by S. T. Bende
“Well, it got thicker, and I saw four dark things herding one smaller thing toward the volcano’s base. It was hard to see through all the smoke, but all five of them were definitely wearing all black, and the smallest one had a black bag drawn over her head. I figured it was a girl because she had long reddish-blond hair sticking out from under the bag, and she was walking way too gracefully to be a guy. No offense.” Hyro glanced at Henrik.
“None taken,” he replied through gritted teeth. I knew he wasn’t upset about Hyro’s comment; he was upset because he knew as well as I did that we’d been this close to Freya, and she’d gotten away from us. Again.
“They took her through the portal, didn’t they?” I asked.
Hyro tilted her head. “It looked like it. The dragons circled, then five of them swooped down and picked up the girl and each of the four dark things, flew them to the top of the volcano and dropped in with them, going right through that purple mist. The rest of the dragons followed, and they all just disappeared. It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Like, ever.”
“You’re sure that’s what happened?” Henrik pressed.
Hyro nodded. “Does it make any sense to you?”
Henrik and I exchanged a glance. Dragons? What did they have to do with our friend’s abduction? And who were the four dark things? Were they the shadows we’d seen take Freya from Midgard, or were they something totally different?
“Not at the moment it doesn’t. But we don’t have the whole picture. Forse and Tyr might have come up with more intel by the time we get back to base. Maybe they can make sense of all this,” I answered.
Hyro shifted her weight and stared at her nails. She let her hair fall in front of her face, acting as a shield. In the flickering light she looked unbelievably vulnerable. And while I appreciated the information she shared with us, Surtr would have her incarcerated… or incinerated… if he ever found out she was helping Asgardians. Whatever instinct had possessed her to agree to act as Forse’s spy could very well get her killed.
“Hyro, are you okay here? By yourself, I mean? Do you have any friends, or other family looking out for you?”
Hyro shook her head. “It’s just me. Like I said, they counted me in the death toll after the explosion. I was supposed to graduate in a few months—now I don’t have to enroll in Surtr’s army like the rest of my class.” She gave a tight smile. “Trust me, it’s better this way. The mortality rate for first-year female recruits is… well, let’s just say there’s a reason you don’t see a lot of lady fire giants.”
Henrik gave a nod, and I bit my bottom lip. “We can’t bring you back with us, since we’re going to a safe house. But when we finish this mission, will you let us relocate you? You could start over somewhere, maybe… um…”
I wracked my brain. Where could we hide a teenage fire giant with hair so red it practically glowed, breath that turned to fire, and flesh that completely betrayed what she was? It wasn’t like the humans on Midgard could walk by a violet-skinned girl without doing a double take. Especially if she sneezed flames on them.
Hyro saw my confusion and touched my arm. “It’s okay. I know I don’t fit anywhere. The trolls are afraid of me, the dwarves would rather collect the bounty Surtr would put on my head if he found out I was a refugee, and the humans…” She shrugged. “I’m fine here. Honest. I have a semi-permanent camp in a forest nearby, and I’ve gotten pretty good at hunting. Plus, it’s a lot less lonely now that Forse talks to me. Or it was, before today. This stopped working right after I told Forse about the portal.” Hyro pulled a small communication device out of her pocket. “I’m not sure how I’m going to talk to him now.”
“Hey, I made that!” Henrik blurted. “That klepto Forse stole it without even asking.”
Hyro’s eyes turned down as she offered it to Henrik. “Do you want it back?”
“No, keep it. But let me see what’s wrong with it.” Henrik picked up the device and turned it over. He opened the back panel and studied the communicator’s guts. “Ah.” He pulled a key out of his pocket and poked at the wiring until I heard a small pop. With a smile he replaced the panel, and handed the device back to Hyro. “All fixed.”
“Thanks.” Gratitude laced Hyro’s tone.
“No worries. I’m glad it’s getting good use. I didn’t know it could reach this many realms away.”
When Henrik puffed out his chest, I groaned. “Henrik.”
“What?” He held out his arms. “Just taking a moment to appreciate the awesomeness that is me.”
“I helped develop that, remember? In fact, wasn’t I the one who reconfigured the chip so it could transmit beyond the home realm’s gravitational sphere?”
