“Morning.” I planted a kiss on Mother’s cheek and received a pat on the cheek. “Looking lovely this morning, Mom.”
“Thanks, dýrr.”
I lowered my head to whisper to Einmyria, “You enter my quarters again without my permission and I’ll lock you in the dungeons.”
“What’s the problem?” Mother asked.
“Nothing,” I said, squeezing Father’s shoulder before taking my seat.
“He hates me,” Einmyria said. “He just threatened to lock me in the dungeons.” Mother didn’t comment, her expression unreadable. Father chuckled.
“He would never do that.” Father reached out and gripped her hand. The two had clicked from the first day and were inseparable. “And he doesn’t hate you. Eirik worked very hard to find you and bring you home. You and I will go over the plans for a pool after this. We should have everything ready by the end of the week.”
“Thanks, Litr.” The Dwarf had placed a plate piled high with waffles, eggs, and bacon in front of me. “What pool?”
“Dad is building me a swimming pool.”
I frowned. “Where?”
“In the east wing guest quarters,” Father said. “We are modifying the furthest rooms.”
“That’s nice. Celestia is scared of water. I could teach her how to swim whenever she’s here.”
“See? I told you it was a wonderful idea and you shot it down.” Was she talking to me? This was the first time I was hearing about the pool. “Little,” she called and smiled at Litr. “May I have more eggs and bacon, please?” The Dwarf went to serve her.
“His name is Litr,” I corrected her. “L. I. T. R.”
“You see how mean he is?” Einmyria said.
I ignored her and finished my breakfast. She and Father discussed what else to add to the pool while Mother ate and listened without participating. I couldn’t tell whether she approved of the pool or not. She’d been quiet and withdrawn the last couple of weeks. She often sat with Celestia, surprising me.
I got up. “Are you coming with me, Ann Marie?”
“It’s Einmyria, silly. And no, I’m not going anyway. There’s so much to do today. I’m shadowing Dad.”
She was so weird. Half the time she didn’t make sense. She often said one thing, and then pretended she hadn’t.
“Walk with me, Eirik.” Mom got up and took my arm. Her eyes met Father’s. “I’ll see you later, ástin mín. Eimyria, dýrr, find me when you are done with your pool plans.” She didn’t speak until we were in the rotunda. “How is she doing?”
I knew she meant Celestia. “Well. She woke up like she hadn’t been in a coma. Maera’s nasty green herbal concoction actually worked.”
She slapped my arm. “Don’t make fun of Maera’s herbs. It was the only thing that calmed my stomach when I carried you. Bring her home for a visit. I had gotten used to talking to her.”
“Why? Because she didn’t talk back?”
She chuckled. “Possibly.”
Her chuckles had become so rare lately it was nice to hear one. “I’ll tell her you miss her.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. I just want to talk.”
“You have Einmyria.”
“I do, don’t I? Why can’t she be more like you? You have fire. Stamina. You have the best of both of your father and me in you. She…” Mother sighed. “I’ll give her time. Now back to business. When are you meeting with the Norns? You keep changing your mind and they are not happy.”
“There was no way I was meeting with them while Celestia was lost in the astral plane. Now, I want a week or two to teach her about runes. Tell them we’ll have two meetings. The first one here and the second one in Nornsgard.”
Mother’s eyes narrowed, the runes on her whipping fast. I’d come to associate that with agitation. “Nornsgard? Why?”
“They are powerful because everything about them is shrouded in mystery. No one knows anything about them except the fact that they control destinies and recycle baby souls. What if they are like the Wizard of Oz?”
“Who is this wizard?”
I grinned. “Fictional character and a fraud. I need to learn about them, Mother, and knowing the location of their hall is a good place to start. The Witches in Midgard know about them and what they do, so they are exposed and vulnerable over there, but that’s not enough. How do they control destinies? I want to know everything.” I kissed her temple. “Stop worrying. I got this.”
She shook her head, a smile tugging the corners of her lips. “Your cockiness will be the death of me.”
