I remembered, too, that I had a job waiting for me. Two jobs, actually. Warriors kept dying from that awful black goop, a poison that was thinning Odin's army, steadily making his forces too weak to guarantee a victory at Ragnarok. With Aidan now on his way to recovery, we could get back to Midgard and help in every way possible. And we could find Brody.

  How long had I lain in the water? I couldn't say. I only dragged myself out of the delicious heat when I almost fell asleep in the pool. Better to get out before I drowned myself in one of Hel's hot pools.

  Later I fell into the bed, sated by the delicious food, thirst quenched by a goblet of Mead and way too relaxed by the heat of the pool. And my last thoughts lay on the one person I'd risked everything for.

  As I fell into a deep sleep, a sound echoed in my mind and in my heart.

  A sound so intrinsically part of Aidan.

  A motorcycle echoed in my dreams.

  The next morning I rose, rested and calm. I dressed in a hurry and trotted to Aidan's room. A painful little flutter in my tummy revealed the doubts I'd had last night. Could I really trust Freya? What if she had taken Aidan away from me again? Or what if Astrid had hurt him somehow?

  Blood thundered in my ears as I grabbed the handle. I would've just walked in, but I stopped myself. This was Aidan's room, and he wasn't an invalid any longer. I didn't think he'd welcome anyone just barging into his room. So I knocked. And waited.

  The hollow pounding of my knuckles on wood echoed inside the room and up and down the passageway, and when he didn't answer, I began to worry. Was he okay? Would I find him lying dead from the elixir gone wrong?

  Shut up, Bryn, it's been only a few seconds. Relax.

  Too many moments later, the door finally opened and Aidan stood on the other side of the threshold, the shadow of his beard darkening his chin, his pale shirt all rumpled. He looked well. Fine. Healthy. My heart thudded faster, and my eyes filled with tears just like that.

  He reached for me, closing me in his warm arms, and I shed my tears against his chest. I tried hard to stop crying, but the harder I tried the longer I cried. Everything just came crashing down on me. The memories and the pain replayed in my mind, starting with the look on Aidan's face when I told him how he'd been killed, execution style, bullet in the middle of his forehead. Killed by his own father's thugs.

  I remembered the way he blanched when I told him the truth about Freya's demands and the awful curse she'd placed on his life if I didn't return with her necklace in time. The look on his face when I lay beside a stinking dumpster, shot in the abdomen by his father's goons, making a bloody mess on the filthy concrete.

  And I remembered that kiss.

  The one we'd shared in the transfer room when we'd arrived back in Asgard from Muspell, the one that told me how much he cared despite everything that had happened to us, the one we shared only minutes before Loki stabbed him with his poisoned dagger.

  Everything flashed through my mind, and Aidan just held me until I was all cried out.

  "Okay now?" he asked when I’d finally gone silent. And the gentle softness to his voice made me want to start all over again.

  I took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, and you? How are you feeling?" I cleared my throat and stepped away from him. I suddenly needed a bit of distance from his arms and his warmth.

  "As good as new." His eyes sparkled as he grinned. I stared at him, suspicion rising in an invisible tide. I knew that look.

  "Been into the Mead, I see?" I raised an eyebrow, trying not to laugh.

  "Yup, it's delicious." He winked and strode to his bed, where a low table had been set up. "Want some?" He held up a goblet.

  I laughed, joyously happy to see him well. "Why the hell not?"

  I shut the door and plonked myself down beside him, taking a goblet of the divine golden milk of the goat Heidrun. Amazing stuff. Cotton candy delicious, filled with healing magic and a sparkle of happiness.

  We sipped in a happy, comfortable silence. Which made me want to cry all over again. I snorted silently, pretty disgusted with this new crybaby Bryn.

  "So you saved me, hey," Aidan said. "You're pretty good at keeping your word . . . for a girl." He grinned, and I elbowed him in the ribs. Then I gasped in horror. His stab wound. "It's fine, Bryn. It's all healed."

  I frowned. Not too long ago it wasn't healed at all. "Really?" I didn't try to hide the fact that I found that pretty hard to believe.

  He nodded. "Yup."

