Under A Viking Moon

by Tami Dee

  "Amma, I found one!" Katla cried excitedly. Her six-year-old legs carried her as quickly as they could to her Amma who reclined on a fold-up beach chair reading from the book of sagas perched on her lap. Imagine, Katla thought, a sense of wonder filling her, she was named after the very girl written about in the last story.

  "What do you have there, child?" Bright blue eyes regarded the broken, rose hued shell Katla held out proudly in her palm.

  "Isn't it pretty, Amma?" she chimed, dancing around her grandmother's beach chair. "Isn't it beautiful?"

  "Oh yes, child. I believe that is the prettiest one yet. Quick, put it into my basket and we'll add it to your collection at home."

  Kat smiled at the long forgotten memory, even as tears ran in a warm stream down her cheeks.

  "Amma, I mean it. Boys are gross! I'm never getting married. Never! I'm going to take care of you forever," Kat declared emphatically.

  At twelve years old Kat knew for a certainty that no boy would take her away from her Amma, especially since lately Amma hadn't been herself. It wasn't like her to forget to turn off the oven after she cooked dinner, or not remember where she left the keys to the apartment. And Amma had never before forgotten to pick her up from school, like she had yesterday.

  A sudden chill skirted along Kat's skin that had nothing to do with the crisp night air. When he comes, you must not let him return without you. You must save Katla's infant or all will be lost.

  "But I'm afraid," she whispered into the darkness.

  "Your bodyguard is beside himself worrying about you. So is Rosie for that matter, even if she won't admit it."

  Kat all but lost her seat on the pier. "McCarty!" she exclaimed. "Why don't you just push me in? You scared me to death!"

  Not in the least apologetic, McCarty eased himself down to sit beside her.

  Kat glanced over at him, her brow puckered in curiosity. They were not exactly friends, not exactly enemies. The only thing they had in common was caring for Rosie.

  "Benny was found hanging in his cell tonight," he told her.

  "Good."

  Kat felt his gaze on her, she kept her face expressionless as she stared into the fog cloaked water.

  He blew out a breath. "Did you have anything to do with it?"

  "No."

  "Good."

  "I'm sorry about your grandmother," he surprised her by saying. "I can only imagine how difficult it is to loose your only family."

  The emotion lacing his words stunned her. Usually he was such a hard nose, at least to her.

  She sniffed and tried to think of something to say in response. "Didn't Rosie tell Leif that I just needed some time alone?"

  A bark of laughter escaped McCarty that held no humor. "I'll say she has. About a hundred times. He's pacing a hole in her carpet worrying about you. It's all she can do to keep him from scouring the streets looking for you. She finally convinced him that I was in a better position to find you, simply because I know the city."

  That bit of information warmed Kat's chilled body and heart. "I'm surprised he didn't insist on coming with you."

  "He did," she heard Leif say. She swiveled around so fast that, if not for McCarty's police trained reflexes, she would have lost her precarious seat. Again.

  "Do you want to go for a midnight swim?" McCarty bit out the words.

  Ignoring him, she continued to stare at Leif, standing right behind her.

  He had come looking for her.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Leif held out his hand. "Lets go home, Kat," he said.

  Not taking her eyes off Leif she rose and stepped into his embrace.

  "Let's go." he whispered into her hair.

  Remembering McCarty, Kat turned to thank him. To her horror, her foot connected with her tote which silently slipped off the pier.

  "No!" Kat's screech burned her throat and echoed through the still air. Frantically, she broke away from Leif and rushed to the rail. Leif grabbed her just before she heedlessly threw herself against the brittle wood.

  Although she kicked and struggled, Leif's hold on her was like that of a vise.

  McCarty shot her a glare and unsnapped his flashlight from his holster. He pointed the flashlight over the rail, its white light cut through the fog into the barely visible water churning below.

  Now Kat struggled even more desperately until she had leaned as far from Leif's unrelenting hold as she could, squinting in an effort to see through the cursed fog.