“Right. You know you love me just the way I am.” I hugged her. She lifted one of her hands hesitantly and patted my back. It was the closest thing to a hug she’d ever given me, so that was progress. “I hope you are giving Einmyria a chance to know you.”
“She is weak and whiny,” Mother snapped.
I leaned back and peered at her. “She’s in a strange land and just discovered a family she never had. Go easy on her.”
“What are you saying? I can’t throw her in the dungeon?” she asked with a poker face. I laughed.
“That was a joke, Mom. Nice.”
“I’m serious. It might stop the whining. Just because she doesn’t do it in my presence doesn’t mean I don’t know about it.”
“Be nice. And no dungeons while I’m gone.”
“Bring Celestia home, Eirik. She and I need to talk.”
Warning bells went off in my head. “About?”
“What do you think? I’m concerned about her and want to know how she’s doing. She’s an interesting girl and very entertaining. Do you know she stuck her tongue out at me once? And she and Trudy have the funniest arguments. I eavesdrop on them sometimes.”
“You spy on them?”
“Call it whatever you like. I would not have allowed her to stay here if I hadn’t done that. Bring her home to visit. Now what?” Her focus had shifted to something behind me. “I knew one of these days they’d stop ignoring each other and talk about the past, but fists?”
I turned and followed her gaze. Two figures seemed intent on killing each other by the gates. I adjusted my sight, shifting to dragon vision. I recognized Echo right away. “What past?”
“They are both Druids. One runs hot and the other cold, but deep down they are the same. Dedicated. Spiritual. Bubbling with emotions. Take care of them.”
Mother had them pegged. Rhys was calm one while Echo was the hothead. Wait. “What?” I whipped around to see my mother heading back into the hallway leading to our quarters. “Did you just ask me to take care of them?”
“Yes, Eirik. Force them to sit down and talk things over. I’m finally at peace and I don’t need two of my people at each other’s throats.” Then she was gone.
Great! I was supposed to be going to see Celestia, not stopping two Druids from killing each other. Daiku and Range were on my tail when I left the hall. Using hyper speed, I headed to where Rhys and Echo were pounding each other. Instead of stopping them, I let them duke it out and studied their techniques. They had their strengths and weaknesses, but both were furious, snarling and grunting with each hit. It was a good thing they were in Helheim. On Earth, they’d be leaving dents and cracks on the ice and ground.
One thing about living in Eljudnir was the lack of distraction. Grimnirs reaped, used the gym, or hooked up. There were no movies, games, or Sunday night football to keep them entertained, so I wasn’t surprised when some left the hall and started towards us. These two didn’t need an audience. What they needed was some sense knocked into their thick skulls. I had no idea what their issues were, but Mother had made her wishes clear.
“Keep the gawkers away,” I called out to Ranger and Daiku, then moved closer to Echo and Rhys. I didn’t want to be caught in their body slam jam, so I yelled from the sideline, “That’s enough.” But I doubted they heard me. More pounding and cursing followed. More Grimnirs were leaving the hall to watch the fight, but Ranger and Daiku had the situation under control
. Some were heading back while the really nosey or bored ones stayed to watch from afar.
I engaged strength runes, jumped into their midst, grabbed their arms, and pulled them apart. Since they weren’t expecting me, I managed to separate them, but they were so high on adrenaline that didn’t last. The heel of Echo’s hand slammed into my chest while Rhys’ fist connected with my solar plexus. The double impact sent me flying across the snow.
Ticked off now, I got up and closed in on them. The scales already covered my skin as my body naturally protected itself by partially shifting. Making sure my fists were covered, I went after them both, putting the strength of a dragon behind the punches. The impact pushed them apart and they landed a few feet away. I stayed standing between them.
“That’s enough, damn it! You are both senior Grimnirs and your behavior is a disgrace—”
“Stay out of this, Baldurson,” Echo snarled and eyed Rhys, who was also on his feet and ready to charge. Since I was right smack in the middle, they’d have to go around me or slam into me.
