by Charley Case
Finn grumbled, “You guys suck.”
Chapter Two
Mila turned in a circle as she blinked in confusion. She stood in a nice loft-style apartment that overlooked an unfamiliar city, with the sun just rising over the eastern horizon. She squinted as the light reflected off the skyscrapers that filled the floor-to-ceiling view. Beyond the city, all she could see was desert to the left and ocean to the right.
On recognizing a few of the buildings, Mila stepped closer to the window and, from her new vantage point, could pick out the Burj Khalifa towering over the city.
She didn’t remember coming to Dubai, but evidently, she had. She looked at her hands and noticed a shimmering haze around the edges.
“Fucking asshole.” Now it all made sense.
She must be in one of Azoth’s nightmares. He had tormented her with them for months, usually showing her some grisly murder scene or him taking people as thralls. She had witnessed at least half a dozen horrors since their last meeting, each in a new location. She was getting tired of it all.
As she turned to the main room of the apartment, Mila felt her face tighten in a frown. She didn’t see the robed figure in any of the common areas, but there was a staircase that went to a second level. As she took the stairs quietly, a feeling of dread fell over her. She hated seeing these things, but at the same time, she wasn’t even sure if they were real. She never saw anything that she could use to identify the victim. Maybe this time would be different. She just needed to look for clues.
So far, she had reported every dream to Victoria and Missy, but without any real context, they didn’t know how to verify the dreams either.
Mila was working on a hunch. That was all. The dreams felt too detailed not to be real places and people. This time she was going to do her best to ignore the Drude and find some sort of clue as to where she was and who the inevitable victim was.
At the top of the stairs, a landing with an office overlooked the living room and the cityscape beyond the windows. She also found a short hall with two doors, both open. To the left was the bathroom, and to the right was a bedroom.
Mila sucked in a breath and steeled herself for what she was about to witness, then walked into the bedroom.
The gray-robed figure of Azoth towered over the side of the bed. His stony hands extended over the face of a sleeping woman, and the void that filled his hood stared at Mila.
“I wondered how long it would take you to find us up here,” Azoth said in his million-creaking-doors voice. “I wanted to be sure you were here for the beginning of the end.”
“Fuck you, Azoth.” Mila spoke in an emotionless voice as she turned away from the bed to look for clues as to who this poor unsuspecting woman might be.
The room had the same floor-to-ceiling windows as the living room, but these had heavy shades blocking out the morning sun. Despite the darkness, Mila could see just fine, a trait she was happy to have developed now that her powers were awakening once she’d had solidified her conviction, the source of a Valkyrie’s power.
No one should live in fear of a tyrant.
Mila refused to let this asshole cow her.
“You will be happy to know that I’m saving you for last,” Azoth croaked. “I shall hunt down each of your sisters and revel in their screams before taking their power for my own.”
Mila barely heard to him. Instead, she scanned for anything that might have a name or address on it. Unfortunately, the woman who was about to be consumed kept a tidy house. In fact, it was practically spartan. Besides the bed, there were two small side tables and a dresser with a large mirror.
The side tables had been cleared off, but on the dresser, she noticed a brush, a bottle of lotion, and a small wooden bowl.
Azoth continued behind her. “I shall enjoy our time when it comes. It has been a while since one of your kind got the better of me. I think I will start with the Dwarf. Really take my time with him while I make you watch.”
“Mmmhmm.” Mila had heard it all before.
She leaned in and dug through the bowl with one finger.
The dream world Azoth brought her to was interesting in that she could interact with things in the room, but not the people. If she tried to warn the victims by throwing things, the objects would simply reappear where they’d been before she picked them up. She had tried screaming and shouting but quickly realized that the victims couldn’t hear her in any way.
In the bowl, she found rings, earrings, and loose change, but at the bottom of the bowl, her finger encountered a thin chain that she fished out. It was one of those ball chains that you see on pens at the post office or bank, or what they use for dog tags in the military.
Mila realized that Azoth had stopped talking, and glancing in the mirror, she could see that his hood was pointed her way as he watched her.
“What? Did you forget what you were saying?” she asked, her eyebrow raised. “If you lost your train of thought, I can probably help you out. God knows I’ve heard your ranting enough by now. You probably were about to start in on how you’re going to flay me alive over and over. Or did you already mention that? I have to admit, I haven’t really been listening.”
Azoth turned his hood to the side as if he were talking to someone beside him, but as far as Mila could tell they were alone, other than the sleeping woman.
“Your insolence just adds to the pain you will experience in the end.” Azoth turned the black void of his hood back to her and raised a hand.
Mila had seen that motion before and knew he was about to banish her from the dream. It seemed she had really hit a nerve if he wanted to get rid of her without killing his victim while she watched.
She yanked the chain from the bowl. A pair of dog tags came with it. She scrambled to grab the tag and see the name. She felt a warm power flush through her as her magic felt her need and increased her reflexes and speed.
She snatched the tag out of the air and quickly read the name. Jennine DeAngelo.
Mila sucked in a breath and awoke to find herself lying on Finn’s bare chest.
The large dwarf woke with a start and pressed a protective hand to her back as he raised his head and scanned the room.