  "Enough!" Leif told her.

  Her ribs felt like they were breaking but Kat didn't cease her struggle to be free.

  Her tote was in the ocean! The pendant was gone.

  This couldn't be happening! But it was, and the consequences would be as far reaching as her choice to keep the pendant a secret from Leif would have been.

  "Look!" McCarty cried out, pointing the beam of light inward to the broken support beams of the pier. There, through the fog, she saw her tote, hanging perilously from a broken beam.

  Before her horrified eyes a wave crashed into the tote causing it to rise, the strap momentarily lifted off its peg then eased back to loop upon the beam once again.

  Kat's heart was in her throat but she managed to scream.

  "The things within your bag can be replaced," he told her. "Nothing's worth killing yourself to get back."

  He didn't know.

  "No, what is in that bag can't be replaced," she cried, frantic. "Please, we have to get my bag before it's washed out to sea."

  Leif kept her locked in his embrace as McCarty put a hand to the rail and gave it an experimental shake. The wood creaked and swayed under the pressure.

  "It's impossible, Kat," he told her. "Nether Leif nor I could safely make it down the side, especially at night and with the waves as restless as they are."

  He was using his negotiating voice on her. She had heard him use that same soothing tone last year as he tried to talk a jumper from the ledge of a five story building, a poor soul who had thought he had problems. They were nothing compared to what Kat would face if that bag slipped free from its perch.

  "I have to get my bag," she cried, her struggle accelerated. "It's a matter of life and death."

  But it was absolutely to no avail. His arms tethered her in an iron grip. She should just tell him what was in the tote, she thought hysterically, and then he would likely toss her off the pier to get it, rather than hold her back.

  "Kat," Leif shouted, and his voice told her that he was very close to loosing his temper. "Listen to me. The tide will be gone in the morning. We can walk upon the beach and retrieve it then. You must be reasonable."

  She barely heard him. While he and McCarty did nothing but talk, the relentless waves teased and tormented her, tossing the strap of the bag on and off of the beam of wood until Kat thought she would go crazy with despair.

  Why had she hidden the pendant from Leif? He didn't deserve to be captive in her time. What she had done was so unfair. So selfish. Cruel even.

  And if that tote was washed out to sea, there would be nothing she could do to change what she had done. "I have to get my tote!"

  Kat turned her head into Leif's arm and bit the fleshy part of his bicep, at the same time stomping on his instep. With an oath, he stumbled back, at last loosening his hold.

  She darted to the rail of the pier and without allowing herself to hesitate, vaulted over the side, slipping down two criss-crossing beams before catching a splintered beam with her flailing arms. She kicked frantically, feeling for a foothold, spray dashing against her face she peered through the fog into the churning black depths of the sea and almost fainted with fear.

  Her tote beckoned her, well out of her reach.

  The roar of the oddly agitated waves couldn't drown out Leif and McCarty's angry, frightened shouts. She fought the blinding tears that pooled in her eyes. Things were going from bad to worse. But she had to get the tote. She had to give Leif the pendant so that he could go home. She had to!


  Carefully she scaled the wooden support beams. Splinters bit into her palm, tar made her hands sticky.

  The tote was lower than she'd thought. As she neared it, an angry wave slammed against her, the force of the icy water almost making her lose her hold. Clinging desperately to the beam with one hand, she reached out as far as she could with the other, trying to grab the elusive bag.

  She strained and pulled, stretching her muscles until they screamed in protest. Still the bag evaded her grasp. Where had the blasted wind come from? It kept blowing the bag just out of her reach.

  "You little fool!" she heard Leif shout. "When I get you to safety I'm going to throttle you."

  Kat screamed and twisted around to face him. Anger radiated out of every inch of his taut body.

  And it was directed at her. If only he knew.

  Kat was very glad that he didn't.

