Joshua II

by T. G. Ayer

  As much as Joshua disliked the guy, there was nothing that could be satisfying in Aidan’s suffering.

  Odin laughed coldly. “True path? You think your worship of Loki is the true path?”

  “He is true to destiny. He does not wish to thwart what is meant to be.”

  “Is this what he has told you?” asked the All-Father, his wrinkled brow and shadowed features filled with weariness. “That destiny and fate are so firm that one cannot and should not attempt to change it?”

  “Yes, he has, and it is true. If only you saw the truth of it, you would agree with me.”

  “Mika, my child. It is so very sad to see that the bright and beautiful child of Fenrir could have been influenced by Loki’s evil.”

  Joshua stiffened. Why was Odin being so kind to Mika? She deserved to be punished, not spoken to as though she were a child that broke her mother’s favorite china.

  “My lord Loki is not evil,” Mika replied serenely. “He is a truly beautiful being. It is only your perception that makes him evil.” She looked behind her then, her gaze alighting on Joshua who glared back at her in a fury.

  What the hell was she doing?

  Mika’s face fell, her expression turning from defiant to desperate, and she took a step toward him. All Joshua could do was backpedal but Fen reached out and patted his back.

  Calm down. Don’t let her get to you.

  “Fenrir,” Odin said, summoning Fen, who left Joshua and headed to the dais to stand a few feet from his daughter.

  Though Fen had known for a while that Mika was betraying them, Joshua could understand how this moment would hit him, make that suspicion a painfully harsh reality.

  “Fenrir,” Odin said, the gentleness in his voice enveloping even Joshua and importing a sense of calm. “As general of this Ulfr, and father to this daughter, you will be responsible for deciding the most suitable punishment.”

  “My lord, my only suggestion would be to send her to Hel.”

  A few gasps echoed through the crowd, which by now had thinned considerably.

  “Are you certain, Fenrir?” Odin sat forward, studying Fen’s face, as though he was hoping for the Ulfr to change his mind.

  But Fen remained resolute. “Yes, my lord. It is the punishment for desertion and disloyalty to the regiment. As Mika’s father, I believe that particular punishment is most suitable, and I wouldn’t beg leniency in this case. She has done a great disservice to Odin’s army, to Asgard and to her Valkyrie partner.”

  “Fenrir, such is your command, and so shall I accept.” The All-Father shifted to face Mika, disappointment flickering in his eyes, bowing his shoulders. “Mika, daughter of Fenrir, your punishment for your crimes is banishment to Helheim. The goddess Hel will decide the most fitting punishment for you when you arrive in her presence. You will be removed to Helheim immediately.”

  Joshua barely heard the rumblings of shock around him, his eyes remaining focused on Fen as he withdrew a golden chain which he wrapped securely around his daughter’s wrist.

  Odin approached Fen, reached out and touched his shoulder, and father and daughter disappeared in a whirlpool of spinning air.

  Odin shifted his gaze to Bryn. “Brynhildr. Were you injured at all?” Bryn shook her head.

  “Very well, it is time you and your team returned to Midgard. Fenrir will meet you there.” Bryn remained silent and was turning to leave when Odin said, “And Brynhildr? Well done. I am aware that it is no easy task to fight someone you care for, someone you trust.”

  Joshua’s heart clenched as he thought about who it was that Bryn cared most for. Bryn turned to leave and caught sight of Joshua watching her.

  And he just couldn’t meet her eyes.

  Chapter 18

  Heading to Midgard was the best thing Joshua could have done. And even though he was faced with Aidan for the duration, the mission got his mind off things.

  Sigrun had accompanied the team, though her journey would be only temporary, as she’d come only to meet the head of the New York HQ to deliver a personal message from the All-Father.

  Aimee had come, revealing a little reluctance with having to leave her training with Eir.

  They’d come without any Ulfr warriors, more so because the Ulfr army had retreated to consider Mika’s actions and how much she’d damaged their integrity and loyalty to Odin.

  Two valkyries had accompanied them to compensate for the lack of Ulfr. Enja and Pia, who Joshua knew to be both competent and skilled warriors, would at least be more competent with a sword than Aidan would be.

