Then I'll ask Barrett to go to Poet and give that same sleeping potion to Mia. I'll call Poet ahead of time and let them know. Once Mia is asleep we will have Barrett lowered her wards for a certain amount of time. And hopefully this creature will come after her and we will be able to trap him or tricked him or at least be able to identify his signature." She actually seemed a bit nervous about this plan.
Viking wasn't sure which part made her nervous. The fact he might say no or the fact they were going to go head-to-head with a creature they didn't know.
"How sure are you that this plan will work?" Raider asked suspiciously.
"I don't know. Maybe seventy percent. I have no way of knowing for sure if it'll work. But I'm assuming that if I can find his signature I might be able to track him down and then maybe we can disconnect him from his puppets one at a time. Or be able to find where he himself is hiding."
It really wasn't a good plan. But Viking didn't have another one. They need to track this thing down before it got to Mia. There didn't seem to be another way to do it.
"Wait a second. You said someone. You said someone could help us. I'm not hearing about someone. If you had meant Barrett you would've just said Barrett. Who is this someone you were talking about?"
How he not caught that? Viking should have caught that. The Maddening was making him not pick up on things like he should have. He was thankful Raider was there to pick up the slack.
Gwen fidgeted more. "You're not going to like the answer. But she can help us." Gwen answered hesitantly.
Viking couldn't help the suspicion he felt. It was overriding the anger of the Maddening. "Oh?"
Absently playing with one of her necklaces Gwen looked away and nodded. "Yeah, I am willing to bet she has some answers but I don't know if she will give them to both of us. I just need you to trust me."
His suspicion turned in to warning bells. This did not sound like a good idea to Viking. Did he trust Gwen? Wholeheartedly. Did he trust some unknown source? Not even a little bit. But there were not a lot of options at the moment.
"Who is this person, Little One?"
She was silent a moment. When she spoke her tone was hushed. "She is the same person who helped me jump into Cesar's dreams. I think if I can get her to join me in your dream she could give us information."
Viking felt the frown deepen. Anger started to slither through the wariness. "I don't like that idea. How long have you known this woman that you trust her so?"
Her avoidance of eye contact told him he wouldn't like the answer. "Almost as long as I have known you."
What?!" His temper spiked. Why had he never heard of this person before? Viking tethered his anger and dragged it back in check. "You and I will discuss this later. I want to know all about these secrets you have been keeping from me." He knew his expression left no room for questions and his voice was a heavy, loud growl. "But we don't have the time right now for this discussion. We will go with your plan because we do not have a choice. But I want to be clear that I am not happy with this. Go call Barrett and make Poet aware of your plan."
He did not wait for a response, just turned and strode away before he let loose his anger on the only family he had left.
֍
Viking knew how to control his own dreams. With centuries of practice he honed the skill. But this source of Gwen's was clearly better at it than him. That concerned him. In an effort to give himself home court advantage he morphed his dream landscape into a field his nephew and nieces used to play in. Where he and his sisters played before that. No one from the Seattle area would know this region. It might not be much of an advantage but he would take what he could get.
He did not have to wait long. He felt Gwen and another woman standing behind him before they made a sound. Not one to delay the inevitable, Viking turned to face the women, hand on the sword hilt at his waist.
What he saw made him drop his hand. At first he though his brain stopped processing information properly and his blood ran cold. It was impossible. This woman in front of him could not be who he thought she was. Time seemed to stop. His heart, his breathing all ceased as he watched the woman standing next to Gwen. She was looking back at him with an expression that must have matched his own.
"Mother?" A chill ran through his already icy veins as the long unused word escaped his lips.
Her eyes filled with tears "Eindriði?" Her hands flew up to cover her lips. Her tears fell freely down her cheeks. "How did you survive? We were told you had died."
Vikings heart beat loudly in his ears as if to make up for the momentary pause. "Who? Who told you this?"
"The men who ransacked the village. They told us they happened upon the hunting party and killed them in their sleep."
He could feel himself shaking at the cowardly act. "I was not with the hunting party. I heard a voice telling me to hunt to the south. Only three men came with me. What of my sister's husband? He was a Warrior. He should have survived."
She shook her head "He was not more than four and twenty. Not old enough for his body to be at full strength. They killed everyone in the village except the young ones. They took them as slaves. We fought well, but there were more of them and they were better armed.
"But we hid our children. I saw them as I died, sneaking off into the woods. Eyvindr was herding his sisters and a few other children. I vowed to watch over them until I knew they were safe. They stayed deep in the woods for two moon cycles before coming back to the village. They scavenged what they could and became a band of nomads until they were old enough to defend themselves and joined a coastal village. Eyvindr still lives, he grew strong like his Warrior ancestors. He lives in Alaska with his mate. I have been watching over our family, nurturing…." Her eyes went wide and she took a step back so she could look into Gwen's confused face.
"This, this is your Viking?"
