The Unyielding

by Shelly Laurenston

  “Everyone calm down!” Erin yelled, trying to keep her sisters and the Ravens from attacking. By now the Carrion had made a run for it, leaving a few of their weapons behind, which the Clans would add to their battle arsenal. Erin reached down and grabbed the foot of the dead Carrion and pulled him close. Placing her foot against his ass, she gripped the axe handle and pried the blade from his back.

  She moved around to his side, put her foot against his arm, raised the axe above her head, and brought it down, severing his hand from his wrist. Grinning, she crouched down and lifted the hand.

  But when she went to stand, she found three giant bear heads glaring down at her.

  Then they roared.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Stieg yanked away the Carrion sword that Vig held and was moving toward the first bear to cut him down where he stood roaring at Erin, when a black panther jumped between him and the bears and Erin. Freezing, his arm raised to strike, Stieg asked, “Karen? What are you doing here?”

  “Wait,” Erin said. “You knew about this? And you never told me? Dude, that’s so uncool!”

  Stieg lowered his arm. “Is that really your big concern right now? ”

  Erin grinned. “Yeah.”

  The panther began making noises. Yips and snarls and tiny purrs until Stieg pointed out, “I don’t know what the fuck you’re saying to me, Karen.”

  The panther blinked, took a step back, and suddenly she was Karen again. Tall, beautiful, and extremely naked Karen.

  “Dude!” Stieg glanced back at his now crowding Raven brothers, most of them trying to get a good, long look at his friend. “Put on some clothes!”

  “Oh, my God, dude,” she shot back. “You have wings. Get over it. And don’t hurt the bears. They’re with me.”

  “Since when?”

  She rested her hand on the big hump between one of the bear’s shoulders A bear that had to be at least a thousand pounds and probably nine to ten feet tall if it went up on its hind legs. “Since they just saved our asses.”

  Stieg blinked and the three bears became three men. They were no longer ten feet or a thousand pounds, but Stieg still wouldn’t turn his back on them.

  “Thanks, guys,” Karen said.

  “We shouldn’t leave you here, mamacita,” one said, his untrusting gaze looking over Stieg and his brothers before glancing back at the Crows still standing by the windows. “Freaks,” he sneered.

  Erin laughed from her spot on the floor. “Wow. Throwing stones from that glass bear cave, aren’t ya, Gentle Ben?”

  Karen winced and her gaze implored Stieg.

  “You better go,” he pushed the shifters. “Before we let the girls kick your ass.”

  “That’s you helping?” Karen asked.

  “Yes.”

  The bears looked at Karen again.

  “You sure?” one asked.

  “I’ll be fine. Thank you. Really.”

  The bear gave a tough, street boy nod before heading toward the hallway, but for some unknown reason, Erin jumped up, still holding that Carrion hand and planted herself between the shifters and the exit.

  “Wait. You can’t go.”

  “Want us to kill ’em?” Vig asked.

  Erin looked at Stieg’s Raven brother over her shoulder. “No.”

  “Just asking.”

  With a frustrated sigh, she faced the suspicious male shifters again. But Stieg knew things were about to get weird when she forced a big smile. “How would you gentlemen like to help save the world?”

  “No,” the lead shifter immediately replied.

  “What do you mean no?”

  “We mean no. If you guys fuck up the world, it’s your problem. And everyone knows you fucked up the world. But we’re not about to help you out of that shit. We weren’t even helping you now.” He gestured to Karen with a jerk of his thumb. “We were helping her. She called. We came. That’s what shifters do for each other. No matter the breed or the species. Shame you Nordic fucks can’t say the same thing.”

  Erin’s arms shot out, which was good. She stopped Stieg and Vig from throttling the big idiot.

  “So . . . if you ladies and gentlemen—”

  “And freaks,” another shifter tossed in.

  “—and freaks would excuse us—”

  “How about cash?” Erin suddenly asked the shifter.

  “Cash?”

  “You may be able to turn into a bear, but you’re still human. And cash trumps everything.”

  “Why do you want to pay them?” Vig asked.