Henrik waved a hand. “Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe. Either way, it’s a sweet little machine. Use it in good health.”
“Um… thank you?” Hyro tucked the communicator back in her pocket.
“Come on, Brynn. We’d better get back to Forse and Tyr with all of this.” Henrik stuck out his hand, and the girl shook it. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for us. We’d have been fire giant fodder if you hadn’t shown us this cave.”
Hyro grinned. “It was nice to have someone to talk to for a while.”
My eyes prickled. I had so much—my parents, my brother, my friends, the entire Asgardian society. This girl was so young, and she had nobody. “Hyro, are you sure you don’t want us to relocate you? We can find an encampment that will welcome you. You wouldn’t be the first refugee we’ve relocated. And you shouldn’t have to be all by yourself.”
“If I ever change my mind, I know how to reach you.” Hyro patted her pocket. “But really, I’m fine here. And now that I’m on your team, I actually have a purpose. Forse said the girl you’re looking for is somebody real important to all of us.”
My throat constricted. “She is.”
“Well, then I’ll keep an ear to the ground and pass along anything that might help you guys find her.” Hyro nodded.
“Aren’t you afraid Surtr is going to catch you?” Henrik wasn’t being snarky; he genuinely didn’t understand why someone so young would take such a huge risk for strangers.
“A little,” Hyro admitted. “But after seeing the dark magic and the portal open up in the volcano, I’m willing to bet whoever’s behind your friend’s disappearance is responsible for my parents’ deaths, too. Surtr might not have cared about all the people that died in that explosion, but I did. They were my friends.” Hyro’s eyes brimmed with moisture. She quickly pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, stopping the overflow. “Anyway. I’m happy to help.”
“Thank you, Hyro,” Henrik spoke sincerely.
“Yeah. Thank you.” I gently touched her elbow, and tilted my head toward the entrance of the cave. It was probably safe to call for the Bifrost now. “Well, if you change your mind, let Forse know and we’ll evaluate our camps and determine the best relocation for you. And I’ll have a messenger deliver three bags of rubies to this cave. Asgard doesn’t have any dragons, but if you see a pegasus fly by, you’ll know it’s ours.”
“Thanks.” Hyro shot me a grin so sincere, the fire in the sconces glinted off her sharp, yellow teeth. I returned the gesture, then followed Henrik out of the cave, ignoring the protests of my injured leg. Why hasn’t it healed itself?
At the entrance, we paused to scan what was left of the grove. It was nothing but black soot, grey smoke, and the scent of freshly cremated trees.
I sighed. “I guess we can call for the Bifrost right here, ja? No need to get to the water anymore.”
“Agreed.” Henrik shifted his backpack with one hand, and looked at my awkward posture. “Is your leg still not better?”
“Not yet.” I gritted my teeth. “Just get us home. Elsa can fix it.”
“Heimdall!” Henrik shouted from my side. “Open the Bifrost.”
In a flash of light and color, the Bifrost came shooting down from the tar-colored sky. It lit up the clearing, filling my body with energy a
s it prepared to suck us up, away from the fiery realm of Muspelheim and back to the safety of the beach house, where our friends were waiting. As my feet left the ground I caught a glimpse of a young girl standing at the entrance to the cave, hidden behind a wall of red hair. She gave a small wave before ducking back into the safety of her enclosure. It wasn’t right. We would find a safe place to move Hyro. Running from cave to cave in Muspelheim was no kind of life.
But unless we found Freya in the next few days, none of us would have any kind of life. My brain grasped at every bit of information Hyro had shared, from the four black figures herding Freya, to the dragons circling the purple mist. Time was closing in, and we needed to piece everything together.
Fast.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“WHAT THE HELL? YOU guys scared me to death!” Mia sat on the sand in front of the safe house, wrapped in a thick blanket. Her knuckles were white as she clutched her phone to her ear, and she breathed erratic breaths at the same time as she glared at me.
“Sorry.” My leg throbbed and my nausea ebbed as I jumped from the landing area. A beam of light retracted above us, disappearing in the thick coastal clouds. “It’s just the Bifrost.”