  His arm snaked out and grabbed her by the waist just as a giant wave picked up her tote and tossed it right at her. Without thinking she loosened her hold from the beam and with both arms caught the bag.

  Relief poured through her. She had her tote. The pendant was safe.

  Her relief was short lived. Cursing in what seemed to be several languages, Leif pulled her flush against him, her back to his chest.

  Kat felt the strangest sensation between her shoulder blades. Heat? Yes, heat. A rather intense heat, as a matter of fact. She craned her head to look at Leif, wondering if he felt it, too, and saw that his neck and face glowed green.

  His stunned gaze met her eyes then dropped to the pendant hanging on his neck.

  McCarty shouted down to them. "Hold on. I've called in for the Coast Guard. They'll be here any minute."

  "What's happening?" Kat shouted over the crashing surf, even though deep down she knew only too well.

  Leif's gaze shifted to the tote she still clutched to her breast. Her arms became warm and she too dropped her eyes to the tote. It glowed as green as his neck.

  Kat's eyes flew to his face, searching, for what, she didn't know.

  "You deceived me."

  His hold on her waist tightened painfully. Panicked, she clawed at his arm, despite the fact that her life was completely in his hands as he effortlessly clung to a beam. All that stood between her and the sea was his hold.

  "I can't breathe," she choked out.

  "I don't care," was his calm reply.

  One look at the hard lines of his face and she knew he spoke the truth.

  He didn't care. He would never care for her again.

  Kat choked back a sob. Her entire body trembled in fear. Memories of their first meeting did noting to lessen that fear. He was set to kill her then, and he most assuredly would kill her now.

  She had betrayed him as surely as her namesake had.

  "I'm sorry," she whimpered.

  At that moment, a giant wave crashed into them. Leif's pendant and Kat's bag glowed even brighter as the angry wave plucked them off the beam and curled them within its power.

  Just before she lost consciousness, she wondered why the giant wave was carrying them away from the shore rather than dashing them into it. Did waves always travel backwards?

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Leif tightened his grip on Kat as they spiraled inside the massive wave. Although why he cared was beyond him.

  As suddenly as the wave swept them away, it spit them out. The fog-blanked night had turned to day. Holding Kat against his chest, he treaded water, grateful for the years of vigorous training that insured his legs were strong and tireless. The water, calm now, was cold. Bitterly cold. Much colder in fact than the water had been before the wave carried them away.

  Looking about him, suspicion formed at the edge of his mind. There was not much to be seen, for although it was clearly daylight, the cursed fog still obstructed his view.

  Kat stirred. He looked down at her, not allowing himself to think of her treachery.

  Kat's skin was blue with cold and her long hair floated atop the water, its strands reaching out like tentacles. Her teeth chattered, even while unconscious.

  If he had a brain in his head, he would simply loosen his hold and let her perish. She betrayed him. She knew that it was urgent it was for him to return to his own time even if she did not know the why of it, and yet she had hidden from him the very means for him doing so.

  It was not that he did not realize that she had risked her life to save the pendant as it hung over the ocean. But he had no idea what her motive had been for doing so. He had no reason to think that she meant to give him the pendant once she retrieved it.

  And how long had she had it anyway? Had it been tucked away in the tote the entire time? It was entirely possible, for she never went anywhere without it.

  Had her friendship and camaraderie been nothing but an act since the time they met? Had she set out to hurt him? The possibility that she had hurt him deeper than he wanted to admit. He tightened his grip on Kat.

  But what other possible reason could she have had for keeping the pendant from him, if not to hurt him?

  The realization crushed him, yet at the same time served to strengthen his resolve to hate her. Leif clenched his teeth together so hard his jaw ached. He would make her pay for the crimes both she and her ancestor had dealt him. Leif now understood clearly what so many of his people had known all along. The relative of your enemy is your enemy. Regardless how far removed that relative might be.

  Yes, Leif swore, clinching his fists together about her tiny waist. She would pay dearly for her cruelty.