  “Because the Carrion couldn’t hurt them. Not like they can us.”

  “Magic doesn’t harm us the way it does you,” Karen explained. “We’re considered part of the animal kingdom by higher powers. That’s why witches’ pets can walk in and out of their circles without any problems. Those dead things, though, can hack us to death with their weapons.”

  “Well, are there more of you?” Kera asked.

  “Yeah,” Erin agreed. “Is there like a herd of bear we can hire?”

  Karen winced again as the shifters growled.

  “We don’t roam in herds,” the shifter growled. “We’re not prey animals.”

  “Okay. Fine. But think about it. We’ll pay you well and you’ll have the benefit of saying you helped save the world.”

  “The world you fucked up.”

  “Are we going to go there again?”

  “Here.” Alessandra leaned in and handed one of her business cards to the shifters. Why she carried business cards around with her, Stieg didn’t know. Maybe he didn’t want to know. “Take this. Call me.”

  She grinned and leaned back as Maeve reminded her, “You have a boyfriend.”

  “In Germany.”

  “And how come the shifters get enhanced immune systems?” Maeve demanded. “We’re warriors of gods. We should have enhanced immune systems.”

  “You do have an enhanced immune system!” Erin practically screamed. Maeve was one of the few people Stieg knew could piss her the hell off.

  “But I’m—”

  “Noooo!” Erin cut her sister-Crow off. “I can’t deal with your level of crazy right now! So just shut it.”

  “But—”

  “Shut. It.” Erin looked back at the shifters. “Cash. And saving the world. Think about it.” She moved and the three shifters walked out.

  Once they were gone, she held up the Carrion’s hand, her grin wide. “Got it!” she cheered, waving that stupid hand around.

  And that’s when the muscles on Stieg’s neck got tight.

  * * *

  Erin waited for Stieg to congratulate her or something. She had not only gotten the Key, she’d also protected his best friend until Karen’s fellow shifters showed up. She expected some major kudos for that.

  Instead, Stieg looked at Karen and barked, “Are you just going to stand there naked? Like that’s normal.”

  Karen crossed her arms under her chest, standing tall and proud in her gorgeous nakedness and replied. “You’ve got wings and you’re coming after me?”

  At that point, they both started yelling at each other. Erin wasn’t in the mood to hear any of it. She walked over to Kera and the others and held up the hand. “Look! I got it!”

  Her sister-Crows just stared at her and Erin became annoyed. “Are you treacherous bitches telling me that no one gives a shit how I kicked major ass?” She gestured to her bleeding arm. “I got swiped by a bear, and I am still all no bigs. None of you seem that impressed.”

  That’s when Maeve, of all people, suddenly threw herself at Erin, hugging her tight.

  “What’s happening?” Erin asked the others. “Why is she hugging me?”

  “You got the Key,” Annalisa reminded her. “That means you’re going.”

  “I thought that was the point.”

  “We’re worried about you, whore. Deal with it.”

  “Oh. Well . . . I’m worried about me, too. Yet I’ve still managed to be super impressed with my
mad skills.”

  Kera snorted. “You’re always impressed with your mad skills.”

  “Because that’s how awesome I am. You don’t have to be jealous.”

  “Jealous?”

  “Because we both know that if I’d joined the Marines or whatever, I’d be, like a colonel or admiral dictator or whatever your fancy titles are. But lucky for you . . . I focused my talents elsewhere.”

  Kera shook her head. “I can’t even.” The phone in the back pocket of her jeans buzzed and she checked it. “The Maids are ready for us.”

  “Cool. Let’s get this done.”

  With tears in her eyes, Maeve finally pulled away from Erin and patted her cheeks. “My brave little soldier.”

  Erin started to reply to that level of insanity but Kera slapped her hand over Erin’s mouth and pushed her away from Maeve. “We don’t have time for you to be yourself. Let’s just go.” Kera began to lead her to the doorway, but Erin pulled away and went to Karen’s side. The woman had managed to get most of her clothes back on.

  “You two taking her home?” Erin asked Rolf and Siggy, who were standing nearby.