Now they were truly pissing me off. I wished I had my flight suit on, so I could shift completely and melt the snow from under them. Being dunked into ice-cold water might force them to cool off. The fire I made when I was in a partial shift wasn’t big enough to melt a large chunk of ice. That left only one solution.
I focused on my back muscles, localizing the shift. The sound of my favorite duster ripping filled the air as the giant wings shot out. When they rushed each other, I bitch-slapped them face down into the snow and didn’t ease up.
“When I lift up my wings, you two had better be ready to act like grown-ups. Mother’s orders.” They tried to wiggle out from under the weight of my wings with little result. Echo started cursing me out. “Dude, shut up, or I will give you the thrashing you obviously need.”
“You could try,” he mumbled.
I would one of these days, but Mother would not forgive me. “I have places to go instead of refereeing you two. And you owe me a duster. This was a present from my grandmother, and my favorite. That alone is enough to make me want to whoop both of your asses from here to Earth and back.”
“Bring it on, Junior,” Echo retorted.
Seriously, the man had a death wish. I lifted my wings and set them free. They both left bloodstains on the snow and looked like crap despite their healed wounds.
“Stay down. Both of you.” Echo glared at me before his focus shifted to Rhys. His eyes glowed with hatred. “No one gets up until you talk this out.“
“This was none of your business, Baldurson.”
“When it bothers my mother it is.” The look Echo shot me was filled with hatred. I didn’t care. “Start talking. I had to put up with your attitude during our mission across the realms, but I will not do it again when it upsets my mother. So, who goes first?”
Silence.
“One of you will have to start talking, because no one is leaving until you do. And the longer I’m forced to stay here and wait for you two, the more pissed I’ll get. So unless you want me to go full dragon on your asses, someone had better start talking.”
They continued to glare at each other instead of talking. I shrugged off my torn duster and studied the rip. It was long. I waved Ranger over.
“Could you take this to Maera and ask her to fix it while I wait for these two boneheads?”
“No problem,” he mumbled, his eyes volleying between Echo and Rhys. I could tell he was dying to find out what the fight was about.
“Thanks, Ranger.” I waited until he left, then etched runes on my shirt and felt the rip in the back come together. Then I studied the two reapers. Damn Druids! I hated them at this very moment, hated their stubbornness. “So no one is talking? Fine. We’ll stay here, until you do. Call it a timeout. I don’t care if you turn blue because of the cold. I, on the other hand, have my scales, so I’m fine.”
Silence continued.
“Are you really going to make us sit out here like some damn two-year-olds?” Echo snarled.
“Until you quit behaving like one, yes. Or until I decide to shoot fire at your feet and make you dance.” Rhys chuckled. “You too, Rhys. How can two people hold a grudge for… what?”
“A millennium. And I’ll continue to do so if he doesn’t see there’s no excuse for betraying your own,” Echo retorted.
“Good,” Rhys shot back. “Because as long as he is so hotheaded and incapable of thinking before he acts, he’ll never understand that people make mistakes and when they are family, you forgive them.”
“That traitorous bastard was never my family,” Echo snapped.
“We took a blood oath, you sanctimonious piece of shit,” Rhys yelled. “You, Dev, and I were brothers in every way. You broke it when you killed him.”
“Oh, so this is about some dead guy?” I said.
“Shut up!” they both snapped at the same time, and I grinned. If they turned against me, they might actually agree on something.
“He betrayed us and many of our own died,” Echo snarled. “You never said a word when I told you I’d killed him. Instead, you turned your back on me.”
“No, you turned your back on me and Nara, and started making unilateral decisions. You didn’t trust anyone anymore after that except yourself. We became nothing to you, except puppets in your plot for revenge.” He jumped to his feet and started to pace. “We were perfectly fine being Valkyries, but you,”—he jabbed a finger in Echo’s direction—“decided being Grimnirs was better because we would take revenge on those who’d destroyed our race. You decided we should ignore Valkyrie laws, go to Nidavellir, get as many artavo as we could buy from the Dwarves, and turn thousands of our people into Immortals whether they wanted it or not.”