The younger woman nodded cautiously. "Yes. What is going on? You two know each other. I got that much. I only know modern Norwegian. So a lot of the words you used I don't know." Gwen looked between Viking and his mother.
Viking looked between Gwen and his mother, questions battered around in his head. "Gwen this is my mother." He couldn't think of anything else to say; the shock was almost overwhelming.
As he watched, his mother sat down in the grass almost as if standing was too much for her. "I don't believe this. I can't believe this is real. That you are the Warrior who has been looking after my Gwen."
Gwen's shock almost seemed stronger than Viking and his mother's. She looked between them as if she couldn't decide whether this was some kind of prank. "Are you…are you sure? How is that even possible? That doesn't make any sense."
Viking didn't have an answer for her. He wasn't entirely sure how it was possible himself. In that moment they both looked at his mother. She had almost a wistful smile on her face.
"I've been looking out for my family for centuries watching each and visiting the ones that had a certain skill set that I passed down to my girls. Some years ago one of my girls. One of my many great granddaughters turned out to be the Lady of the Dead. And I told myself I would help her in any way I could. Because I knew the road ahead of her was going to be hard and long. Then I noticed she started to display gifts that were more in line with our family than with the Lady of the Dead. So I began to train her. Then one day she proceeds to tell me about this Warrior who came into her life and trained her during the day. His training methods were very similar to mine. I should've known then. It should've been obvious."
In that moment his mother looked up at him. Viking's shock made her words almost nonsensical. What she was saying, could it be possible?
"Son, this is one of your many great nieces. You have been looking out for your family all this time and you never even knew it."
The shock dropped Viking to his knees. His mind almost couldn't comprehend what his mother said. All this time he thought he lost his family when in actuality one piece of it was standing right in front of
him. Not only that, but his little nephew was alive and well. It was too much.
This explained so many things he dismissed before. Like how she was able to take his power and use it. A family connection was the only way that was possible. He should've put two and two together but he has no idea how he would've been able to do that. It would've been a silly conclusion. He looked up at Gwen. Her eyes were glossy. There was surprise on her face. But there was nothing to show that she was unhappy with the revelation.
There was silence, Viking didn't know for how long. It was almost as if this news was too much to bear.
Gwen began to cry. Both he and his mother looked at her, not understanding how to help. They both just kneeled in the grass looking up at their crying descendent.
Gwen's voice was watery when she spoke. "This isn't fair. This is not how this should be." She looked at his mother. "He is on the third day of the Maddening. He has maybe twelve hours left. What kind of world do we live in that would wait till now to reunite you two." Gwen with her big heart continued to sob.
It wasn't fair. All this time his mother had been in his life indirectly and he hadn't even known. Viking could feel the lump in his throat at her words. Anger, surprise, and sorrow swirled around in him causing a cyclone of emotion that was almost overpowering.
After what couldn't have been longer than two or three minutes Viking pushed all of his emotions aside. He could deal with this later. He needed to deal with this later, if later ever came. Right now he needed to talk to his mother about the impending threat. This creature, whatever it was, is threatening the Seattle Night World. More importantly, threatening his mate. No matter how big of a bombshell the universe just dropped on him, that was more important.
His mother however spoke first. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "You have met your mate? This is wonderful news. If you make it through this Maddening… will you… Will you bring her to meet me?"
A fierce feeling of love shot through his body. "Of course!" He barked. His eyes beginning to sting.
His mother gave him a watery smile before standing. She brushed herself off even though there was no real dust to be brushed off. But she was clearly using distraction to steady herself.
Taking a deep breath, with several hitches, she finally turned so she could look at both Gwen and Viking. "So, Gwen says you need my help. Something about a creature who can control multiple people at once? She asked me if I could get you both into this other woman's dream so that you could identify this creature. Then when her wards are reestablished pull you out and see if I know how to stop it. Does that just about sum up the plan?" Even his mother sounded a little skeptical.
Viking nodded. "Yes, that little bit of lunacy relying on luck is the only plan that we have."
His mother frowned. "If you solve this and get through the Maddening with your mate you will have to come back. We will have a chat and you can tell me what exactly is going on in the Night World. This sounds almost nothing like the one I left. And there are all sorts of stirrings on this side of the veil."
While Viking was curious about what sort of stirrings were going on, he knew better than to ask. They were on a bit of a time crunch. Not only with the wards going back up but the soothing potion Barrett had given him would only last three hours tops.
"Sounds like a plan."
She nodded in response and moved toward Viking with her hands out in front of her. "I would embrace you as my arms itch to do, but I fear we would never do what we came here to accomplish."
As he nodded he watched his mother swallow the lump in her throat.
"You remember what it feels like for me to pull information out of your head? I assume your mate is this other woman. If so, it will be easier to pull her signature from your head than Gwen's." She hovered about an inch away from his temples waiting for him to give her permission.
He simply nodded again.