  The men nodded and Erin smiled. “Good.” Leaning in, she said to Karen, “No wonder his goat’s afraid of you.”

  “Every time I smell her, I get so damn hungry.”

  Erin laughed. “And to think, I just thought you were some greedy stripper.”

  “Aren’t we all?” Karen asked. “Especially these two,” she added, motioning to Siggy and Rolf.

  “So you’ve known all this time about Stieg?”

  “Ever since he was fifteen and sneezed. His wings came out.”

  “Such a goofus.”

  “And he’s known what I was. The man knows how to keep a secret. He didn’t tell me shit about you, either. I just assumed you were a really short Valkyrie or something. But a Crow . . . eeks. He’s always kept me away from you guys. I thought.” Karen took Erin’s hands with her own, held them. “Look, I have no clue what’s going on, but . . . good luck.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And thanks for my amazing tattoo.”

  “I sense a lot of crop tops in your future.”

  “Gotta bare it while you still have it.” Karen hugged Erin, and for once, Erin didn’t mind.

  “I never paid you,” Karen whispered.

  “Take care of Stieg. We’ll call it even.” Erin pulled away. “See ya, stripper.”

  “Bye, ho.”

  Erin walked toward the exit, but Karen’s voice stopped her. “Like I said, I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve got some contacts, can call in some favors. I’ll see if I can round up some of my fellow people.”

  “Don’t you mean wildlife?”

  Karen laughed and Erin walked out into the hallway, where she stopped and said to the Viking looming over her shoulder, “And stop looking at me like I’m already dead. It’s irritating me.”

  “Everything irritates you,” Stieg growled.

  “No. That would be you.” Erin looked at Stieg and smiled. “Now come on. Let’s go send me to the very pits of Helheim! It’ll be fun!”

  “Just stop talking.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  By the time they all arrived back at the Bird House, the Maids were waiting for them.

  Inka not only had the rune-language spell book given to them by the archangels and Rolf’s decipherings of those runes, she also had a spell that would help Erin make the giant’s sword manageable and a return spell that would quickly get her out of Nidhogg’s world and back to her own . . .

  If she made it that far.

  Inka never said that, out loud, but it hung in the air above them. Even as she taught Erin the spells, even as she helped with the even-quicker healing of Erin’s broken nose.

  And Stieg knew it. They all knew it; just no one was saying it. Not even Erin.

  So to stop himself from grabbing her and running off to some far-off place to keep her safe, he followed Erin around the house. He listened to what she listened to, learned what she learned, and tried to pretend that he didn’t know he’d never see her again in this lifetime.

  * * *

  Runes were burned into the grass, creating a circle. The Holde’s Maids surrounded the new addition to the Crow’s yard. Animal sacrifices were made—much to the disgust of the vegan Crows—and gods called upon.

  And while the Maids readied the circle that would take Erin to new worlds, she showered, put on her battle clothes, and strapped weapons to her legs and a thin Gucci belt around her waist—a Yardley gift from her vast collection of designer accessories.

  Combing her wet hair off her face, Erin walked out of the bathroom and down the hall to her bedroom. She wasn’t surprised to find Stieg sitting on her bed, waiting for her.

  He looked more pissed off than usual. “This still seems like a bad idea,” he complained after she closed the door.

  “No one has said it’s a good idea. All anyone says is that it’s the only idea.”

  “You shouldn’t go alone.”

  “I’m not dragging one of my sister-Crows down to Corpse Shore with me, and no one else will volunteer.”

  He looked up, his blond hair typically a little wild and almost hiding his gray eyes.

  Did the man even have a comb? She couldn’t remember seeing one in his apartment.

  “I’d volunteer.”

  Erin had had a feeling this was coming. She placed her comb on top of her chest of drawers and stood in front of him. She pushed her hands into his hair and finger-combed the strands off his face. “Besides the Crows, who are the best fighters in the Clans?”

  “Honestly?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Vig, Rolf, Siggy, Kafli, Old Finni. Most of the Protectors when they bother to fight. The Giant Killers when they don’t lose their hammers.”