  Even Karim and Jill had questioned Aidan’s accompanying them to New York, both raising arguments that Joshua had himself posed. Aidan hadn’t been trained, and he was only recently recovered from being poisoned, not to mention the fact that he’d betrayed Bryn before, which led them all to wonder if they could trust him in the first place.

  It had troubled Joshua enough that he’d confided in Fenrir before the Asgard team had deployed.

  And now, Fenrir’s words rang in Joshua’s head.

  “There are many reasons behind the actions of the All-Father. Remember that what you know, isn’t necessarily the truth, and that what you see isn’t always real.”

  Joshua had suppressed an eye-roll then, and he did the same now as the Asgard team entered the busy offices of the New York HQ, a glaringly different workspace than Ingrid and her team had in Cairo.

  The team trailed the tall, dark Erik through the main workspace that hummed with noise and activity, clattering keyboards, creaking printers, and even the constant hum of the air-conditioning system.

  Erik showed the team into a large, luxuriously kitted-out boardroom complete with leather executive chairs and an enormous polished mahogany table.

  The New York HQ leader looked at the boardroom doorway. “Karl here will get you up to date while I speak with Valkyrie Sigrun.” A warrior stood on the threshold, hands weighed down by files, hair all mussed. “I will return shortly,” Karl said, before leading Sigrun away.

  Joshua took a seat as Karl studied the group. “Okay, guys,” he said, clearing his throat. The pile of files in his arms tilted and Joshua had to restrain the urge to help the guy out, but Karl appeared oblivious. “This won’t take long. I think we have a situation.”

  The warrior hurried around the table, handing out files before sitting at the head of the table. The chair squawked and Karl appeared embarrassed but Joshua wasn’t buying it. Just something about the guy’s eyes.

  Joshua glanced at Aimee who responded with an eye-roll and a smile that she quickly replaced with a frown when Karl cleared his throat.

  “We’ve had a report from the field. Our last Retrieval was successful in more than one way. Not only were we successful in retrieving a healthy Warrior, but the assigned Valkyrie also reported a sighting of another missing Warrior, einherjar Brody.”

  The Asgard team stilled, and Joshua was almost afraid to breathe.

  Karl glanced up from his file. “She reported Brody to be healthy and in good condition. But there is one problem.” The long pause was filled with tension, which was only lengthened as Erik returned, Sigrun significantly absent. Only after glancing at the dark warrior who stood hands folded near the door, as if waiting for something, did Karl continue, “Brody has been found imprisoned in a cell, in a basement, within the grounds of an estate in Virginia.”

  “Do we know who the owner is?” asked Aidan.

  With a quick shake of his head, Karl replied, “The team is still looking into it. It shouldn’t take too much longer.” He glanced out at the comms room beyond the glass windows of the boardroom, then flicked a brief glance at Bryn before pointedly shifting his gaze directly to Aidan. “I will let you know as soon as I hear something.”

  Joshua hid a smile even as Aimee’s jaw dropped briefly before she clamped it shut. She looked at Joshua, eyes wide, partly amused, partly shocked.

  Karl was sure asking for trouble.

  After grabbing something t
o eat from a refreshment table in a second lounge, Joshua slipped outside onto the balcony, needing to get some space.

  Funny, that. Though Asgard was large, the number of warriors who were constantly around tended to make the place a little busy. And yet there were ample places to which a person could retreat in order to take a breath and reflect.

  But here in Midgard, people were everywhere, and quiet places were all too scarce. Funny that he’d never realized that when he’d lived in this realm.

  But Joshua had barely settled onto one of the two stone deck chairs, when the door opened and Bryn slid onto the patio.

  Joshua watched as she stiffened, then started to back away.

  “You don’t have to leave, you know,” he said softly, moving to sit upright, elbows on his knees.

  Bryn hesitated for a moment, then shifted closer and sat beside him on the stone chair. She fidgeted for a few seconds then said, “You okay?”

  Joshua considered his response for a few moments, only speaking when Bryn began to move to get to her feet.

