The moment we stepped out of the portal back into Midgard, it was as if we’d walked into a horror film. People were running and screaming, fires were everywhere, car alarms were going off—it was pure chaos. And the dead had risen—again.
“It’s happening, Hrefna.” Verdandi gripped my hand, her eyes widening. “We have to find Fenrir.”
I winced as something flew overhead and we dodged out of its way. “He said he’d be waiting for us at the entrance of the portal, but he’s not here. We have to find the others.”
“The others?” Verdandi frowned. “I thought you wanted to get away from them?”
I started to move. “I have to make sure they’re safe.” I headed toward the precinct.
People were screaming and ditching their cars on the road as the streets were jammed. I ran to the station, and by the time I burst into the squad room, no one was paying attention to me. Officers ran in and out of the room, fear clearly etched on their faces. The phones rang off the hook and the noise level was deafening. I grabbed the first officer I could find and stopped him.
“Where’s Detective Callahan?” I demanded.
He shrugged, shaking in my grasp. “I haven’t seen him all day.” He brushed me away and hurried past me to the others. I asked a few more cops but got the same response. I started to panic. This couldn’t be right. Where the hell was Will?
Verdandi and I stole a pair of city bikes as we left the station.
“Where are we going?” she trailed behind me.
“We’re going to Charlie’s apartment.” I started to peddle and prepared for the long ride to her place.
We found the apartment door busted opened and there was evidence of a struggle. The debris and shattered glass scattered around the room proved Charlie did not leave her apartment without a fight. Something bad had gone down, and I’d left them unprotected.
“Will must have been with her.” Verdandi picked up his bent police badge from the floor.
“Son of a bitch!” I threw a frame at the wall, and it shattered. “Where the fuck is Fen!” I shouted to no one in particular.
My chest was tight and I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was having a panic attack. I’d put Odin down, but another evil had reared its ugly head and attacked when I wasn’t looking.
“We’ll find them, Hrefna,” the Norn whispered, placing a hand on my shaking shoulder. “The wolf would not let himself get taken so easily.”
That was what worried me. I was more afraid he’d left on his own accord, but I remained quiet and kept my thoughts to myself.
“We need to do a locator spell on Charlie and Will.” I walked out of the apartment and down the stairs.
Verdandi followed. “I can’t go to the cemetery. With the dead risen, it’s going to be a war zone.”
“So we go to the next best place.” I shrugged. “The Underground.”
The black market was in disarray when we arrived with people shouting and running for their lives. People pushed past me, bumping into my shoulder as I watched some of the shops go up in flames. Booths had been overturned and stores were being looted in the chaos. Verdandi and I rushed through the market streets until I caught sight of a familiar face.
“Ken!” I yelled at the kitsune as he ushered people down an alley.
“Oh, Raven, it’s so good to see you.” He sighed in relief. “I thought you were,” he took a large gulp as he helped an elderly woman down the alley stairs, “well, you know.”
“I’m not dead. What the hell is going on?”
He shook his head. “The city was attacked. Something supernatural for sure but no one knows what exactly. We’re evacuating through the underground tunnels for safety.”
“Have you seen Charlie?” I secretly crossed my fingers.
Ken nodded. “I saw her with a human.” He ushered a group of people, and I exhaled in relief. “But there were some other people with her. I didn’t get a good look.”
I immediately tensed. “What other people, Ken?” I tried to get his attention by snapping my fingers in his face, but he was so busy helping people underground he was barely listening. “Ken!” I yelled.
“I told you I couldn’t see, but they didn’t look like good news, Raven. Is she involved in something?”
I ignored his question. What hadn’t she been involved in? I didn’t dare look into Charlie’s soul after she killed Castellano. I was scared to see what would be there.
“Has Witches Row been evacuated?” If we were going to do a locator spell, we’d need some supplies.
Ken pulled a map from his back pocket and looked at it. “Yeah, it has been, why?”