“Shh,” Mia hissed. Then she spoke into her phone. “What? No, you heard wrong. Brynn just got home and said there’s a light frost outside. Winters are cold here, you know?”
Henrik let out a soft chuckle. “She’s good.”
“If she’s going to hang with Tyr, she better be,” I muttered. Our war god had more secrets than a phoenix had feathers.
“Right, Jason. I hear you. I’ll talk to Mama about the holidays.” Mia paused. Her mouth turned in a frown. “I said I’ll talk to her! You don’t have to be rude about it.”
Henrik jogged to my side, and we exchanged a look. Mia’s brother was never rude to her. Jason teased the daylights out of her, but he loved Mia with all his heart, and treated her with the kind of respect all men should have for women. This wasn’t normal.
This was because of Freya’s absence.
This was so not good.
“Goodbye,” Mia harrumphed. She hung up the phone and wrapped her blanket tighter around her.
“Hei, Mia.” Henrik lowered himself down next to her on the sand. He kept his movements slow and deliberate. I mirrored his action, so we framed our friend.
“Hi,” she muttered.
“It’s awfully cold out here. Do you want to head inside?” I offered.
“No. I just need some fresh air.” Her words sounded clipped.
“Mia.” I hesitated. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes.” She answered too quickly.
Henrik nudged her with his shoulder, then pulled his beloved fake eyeglasses out of his backpack and slid them over his nose. “Amelia Ahlström, as your T.A. I want you to remember you can come to me with any problem. Any time. Even if it’s got nothing to do with math.”
Mia looked up at Henrik and burst out laughing. “You don’t have to wear those around me. I know they’re just for show.”
“Maybe.” Henrik looked smug. “But I got you to laugh, didn’t I?”
My lips curved up in a smile. Henrik was such a nörd. What Mia didn’t realize was that he actually liked wearing the clear-lensed glasses. He claimed he wore them to blend with mortals, but I knew he thought they made him look smart.
What he didn’t know was that the glasses added an extra hot edge to the sexy assassin vibe. Like he needs an additional edge…
“Alright.” Mia hiccupped. “I’ll tell you. But don’t tell Tyr. He’s got enough going on already.”
I glanced back at the house. “Is he inside?”
“Nope. He’s off fighting dragons. Again.” Mia shook her head as Henrik and I exchanged a worried glance. Tyr knew not to leave the realm without a bodyguard. Something big must have been going down for him to take off without us. Either that, or he was making a point to Odin about calling his own shots while he was in Midgard. Boys. “Apparently there was another uprising in one of your heims. Dwarfheim, I think.”
Henrik’s back straightened. “Nidavellir? That’s the third time in a month. Do you know why?”
“I didn’t ask. He ran out of here in a hurry.” She squeezed the blanket around her knees. “Why are all the dragons being so uppity lately?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “The scout we just met said they’ve been acting weird where she is, too.”
“Oh, good. So you did find her.” Mia exhaled in relief. “Any good news?”
“None to speak of.” Henrik pushed his glasses up his nose. My stomach fluttered. Seriously. Stop it.
“Whatcha reading?” I toed the book laying open in the sand. “Norse Mythology by John Lindow. Huh.”
“It’s the really helpful one I’ve been using to help me understand what’s going on in World Myths in Art. I thought I found a paragraph on you, Brynn—it said a girl named Brynhild was the fairest of all the valkyries. But Elsa told me she was someone else.”
“Oh, she’s someone else, all right.” I snorted. “Brynhild’s the fairest. And the fastest. And the most full of herself. She’s Freya’s second in command, so I guess now that Freya’s missing, she’s running the show. I probably should have checked in with her before I took off with Henrik, but Tyr’s orders trump hers anyway, so it wouldn’t have mattered.”
Mia looked up. “I’ll bet that really lit a fire in her britches. Elsa also told me she’s not a fan of your relationship with Henrik on account of him shooting her down in high school.”
“Elsa talks too much,” Henrik muttered.
“And we don’t have a relationship,” I was quick to add. “We’re just… work associates.”
Henrik gave me a disappointed look, but he couldn’t exactly argue. They’d been his words, after all.
