“There’s nothing wrong with being involved with you, and we are past that. I guess I’m just not used to my personal life being discussed like the weather.” She picked up a coffee mug that said Real American Firefighters—Bigger, Hotter, Better. “Maybe that’s because I haven’t had a personal life.”
“I suppose that alone might make people talk. But the fact that neither of us has been dating and now we’re together…that’s going to cause some discussion.”
“Yeah. I just need to get used to it, huh?”
“Until it dies down. Or you could embrace it.”
Her eyes narrowed, and after a moment, she nodded. “Hard to tease someone about something when they embrace it.”
“That’s right.”
A slow smile spread across her face, and she turned toward the display.
Agnes came back, check in hand, taking all his attention. “Here you go. Thank you so much.”
Titus accepted the check. “You’re welcome. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“I will.”
Jenna reappeared at his side, arms full of Real American Firefighters merchandise. “Found a few things.”
Agnes nodded. “I see that. I think that qualifies you for a volume discount.”
Agnes rang her up, Jenna paid, and they were on their way to Salvatore’s.
The pies were ready. Titus put them on the firehouse’s account, then Jenna helped him load them into the back seat, and they were off again.
“Oh man,” she said. “It smells so good in here. I didn’t think I was hungry after that breakfast, but now I want to eat all of it.”
“You can’t go wrong with Salvatore’s.” He turned toward the firehouse, which took them toward Pandora Williams’s real estate office.
“Hey,” Jenna said. “That reminds me that I never got the information I needed from her. I ended our call after she mentioned the spell could become permanent.”
“Pandora?”
“Yes. I wanted to ask her for more info about the owners of the home. The Lemmons.” Her eyes followed the business as they went past. “I’m not leaving any stone unturned.”
“You want me to go back?”
“No. Let’s get the pizzas to the station while they’re hot, let the guys eat. I can call her. I don’t need to see her in person to get the info I’m after.”
“Okay.”
She left her Real American Firefighters stuff in the truck and helped him unload the pizzas and carry them in, but only got a few steps inside before Liam took the boxes from her.
“I got these, Deputy. Although I guess this is one of those things I should do shirtless, huh?” He laughed at his own joke.
She gave him an appraising glance. “I don’t know, Liam. Best leave that to the professionals.”
“Nice burn, Deputy,” Kurt said. “We might have to make you an honorary firewoman.”
Hands on her hips and a glint in her eye, she shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m not ready for a demotion at this point in my life.”
“Ouch,” Titus said, laughing as he came out of the kitchen. “What have we unleashed?” He pointed behind him. “Go eat, but don’t touch the white pie. That’s Jenna’s.”
Kurt looked at her. “Aren’t you eating with us?”
“I have a call to make. Then I’ll be in.”
Titus stayed while Liam and Kurt disappeared to eat. “You going to use the conference room?”
She nodded. “Yes. I’ll be in to eat as soon as I’m done.”
“Okay. See you in there.” He went to the kitchen, expecting her to be a while, but she came in only a few minutes later. “Everything all right?”
“It’s all good. Pandora was with a customer, but said she’d pull the Lemmons file and email me the info.” She took the seat next to him, the same one she’d had at breakfast. “Let’s eat some pizza.”
Pandora’s file arrived half an hour after lunch, but it took Jenna only a few minutes of reading to see that the Lemmons were pretty ordinary folks. Humans, from what she could tell. She sent a quick text to Pandora, who confirmed that, yes, they were.
It was unlikely that the human couple, who were in their late sixties and moving to Illinois to be close to their grandchildren, had hired a witch to build a magical bomb to entrap someone in a love spell.
Jenna was back at square one. Could Titus have been the focus of the bomb? It didn’t seem that way. There were no obvious admirers in his life who were capable enough to pull something like that off. And how would anyone have known Titus would be the firefighter to respond? They couldn’t have. Not really.
Was she the focus of the love spell? That seemed even less likely.
So what about the wraith? Titus said he’d seen it in the attic, though that didn’t mean it was connected to the bomb. Wraiths had no capability for magic and no way of contacting anyone capable of doing something like that on their behalf.
Alice had said the bomb used death magic. Jenna couldn’t imagine anything more like catnip to a wraith than death magic.
Could the wraith really be after her? The hard truth was…yes. The fact that it had shown up in the attic meant it had probably been in town for a few days. Watching. Waiting. Looking for the right chance to come after her.
The dark recesses of the attic were a pretty perfect place for a wraith to materialize. Just like the woods in early evening had been.
But that didn’t help her figure out who’d created that bomb.
She put her head in her hands and sighed. This was the frustrating part of any investigation, that feeling that she’d hit a brick wall and didn’t know which way to go next.
Maybe if she went back out to the house and had another look around, that would spark something. Give her a new direction or a fresh idea.
Knowing how important it was to find out soon who’d created this spell only increased the pressure she was feeling. She got up from the table and went next door to Titus’s office.
He looked up as she knocked. “How’s it going?”
