I wasn’t sure if that was necessarily a good thing, but I’d bite. We had toyed with the idea of reaching out to Urd or Skuld but ultimately decided on Verdandi. She’d be the one who would most likely want to seek revenge. She’d tell us who was not only after me but also who killed her and her sisters.
“I cannot lower the veil between the living and the dead for too long. Speak fast because I will not give you a second chance.”
“Thank you,” I clipped.
Lana took soil from a recently mounded grave and rubbed it between her hands. Once her hands were completely covered in dirt, she raised them in the air and began to chant in a language I wasn’t familiar with. The louder she got, the more I saw the filter between worlds. It was like a cloudy wall that flickered until it dissolved, and we were no longer alone in the cemetery. Hundreds of souls wandered around the graveyard, but only one had my attention.
The Norn met my gaze with a stony stare. Fury was putting it mildly.
“Hrefna,” Verdandi cooed.
“Verdandi,” I muttered. “You look well.”
Her nostrils flared. “You think this is funny? Because I’m not laughing.”
“No point in fussing over spilled milk, Norn.”
“I’m dead because of you!” she shouted, pointing a finger at me. “My sisters were mutilated because of you. Have you no remorse?”
I didn’t. Valkyries felt nothing when it came to loss. She was barking up the wrong tree. Ha! That’s funny.
“Is this why you wanted to speak to me?” I looked at the nonexistent watch on my wrist. “We only have a short amount of time to talk and you’re wasting it on bitterness.”
Verdandi breathed heavily before she let out a huff and looked away. “I know why you’re here, Hrefna. You want confirmation of your suspicions, eh?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
Her eyes locked with mine, immobilizing me. I’d forgotten about Will, but when he reached for my hand, I was comforted. I didn’t understand how I felt, so I tucked the emotion to the side to analyze later. Instead, I squeezed his hand in return and braced myself for Verdandi’s answer.
The witch narrowed her eyes. “Do you remember the package you were sent to deliver to the Underworld?”
How could I not? To this day it was still a mystery what we had carried. It was so long ago; I didn’t understand what it had to do with me now.
“Do you remember what the old man told you?”
I frowned. “How do you—”
“I’m the Norn, Hrefna. I know everything.”
I thought back to that day centuries ago. “Be wary, valkyrie. Not all are who you believe them to be.”
“I remember.”
Verdandi smirked.
“Thirty seconds,” Lana interrupted.
My eyes widened at the witch. “Hurry. Tell me what I need to know!”
“Do you still have your payment for the delivery?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes! What does this have to do with what I’m asking?”
“It has everything to do with your situation. Ask Fenrir what you took to the Underworld. Follow the clues, valkyrie, and seek revenge not only for yourself but for my sisters and me.”
Suddenly, the flickering of the gray filter that separated the world of the living and the dead returned to its place, and once again the cemetery was empty except for the three of us.
“Fuck!” I kicked the ground as if something were there.
Charlie took that moment to come around. “What’d I miss?”
The Norns and their trickery—even from the dead.
20
“We’ll figure it out,” Will said, trying to calm me down as we drove back to Charlie’s apartment. It was useless. All of it was useless. Knowing I needed my space, Charlie headed straight upstairs, leaving Will and me in a screaming match.
“There is no ‘we,’” I clipped. “There is me and no one else. If you were smart, you’d arrest me now and make your life easier.”
“You’re full of shit and you know it!” he yelled as the two of us stood outside the apartment. “Don’t give me that crap, Raven. Everyone has been busting their asses to help you, but all you do is drink, stay high, and bitch about how miserable your life is. So, when I say ‘we,’ I fuckin’ mean ‘we!’” Will’s eyes were wide and wild as he exploded, vomiting everything I assumed he’d wanted to say for days.
“Are you finished?”
He huffed. “Yeah.”
“Good. Let’s go inside.” I opened the door to the apartment.
“Are you kidding me?”
“I’m not having this conversation right now.”
Grabbing my forearm, Will pulled me around to face him. My eyes darted from his face to his hand and back to his face.
“You do not want to do that.”
“Kick my ass if you want to, but we’re having this conversation. You cannot go around thinking you’re taking on the world alone because you’re not. You don’t want to count me in the team? Fine. But Charlie is in there risking it all for a stranger, so you’d better respect her.”
I hadn’t realized he felt so strongly about Charlie. They barely spoke as it was. Sadly, the detective was right. I needed to stop minimizing everyone’s part in this. Even Will was putting his career on the line for me. I didn’t understand why they were doing it, but I was grateful even if I wasn’t showing it.
“I know, William. You don’t need to reprimand me like a child. Now, will you please release me before your face hits the pavement?”
He did as he was told, and we went inside. We found Charlie in the kitchen, her cheeks red, and I figured she’d overheard our conversation. It was a little too obvious, and Will didn’t have much of an inside voice.
“Verdandi mentioned something I’d forgotten all about,” I said. “Centuries ago, I received payment for a delivery in the form of an obsidian and gold pebble said to be blessed by the Norns. It’s supposed to give the owner one wish once buried on sacred grounds.”