“Back to business.” Henrik drew his shoulders up. “What’s going on with your brother, Mia?”
“Oh. That.” Mia blew at an errant strand of hair. “He wants my folks to come to California for Christmas instead of doing the traditional thing at home. Says he’s sick of east coast weather, and the ‘stupid girls’ after him at school, and his ‘asinine professors’ and, well, everything. He’s in a seriously awful mood. I’ve never seen him like this.”
“He was rude to you?” I pressed.
“Yeah.” Mia shrugged. “Maybe exams are getting to him. They’re coming up soon. Speaking of, any chance we’ll be out of here by end of next week? Or do I need Dr. Fredriksen to come up with a medical excuse for missing my tests? For the record, I really do not want to miss exams. It is extremely difficult to retain this much information, and I do not want to have to study over Christmas vacation.” Mia stared each of us down.
“I’d love to say yes, but we can’t make any promises. It all depends on when we recover Freya.” Henrik studied Mia. “Have you noticed any other mortals acting differently?”
“Um…” Mia bit her bottom lip. “Well, Heather and Charlotte seem kind of off. Charlotte texted me about Heather not holding up her end of the chore chart. And Heather e-mailed to tell me her boyfriend’s being a jerk and she’s swearing off all men.” Mia’s lips formed a small O. “That’s not good, is it? Is Freya’s disappearance causing their bad moods?”
“Let’s just hope they’re having a rough week.” Henrik shot me a look behind Mia’s back. Rough week my right hook. The mortals could feel the effects of Freya’s absence. I already felt off, which meant the rest of the immortals wouldn’t be far behind. And then it was a short journey until the aura of the cosmos turned dark and everything descended into absolute chaos.
So, so not good.
Assuming Odin was taking this seriously, we should have every available squadron on a god-hunt by now. We needed to get our newest intel to Forse, so he could disseminate it through the ranks.
“Mia, is Forse in his house?” I asked.
Before she could answer, a blinding light broke through the sky. It shot down on the sand, depos
iting a blood-caked, mud splattered, thoroughly exhausted God of War in its wake. We’d definitely be having a talk about his unchaperoned excursion later. As I gritted my teeth, the Bifrost retracted and Tyr moved slowly across the sand.
He was limping.
“Oh my god, what happened?” Mia threw her blanket on the ground and ran to her boyfriend. “Your face is… and your clothes are… oh Tyr, what did they do to you?”
“It’s okay. I’m okay.” Tyr held out his arms and Mia tucked herself into them. When she was enveloped in his massive embrace, her shoulders shook. The sounds of her whimpers weren’t far behind.
“I hate seeing you hurt,” she sobbed. I caught Henrik’s eye. Mia was usually stronger than this. Yes, she hated that Tyr’s job put him in danger. But I hadn’t seen her cry over his injuries since… well, since we nearly lost him to Fenrir.
The mortals were definitely getting hit early this time.
Tyr rested his chin on Mia’s head. “I know, baby. Sorry to run out on you like that. But I’m just fine, and everything’s sorted.” He shot Henrik a look. “For now.”
Mia pulled her head back. “What do you mean for now? Did you kill the dragons? Or tame them? Or whatever you guys do to dragons?”
Tyr wrapped his arm around her waist and turned her toward the house. “Why don’t we all go inside? Brynn, grab Forse and Elsa. I think we’d better have a meeting.”
“And a healing.” I nodded at his wounds. “My leg’s not exactly in mint condition at the moment—maybe she’ll do a two-fer.”
“I don’t need a healing,” Tyr grumbled.
“Big baby.” I rolled my eyes.
Henrik picked up Mia’s blanket and book and walked to Tyr’s house while I ran to Forse’s. There were only a handful of homes in the tiny cove, each boasting Cape Cod-style façades and connected by an emerald green lawn. Elsa’s lights were off, so I rapped on Forse’s door. Sure enough, they answered it together, and after a brief explanation I brought them back to Tyr’s, Elsa’s healing box in tow. In no time, five gods and one mortal were gathered on the couches framing the big stone fireplace. Someone had lit a fire, and Mia sat beneath a thick quilt with her knees tucked to her chin.