  “Yeah. I suppose I’ll live,” he said, a little let down that she had no patience for him. She’d have left without even allowing him to gather his thoughts.

  “I’m sorry,” Bryn said. Then, when Joshua didn’t reply as he wallowed in a shallow mire of self-pity, she asked, “Are you going to be okay?”

  Truth be told, Joshua wasn’t sure. There were so many things to not be okay about.

  “You still angry with me?” she asked, her voice shaky.

  “Why would I be angry with you?”

  Startled, Bryn replied, “I thought . . . the way you looked at me in the hall when I revealed Mi—When I revealed . . . what happened. You looked like you hated me.”

  Joshua took a deep slow breath. Here was the moment when he had to decide if he should or should not lie to Bryn about knowing Mika was a traitor.

  “I was upset,” he said, keeping his tone calm.

  “I can imagine. I was furious and hurt, myself.” Bryn reached out and laid her hand on his arm. “Can’t imagine how you felt.”

  Crap. She was going to force him into a position where he’d have no choice but to lie.

  “When did you figure it out? Her real agenda?” Joshua asked her, still angry with himself.

  “When we left the dwarf palace. I hadn’t paid much attention to Mika; my mind was focused on the goblet, not to mention a tad creeped out by the queen’s stone head. Then when Mika attacked me, everything sort of fell into place. Like how she refused to leave my side when Steinn came to tell me about his daughter. And how she insisted she come with me to find the goblet. I would never have imagined her intention was to steal the thing, or to destroy it.” Bryn shook her head.

  “Yeah. She would’ve known that no elixir meant Aidan would die.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No. I am sorry. I should never have trusted her.”

  So yeah, Joshua chose to lie.

  I’m so going to hate myself for this, he thought angrily.

  “We all made the mistake to trust her. Look at Fen.”

  Joshua gave a shrug. “I guess.” He didn’t want to talk about Fen right now.

  “Will you go to see her?”

  Bryn’s question shocked Joshua, “What? Are you kidding?” The mere suggestion of visiting the traitorous Ulfr was enough to bring on a berserker rage.

  “I just thought . . .”

  Joshua took a slow breath, pulling calm around himself like a shroud. He needed it in order to lie some more. “I liked her, okay. And she liked me—or so I thought. Didn’t mean I was about to marry her. And why the hell would I want a relationship with a girl who betrayed me, who tried to hurt someone I. . .someone I care about? Why would I care about a girl who thought it would be okay to let my friend die a slow and painful death in Hel?”

  Fen better give me permission to stop with this lying crap soon.

  Chapter 19

  Joshua stared out at the abandoned house in the middle of the valley. Trees heavy with snow surrounded the building on three sides, while a dark mountain loomed on the left.

  Brody’s prison.

  Or so the Asgard team had been told.

  Something didn’t sit right with the whole thing though, a niggling that Joshua had tried and failed to suppress.

  “Infra-red indicates five heat signatures, one stationary in the basement, four patrolling,” Joshua said, keeping his voice as low as possible.

  The team was hunkered down on a ridge, preparing to move out. Joshua and Aimee, along with Bryn, Enja and Pia, scurried down the hillside, spreading out across the property.

  Just as Joshua confirmed that they were in position, Karl made an appearance, rustling the bushes so loudly that Joshua was tempted to knock the guy out for the safety of the team.

  Karl’s expression was a study of fear. Fake fear, as far as Joshua was concerned. The guy rubbed him the wrong way, and Joshua didn’t see the situation improving anytime soon.

  The warrior settled in beside Bryn. “We have one guard outside, who should be coming this way in—” Karl glanced down at his watch, “—about ten seconds.”

  Silence reigned as the guard turned the corner. Karl shuffled and craned his neck to look at Joshua. “Einherjar Joshua, could you get to him fast, knock him out quietly?”

  Joshua lifted an eyebrow, well aware that Karl had chosen again to ignore Bryn’s position as team leader. Joshua sent the warrior a warning glare and then looked at Bryn. “You okay with that, Bryn?”

  Bryn merely shrugged in reply, appearing nonchalant. Joshua knew her well enough though, and to him it was clear she was annoyed but covering it up well.