Charlie’s eyes widened. “That’s great, Raven! Do you still have it?”
I nodded. My face was serious as I tried to relay my hesitation.
Will caught on. “Why haven’t you used it then?”
The pebble had been in my trunk this whole time and I’d never once wished to go back to Valhalla.
“It was made in the Underworld. No wish ever comes without a sacrifice. It’s never what it seems to be.”
“And Verdandi wants you to use it now?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know what she wants, but we must stay alert.”
Fen texted me to meet him at a bar in a dodgy town outside of Portland. After Will left, I was hesitant to leave Charlie alone. Odin—or whoever it was—knew where I was staying, so they knew Charlie was helping me. Nonetheless, I needed to give Charlie credit. She was a badass in her own right, and if she’d made it in life thus far, I needed to trust she could handle herself. Also, after the visit at the Underground, Charlie definitely had a sketchy past she was keeping hidden. She didn’t deserve anything contaminating her pure soul, especially because it seemed she’d worked so hard to repair it. I still had to ask her about her history.
The heavy odor of cigarettes hit me as I entered the bar. Loud voices and the jukebox playing on the far right of the establishment masked the sounds of billiard balls striking one another on the pool tables. The ambiance was too similar to The Drunken Monkey. It made me miss my job.
A woman leaned against the jukebox, eyeing me from afar. Her mini skirt over fishnet stockings looked like it’d been washed one too many times. Her ponytail was sloppy and makeup smeared. She popped her gum and smiled, but I didn’t engage. I definitely wasn’t into the hooker look.
I walked to the bar and sat beside Fen. “What are you drinking?”
He grinned. “Piss beer.”
“Of course.”
Fen raised a finger, motioning for the bartender to bring me a drink. I ordered a whiskey and turned to
the wolf.
“You rang?” I’d been meaning to contact him after my conversation with Verdandi, but I needed time to process what we’d discussed. I was trying to put it all together when I realized I needed the missing piece to really see the full picture, which meant I needed Fenrir.
He brought the glass to his lips and took a hefty gulp. “Have you thought about helping me enter the Underworld?”
I rolled my eyes. “Not until—”
“Yes, I know, Raven, but we’re not getting anywhere with your quest. Our best bet is getting my sister and asking for her help. She has resources we can use.”
“You mean hellhounds from the Underworld? Right, such amazing resources. You haven’t seen her in centuries. You don’t know what she has.”
His features darkened; I’d struck a nerve. “If Odin fears her, it’s for a reason.”
He was right about that. “I have a question,” I started. “Centuries ago, Odin asked my sisters and me to deliver a box to the Underworld. We never found out what it was, but I recently learned you might have some knowledge on the matter. Tell me, Fenrir, do you know what we transported that day?”
The wolf was about to take another drink but froze. Slowly, he lowered his glass and turned to me. “Who told you that?”
“Don’t worry about it. Answer me, wolf. Do you know what we carried to the Underworld?”
He nodded stiffly.
“Well?”
There was a pause before he said, “My sister.”
“Son of a bitch!” I nearly hopped off my barstool. I’d toyed with the idea on the bus ride to the bar, but I couldn’t make myself believe it. “You mean to tell me I took Hel to the Underworld?”
“Yes.”
“Why? You have to tell me what your sister did to have Odin do this. He was so secretive, he wouldn’t allow us to do anything but deliver it with no questions asked. We thought it was an animal.”
“I’m not surprised. She was treated like an animal.”
I wanted to touch his arm, anything to comfort him, but I stopped myself. I had to banish those thoughts and think clearly. Everything I was feeling was wrong. The sooner I stopped myself, the better.
“What did she do?” I reiterated.
“It is said that Hel will one day free herself from the Underworld and lead an army of hellhounds during Ragnarök. Odin tried to recruit her and have her turn her back on her family and pledge loyalty to him, but she refused. She was captured and has been in the Underworld ever since. This is why the temporary truce my father had with Odin dismantled.”
“All this happened over a prophecy? Something that hasn’t even come to fruition?”
He nodded.
I wanted to say I was surprised, but I really wasn’t. Odin was brutal and went to extremes to get what he wanted. To say he was paranoid was putting it mildly.
“Where is Loki?”
Fen shrugged. “Last I heard, he was in hiding. Much good that’ll do with Hugin and Munin flying about.”
“Shit, Fen, I didn’t know.”
“How could you? Odin has the valkyries worshiping the land he walks on. You’re his perfect creation: obedient, seductive, and ruthless. Valkyries are practically invincible.”
“That isn’t tru—" I began but was interrupted by yelling at the door.
Five beefy men walked into the bar. One of them went to the hooker I’d seen when I first walked in. She whispered in his ear and pointed in my direction. Great. They scanned the area until their eyes landed on me.
“Friends of yours?” Fen asked.
I shook my head.
The five of them strode toward me.
“Raven Romero,” one of them said as he approached us. “The Boss has been looking for you.”
I exhaled a breath of relief. Stupid humans.