“What is it? Someone here?” His sharp brown eyes pierced the darkness.
“It’s okay.” She rubbed her eyes and pushed herself up from his chest. “It was another nightmare. Azoth is up to his usual threats and shenanigans.”
Mila had told Finn about the dreams as soon as they started, but she left out that Azoth always showed her a murder or some other grisly scene. She could take it, and she didn’t want Finn to worry. There wasn’t anything he could do about the dreams, so why frustrate him? Having him be there when she woke up was all she needed him to do for her to get through this.
“Are you okay?” He relaxed into his pillow and gently rubbed her back.
Mila nodded and brushed her long dark hair behind an ear. “Yeah, I’m okay. He’s a fucking asshole, but I’m okay. And this time, I got a name. That son of a bitch is going down.”
“Are you sure it’s a real place?” Finn hadn’t been so sure that Azoth was taking her to real places since she described being able to interact with the environment, at least in a limited capacity.
“I’m not sure, but having a name gets me all the info I need to find out.” Mila scooted to the edge of the bed, her toes just barely brushing the wooden floor, pulled her Valkyrie-issued phone from the nightstand, and hit the power button.
The dark room lit with bright blue light as the screen came on. She blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted. The phone had been magically modified to work anywhere and never needed to be charged, but it only worked to connect between other phones in the “Valkyrie network.”
Finn swung his legs out from under the covers and padded into the bathroom while Mila scrolled through the phone’s contacts. She was used to talking with Victoria about problems, but now that Missy had awoken, Mila figured she should probably talk with the elder
sister. She scrolled back up to Missy’s name, hit the send button, and checked the clock on the nightstand. 5:32 a.m. Mila groaned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
After half a dozen rings, the phone went to voice mail. Mila hung up, relief washing over her as she scrolled back to Victoria’s name and selected it with a tap of her thumb.
She didn’t have anything against Missy. She just didn’t know her all that well. Victoria was the first Valkyrie Mila had met, and they’d talked at least once a week as Mila had grown more aware of her powers and how to use them. Since Missy had come back to take her place as the head of the Sisterhood, Mila had felt a distance between her and Missy that didn’t exist with Victoria.
The muffled sound of the shower coming on let Mila know that Finn was up for the day. She decided she might as well do the same. She put the phone on speaker as she walked to the bathroom through the walk-in closet.
She smiled at Finn as he stepped into the huge shower behind the glass wall across the back of the luxurious bathroom. He looked her up and down as she walked across the white tiles, then winked as he gave her an over-the-top thumbs up.
Mila laughed at his antics just as Victoria picked up on the other end of the call.
“Mila? What’s wrong?” Victoria’s voice sounded tense as it came out of the small speaker.
Mila put the phone down on the large white ottoman in the center of the dressing room as she pulled open a drawer and selected a pair of underwear. “Hello, Victoria. Why do you assume something is wrong?”
“Because it is five-thirty in the morning where you are. I assume you don’t wake up this early normally. Unless you’re one of those people.”
Mila snorted. “I am definitely not one of those people. I had another dream last night starring our least favorite Drude.”
Victoria growled on the line. “I’m guessing it was more of the same?”
“Pretty much.” Mila snapped the band of her underwear as she selected a pair of gray leggings and ankle socks, along with a black sports bra. “The time thing always throws me off. We were in Dubai, but it was early morning, so I don’t know if it happened today or yesterday.”
“It’s three-thirty in the afternoon in Dubai right now, so it had to have been last night. Do you have any more info?” Victoria didn’t sound hopeful.
“Actually, I do. I saw a pair of dog tags with the victim’s name on them.” Mila said, pulling on the bra and adjusting it into place. “Her name was Jennine DeAngelo. It looked like she was on the fiftieth or sixtieth floor of a high rise in downtown. I didn’t get a really good look at her, but it looked like she was white—”
“She was Chinese. Adopted by a family in Italy when she was three months old.” Victoria choked up.
Mila froze, her leggings half on. “How do you know that?”
“She was a Lone Valkyrie.” Victoria breathed out, calming herself. “She used the Reaper less than a year ago and was still settling into her new life. I just talked to her a day ago.”
Mila swallowed. “How did he find her?”
“I don’t know, but we need to find out before he does it again.”
Chapter Three
Mila pulled a red t-shirt over her head as she walked out of her room. The dojo was dark, but Mila didn’t turn on any lights just in case Danica’s door was open. She could see just fine with the city lights coming in through the wall of windows that overlooked the LoDo district of Denver.
“What do you need me to do?” Mila held the phone up to her ear after taking it off speaker so she wouldn’t wake Danica or Penny, though she figured Penny was already up since the little dragon only slept about three hours a night.
Veronica sighed heavily. “Nothing. I’m texting the others now. We’ll take care of it. I doubt Azoth is still there, but we can’t be too careful. If he’s able to absorb a full-strength Valkyrie, then he must be stronger than we thought. I figured it would take several months for him to gain that kind of power.”
“How did he get that strong so fast?” Mila walked into the kitchen and filled the coffee pot with water.