  "Let me see."

  He shrugged as if to say have at it. I did, pulling his shirt up to reveal the healed edges of the wound. His skin was back to a healthy color, with no sign of awful purple and yellow. I let the fabric fall. "Wow, that's something, isn't it? I just looked at that last night and it was hideous and raw."

  "Hideous, you say?" He stifled his laughter, trying to look offended. Gee, Aidan, you so need to brush up on your acting skills. Then he sobered in all of three seconds. "So fill me in."

  I didn't need to ask him what he meant. I launched into my tale, briefly running over everything that had happened since Freya left me on the floor of Odin's hall, covered in Aidan's blood, listening to Loki's laughter. I even brought him up to speed on the black Warrior-killing goop.

  "Woah, you don't waste time, do you?" Aidan's eyes went wide. They widened further when I told him about Astrid's little stunt when I'd arrived with the elixir. "You mean she actually tried to kill you?"

  "Pretty much wanted to slice me and dice me. And it wasn't the first time, so I didn't have much trouble believing she wanted me dead. She did put up a fight, though." But I hadn't wasted time in showing Astrid who was boss. I remembered the hatred that glowed in her cold eyes as she sat on the floor of Freya's Hall, defeated.

  "Well, she'll know not to mess with you again." Aidan threw an arm around me. The furs beneath me reminded me that we were sitting on Aidan's bed. I smiled a small sad smile. The last time we'd sat together on his bed and talked had been back home in Craven, the night Brody died. The night my whole world had slowly begun to crumble.

  Another comfortable silence passed, in which more Mead was drunk and in which the heat generated from our thighs, as we sat so close together, became almost unbearable.

  I wriggled, intending to move away from him to give us both some space, but somehow I found myself within the circle of his arms instead.

  No time or action or intention made sense in that moment as he lowered his head and captured my lips with his. This heated meeting of lips was filled with promise. Not only the promise of entwined arms and racing pulses, but also of longing and loneliness, and of sacrifice.

  This time, it was I who was lost in him, lost in the heat of his lips and the feel of his living body beneath my searching fingers. It was so good to have him back, healthy and alive.

  I couldn't say who pulled away first, or why. But we did. Eventually. I looked away, straightened my hair, patting it neatly just to make use of my jittery fingers.

  Aidan cleared his throat and broke the silence with the best response ever. "So when do we leave?"

  "Just say the word."

  "Okay then, what are you waiting for, Valkyrie?"

  Chapter 37

  Freya delivered us straight into Odin's Hall, and we arrived amidst the shadows and the dust motes. The goddess inclined her head to Aidan and then to me: a regal farewell. Then she shimmered into nothingness, becoming part of the shadows in the blink of an eye.

  I barely registered her departure as I turned to Aidan to check on him. These god-guided Bifrost trips were not easy on the body, and he had a strange, almost drunken expression in his eyes.

  Of course, that could just be the Mead.

  "You alright?" I gripped his arm.

  He nodded, although even that slight movement looked shaky. After clearing his throat, he said, "Yeah. I'm fine." And then he proved it by standing on his own two feet and brushing my hand off.

  Before I could think about being hurt by his rejection, the chatter of a rather noisy group of people approaching the hall disturbed us. They crossed the huge threshold, which could easily have accommodated eight abreast, and I grinned at the sight of Fen and Joshua and the rest of the scout team. Deep in conversation, they ambled down the aisle, their muted words echoing softly in the gigantic hall.

  Their discussion came to a grinding halt as soon as they caught sight of us. Joshua and Aimee ran forward, and a flurry of hugs and excited questions ensued. Aidan received a round of slaps on the back as the Craven kids celebrated his return to the land of the living.

  Behind me, someone cleared his throat. I turned to face Fen and met his enigmatic gaze.

  "Hello, Brynhildr." His expression remained cool, almost aloof. "I see you have had a successful mission."

  I felt a stab of guilt that Fen had had no part in my mission; he was, after all, my superior, and I hadn't even told him my plans. Would Thor or Odin have passed him a message? I hoped he wouldn't hold it against me.