“Thanks!” I grabbed Verdandi and headed toward Witches Row.
“Hey, Raven! No looting!” Ken called out after us, but I didn’t respond. I was on a mission.
Verdandi and I pushed our way through the crowd of supernaturals trying to leave the Underground until we made our way into Witches Row. We found the first witch shop, and Verdandi went to work pulling herbs from the shelves while I found a map of Portland to spread out on the counter. The Norn put Will’s badge in the center of the map and poured the herb concoction around the map. Powder fell like pebbles on the paper, and she began to whisper a chant I couldn’t understand. This was a different type of magic than what the witches and warlocks usually practiced—this was old magic. The powder began to shake and move, slithering into a line and moving around the map until it formed a circle in one area.
“There.” Verdandi pointed to the center of the circle located downtown in the middle of the street. “Will is there. And most likely Charlie is with him.”
“What are we waiting for?” I started for the door, but the Norn didn’t move. “Verdandi?” I raised a brow.
“Hrefna,” she murmured, “whatever happens, do not lose sight of our goal.”
I cocked my head. “Which is what?”
“You are the humans’ champion. We got rid of Odin, now you get rid of this evil.”
“We will do it together.” I stared at her intently.
She gave me a rare smile and nodded. “Right.”
I paused and let her pass by me, but I didn’t overthink what she said too much. Verdandi was a weird one—sometimes she was cold and sometimes she was hot. This was just one of those rare cases where she was cold.
We hurried out of the Underground, thanking Ken on our way out and wishing him luck. We ditched the bikes and got in an abandoned car on the side of the road with the keys still in the ignition. Maneuvering through the streets was chaotic but not impossible, though once we hit downtown, we had to ditch the car and go on foot. There were too many abandoned cars on the road to drive. Right about now, I was really wishing for Fen and his hellhounds. Something in my gut told me we were about to come face to face with something we weren’t ready to handle, and with Odin locked away safely in Limbo, I didn’t have anyone else to watch my back.
As Verdandi and I walked the now empty streets of downtown, it felt like the quiet before the storm. We ran two blocks and turned the corner for the last street and skidded to a stop. In the middle of the street was a group of hellhounds standing in front of a pile of cars with Will and Charlie atop. I wanted to run to them, but they weren’t there voluntarily. I scanned the area for Fen. If the hounds were there, he was definitely nearby. I pushed the Norn back around the corner for cover and watched from afar. They were waiting for something—or someone.
I squinted my eyes and got a closer look at Charlie who was gagged to keep her from wailing. Both she and Will were bound. They were prisoners.
I pulled us back and took a deep breath. “There’s no way in except going through them,” I said to Verdandi. “I don’t see Fen anywhere. I can’t believe he’d do this to us again.”
“I’m not too sure this is Fenrir,” the Norn said, her eyes clouded with something unknown. “Do you trust me, Hrefna?”
I bit my lip and groaned. “That’s a loaded question, Verdandi.”
�
��I need you to trust me, Raven.”
I jerked back and widened my eyes. She never said my human name.
“Trust me,” she repeated and stepped around me.
I stood stock still as she went around the corner and in view of the hellhounds.
“What are you doing?” I whisper-yelled.
Trust me, she mouthed. She walked toward them, and all I could do was watch with my mouth hanging open. I extended my wings and flew to the rooftop of the nearest building and followed her from above as the hellhounds caught a whiff of her and split apart to let her walk through. I was dumbfounded by how casual this all was, as if they were expecting her. Were they expecting her? Will struggled against his restraints once he saw the Norn but there must have been some sort of magical rune on them to keep them in place because he wasn’t moving much.
“Run, Verdandi! Run!” Will yelled, but it fell on deaf ears.
The Norn continued to walk toward them. I could hear Charlie’s muffled cries, and something in my chest ached. I did this to them. I had given Fen the opening to do this.
