by T. G. Ayer
Each room was decorated in a different color, which told me our host was one smart woman. She'd themed her rooms with specific colors and decor. The first, which I'd already decided was mine, had deep-blue and white bedding on the beds, a small table with collections of candles in shades of blue, a painting on the wall that looked like a beautiful Greek island with deep-blue waters and bright-white buildings flowing down a hillside.
The next room was decorated in shades of orange with a hint of Spanish flair. She even had a room decorated in shades of green and bright white, with a hint of plants and patterns from a South Pacific island, New Zealand.
Aimee jumped the line to share a room with me, while our two fire girls were next door in the orange room. The four guys ended up in the last two rooms, and I paid little attention to who shared with whom.
After we were settled and spent some time resting, Maria hollered that the evening meal was ready. Her tone said we had little choice in the matter, so we filed down the stairs, hunching down to avoid hitting our heads on the low ceilings, and arrived in the dining room.
Our host stood waiting, hands on her generous hips, round cheeks red from the hot kitchen. Her grey hair was tied in a fat bun at the back of her head, and she watched us with happy twinkling eyes. She bustled around us dishing out beef and vegetable stew and passing around fresh, hot yeasty homemade bread and butter. The only shadow on the lovely meal was Yuri's presence. He'd paid for his meal, exchanging coins with the old woman, before seating himself. It was good he wanted to remain independent, but that didn't mean I trusted him.
I'd decided even before we arrived at Maria's that I was going to keep an eye on him. As yet, I hadn't found the time to get the team clued in on the matter of Yuri, but from their expressions at the table, I didn't think they would disagree with me.
After the meal, we retired to our rooms, eager to plan our stakeout. Yuri took his cue and left for his van. As we walked upstairs, I said to Aimee, "Have everyone come to our room. We need to make our plans."
She turned and hurried down the tiny passageway to the next room. Not long afterward, everyone trickled into the Greek-flavored room, taking seats wherever was available. Siri and Enya were the first ones in, and by the time the room had filled, Siri was clicking her fingers, sending a golden flame streaming from them while Enya looked on with an expression of wonder.
I sat beside her, my face filled with admiration. "That is amazing."
Siri beamed. "Just as amazing as a girl turning into a dragon?"
"Just as amazing," I said, my face serious. "Right, now let's get down to business. I want you all to pair off two per team. Aidan, you stay with Enya. Siri, you're with Joshua. We need a map of the area."
"Here," said Derek, turning his monitor toward me. I studied the photographs and appreciated satellite maps more than ever. Derek was able to scale down to the dirt roads that led from Maria's home to where Loki now hid within the walls of the crumbling old manor house.
"We will watch the manor from these four sides." I pointed them out. "Edrik and I will do one recon to find the best spots to watch the place. Then we go in. Derek? You have sufficient communication equipment?" When he nodded, I said, "Good. We keep radio silence unless it's urgent."
I looked around at the faces gathered in the room and a pang of doubt stabbed my gut. Was all this too big for us? I saw two innocent girls. One a daughter of Loki who wielded heat, the other a dragon princess new to war. I saw a wolf man who was for centuries in Odin's service in a mystical realm protected from real war and bloodthirsty killing. And I saw four humans who until a few months ago had been living normal lives, going to school, and dealing with normal teenage issues.
What if we were too inexperienced to win against Loki? Too inexperienced to beat him at a game he'd been playing for centuries?
I crossed my fingers and hoped we'd all make it out of this alive.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
After the meeting, Edrik hung back as the rest of the team filed out. His face was serious and intense, a vein twitching at his hairline.
He cleared his throat. "Do you want to go out now?" he asked, giving Aimee a hesitant glance. She sat cross-legged on her bed, her back against the wall, and didn't appear to have any intention of going anywhere anytime soon.
She held her sword in her lap and was rubbing a stone across it, smooth long strokes that made the blade sing an echoing song. She kept her gaze focused on her task, her dark-blond hair drifting down in strands to hide her face.