  I pasted a bit of happiness on my face. "Yes. Aidan is well, and the Nidhogg's daughter will be well soon enough."

  In the lull of laughter and questions, Fen injected a question that wreathed the room in tense silence. "Brynhildr, what happened in Swartelfheim?" An odd frown formed on his face.

  I bristled, my own guilt making Odin's expression accusatory instead of enquiring. I gave the group a condensed version of the events, skimming quickly over Mika's attack and her death at my hands, hoping they wouldn't ask for more details. I should have hoped harder. At the mention of her death, everyone in the team exchanged strange glances, their faces seeming to burst with further questions.

  "What did you say about Mika?"

  I thought it would've been Fen who asked that question, Mika being his child, but the speaker's voice boomed around the hall, and the chattering group fell silent.

  I bowed to Odin before I answered. "My lord, I was forced to defend myself against my Ulfr partner when she attacked me and tried to take the goblet from me. She was so desperate for me not to have it that she destroyed it."

  Odin mulled over my answer, his face a granite profile. He said, "Fenrir, is Mika able to walk?"

  I almost choked at the god's question. Mika able to walk? Was he crazy? Mika was dead.

  I'd killed her.

  I was sure I'd killed her.

  I glanced at Fen over my shoulder, disbelief pasted on my face, but he just patted my arm and answered Odin. "Yes, my lord. She is well enough to walk." Odin nodded and turned to a Huldra, who trotted off, probably to fetch Mika. Inside my chest, my heart catapulted. Mika had been very dead when I'd left her on the floor of Odin's hall.

  "Is she really okay?" I asked Fen, terrified that he would bite my head off, literally. I'd mortally wounded his daughter. Or so I'd thought. Apparently I'd been mistaken in thinking myself a murderer.

  "Yes, Brynhildr. It is a natural ability of the Ulfr. We are fast, strong, and we heal faster than humans do. Faster than Valkyries do, too."

  "But she was dead." I shook my head, still unable to process what he was saying.

  "Not dead. Our bodies go into a stasis. We regenerate, healing damage to organs, regaining our health. Mika will be weak. But she will soon be healthy again." And though his voice held a touch of comfort for me, the tone was all business, and one hundred percent fury.

  I wasn't sure what to say. About to respond, I met Joshua's suddenly angry eyes over Aimee's shoulder and stopped. Now what the hell was that about? Sure, I'd sliced and diced the love of his life, but she'd meant to kill me. Was I suddenly not allowed to defend my life, just because Joshua had the hots for my traitorous friend? But as angry as I was, Joshua's anger hurt more than anything else did. I never thought I'd ever see such resentment in my best friend's eyes. My heart ached.

  Mika's entrance into the hall distracted me from my self-pitying thoughts. The Huldra servant led her to the dais, where she stood before Odin, awaiting his word. Her skin gleamed a milky, colorless hue, while her face appeared demure.

  "Mika, daughter of Fenrir." Odin boomed the words as if they were more an accusation than a statement of her lineage. "You have been accused of sabotaging the mission of your partner, the Valkyrie Brynhildr. You have also been accused of betraying your father. We have heard from Brynhildr that you willingly and knowingly followed the word of the god Loki, thus betraying your father, your general and your duty as an Ulfr of Asgard."

  Mika tilted her chin, the tiny movement all the confirmation I needed to know she was as guilty as the night was dark. And that my actions were unimpeachable. Even if they were murderous.

  "Mika, daughter of Fenrir, what have you to say?" Odin growled, the severity of his accusation revealed in the cold vibration of his voice. That same severity and tension replayed in every face in the room. Fenrir stood just behind me, so I couldn't see his expression, but a strange vibration touched my skin and teased my eardrums, not dissimilar to the rumbling vibration from the night that Fen had taken me to retrieve Aidan from a dark and lonely Craven stream.

  I shivered at the thought that perhaps Fen's anger now would be directed at me instead. I wasn't keen to test the full fire of Fenrir's fury.

  Mika stood very still, eyes fixed on the floor, the picture of humility. I wasn't convinced. The hall reverberated with the sounds of tense breathing. Blood thrummed through my ears, and every sound seemed louder, clearer. Fear jackhammered in my chest. But what did I have to be afraid of? Mika had tried to sabotage my mission.