“Did he not get my last message? I don’t work with criminals. Now, unless you want me to do the same to you as I did to your buddy, I suggest you walk away. I’m not in the mood today.” I’d halfway turned back to the bar when I recognized one of the men. The slash going down his left eye was distinctive enough, but the red hair and long beard definitely made him stand out. It was the bouncer from the Demon City nightclub.
What the hell?
“Remember me?” He chuckled. “We’re not leaving without you.”
“Your funeral,” I muttered. My barstool screeched against the cheap linoleum floor as I stood.
Fen followed with a grin. “Want some help?”
I couldn’t resist and nodded. This is gonna be fun.
I stretched my neck side to side, the cracking audible two stools down. Nonchalantly, I waved him over as if to say hurry up, and he attempted to grab my hair, but Fen knocked his arm out of the way and punched him in the jugular. The force sent the man flying a few feet backward into a table filled with patrons. They shrieked as their drinks flew in the air and shattered around them. The busy noise of the bar became nonexistent as we were now the main attraction.
“No fair.” I frowned. “Ladies first.”
“Sorry babe.” He motioned me forward with a slight bow.
The rest of the goons charged while Fen and I ducked and dodged their hits. I slid behind one of the men and connected my fist with his lower back. Heavy breathing came from my rear, and I struck out with my elbow, hitting whoever it was in the gut.
“Sexy.” Fen winked, and I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t turn me on.
Dammit. Even in the middle of a fight, I couldn’t think straight with the wolf.
Snapping me out of my stupor, Fen grabbed two of the men by their necks, sending them flying across the bar as if they weighed nothing more than a feather.
The redhead stood, and before he could take his next step, I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and dragged him to the bar counter. With my grip on the back of his neck, I slammed his face repeatedly on the border until I could hear the sound of bones cracking. Music to my ears. I’m sure there was a gleam of delight in my eyes—the equivalent of children on Christmas morning.
“I spilled my drink. You owe me a new one,” I growled.
He garbled something I couldn’t understand, his mouth and nose filling with blood. I brought my ear to his mouth.
“Huh? I couldn’t hear you,” I taunted.
“We … have …” he swallowed a few times, “… your friend.”
I paused. “Excuse me?”
“Charlotte,” he choked out. I dropped him to the floor as if he had a venereal disease.
“Fen!” I yelled.
“Kinda busy, darling,” he hollered and continued to throw the goons back and forth like a game of ping pong.
“Well, get unbusy because we have a problem.”
Fen threw two of the men at the same time and punched the other two in the gut.
“Yes?” he said casually.
“They have Charlie,” I murmured.
Most of the bar patrons had scattered and left the bar, and the bartender was on the phone with the police.
Great.
“Dammit.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Let me guess, you want to go get her?”
I nodded.
He rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
Fenrir snatched one of the men closest to him, bringing the man’s face to his. “Where is the girl?”
“I-I don’t know.”
“Of course you do,” Fen said with a smile. “Just tell me where she is and I’ll let you live. It’s really simple, actually.”
“The Boss wouldn’t tell us in case we were captured. We don’t know,” another said. “We were told to bring Raven in at all costs. If you want to see your friend, you’ll come with us. Alone.”
“No way,” the wolf interjected. “That’s not happening.”
“Then her friend dies.”
My stomach was in knots. This was what I had dreaded: Charlie getting caught in the crossfire. But there was one thing that bothered me about this scenario.
“How did you ca
pture her?” I looked over at Fen. He, too, had a perplexed expression. Charlie was a banshee—damn good one. She wouldn’t have let herself get caught.
“Let’s just say she didn’t see it coming.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. They attacked her from behind. “Fine. I’ll come with you, just let Charlotte go.”
“Not yet,” the redhead mumbled. “Not until you speak with The Boss. He needs a little favor from you.”
21
Against my better judgment, I convinced Fen to stay behind. I thought he was going to wolf out and shred those humans until all that was left was blood spatter on the wall. Surprisingly, he accepted my decision and let me go, which meant he had something up his sleeves. It shouldn’t have been that easy to convince him.
A hood was placed over my head and my wrists zip-tied before I was dragged into a vehicle. It would be easy to kill them, but I couldn’t do much of anything until I had Charlie. They were going to regret it once I got her back. Nothing would stop me from slowly making them suffer before hearing their last breath.
I paid attention to the turns the car made and the approximate length of the trip. I assumed I was being taken to Hazelwood, where Thumper was from, but that was just a guess from my limited knowledge of Portland. The car came to an abrupt halt after about forty minutes. My body roughly jerked forward, the seatbelt stopping me and slamming me back into the seat. A whoosh of air blew my hood against my face when the door was ripped open. I let myself get hauled out to where I could smell the freshly watered grass and hear the rustling of trees. Either we were at a park or outside someone’s home.
My guess was confirmed when I heard a door open and I stepped on the tile. I was taken around the house and left onto a wooden chair with a leather bottom that made noise when I moved.
“Raven Romero,” a man said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long.”
“Where’s Charlie?”
“We’ll let her out shortly. No need to worry.”
“We?”
Another man chuckled. “Attention to detail. Just the right qualities I’ve been looking for.”
The Last Valkyrie Series Complete Boxed Set Page 16