  “And who are the meanest?”

  “You.”

  “And with me gone?”

  Stieg let out a long sigh. He was smart enough to know that would be coming. “Me.”

  “You have to stay. They need you. It’s time for mean.”

  “Yeah. You’re right.”

  She cupped his jaw in both hands and lifted his head. “But don’t give up on me yet.”

  “I promise not to do that.”

  They stared at each other for a long time, but a knock at the door had her pulling away.

  “Yeah?” she called out.

  Kera leaned in. “It’s time.”

  * * *

  The Maids chanted and danced, animal blood smeared on their faces, hands, and across their blue robes.

  Stieg stood back with his Raven brothers, watching the ritual. Erin stood in the center of it all, the Carrion’s hand—the Key—held in her fist. Her eyes closed, her body tense, waiting for it all to be over.

  Or, he guessed, for everything to begin.

  “You all right?” Vig asked, keeping his voice low, although it didn’t really matter. The Vikings were not big on quiet rituals and ceremonies. The Maids were basically screeching at this point.

  Stieg never lied to Vig, so he replied, “No. I feel like I’ll never see her again.”

  “You don’t know that. If anyone’s crazy enough to pull this off . . . it’s Erin Amsel.”

  “Yeah. I guess.”

  Stieg glanced over his shoulder, keeping an eye out for any trouble, like the Mara or more Carrion making an appearance, trying to stop the ritual and kill Erin outright. But he saw nothing like that.

  Yet what he did see worried him just as much. “What the fuck is Odin doing here?” he asked his brothers.

  As one, they all looked and the god waved lightly. It appeared as if he was just watching. But why? Odin refused to involve himself in the affairs of the world, and Stieg was sure the god had seen enough Maids’ rituals over the centuries to last him forever. Why was this one worthy of the great Odin’s attention?

  What most people didn’t understand was that Odin didn’t choose warriors for hi
s human Clan who worshipped him without question, who trusted him implicitly. Only a fool would trust Odin, of all gods, implicitly.

  So his presence simply made them nervous.

  It also made Stieg nervous that no one else seemed to see him. He was only showing himself to the Ravens. To those loyal to him.

  “What’s he up to?” Stieg demanded, beginning to panic. “He’s up to something.”

  “Calm down,” Josef, their leader, told him. “He could be trying to freak you out so you’ll do something stupid. You know how he is. Just ignore him.”

  “I can’t ignore him.”

  “Pretend to ignore him then.”

  Stieg tried. But then Odin was moving, stepping past the Ravens, and then the Crows. Stieg briefly thought the god was going into the circle to do something stupid or cruel to Erin because he was pissed at her for fucking with the only eye he had left.

  Until Odin abruptly veered away from the Maids and the circle and made his way over to . . .

  “Vig . . . ?”

  Vig looked at what had Stieg’s attention. “Uh-oh.”

  Odin had crouched down and was whispering in Brodie Hawaii’s ear. Ears that were straight up, dangerously alert. The dog’s tail was wagging wildly and her body entirely too tense.

  She shot off, Odin grinning.

  A grinning Odin was never good.

  Stieg watched Brodie dash around and through the Crows. Kera was focused entirely on Erin and the ritual, so she was oblivious to what her dog was doing.

  “Kera!” Vig called out. “Brodie!” He pointed.

  The dog dashed past the oblivious Maids, into the circle, and right at Erin. The hundred-pound pit bull leaped a few inches off the ground and snatched the Key right out of Erin’s fist.

  “Brodie, no!” Kera yelled, immediately chasing after her dog. The Crows joined in, trying to help.

  Erin, however, didn’t join in. She stayed, knowing it could be her only chance to get into the Nine Worlds, with or without the Key. But she did yell. A lot. “Get that fucking dog! Bring back that hand!”

  But Brodie wasn’t giving it up. Instead she led the group of deadly warriors on a ridiculous chase all over the backyard. It wasn’t like she was even running. It was more like she was prancing. All four paws off the ground. She was just so happy!