I looked at the Edrik, giving him a little smile to make up for Aimee's rudeness. "I also want to do an internal sweep. You up for that?"
He nodded eagerly, his chin lifting a little. Even his dark eyes gave off a little sparkle of anticipation.
Seemed the thought of creeping into the old house in the dead of night was an exciting prospect for the Ulfr. I had to admit this mission might not have been the thrill-fest everyone expected. So far, only a small number of our unit had active roles to play, but I couldn't change that. We were a team and each of us played the roles needed at the appropriate time. Sometimes the odd member had to take a backseat on a mission.
It was what it was.
As I looked at my excited wolf partner, I wondered, not for the first time, what Aidan was thinking. He'd come along on this mission and done nothing of value so far. I knew him well enough to know he'd be chomping at the bit to make some kind of difference. And he would be too proud to say anything about it.
Thinking of Aidan made me think of Enya, and another thought flitted through my head. I could use her help to get into the house.
"Wait here a moment. I need to speak to Enya," I said as I got to my feet and headed next door, leaving Edrik alone with Aimee. A spark of concern ran through me. That would be a scintillating conversation.
The door to the girl's room was wide open and they both lay on their beds, two teens talking softly. Siri was holding her hand up straight above her and a bright-orange flame flared from the middle of her palm. It disappeared suddenly, only to reappear in a flash, the flame burning straight and strong.
"You two want to make yourselves useful?" I asked loudly, making them both jump at the sudden sound of my voice. I hid a smirk as Siri's flame disappeared. She pulled herself into a sitting position in one smooth move, setting her bare feet on the colorful mat beside her bed. Enya on the other hand was a little slower at getting up. Both their faces looked at me eagerly.
"Do you even have to ask?" Enya was the first to respond. Understandably so, since she hadn't yet proved her worth. She must have something of her brother in her.
"Siri, you are on transport duty for Edrik, Enya, and myself," I said, and the dragon girl nodded, her expression serious. I checked the hall quickly--left, right, clear--before stepping inside the room. I shut the door with a soft click and, leaning against it, I said, "Enya, Edrik and I will do a quick recon on the structure of the building. I'm going to look for a back entrance or a door with a balcony." I paused, then met Enya's gaze. "I'll need you to melt the lock so we can get inside without calling attention to ourselves." The eagerness and confidence was clear in her face. She was still so young, and as I stared at her. Had I made a big mistake bringing her along? I was worried about her. She was still far too pale, the blue veins in her skin a stark reminder that she wasn't the healthiest of our operatives.
"Aidan will want to come," she said, making a face. Looked like she didn't like her dear brother being around any more than he liked babysitting her. I wanted to laugh, but I choked it back. Maybe Aidan would have been better off with another team. And in that split second, I decided to assign him to a different team and keep Enya with me. Aimee already had the two girls under her wing, so it made little difference.
"We'll be leaving him behind. I don't need any unnecessary bodies. All we're doing is surveillance for now."
Both girls nodded, one pale, the other golden, and I jerked my head in the direction of my room and said, "Suit
up and meet me in my room in ten."
I left them to it, heading down the hall back to my room, my boots tapping softly on the bare wood floor. Inside, the silence told me Edrik and Aimee had yet to break the ice. Both Ulfr and einherjar were warriors, but from what I'd seen, they often seemed to clash on a personal level. Although fiercely loyal to each other, it took a while for them to loosen up when first thrown together in teams.
I had nothing against the werewolves themselves, but I'd been hurt badly in the past by an Ulfr, and though I tried not to let that interfere with my relationship with my new partner, I couldn't help thinking about it every so often.
Edrik was sitting at the table by the window, drumming his fingers on the wood. Controlled impatience. "Edrik, could you grab Derek for me, please?" I asked.
He shot to his feet and then left the room, his soles making little sound on the worn wood floors. How the werewolves did that I had no idea.
