To Vex A Valkyrie

by Jane Cousins

  Still, she wasn’t moving. Wasn’t getting up. Wasn’t on the hunt for the Vulcan Firebug who’d caused all this insanity. Because all of her instincts had suddenly flared, her gut clamouring. Danger, every cell in her body was silently shrieking the warning.

  Automatically her gaze travelled to Fen, who was standing next to the fire truck, consulting with the Chief on their next move. Weird how she’d known he had been in danger, that the second rock was targeted for him. It was disconcerting to note that somehow, in the short time she’d come to know him, he’d become so important to her.

  Not so funny that who ever was throwing these superheated missiles around had figured that out… wait, how had they figured that out? Besides the dinner on the balcony at the Marina with Fen, they had been careful to travel only by the Portal system and stay at locations with little to no public exposure.

  Slowly, Brodie stood up, legs astride, calling Raven to her hand. Ready.

  Her head tilted back, she stared once more up at the cloudless, blue sky day. She’d thought earlier this whole set up reeked of a trap, to lure her into the open.

  But it hadn’t just lured her, had it? Fen had been by her side… and, Freyja! She swivelled even as the whistle of an approaching falling object registered. “Elijah!”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The short walk from the waiting room had done little to loosen Brodie’s sore muscles. Spending the night snoozing on a low chair had resulted in all her back muscles seizing up. Fading bruises and road rash still decorated her elbows, thighs and knees.

  She bit back a small laugh noting that she’d unconsciously matched her outfit for the day to her healing injuries. Tiny wine coloured shorts and an olive green tank top. It went without saying her footwear as per the norm, were her - go to - knee high, lace up, gold, kick ass boots.

  She glanced over at Fen, he was walking beside her, absently rubbing the palm of his hand against the dark, day old stubble gracing his jaw. He looked no wiser than she as to why Elijah had requested their presence.

  As hospitals went, this one was top notch. Large comfy chairs in the waiting rooms. Guest showers for visitors and a fresh supply of generic clothes, if Fen’s clean grey t-shirt was any indication. Even the pastries and coffee this morning, that had been supplied to the friends and family who hung around all night, concerned for Elijah, had been melt in your mouth delicious.

  “Taite.” Fen acknowledged the man standing in the corridor, who not only was his cousin, but acted as Elijah’s lieutenant.

  “He’ll see you in just a minute.”

  Fen nodded, leaning back against the nearest wall. Brodie, careful to stay out of his personal space, took up a similar stance a few feet away, fixing her attention on the gleaming linoleum floor. Somehow, the events of yesterday were tied up with her presence here at the Sanctuary. It wasn’t so much guilt plaguing her but… okay, maybe a little guilt.

  She couldn’t shake the image of Elijah yelling a warning, even as he started to run… too late. The third super heated missile of the day hitting the stairs of the High Council Building, sending stone shrapnel in all directions. Elijah’s body tumbling through the air, boneless, before he smashed into the pavement like a rag doll, rolling to an awkward sprawled halt.

  Brodie needed an enemy she could see, could fight. Battle could be brutal, but essentially it was fair. You faced off against a foe, and the most skilled fighter emerged triumphant. These sneak attacks had no honour. Or reasoning behind them as far as she could tell.

  Grrr, she found her eyes wandering to Fen, studying the way the t-shirt clung to his biceps, she needed a distraction, needed something to kill. Needed distance from Fen. Needed to get back to her life.

  By the Sword, when had she become so whiney? So wishful?

  Perhaps it was as a result of all this guilt and frustration she was currently experiencing, not two emotions Brodie was used to dealing with.

  It seems that the Vulcan Firebug truly had followed her here for some kind of payback. Wow, you’d think she’d remember just exactly who she’d insulted at Lena’s wedding to result in this kind of vendetta. Problem was, she’d been bored and upset that day, which would have pretty much guaranteed that every second sentence out of her mouth had been an insult.

  And the Vulcans were such petty, whiney, self-involved assholes. She might just as easily have failed to suitably admire one of the demi-gods long shiny - so ill suited to battle it was laughable – locks, as to have deliberately delivered an insult.