“Not great. I was thinking if I could go back to the house, take another look around…”
“Seems like a good idea. Do you need to call Pandora to let you in?”
“No, I have the number for the lockbox she put on the house. I can get the key out of there.”
He stood. “Then let’s go.”
“What about the inspector?”
“I called and told him this isn’t a good week and the inspection would have to wait. We have to figure out this spell.”
“Thank you.”
Thirty minutes later, they’d been around and through the house without finding anything new or noteworthy.
She and Titus now stood in the attic, having one final look around.
“Still smells like sulfur up here,” he said.
She nodded. “Did you notice Alice used that when she did the blood tests?”
“I did. What does that mean?”
Jenna shrugged as she searched the shadows with the flashlight on her phone. “Just that it must be a common ingredient in magic. Enough so that it might not have been added to the spell used on us for the purpose of making us think there was a gas leak. That might have just been a side effect. Then again, how was anyone supposed to get in range of that bomb if they weren’t in here investigating?”
“Are you saying you think it could have been aimed at the first person to happen upon it?”
“No, I don’t think that was the case. First of all, that’s a lot of work and setup to make a random person fall in love with you.” She turned her phone’s light off and faced him. “That part of it makes me think they were aiming for Pandora. She was the one most likely to be in the house.”
He crossed his arms and leaned against one of the trusses. “But?”
“This house is on my regular patrol route. My routine isn’t hard to figure out. Look at it this way: If the smell of gas was intentional, that means they were trying for a fireman. But that’s
random. So if the smell wasn’t on purpose, then they must have been trying for me.”
He seemed to think about that. “So it was supposed to go off while you were here alone.”
“I’m starting to think that. But who would target me? And why?”
“I’d say for that sword of yours, but after seeing how impossible it is for anyone else to get their hands on it, that can’t be the reason. Although…”
“Although what?”
“Is it common knowledge that a valkyrie’s sword can’t be held by anyone but her?”
Jenna thought that over. “I mean, maybe? If you did some research, I suppose you could find that out. But not everyone knows we carry our weapons on our bodies like we do.”
“So then, let’s say you are the target. If that’s true, and someone was going to make an attempt at your sword, that narrows down the suspect list a bit.”
She nodded. “They’d not only have to know I’m a valkyrie but also about my weapon.” She took a sharp breath. “Or maybe they know that when we die, our swords separate from our bodies. Same with berserkers. It’s how our souls are carried to Valhalla. In our blades. It’s why the walls of Valhalla are covered in swords.”
“Okay, that’s pretty interesting. Who would know that?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Besides you now? A few people would know some of those things, but probably not all of them. And none of those people would qualify as viable suspects.” She ticked them off. “Your brother, Birdie, Tessa, Sebastian. I suppose all of the Ellinghams, really. Maybe someone at Harmswood that Tessa works with?”
“Yeah, none of those people are suspects.” He sighed. “This seems like an impossible—” His eyes widened, and he stood up straight. “Behind you, Jenna. The wraith is back.”
“Holy Loki.” Jenna whirled, whipping out her sword in one smooth motion. The wraith was indeed behind her, looking more solid than the last time they’d seen it in the forest. In fact, it looked more human. And slightly, terribly familiar. But that couldn’t be. Could it?
She brought her sword to bear in its direction. “There is nothing here for you, wraith.”
Those burning ember eyes stared into her, but the wraith came no closer, just hovered in the attic’s dark recesses.
Something was different about those eyes now. Something that felt like a memory.
She shook that thought off, refusing to believe the impossible. “Go! Back to the dark realm you emerged from.”
But the creature still didn’t move.
She wasn’t about to stand here all day, waiting for it to do something. She lunged, sending the sword into the creature’s amorphous belly. “Be gone!”
The creature dissolved, only to reappear a few feet away. This time, it opened its mouth, a dark gaping hole, and growled something at her.
“Did it just say ‘Blythe’?” Titus asked.
Before Jenna could answer, the wraith reached for her. For her sword.
Titus stepped slightly in front of her and let out a hair-curling snarl.
The wraith shrank back.
Titus kept his gaze trained on the wraith. “Looks a lot more solid this time.”
“It does. That’s not good. Means it’s getting stronger.” Although its soul could be collected when it was solid.
“So what do we do?”
The wraith moved to the side, swiped at her again, this time connecting with the tip of her sword. Helgrind sang out with a metallic hiss.
Jenna jumped around Titus and jabbed, driving the wraith back. “There’s only one thing I know to do. I’m going to have to trap it, collect its soul, and get it out of the mortal realm.”
“How do we do that?”
“We don’t. I do. But I need the help of a seer.” She glanced at him. “Fortunately, I happen to be having dinner with one tonight.”
“Great. What are we going to do about the wraith right now?”
“Didn’t you scare it off last time while you were a wolf?”
“I did. Guess it’s worth a shot.”
In seconds, Titus shifted from man to beast.
The wraith seemed transfixed. Until Titus snarled again, teeth bared, fur raised along his spine.
