Storm Guardian: Viking Soul Book 3

by Rachel Medhurst

  The others looked at him, their facial expressions amused at the elderly man’s statement. Not one of them disagreed.

  “The rest of you…seem to not take advantage. I mean, two of you are humans, anyway!” Chloe pointed at the mafia leader and the detective.

  Kalic glanced at the humans sideways. “That’s not to say they don’t take advantage of humans. They do. In fact, I bet they love the idea of the underworld coming to the forefront. They probably think they can rule the whole show.”

  “Yeah, they probably believe they can be the go between. The human protectors.” Jerry joined in the conversation.

  “Okay, this conversation is pretty redundant.” I was bored already. There was a reason I had kept to myself for so long, the bickering was irritating. “You know full well that not one of you will happily step aside and let the other be in charge. So, why don’t you just keep it the way it’s been all along? You, going about your business, without the scrutiny of humans?”

  “Do you really think it would be that easy?” Theresa said, her long nails tapping the table. “Invite us here, persuade every one of us to keep life as it is…then go about your day?”

  “What triggered you into thinking you could take over? What makes you want to?” My hands clenched into fists when she looked at Jerry.

  He shrugged, allowing his leader to take control. I watched them as they watched her. She ran her gaze over the three of us who stood before she replied.

  “You. We were kidnapped because of you. No one has ever threatened us before now. If we show everyone how powerful we are, not just the humans, they won’t dare to try it again.”

  A few of them nodded their agreement. Their confidence had been shaken since the Fallen One had managed to grab every single one of them, with the help of a human. Being so complacent in their world had caused the problem. If they hadn’t been so sure that everything was under their control, they wouldn’t have been able to be kidnapped.

  “Don’t you think you have some responsibility? How the hell did Victor get you in the first place?” I relaxed my muscles, breathing through my nose to calm myself.

  Jack rocked on his heels. “Not only that, Trygger is leaving, anyway. So, you won’t need to worry about his business anymore.”

  My teeth almost melded into each other as I clamped my jaw closed, tempted to snap at Jack. It did not help that he was telling them my plans. That was something I wanted to hold on to for a while. Just because they weren’t stupid. The whole lot of them would bide their time, until I was gone. Then, they would set their plan in action. Jack was the arsehole now.

  The various faces looked at me, most of their eyebrows raised. They didn’t know what I was all about. They may have tried to research me since the whole incident the week before, but Jack was the only person who knew the whole story. And, now Chloe, of course. But, neither of them would open their mouth.

  “Victor got us because we were slack. We let ourselves believe we were safe…when, clearly we’re not. Which is exactly why we’re having this discussion.” Antonia squeezed Kalic’s hand when she spoke.

  The male vampire had kept pretty quiet throughout the meeting. What was he thinking? The way he had helped me with Serenity made me more inclined to trust him. Even if it was only a tiny bit.

  “So…? Why don’t you become less slack?” I stated the obvious, most sensible answer.

  They were starting to fidget. Senior cleared his throat when Serenity held up her hand. There was no reason for her to be there, but Jack had insisted because she was forced to work with Kitty. He felt that her knowledge may help.

  “Life isn’t about making everyone else pay, it’s about living. Okay, so most of you have powers, some of you can live a long time, but, in reality, how bad is your life? Why turn this city into a mess when the main threat was killed by Trygger last week?” Her American accent grated on my nerves as the others shook their heads.

  “There’s another threat now, though, isn’t there? The wonderful Martin Sturgent and his Hagalaz crew.” The detective cracked his knuckles, ready for a fight.

  Thumping the table as their voices rose in unison, I growled at them. “I will take care of Sturgent. He’s only doing this because of me.”

  Theresa shook her finger, the long fake nail expelling a tiny puff of smoke from residue magic. “So, the threat has only been around since you’ve come along?”

  Glaring at Serenity for her inconvenient interruption which had moved us onto the topic of me, I faced the others before replying.

  “I’ve been in this city for longer than any of you have been alive. Except for Antonia and Kalic, of course. Yes, recently someone has become interested in me and decided to use you as a pawn. I’m sorry about that.” My sincere apology was met with groans.

  Jack tapped his chin, his mind working inside his handsome little head. His dyed blonde quiff was styled up, like usual. He even had a tiny bit of black liner under his eyes, making the blue of his eyes shine. He was obviously going to have a good night after our meeting.

  “Okay, listen up. How about you hold off until Trygger has taken care of the Hagalaz cult? Once that’s done, we can reconvene and discuss any threat you may feel.”

