop at any time.
Valhalla wouldn’t take her back. Helheim…something she didn’t want to think about. She was caught between the realms, and the balance wouldn’t last forever. Freyja had her reasons for what she was doing, but she couldn’t help but sense the ground beneath their feet was shifting, sand replacing the solid rock she’d built centuries of faith and devotion on.
The uneasy sensation ground against her thoughts, stealing away her momentary satisfaction and happiness.
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