  A little voice inside me reminded me it was her word against mine.

  "Speak, Mika. You stand accused of a terrible crime." Odin rose and suddenly he towered over us, his frame increasing to his gigantic godly proportions. He stepped forward and the whole building trembled.

  Mika flinched but held her ground. She flung her head back and stared up at Odin; her jaw worked and I could imagine the flashing anger in her eyes.

  "I have committed no crime," she said. Her voice rang almost as loud as Odin's did. I felt eyes on me, and a quick sideward glance confirmed Joshua, Aimee and Aidan sending suspicious looks back at me.

  I flushed, my heart twisting in my chest. A strange combination of embarrassment and hurt. How could they believe I'd lied about everything? How could they take her word over mine? My vision blurred and my lip quivered. How stupid could I have been? I clenched my fists, wrenching my thoughts away from the depth of my pain. But it didn't work. I still hurt all over.

  The ensuing silence just made my agony worse, coloring it every shade of pain.

  A soft hand slipped into the crook of my arm. It hurt to turn my head, but I did. And stared straight into Sigrun's eyes. With a small, encouraging smile and a firm squeeze of my arm, she helped my pain to recede a little.

  Sigrun must have walked right past Fen to come to me, making her act of support all the more special. Despite her love for him, she still chose to stand by me. I smiled at her, my eyes moist with my gratitude.

  Odin took another step forward, and the vibration drew my attention back to the dais. I ignored my friends from Craven until I felt a warmth beside me at my right. I knew without looking that it was Aidan. He didn't touch me, just stood beside me, and that was enough.

  Odin's movement spurred Mika to speak again. "I have done nothing wrong besides following my beliefs."

  "So you admit to the attempt to thwart Brynhildr's mission, endangering the lives of both Aidan and the daughter of the Nidhogg?"

  Mika didn't flinch. "Yes. I did as Loki asked. My god guides me, and I do not question his requests of me." Her back remained stiff and unrelenting.

  "So you admit to your loyalty to the god Loki." Black thunder roiled in the All-Father's voice.

  "I follow the one true path." Mika laughed. "I have done everything he has asked of me. But it was the Mead that was the most important."

  I gasped. So Mika had been the one who poisoned the Mead we'd used on our search for Brisingamen. The same Mead that Aidan had drunk to sustain his health, which had instead delayed his recovery. And she had managed to insinuate herself into our team, fix herself to my side as friend and partner. It had all been a lie. But I guess things made a different sort of sense in her mind.

  Odin laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and dead. "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? That destiny and fate are so firm that one cannot and should not attempt to change it?"

  "Yes he has, and it is true." Mika shook her head, throwing her arms out, palms up as if pleading with Odin. "If only you saw the truth of it, you would agree with me."

  Odin shook his head, the light glinting on his golden helmet. "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." Despite my anger toward Mika's betrayal, I felt and understood Odin's sadness for her.

  "My lord Loki is not evil. He is a truly beautiful being. It is only your perception that makes him evil." She cast her eyes about the hall, desperately seeking someone who would agree. At last she glanced in Joshua's direction. He, in turn, just shook his head in disbelief, his eyes filled with disappointment. Mika took the tiniest of steps forward, and Joshua took an equally tiny step back.

  A part of me was so incredibly relieved that he'd chosen to reject her, but the rest of me just hurt for Joshua. His heart had been splintered into a million pieces. And Joshua wasn't the only one hurt in this horrible betrayal.

  "Fenrir," Odin called his general, and Fen walked toward the dais. There was a heaviness to his step as he passed, a droop to his shoulders that gave him away, despite the implacable expression on his face. He stood at the dais, surrounded by the pained silence of the gathered group.

  My heart thumped as it flooded with sympathy for this father, who stood betrayed by a daughter. That Mika had even thought of doing such a thing to this man enraged me. Beside me Sigrun's fingers tightened on my arm. I turned to see her eyes filled with tears and her throat convulsing as she shared his pain, no doubt more than I ever would.

 

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