Echo’s eyes glowed and for one second, I was sure he’d leap up and snap Rhys’ neck. Instead, he stood and dusted off the snow from his coat. When he spoke, his voice was calmer, but deadly.
“Tell me where you are hiding his rotting corpse.”
Rhys sneered. “Why? So you can burn it? And it’s not rotting. I preserved it for the day I’ll find his soul and the right spell to bring him back.”
“He got his shot at being one of us and he screwed it, Rhys,” Echo said. “His soul is rotten. And like a coward, he took off instead of allowing us to reap him and send him off with dignity.”
Rhys growled and kicked at the snow. “Do you ever listen to the words coming out of your mouth? There’s no dignity in spending an eternity in Corpse Strand.”
“It’s called penance,” Echo shot back. “Knowing Dev, he’s done many despicable things in the last millennium, so whatever you bring back with your necromancy crap will not just be a traitor. It will be a monster. His dark soul deserves eternity in Corpse Strand.”
Rhys jabbed a finger at Echo. “Dev will walk again and when he does, you will face what you did to him. What you did to us.” He let out a string of words in a language I assumed was Druidic, then looked at me. “I’m done.”
Okay, that was very illuminating. “I don’t know, guys. Mother said you need to fix this and it doesn’t sound like you have. We’ll revisit this.”
“Are you kidding me?” Echo asked. “I’m done dealing with him.”
“No, you’re not. We’ll sit down again and discuss this at length. I don’t know this Dev person or your history with him, but whoever he is, you two have strong feelings for him.”
“I despise him,” Echo said. “Is that strong enough for you?”
“If it makes you sit down and talk, yep. I don’t know why you killed the dude, but you need to explain it to Rhys.”
“Damn right,” Rhys retorted.
Echo gave him the finger.
“And I don’t know why or how you preserved his body, Rhys, but bringing a dead body back to life is a nasty business. When the soul is dark, that’s another level of nastiness.”
“Exactly what I told him,” Echo chimed in.
“So you two talk and when I come back,
let me know what’s next for this Dev guy.” I glanced behind me. Ranger was still in the hall, which meant racing back there for another duster before leaving. I focused on the quiet Druids. They still looked pissed, but they weren’t ready to rip apart each other’s throats. Still, someone would have to keep an eye on them while I was gone. “Where’s Nara?”
“She cannot know about this,” Rhys said quickly.
Echo laughed. “She doesn’t know?”
“Of course not. You know how she felt about him.”
“Is that why you want to bring the traitor back? For your cousin?”
“Stop calling him a traitor.”
“He snitches like one, so he must be—”
Rhys rushed him, but Echo was ready. This time, I went into superspeed after a partial shift, grabbed both their chins, and snapped their necks. I stepped back and let them drop onto the snow.
“Idiots,” I murmured.
“I agree,” Nara said. “Let me guess. They were fighting over Dev.”
“Yep. So who in Hel’s Mist is Dev?”
“A former friend whose worthless soul I’d love to personally reap. He was a pain in the butt alive and even more so dead.” She engaged strength runes, looped an arm around Rhys, and I took Echo. “I’ll make sure they sleep it off, but don’t hold your breath. This is not over.”
We carried them towards the hall.
“What was that about?” Daiku asked when we met him. He took Echo.
“I have no idea.” Grimnirs loved to gossip, and I wasn’t going start a rumor about some dark soul. Who in their right mind would want to put one in a body and bring them back to life? I went to find a coat. Hopefully Maera was done mending it because I was done waiting to see Celestia.
~*~
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ednah Walters holds a PhD in Chemistry and is a stay-at-home mother of five. She is also a USA Today bestselling author. She writes about flawed heroes and the women who love them.
Heroes (Eirik Book 2) Page 42