  And it wasn’t just the atypical guilt niggling at her, there was the frustration. Sexual in nature. She was all too aware of Fen. Every time he breathed. The number of times his heart beat a minute.

  Her reaction to him alien and surprising. There was a constant ache in her gut, or was it lower? Her breasts throbbed, whilst her skin felt hypersensitive. She kept wondering why he continued to deny her… them, when he had kissed her that way on the couch? He had to want her. Or had she just been convenient?

  Grrr, the man was so vexing.

  Not that it mattered. She would not be tempted by him. Refused to want him. She would not be held to ransom by feelings. Ridiculous, random, intangible feelings, that she couldn’t kill or crush.

  But she could ignore them. It was the only sane strategy that might see her emerge from this situation with her pride and reputation intact. Ignore these silly feelings, and above all else, keep her hands off Fen.

  The door across from her swung open, two Enforcers emerged from Elijah’s room. She recognised the woman from training but would have known their occupation just from watching the way the duo strode away. Alert. Measured. Ready for danger.

  “You’re up.” Taite flicked his head at the door.

  Elijah was lying in a full body cast of what looked and smelt suspiciously like seaweed… seaweed that glistened strangely. Globs of blue salve coated burns on his throat, face and chest, whilst a dark purple, mottled bruise decorated his forehead.

  Brodie had been kind of expecting Elijah to ream her out, fling accusations of blame her way, or at the very least, give her a hard, flat stare. Instead, he did no more than flick a quick glance up at them to confirm their presence before returning his gaze to a tablet computer, clutched awkwardly in his right hand.

  “Good. Okay… I need you two to go to quadrant eighty-four and deal with a possible C-116.”

  Brodie frowned in confusion, whilst Fen just issued a soft, derisive snort. “I don’t work for you, Elijah.”

  Hard slate grey eyes shifted to focus intently upon Fen. “It’s funny… I’ve just been scouring my inbox, thinking I must have missed your email. You know, the one where you advise me we have a mystery, stealth asshole flying about, throwing bombs.”

  “It’s a douche bag Vulcan demi-god doing the throwing, and they’re rocks, not bombs.” Fen corrected.

  Elijah’s blue stained eyebrow arched upwards. “I’ve spent my fair share of years in the military, Bozo. When something comes in from that kind of height, with that kind of heat, it’s a fucking bomb. So… since you didn’t see fit to include the Enforcers on your little hunt… and Vaughn is being so ridiculously over protective of Hadleigh since she announced she was pregnant. We have a pool going on how much longer she’ll put up with that by the way, if you want in? You and the Valkyrie have been volunteered for this assignment. Quadrant eighty-four, see if you can herd it towards the nearest Portal and send it back where it came from.”

  Fen opened his mouth to protest, Elijah’s grey eyes turning flint hard.

  “Fine… come on Xena, we have a creature feature to track down. Get better soon, asshole.” Though there was no real rancour in Fen’s parting words.

  Brodie watched Fen stride towards the door, she had no idea what the two men had been talking about just now, but it sounded like she was going to get to kill something. Yeah. For Elijah to be so kind, when he had incurred such damage and must be in so much pain… well, it humbled her.

  She should say
something. To express her gratitude, her wish for his speedy recovery. Something heartfelt. “If you had been left maimed, it would have been my honour to kill you.”

  Elijah’s expression never wavered, though there was a slight upwards tug at the left side of his mouth. “You’d probably have to get in line, but I appreciate the thought.”

  Brodie nodded and then exited at a fast pace, eager for the hunt to begin.

  * * *

  “Is it safe for us to be driving, out in the open like this?” Brodie searched the skies, another cloudless blue sky summer day.

  Fen subconsciously patted the steering wheel of his four-wheel drive jeep. “Now we’ve officially identified the threat, the Enforcers are on the look out for our flying Fabio. He’ll have to go through them to get anywhere near you.” Fen cracked open the window, letting in the scent of eucalyptus trees mixed with sea air. Thankfully dispelling the scent of Brodie that was distracting him and making him as hard as hell.

  Goddess, the woman had certainly changed her tune in the last twenty-four hours. He glanced over noting how she’d wedged herself up against the passenger door… as far away from him as she could get. If that door accidentally opened, she’d be eating tarmac.