I sank to my bed and faced my friend. "You two buddies yet?" I asked Aimee, trying to keep my tone light. I dug into my bag, retrieving the holsters for my knives and guns, then strapped them to my thighs. I gave her time to collect her thoughts as I put my blades and knives in their places. When she didn't reply, I said, "He's not Mika, you know."
I watched her until she looked up at me. As expected, there was a sadness to her eyes that I wished I could erase. She sighed softly and looked away, focusing on the blue and white painting on the wall behind my head. "I know, but I can't bring myself to trust him. Not yet."
"Do you trust Fen?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as she shifted her gaze from the painting to meet my eyes again. I slipped into my back holster that held Gungnir at my back.
"Of course I do," she answered, staring at me with a tinge of hurt in her honey eyes.
I tilted my head and said, "Then you can trust Edrik. It's not a good start if people on the same team can't trust each other." I slipped the spear into the holster behind my wings and shrugged my shoulders to ensure it was comfortable and wouldn't get in my way.
"It's not the same and you know it," Aimee snapped, now more annoyed than hurt. "Mika was Fen's daughter and she was your friend. And she betrayed your trust. If she could do it, so can any other wolf." Her words were bitter and it saddened me to see her so hardened because of my old partner's betrayal.
"Aimee," I said softly. "Mika betrayed her own father first. There was so much more going on than anyone realized. She was very troubled and her loyalties were confused in her own mind. The rest of us were just pawns in her game. She had her own agenda."
Aimee's jaw tightened. "Yeah. More of Loki's influence," she snapped, her honey eyes flashing.
"Yes. Loki's influence. Something I know the Ulfr did not agree with. The entire clan was up in arms after what she did." I leaned forward, urging her with my body to heed my words. "Aimee, she shamed them all so badly they felt they couldn't serve Odin anymore. They only returned to serve because Odin wouldn't take no for an answer."
Aimee knew all this, but it seemed she needed to be reminded. She sighed again, her tight features relaxing a little.
I got up and went to sit beside her. She didn't look up, just rubbed the stone against the blade, letting its song fill the silence. I grabbed her knee and shook it. "Hey, it's time to get over Mika. At least you didn't make out with her," I said with a wink.
Aimee spluttered and her eyes went wide. "Oh yeah. Poor Joshua. I guess he totally regrets getting involved with her?"
I smirked. "I'm pretty sure he does. So Mika betrayed more than one of us. Time to let it go."
Aimee sighed. "Okay, I guess if you and Joshua have put it behind you, then I should make a concerted effort to do the same." She stopped her sharpening and stuck the sword back into its sheath. "Sorry I've been such a drag."
I shrugged. "It's fine. At first I thought it was because you've been babysitting the newbies."
"Hardly," she said, her tone dry. "Those two have a heck of a lot of talent between them. Just the other day, I saw Enya learn to focus the heat she produces and use it like a pen to write a message on a metal sheet. She melted the words into the freaking sheet and made a stencil of it. Perfect edges. Amazing."
"So you don't mind watching them?" I asked, studying her face as she answered.
She snorted and stared at me as if I were crazy. "Hell no. I've spent a bit of time helping them out with ideas for training their skills. I have to admit I'm intrigued by their power. Makes a simple old warrior like me seem so unnecessary."
"I wouldn't use the word unnecessary in the same sentence as an einherjar. You're pretty powerful in your own right, you know."
Aimee raised her hands and spent a moment inspecting them. "More powerful than I ever imagined I would be," she said with a sigh. "A far cry from an emaciated girl dying of cancer."
"Exactly. It's a second chance at living. I guess we all need to make a concerted effort to live it." I leaned closer and gave her a squeeze.
After a moment of silence, Aimee asked, "Do you think our families will be okay?"
Her question felt like an iron fist gripping my heart. I'd thought about that too. "I don't think anyone is safe as long as Loki is playing his war games. It's why we need to stop him as soon as possible."