  Time dragged on in an endless secession of small swells. If the fog did not lift soon, so that he could gage where the shore lay, his muscles would begin to spasm and there would be nothing he could do to keep their faces above water.

  His mind drifted. Memories of the good times he and Kat shared together tumbled upon one another. Only now, her laughing face mocked him. Now her warm looks, looks that he once thought held affection for him, took the glint of superiority. He had always know she held a secret, yet after coming to know her he had dismissed the possibility that it would in any way be to his detriment.

  He roared inwardly. The entire time he had been in her world had been a lie. On her part, anyway. On his part, he had foolishly fallen in love with the dark headed, dark hearted wench, a wench that could survive on her own despite her inability to control her impulsive nature.

  How had she survived in her world before he washed up in it to save her? Even in the short time he had known her -- or thought he knew her -- trouble and catastrophe nipped at her heels at every turn. And she had simply accepted it like a fact of life.

  Through it all, she had proven to be resourceful, resilient, soft, beautiful, playful and kindhearted.

  No! Leif could not allow himself to be deceived by her ever again. The facts were clear. If she were to be placed before him for judgment for her crimes, he would have no choice but to condemn her. The evidence mounted against her was too great to be ignored.

  And, in fact, he was jarl, and she most certainly was before him. The sting in the water told him quite clearly that he was no longer in the Pacific Ocean, but the North Atlantic which meant that he was now in his own time. She was in his time. Under his control. So what prevented him from executing his judgment on her now? As cold as she was she would not even awaken as her dark head slipped beneath the water.

  It was nothing more than she deserved.

  Yet his arms did not loosen their hold on her even though his anger did not abate. Even if he did not let her slip from his arms, she would likely freeze to death anyway. In fact, now that he thought about it, Leif was amazed that they had not both already frozen to death.

  "What happened?" The whisper tore at his heart. Her teeth began to chatter in earnest. Her head rolled on his shoulder as she struggled to open her eyes.

  Pity and rage warred within him. Disgusted with himself for his weakness toward this lying wench, Leif let his hold loosen, just a fraction.

&nbs
p; With a pitiful cry and panicked look in into his eyes she slipped under the veil of clear water. Her eyes wide, she steadily held his gaze as she sank. Her mouth opened as if to plead with him. One small, blue hand abruptly reached over her head, her finger-tips broke the surface.

  Leif, ashamed of himself for his impulse, grasped the ice cold hand and hauled her to the air.

  "You jerk!" she sputtered. "I can't swim."

  Unbidden, the picture of her breaking his hold and sailing over the rotting rail of the pier seared his mind. "What do you mean you can't swim?" he demanded, treading water with renewed vigor as he struggled to keep her afloat.

  "Stop yelling at me," she gasped. "I can't swim. Deal with it and hold on to me."

  And then, clearly remembering what had brought them into the sea, she said that she was sorry. "I didn't mean to deceive you, Leif. Can you ever--"

  Leif squinted through the fog. The faint outline of a ship bobbed upon the water a short distance from them.

  "I'll deal with you later." He cut her off abruptly, not in the least concerned by her surprised, then annoyed expression. Using every bit of strength remaining within him, and careful to not lose his hold on Kat, he waved his free arm in the air and mustered a mighty shout. He hoped it was a trading vessel he hailed and not an enemy raiding party. If it proved to be the latter, then he and Kat were both doomed.

  Shouts echoed over the water and suddenly the fog that had concealed them disappeared and Leif saw his warriors swarming to the side of the longboat, his brother, Davyn standing a head above the rest, his mouth slack.

  "Brother," Leif managed. "If you are finished staring, think you could give me a hand up?"

  Davyn laughed out loud, a mighty booming sound that was welcome to Leif's ears. The men surrounding him each burst into motion at the same time and within less than a minute he and Kat had been hauled up and stretched out on the deck of Victory, Davyn's trading vessel.