  Joshua watched Bryn for a second, then headed off into the shadows. He approached the guard as the man stalked off toward the far corner of the building.

  Joshua surged forward, grabbed the man around the neck and held tight, putting pressure on his carotid. But the man was stronger than Joshua had expected. He dropped to the ground, taking Joshua with him, then landed a backward punch to Joshua’s gut.

  Impatient now, Joshua took a deep breath and landed a fist to the guard’s temple, the blow hard enough to knock the man’s lights out. Job done, he hurried back to Bryn. “I don’t know, Bryn. This all seems too easy,” Joshua whispered

  “I think so too. Their security seems way too light if they’re holding a Warrior hostage,” Bryn said, glancing over at Joshua. “It could just as easily be a trap.”

  With a firm nod, Joshua replied, “I agree, and—”

  “So do I,” Karl jumped in. “You should tell your team to keep a close eye out, not to get complacent,” Karl said, staring straight at Joshua. Then he scrabbled away, leaving Bryn and Joshua staring after him.

  “What the hell is his problem?” Joshua muttered. “Do I look like I’m in charge?”

  “You didn’t jump up and deny his assumption, now did you?”

  Joshua blinked at the edge to Bryn’s words. He’d only ever supported Bryn’s authority on the mission. “Hey, I didn’t want to cause any problems. You should know that. Besides, why didn’t you put him in his place yourself? It’s your right,” Joshua snapped, uncaring now that she was in charge. If she wanted to call the shots, then it was about time she started.

  Bryn threw daggers at Joshua, but remained silent. And Joshua saw that she didn’t have the confidence. Not yet.

  Joshua crawled close and scanned the treeline. “No Aidan yet, I see.”

  “He’d better have a good reason for ditching us.”

  That Bryn was angry with Aidan was a small joy that Joshua held onto. He was waiting for the day that Aidan revealed his true colors. He only hoped that Bryn wouldn’t be destroyed as a result.

  Joshua grunted. “He’d better get his ass here ASAP. I don’t fancy storming the castle there with so few of us.”

  “I don’t see how having one more person’s going to make much of a difference. And, to be honest, I’d feel much better with our
Ulfr.”

  Joshua shuddered, the cold, wet night having seeped into his bones. “Why are we the ones doing the breaking and entering anyway? You’re about the most experienced member on our team right now. We’re really just a bunch of rookies.”

  Joshua could see that his words had only reflected Bryn’s own thoughts. “We’re so short on team members in Asgard that they had to use us. Especially since all our Ulfr have suddenly up and disappeared. They kinda had no choice. We were all they had left, really.”

  A soft hoot cut off his response. Sounded like Pia. Joshua shifted, cupped his mouth with his left hand, and replied with his own hoot to confirm all clear.

  The team flowed across the lawn and hunkered down against the walls of the mansion, counting the seconds to the next signal.

  On the second hoot, Joshua tugged the door to the basement open and the team filed inside, with only Enja outside to keep watch. Surprisingly, the door turned out to be an airlock, rubber sealed and soundproof. What were they keeping in this basement that required an airlock door?

  Joshua was on high alert as the team headed deeper into the corridors. Sounds drifted toward them, water dripping, boards groaning, the soft scratch of their footsteps as they closed in on Brody.

  The glow of Bryn’s tablet lit her face, and Joshua peeked over her shoulder. They were still safe. So far so good.

  Up ahead was an intersection, and when they reached the corner, Aimee nodded at Joshua, taking watch. Joshua met her gaze, willing her to be careful, and got a wrinkle of her nose in response.

  Joshua and Pia took the turn, with Bryn a hands-breadth behind them. They’d traveled no more than ten yards when they reached a second corner. Confirming it was safe, Pia kept moving, Joshua staying close.

  One more corner and they would reach the first of the guards.

  Pia waved for Bryn then hurried over to her to see the tablet.

  “We need to get to him and knock him out,” said Bryn.

  “You would like him unconscious and not dead?” Pia’s tone was completely serious and Joshua grinned. Still, he was glad she wasn’t looking his way.