  It seems the Valkyrie finally appeared to grasp the concept that no, meant no.

  Damn it.

  Common sense said that was a good thing. His barely contained libido however, disagreed with a vengeance. It was official, he was insane. He wanted the Valkyrie to want him… he just didn’t want - to want her - to want him… see, fucking insane. She was driving him over the edge.

  Ever since he’d met her he’d been sexually charged. That couldn’t be good for him, physically, let alone mentally. And if the damn hospital hadn’t been staffed by so many annoying close relatives, he probably should have sought medical advice for his condition.

  Problem was, his gaze slid to his passenger for a brief moment, he knew what ailed him and he even knew how to cure his problem. The only thing keeping his hands and lips to himself was he was more worried than ever that he would become addicted to the cure. Addicted to a six foot Valkyrie with shattered snowflake eyes, and legs that wouldn’t quit.

  He shifted in his seat, noting Brodie press even further away from him. A Valkyrie it seems, that no longer wanted him, what was up with that? She didn’t strike him as fickled.

  Brodie focused her gaze on the increasingly narrow road, the greenery and trees were growing denser the further they progressed. “What is a C-116?”

  Fen slowed the jeep as the road surface became hard packed dirt, trying his best to avoid any deep potholes. “Enforcers are big on codes, you get used to it. Sounds more professional than Elijah telling us to go out and hunt down Bigfoot.”

  Brodie chuffed a surprised laugh. “Bigfoot? Seriously?” She glanced over but Fen wasn’t grinning or laughing at her expense. Instead, he just looked kind of resigned. “I thought Bigfoot was a myth?”

  “I wish. There’s a technical species name, but it’s just simpler to call them Bigfoot. Essentially, they’re a slightly smaller, hirsute cousin of the Cyclops family.”

  “Cool.” Brodie was looking forward immensely to tangling with a walking myth.

  Fen shook his head in vague disgust. “Not cool, trust me. These things stink, they’re very single minded, and they are a lot faster than they look.”

  Brodie’s grin never faltered. “I wager they won’t be faster than my sword.”

  “No killing. Let’s be clear about this, Brodie. This hairy dude probably just wandered through a Portal accidentally. He’s lost and hopefully just wants to get back to his family.” Fen pulled the jeep to a sudden halt as the dirt track ended. A sign post blocking the way, proclaiming this area as National protected parklands. “So, no killing.” Fen flung open his door and stepped out.

  Brodie rounded the front of the jeep to join him. An expression of disgust written across her face, she was a Valkyrie, killing defined her. “You can’t seriously expect me to herd this creature?” She remembered the word Elijah had used.

  “Not herd, exactly.” Fen scanned the immediate area.

  Suddenly Brodie didn’t like the way Fen was refusing to meet her gaze. “What is it you expect me to do, exactly?”

  “Um… let it chase you.” Fen suddenly found the sight of his boots to be of great interest.

  “Excuse me. You brought me out here to act as bait?” Brodie grabbed the front of Fen’s t-shirt, fisting the material, standing so close to him now that with one big breath they’d be touching chests.

  “Look, with this branch of the Cyclops family, it’s usually one of three things driving their behaviour: hungry, homesick or…”

  “Or?” Brodie jerked on Fen’s t-shirt.

  “Horny, okay. It’s probably horny.”

  Brodie abruptly let go and took two big steps back from Fen. She’d been seconds away from kissing the man… no, throttling him, for his sheer audacity. “You expect me to bat my eyes and thrust my tits into some hairy creature’s face and then run away like a giggling simpleton?”

  “They only have the one eye under all that hair, and their eyesight is notoriously bad, so you can probably just keep your… tits where they are. Just run around enough to get a sweat on, pheromones and hormones should do the rest. Here’s an extra watch, I’ve programmed the co-ordinates of the nearest Portal, it will tell you which direction to go.”

  Brodie’s fisted hands came down to rest on her hips. “You… I…” She shook her head in clear disgust. “Why me? Is this Elijah’s idea of punishment for getting him hurt?”