The hounds began to growl at Verdandi once she stopped before the pile of cars and Charlie and Will as if they would pounce on her at any moment, and for a split second I feared for her life. I could fight, but there were at least fifty hounds down there. We would be demolished in minutes.
“You came,” a voice filtered in. It was feminine and familiar. I scanned the crowd for it and couldn’t find where it came from. “I worried you wouldn’t show, but I shouldn’t have doubted.” It was the voice of a seductress, and I couldn’t pinpoint where I’d heard it. I edged closer over the building.
“You knew of me?” Verdandi asked, perplexed.
“Of course. The elusive Norn who came back to life,” she giggled whimsically. “I followed your little tricks. You couldn’t hide all the time.”
“Then why do you hide from me?” The Norn straightened her stance. “Show yourself.”
There was a rustle behind the pile of cars and suddenly someone crawled over them like a spider and stood atop the highest car. Dressed in all black, her dark hair blowing in the wind, she was regal as she stood before everyone. I wanted to puke. It wasn’t Fen at all—it was his sister.
“So demanding,” Hel quipped. “I’ve heard about you. Hopefully, you won’t be as difficult.”
“I’m extremely difficult,” Verdandi growled. The mean old hag was coming out to play, and she wasn’t going to make it easy for Hel.
Fen’s sister grinned. Her dark painted lips curved maliciously, but I wasn’t sure what she had planned.
“Now that I have everything I need, let’s get going.” She flicked a black painted fingernail at the Norn. Two hellhounds in human form approached her and picked her up on either side. She struggled against their grip. “Open a portal, Norn,” Hel commanded.
Verdandi fought with all her might. I couldn’t just stand up here watching any longer. I didn’t know what she wanted me to do. Trust her to do what? She couldn’t take them on her own, that much I knew.
Spreading my wings, I walked back a few steps and gave myself a running start before I leapt off the building and dove for the ground. I landed in a crouch between Hel and Verdandi. The ground shuddered beneath me.
“No one is going anywhere,” I muttered as I rose and faced Hel. I retracted my wings and stared her down. Her smirk was anything but surprised.
“Well, look who decided to join the party.” She smiled wide. “Took you long enough.”
“What are you doing?” That was probably the stupidest question in history.
She chuckled. “What am I doing? Do you really have to ask? I am seeking my revenge!” she shouted, and the earth shook beneath my feet. “I was locked away for centuries in the Underworld. It is time for the nine realms to feel my wrath!”
“You’re hurting innocent people!” I yelled. “Odin is the one to punish—”
“No one is innocent!” Her eyes drilled into me, and I froze in place. “First, I will destroy what Odin holds dearest to his heart—Midgard—and then I will move on to Asgard and Valhalla. No one will be safe.”
“Odin doesn’t give a shit about Midgard! He knew you were coming and abandoned it the minute he could. This is a fool’s errand,” I argued.
She flinched but didn’t look dissuaded. “Everyone will pay for letting me rot in that gods forsaken place. Everyone.”
“Even your brother who moved heaven and earth to save you?” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them.
She grinned. “No, my brother will be spared. He is the only one I can trust.”
“I can’t let you do this.” I stepped back toward Verdandi who was still held captive by the hounds.
“You don’t have much of a choice.” Hel snapped her fingers, and a group of hounds came for me.
I pulled my daggers out of my boots and stood at the ready. I sliced the first one open from belly button to sternum and kicked him out of my way. My fists flew and my daggers soared as they met their intended targets. Blood splattered all over me as they kept coming. I couldn’t breathe at one point as they hovered over me, and all I could hear were Will and Verdandi’s screams.
I climbed onto the back of one of the hounds and gasped for air as I sliced his throat. The bodies were a blur and I could feel the swelling of one of my eyes. I wasn’t invincible; the hounds continued to hit me. There were too many. I was about to take flight when I heard a familiar voice.
“Hel!” Fen called out. “That’s enough!” He whistled and the dogs dispersed, dropping me to the ground like a rag doll. I fell, and my daggers clanked on the concrete beside me.