Victoria was silent for a few beats. “Honestly, it should be impossible. That much power should tear him apart.”
“He must have weakened her somehow.” Mila scooped coffee grounds into the filter. “Maybe he used those shackles he’s so fond of, though I don’t remember seeing any in the dream.”
“Just another reason to get this over with. Did you try to call Missy before you called me?”
Mila poured the water from the pot into the coffee maker and hit the power button. “Yeah, but it went to voice mail, so I called you. Why?”
“I can’t get hold of her either. Okay, I need to go.” She paused. “Good work, Mila. Once again, you fought Azoth and won.”
Mila snorted. “Hardly a win. I found a name on some dog tags.”
“You don’t think he was hiding all that stuff from you in the previous dreams? You kept looking, and it paid off. Don’t sell yourself short.”
“I won’t. Be careful, Victoria. Call me when you know anything.”
“Don’t worry about us. I doubt he’s still there, but we could get lucky.”
Victoria hung up just as Finn came around the corner, pulling on a black t-shirt over his customary jeans and black boots. Once he settled it in place, he began attaching his shoulder harness to his belt. The vertical leather straps looked a bit like suspenders, but a two-foot-long band of leather connected the two straps in the front over his chest, and another crossed at his lower back where he stored Fragar in its folded form, along with two pouches designed for healing potions.
“Coffee?” Mila pulled a mug from the cupboard.
“Yes, please. Was that Missy on the phone?” Finn sat on one of the stools at the island counter.
Mila set two mugs down beside the gurgling coffee machine and looked at it longingly. “No, Victoria. Missy didn't answer. It turns out that woman from my dream is a Lone Valkyrie, like me.”
Finn's brows rose slowly. “Really? How did he find her?”
Mila shrugged. “That’s what Victoria is going to work on after she and the others go to the apartment and check it out. I need to do something. This sitting around and waiting is killing me.”
“You are doing something,” Finn said with a smile. “You’re training and providing information. How are the exercises going, by the way? Can you feel a difference?”
Mila crossed her arms and leaned a hip on the counter. “I can. How did you know about that technique anyway? Your power comes from the ground, so you wouldn’t need it.”
Finn had shown her a mental exercise that would expand her available magic by “making more room in her head” as he put it. The exercise was simple, not unlike a muscle exercise in that she would “flex” her pool of magic over and over until it was depleted. When it refilled, she could feel there was more magic available than when she started. It was slow going, but it did work, and she had been practicing for weeks. She guessed she had more than doubled her reserves in that time. Not to mention, since she had to actually use some magic in the process, she had become extremely good at deploying her shield and had found a few other tricks to use in her next encounter with a bad guy.
Finn chuckled. “I do channel my power from the ground, but I still have a reserve of it inside me. Remember that time Penny had to force-feed me stones so I could absorb their magic? Yeah, that was because I was out. Peabrains and elves are different, but for those of us that have to rely on our stores of magic, the exercises are pretty well known.”
Danica came out of her room, already dressed for work in a black suit, her hair pulled up in a long ponytail that hung down to the small of her back.
She yawned and shuffled over to the bench where they kept their everyday shoes and pulled out the black heels she had left there last night. “Morning guys. Didn’t expect you to be up already. I figured I would have to go banging on your door to get Finn up.” She slid the first shoe on. “You s
till need a teleport to Chincoteague?”
“Yeah. When will you be ready to go?”
She slipped into the other heel and stood up, her arms stretched over her head. “After I have some coffee and a quick breakfast.”
Danica opened the cupboard and pulled out a loaf of thick-cut sourdough and a jar of peanut butter. After popping two slices in the toaster, she began to cut up a banana. “So, what’s your plan? Are you just going to wander around the island until you feel something?”
Finn raised an eyebrow, considering, while Danica began to stir the peanut butter with a knife. “I guess so. If there’s as much treasure as Penny and Mila seem to think there is, then it shouldn't be too hard to find some.”
“Then you should probably take some swimming trunks.” She pointed her peanut butter covered knife up and down his figure. “You’re going to be burning up out in the sun all day in that. Plus, you’ll look like a real creeper walking down the beach like some hipster bodybuilder.”
Mila choked on a laugh and spilled a little of the coffee from the pot as she filled three mugs. “Hipster bodybuilder? Why are you so mean in the mornings?”
“I’m not mean, I’m efficient of word. That’s a perfect description of him.” Danica put the toast on a plate as soon as it popped up, then smeared peanut butter on the slices while they were still hot.
Finn frowned and rubbed his hand down the chin of his perfectly manicured brown beard. “I still don't understand why you have a thing about hipsters. They sound very dwarven.”
“How’s that, exactly?” Mila pulled a box of Charleston Chew Minis from the freezer and slid it and one of the steaming mugs across the counter to him.
Finn smiled, opened the box, and shook a few of the candies into his coffee. “Well, from what you’ve told me, hipsters are obsessed with technology that looks old but works like new, and they tend to dress in an older fashion. Sounds like they adhere to tradition. That’s very dwarven. The king’s robes have been the same since the first king, a tradition that has lasted for tens of thousands of years.”