Then the wraith shuddered and vanished, this time curling out in shadowy wisps into the darkness until nothing remained. Jenna exhaled in relief.
They stayed in battle readiness for a few moments, then Titus shifted back to his human form. “You need to get ahold of your seer friend and meet with her sooner.”
“Agreed. But let’s get out of this attic first.” She didn’t want to risk the wraith coming back while they were still there.
“I’m with you on that one.”
They descended the narrow attic pulldown stairs, closed up the house, and got back in Titus’s truck. Jenna got her phone out and sent Ingvar a text.
Any chance you could meet sooner? My day just opened up.
She looked at Titus. “Text sent. We can go back to the station.”
“Great.” But he still didn’t move the truck. “You know, we never said anything to Alice about the wraith.”
“No, we didn’t.” She stared at her phone.
“Why do I get the sense you don’t want to? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Maybe.” Definitely. But there were things she wasn’t cleared to share.
He twisted in his seat to face her as best he could. “Did that thing say your name? Does it know who you are? Jenna, this isn’t the time to keep secrets.”
She sighed. “I realize that.”
“And?”
Could she really keep this information from him when they were in this together? No. Not in good conscience. “There is a chance the wraith knows me. And that I know him.”
“Him? Explain.”
Her phone chimed with an incoming text. Ingvar had answered. Sure! You want to meet at the same place? Get dinner early? I can be there in an hour.
Jenna held up her phone. “Ingvar can meet at Howler’s in an hour. You good with that?”
“Yes. Now, please, answer my question.”
Jenna typed fast. Sounds good. See you there!
Then she looked at Titus and trusted that he would keep her secrets. “Leif Guddersen. He was in the class ahead of me at battle camp. Very powerful berserker, but also very full of himself. At first, he was the kind of guy everyone wanted to be best friends with. Big man on campus, you know?”
Titus nodded. “I know the type.”
“But as we entered service, it became clear he thought a lot of his abilities. And what they should bring him.”
She shook her head, remembering. “He wasn’t content to fight the battles he was assigned to. He wanted personal glory beyond the promise of Valhalla. He wanted fame and fortune and the spoils of battle he had no right to. He got this attitude that he was owed something just for being him.”
“Sounds like a great guy.”
Jenna slanted her eyes at Titus. “He was a problem, to be sure. A thorn in the side of the gods. A berserker gone bad is not a good look for them. And despite warnings, he persisted in seeking to make a name for himself by whatever means necessary. They couldn’t let it go. My time in service was nearly up. I guess maybe because of that, I drew the short straw, as it were. I was assigned to take care of him.”
Titus’s brows went up. “I can guess what ‘take care of him’ meant. But why you?”
She nodded. “I was the ranking officer in my division. I was a couple months away from leaving the service. And I was… That is, I am…” She glanced at him. He would keep her secrets, wouldn’t he?
“What?”
She had no choice but to tell him the full truth. “This isn’t information I’m authorized to speak about, so you need to take this to your grave. Not even Tessa knows this, although she may suspect. I don’t think my parents know either. Ingvar knows, but we were in the same unit and actually worked as a team for a while. Still, she wouldn’t tell anyone.”<
br />
“And you’re sharing it with me?”
“I am. Partly because you deserve to know what’s going on here. We’re in this together. But also partly because that chapter of my life is behind me. Doesn’t mean I still won’t get in trouble for speaking about these things. I never thought I’d have to talk about it again, really. But now it seems impossible to explain what I think is going on without telling you everything.”
“I won’t say a word.” There was nothing but sincerity in his eyes.
She took a breath, the confession weighing heavy on her. “I’m also a fell maiden. A kind of special ops valkyrie. We’re a small group specifically chosen by Freya to wield life or death on the battlefield. Not just collect souls but decide whether or not a soul should be collected or given a second chance. That was one of the main reasons I was chosen to deal with Leif. And that green stone in my sword?”
“The one you told me is glass?”
“It’s not glass.”
“I figured that much. So what is it?”
“It’s a resurrection stone. It’s meant to allow me to save the life of a worthy soldier on the battlefield, but if Leif could take possession of it, his body would become corporeal again. He’d essentially regain his life.”
A curse slipped from Titus’s mouth before he could stop it. “No wonder he’s hunting you down. He reached for your sword in the attic.”
“I’m sure it’s what he wants. The very fact that he’s become a wraith proves he refuses to take his mortal rest.”
“How did he find you?”
She looked at Titus. “He knows I’m the one who took his life. I’m sure it just took him this long to gain enough strength to hunt me down here.”
“And he’s gaining strength because…”
“He’s close to his target. That’s empowering him.”
“The resurrection stone?”
She nodded. “And me.”
“But how can he get the stone if it’s in your sword? How can he even lay hands on your sword after what you showed me?”
“He’s a berserker. Valkyries and berserkers can handle each other’s swords for a short amount of time. Say, long enough to hand a weapon back to a comrade. Or take the fallen one’s soul back to Valhalla.”
The Werewolf Dates The Deputy (Nocturne Falls Book 12) Page 14