“We were just having some fun,” Hel pouted.
Fen stopped beside me with a long box in his hand, and I froze.
“I got your package, sister,” he said. “I’m not sure what it is though.”
But I knew. I felt it.
I looked back up at Hel, and Verdandi now stood beside her. It worried me. She had all three of my friends with her and I was down here, out of reach.
“Open it, open it, open it!” she sang with a hunger in her eyes that was pure fire.
Fen frowned but released his claws to cut open the box. He pulled out the Sword of Souls, I exhaled harshly and hung my head.
Shit. I was completely and utterly fucked. Fen got what he wanted and there was no way he’d help us at this point.
“Fen, please,” I quietly begged. “Don’t do this.”
“Begging doesn’t suit you, Hrefna,” Hel said, victory ringing loud and clear in her voice. “I had it retrieved for you, brother. Now we have everything we need to start over.”
“Start over?” Fen whispered.
“Yes!” Hel gleamed. “The worlds need to be restarted and we’ll be the ones to do it.”
There was a quiet pause, and I looked up at the wolf beside me. He stared at the sword in his hands. I’d taken out a good chunk of the hounds, but there were still a lot of them behind us. I didn’t know who had more control over them, Fen or Hel. Whatever the case, I needed to get my friends down from those cars and unbound.
“Open a portal,” Hel commanded.
“I won’t do it,” Verdandi said, standing strong.
Hel snaked her hands around the Norn’s neck and lifted her off the ground. Her hair began to blow in the wind and suddenly turned to flames as she yelled, “Open a portal!” Her voice was demon-like as it boomed into the city.
Verdandi began to cough as her air was cut off. Fire licked her skin, and all I could think was of Lana’s human body. Verdandi was already dead, but Lana could still die if the Norn didn’t take care of her body.
“Do it!” I yelled. “Verdandi, just do it!” We didn’t need any more deaths on our conscience.
I stood and inched closer to Charlie and Will. Hel released the Norn, and Verdandi coughed a few times and clutched her throat before she nodded. As she opened a portal, I eased my way to Charlie and Will. Before I could
make it to them, two hellhounds snatched them before I could.
“Did you think it would be that easy?” Hel said with a raised eyebrow. “They’re my insurance.”
“What?” I started to run toward them but was tackled by a hound.
“Come on, brother, we have work to do.” Hel motioned Fen toward the open portal.
I looked to Fen who simply stood there staring at the sword. When he finally snapped out of it, he looked at me and then at the hound on top of me. He started our way and raised the sword.
“Fen …” I pleaded. “Think about this!”
He swung the sword, slicing the head off the hound, and I gasped loudly as it rolled by me. Fen extended a hand and helped me to my feet.
“Fenrir!” his sister yelled. “You would choose a valkyrie over me?” Her eyes were on fire as she watched us, and then she turned to me. “You’ll pay for this.”
The air around us began to swirl as the portal opened. I raised my arm to cover my face from the harsh winds and squinted as I looked at my friends. Verdandi, Charlie and Will were being held by hellhounds and I knew deep down in my gut I wouldn’t be able to save them all.
“Find us!” Verdandi yelled over the thunderous sounds of the portal. “I know you can.”
Before I knew what was happening, they went through the portal and it closed behind them. They were gone.
23
I felt numb. Granted, I was knee-deep in a bottle of bourbon, but I felt absolutely nothing. I was sprawled on the fur rug in front of Fen’s fireplace and stared at the ceiling. I hadn’t noticed before the sparkles that glittered in the night. Either that or I was staring too much into the light and it was messing with my eyesight. I turned my head as the front door opened and Fen walked in. He dropped his keys in the bowl by the door and took off his jacket, throwing it on the coat rack. Releasing a deep breath, he came to stand next to me.
“Again, Raven?” He placed his hands on his hips. “We can’t do this every night.”
“I don’t see why not,” I slurred. “Is your dick raw?”
He sighed. “No.”
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