Aimee sighed, then twisted her fingers in her lap. "I was wondering if it would be possible to somehow relocate our families to somewhere safe." She stared at me, waiting to hear what I thought.
"I've thought about that too. But then we'd need to help every family of every warrior in Asgard." As I said it, I sinks in how impossible our situation was. Fighting this silent war and unable to do anything to truly protect the ones we loved.
Aimee was deep in thought, and I was glad when the door opened spilling Derek into the room.
I waved him in and pointed at the chair Edrik had vacated. "Close the door." As soon as he did, I said, "I need you to use those cameras of yours to generate a map of the inside of the building. I'm going in tonight so I can get a feel for the place and also see which room Loki is occupying."
Derek bobbed his head as he sat. "Good plan. Sure, I can do that. Just have to write the program, which shouldn't take too long. You want a 3-D rendition?"
I shrugged. "I don't mind. Just as long as we have a clear map so when we go in to take them down, we know where Loki is and where the virus is as well."
He nodded, then tilted his head to study my face, an excited expression in his eyes. "I have just the thing for you. I knew it would come in handy." He barreled out of the room, flinging the door wide and stamping down the hall to his room. It took him a few moments before he came running back holding what looked like a pair of goggles. He handed it to me. "I thought you might need these. Night vision. It will tell you in advance if there's anyone in the building. It's super powerful and able to detect body heat through wooden walls. Not concrete, though. We haven't been able to program it to do that yet." He looked so disappointed I wanted to give him a hug.
Instead, I studied the goggles, turning them over in my hands, then looking through them experimentally. "This is perfect for us right now, Derek. Although, I'll just take the one. Edrik won't be needing one."
"Why not?" he asked, his forehead scrunched.
I raised an eyebrow. "He's an Ulfr, remember. Natural night vision."
"Oh yes. I did forget about that," he said, his eyes going wide.
I studied his face, noting the golden emanation to his skin. "Tell me, Derek, how long have you been an einherjar?"
"About a year now," he answered, his expression serious. "Why?"
"No real reason. I just like to get to know my team," I answered. "You said you come home regularly for training?"
"Yeah." He snorted. Waving a hand to himself, he said, "I'm not exactly your average warrior type."
I grinned and shook my head while Aimee snorted from her end of the room. "I think if we only ever got warrior-type warriors, we'd be in deep trouble. We need techies like you. Especially now w
ith Loki getting all technologically advanced in his tactics."
"Well, I'm glad to help. Just let me know if you ever need anything else. You name it, I'm your man."
I believed him.
"You bet. I don't think you'll be able to get rid of me now that I know how super efficient you are." I beamed at him, and he flushed pink before launching himself out of his seat.
He bobbed in place for a moment, then said, "I'd better get to that program, then." With that, he scurried out of the room, leaving Aimee and me to roll our eyes and giggle.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
After everyone had suited up and readied themselves, we headed to the front door. As we reached the doorway, I drew the Tarnkappe from my bag and dusted it out. It made an impressively hollow flapping sound.
I handed the cloak to Enya. "Here. You will need this."
"What is it?" she asked, running a finger over the silky leather.
"It's a cloak of invisibility. Thor gave it to me, so be careful with it," I said, then frowned as I stared at her. "Unless you have the ability to use glamor and haven't told us yet." I winked.
She shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, no. I still have to figure out if I can. I will let you know if it ever happens."
I shook my head. "That's fine. Don't force anything. If you have the ability, it will no doubt come to you in time. For now, you can use the Tarnkappe. Just wear it like a cloak and keep yourself covered. Nobody will see you."
"I will, thanks," she said with a grateful smile. She swung the cloak around her and pulled it over her head. As soon as she was ready, I turned the knob and opened the door.
We filed out of the house one by one without a word. If anyone noticed the door of Maria Chekhov's boarding house open and close on it's own, I was sure they would find a million reasons for it yet be utterly wrong with every one of them.