Her hands connected with his head and he felt a familiar spark. He had forgotten what his mother's power felt like. It was almost like an ocean wave lapping at the side of his head. It was calm and soothing but still you knew it was a force to be reckoned with. It felt like a home Viking had not know for centuries. A few seconds later her hands were gone and he was left with the ache where his mother's touch used to be.
"Well I know who we’re looking for. So I will have no problem sending you to her." Her voice was clipped.
Viking knew it was because she was overwhelmed. She had never been one to compartmentalize her emotions and her intellect. It was something he'd always loved about his mother. She experienced life wholeheartedly all the time.
After a second or two the background of his dream began to go fuzzy. Like an out of focus photograph only instead of the image sharpening it was becoming more and more undiscernible. With that setting also went his mother.
Part of him screamed out for her. He had only just found her. He didn't want to let her go. But he kept himself stoic as a new scene appeared. Once he and Gwen landed in the new scene he knew something was wrong.
They were in the woods. The woods the women's retreat had been in. Only there were no cabins or buildings or lights. The trees looked a little more menacing. And the moon wasn't quite shining as bright. A sense of dread came over Viking. He began scanning the trees trying to see if he can find Mia. Then he felt Gwen grab his upper arm.
"I can see them." She whispered. "At least I think I see him. I think he's chasing after her. If we move forward about three yards we're going to be smack dab in what looks like their path." She started moving forward.
He wanted to stop her. There was no reason for her to be endangering herself. But then he reminded himself she was the Lady of the Dead. The Spirit World was where she belonged. Taking a deep breath he picked up his stride so he could catch up with her. They stopped after several yards and he heard Gwen whisper.
"Can you see them yet?"
"No." He strained at the tree line where Gwen was looking.
She reached out and patted his shoulder, or at least he thought she was aiming for his shoulder. She ended up hitting him somewhere in the chest.
"Don't worry about it. When they come running around the corner grab Mia and swing her behind you. I'll see if I can get control of whatever he is."
Adrenaline shot through his system. Even though this was a dream, stakes were high. He got ready to jump out of the bushes onto the trail a few feet in front of them. He watched Gwen do the same.
Within seconds he heard someone crashing through the underbrush. A frightened Mia appeared around the bend. Just as she would've passed them Viking shot out and grabbed her. He covered her mouth as a scream vibrated into his hand. He turned her so she could see him. He watched the realization hit her and her eyes calmed.
He watched Gwen stand out in the middle of the path and face the direction Mia came from. Mia wiggled in his grasp trying to protest hiding away from the threat. But he held her still. Mia looked at him questioningly and he shook his head. The black oval shadow appeared around the corner. It was laughing until it saw Gwen. It stopped moving about six feet in front of her.
Its red eyes narrowed. "I heard rumors the Lady of the Dead had come knocking. I also heard rumors she was a wee bit stronger than the last two. So what brings you here to interfere with my…hobbies?"
Gwen smiled with newfound confidence in her abilities. "Well, let's have a little test shall we?"
The being chuckled something Viking couldn't hear. "Sure why not. All I got is time."
Gwen slid her hands to her hips. "Tell me who guards the Lady of the Dead."
Viking got the distinct impression the thing tilted his head curiously. But there was no head so to speak to tilt.
"The Warriors do." It said curiously.
"Good I'm glad you're up to date. Now the woman you've been chasing after happens to be the mate of the captain of my guard. So you can see why this might be a problem for me."
The being watched Gwen the second. "Liar."
"Liar, I was not informed she was anybody's mate. And I see no connection has been formed. If she was mated to something in the Night World it would be obvious."
Viking had no idea what the being was talking about. As far as he knew mates of Warriors didn't appear as anything special.
"I give you my word as the Lady of the Dead that she is the mate of my captain. Simply because no connection shows yet doesn't mean there won't be one soon. Now who told you there was no connection? Did someone give you a list of people to go after?"
Viking finally felt Gwen's power stirring and she pushed it behind those questions to make the being answer.
The being laughed again. "Don't go shooting your power at me child. I have been controlling people longer than your mother's mother has been alive. I have friends. Friends who have interesting ideas about the way things should be run. It is quid pro quo you see. I get to make friends with bright little humans and in turn my new friend helped my not so human friends."
That was all the proof they needed. Viking was now sure this has something to do with the rebellion. Why the rebellion would use Sensitives he didn't know. Sensitives did not necessarily have active abilities. While his mother was a sensitive, her abilities were greatly in the minority.
"And what if I tell you not to help them?" Gwen asked.
Viking could feel her starting to pull her power.
The being moved so it was two feet in front of her. Towering over her. It was the stuff of nightmares but Gwen stood her ground. He could not have been more proud of her.
"Try it." Then the being attacked.
It lashed out at her. She ducked just as it would've sliced across her face. She held up both hands palms pointed at the creature.
Viking Sensitivity (Night World Series Book 2) Page 13