  Fen shook his head abruptly. “Not at all. Elijah is never petty and painfully fair. It’s just Hadleigh’s pregnant, so I’m guessing you’re the next…” Fen stopped talking, high colour flooding his cheeks.

  “I’m what?” Brodie lifted her chin haughtily. “The next best qualified warrior?” How galling, second best? She’d never been second best at anything in her life. She was getting a little tired of everyone telling her how kick ass this Hadleigh was.

  “I was going to say tallest.” Fen held his hands up in a placating manner.

  Tallest? This was about her height? Brodie’s eyes narrowed abruptly, she was back to wanting to throttle Fen. “How tall exactly are these Bigfoot creatures? You said they were the smaller, hairier version of a Cyclops.”

  Fen starting walking, looking for tracks and any sign the creature had been this way. “Come on. The sooner you find it, the sooner you can see for yourself.”

  Brodie stomped after him. Bait? This had to be some kind of bad dream. Well, she hated whiners. She would just suck it up, and if Fen laughed at her or made fun of her, she’d put him in a chokehold until he begged for mercy. Freyja help her, her nipples had gone bullet hard at the idea of Fen begging.

  Brodie picked up her pace, bring on the hairy, giant monster, she so needed something, anything, to get her mind off how good Fen’s butt looked in those trousers.

  * * *

  Standing across a large clearing from Fen, who was half hidden by a bush, Brodie couldn’t help but feel a little foolish and a lot vulnerable. Thanks to a trail of half eaten mammals and birds, they’d roughly identified the current location of their Bigfoot. Now it was time for her to act the bimbo and a part of her, a surprisingly large part of her, was mortified at the idea of Fen seeing her at anything but her best.

  She wanted him to think well of her. Admire her skills, think she was pretty.

  She bit back a hiss of disgust, help, that’s what she needed, or a good swift kick up the ass. Think she was pretty? She barely recognised herself anymore. Since when had she become so… girlie? Speaking of which, she shot Fen a questioning look. She was sweaty thanks to their slog through the forest but as yet, there was no sign of her hairy sweetheart to be.

  “How do you I suggest I go about getting Bigfoot’s attention?” She pitched the question just loudly enough so he could hear, pushing the thick braid of her hair back over her s
houlder.

  Fen shrugged. How had any woman throughout history gotten a man’s attention? “Can you sing?” He thought of his cousin Charisse, a sultry siren.

  “No.” Brodie looked horrified at the very idea.

  “Maybe cry out in feminine distress… oh, and remember, they’re faster than they look, you’ll need to run like hell.”

  Brodie upped her look to one of filthy disgust. Feminine distress? He had to be kidding. When she’d taken a broadsword to the stomach three years ago she hadn’t made a single peep, let alone a cry of feminine distress.

  Fen made an encouraging motion with his arms, his cerulean blue eyes sparkling with suppressed humour and a vague challenge.

  Ooh, the man knew her too well already, she could never back down from a challenge. Screwing up her courage, she opened her mouth. “Help.” Okay, the word came out a little sharper than she’d intended, but at least it was loud. Several birds in the immediate vicinity taking to the air.

  Fen suppressed the bark of laughter that threatened to emerge. Hearing that tone, most sane people would be running in the other direction.

  Luckily, from the sound of breaking branches, Bigfoot was made of sterner stuff. Either that, or he was still hungry and the sound of flapping wings had suckered him in. “Get ready to run.” Fen hissed across the clearing.

  Brodie rolled her eyes. “I hate you right at this moment.”

  Fen grinned. “Nah, you live for this sort of crap.”

  And funnily enough, Brodie found herself grinning back at him, she was kind of having fun.

  The smell came first, pungent, musky, and so sharp that Brodie’s eyes began to water. Next, the sound of heavy, thudding footsteps, branches snapping and small animals fleeing for their lives. And finally Bigfoot appeared, halting at the edge of the clearing, head tilted back, by the snuffling action Brodie could only presume the creature was scenting the air.

  Yikes, Fen had said the Bigfoot branch of the family tree was smaller than the Cyclops, but from the looks of things it was obviously only a matter of inches. The creature stood well over eight feet in height, with long arms and a sturdy barrel shaped chest.