  “You’ll be leaving, won’t you?” Kalic asked, his intense gaze levelled on me.

  Nodding, I kept my cool as my insides heated. Sharing so much information about myself was not how I usually laid low. “Yes, once I’ve disbanded the cult, I’ll be on my merry way out of London.”

  They looked at each other, their shoulders relaxing. It was obvious they believed me when I promised them I would take care of Martin and his cronies. I would. The man had thrown my world into disarray and I was ready to set it right again.

  “Okay,” Theresa said. “I agree to tighten my defences and hold back on acting any further. When you’ve sorted our pesky bastard friend, we’ll discuss how we’re all going to go forward.”

  The others murmured their agreement. It seemed the riff raff of London city were not going to go back to how it was before Kitty and Victor ruffled their darling little lives.

  “Fine.”

  Opening his arms, Jack smiled at the people in front of him. “Now that’s sorted, who would like a dance? I’m shit-hot at swinging a beautiful person around the dance floor. How about it, lovely?”

  Antonia smiled when he aimed his question at her. She was taller than the human, her power immense next to the mere informer.

  “No thanks, lovely.” She sneered. “I don’t hang around places like this.”

  “It’s a great club,” the mafia boss said, slipping a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket.

  Antonia raised her eyebrows as she gestured for Kalic to let her out of the booth. “My point exactly.”

  The whole area suddenly erupted with energy as people filed out of the booth, each saying their own version of goodbye. I winked at the detective when he glared at me. He obviously hadn’t forgotten my threat, which was the way I wanted to keep it. There was nothing more I detested than a corrupt human pretending to be good. At least the others were true to themselves and not hiding behind false pretences.

  “I’ll be in contact,” Jack said, smacking them all on the back as they left. “Jerry, baby, nice to see you again. I think Rusty’s around here somewhere.”

  Chloe giggled when the witch flipped him off and retreated with his leader. Jack winding them up would not help our situation.

  “Okay, let’s get out of here,” I said to Chloe as soon as Senior shook my hand and left.

  Biting her lip as we exited the booth, she looked at the dance floor. The vibe was hot and heavy, ready for enticement. Did Chloe want to dance?

  “Are you staring longingly at the dance floor for a reason?”

  Blinking, she looked up at me, her face turning serious. “No. I’m ready to go.”

  Had my plan to gain her experience backfired? Did she now have a taste for the darkness that called from the energy pulsing in the club?


  “Chloe!” Jack shouted from where he was speaking to Gavin, the bouncer. “Come and have a cheeky dance.”

  That longing look returned to her face. Waving her away, I almost grabbed her back when her shoulders rose in an excited gesture before she ran off, leaving me to watch after them. Keeping my face straight, I marvelled at how well both Jack and Chloe moved when they danced. I had never liked moving to music much, it wasn’t in me. Yet, seeing the way Chloe shook her arms in the air, allowing herself a moment of freedom from stress…

  “Hello, handsome,” purred a delicate voice next to me.

  Looking down, I grinned at the pretty little redhead. Yep, this was how I was going to let my hair down. Chloe and Jack could dance the night away for all I cared. I had better…women…to do.

  Chapter 5

  Attempted Murder

  “You have no idea who I am, do you?”

  I jolted awake, my hand reaching out to grab the arm that lay over my chest. No, it wasn’t an arm. An arm wasn’t hairy. Opening my eyes, I scowled down at Rusty, who was sprawled across my lap. Blinking, I quickly took in my surroundings. My car. I was in the back seat of my car. How the hell had I fallen asleep on a mission?

  There was no one in the car with me other than the dog, so the voice I had heard must have been in a dream.

  “I hate cars, they’re so constrictive.”

  The voice calmed me instantly. Freya. Her golden figure appeared in the driver’s seat. Her meadow scent wafted around the small cab of the car, making me smile in comfort.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, stroking Rusty when he sniffed the air and looked in the goddess’s direction.

  Her tinkering laugh made me frown. When she was amused, there was probably something underhand going on.

  “Oh, I just thought I’d pay my favourite Viking warrior a little visit. You see, I’m getting some information from my sources about Odin. He’s getting pretty insistent with his descendants, you know? So, I’m here to get insistent with mine.”

  Scoffing, I sat up straight in my seat. “I’m not related to you.”

  “I know, but we have a special bond, don’t we?”

  She turned in the seat, facing me instead of watching me in the rear-view mirror. I stared straight into her eyes, showing her that she could try to intimidate me all she liked. It wouldn’t work. She needed me far too much to do anything to me.

  “I wouldn’t exactly call it that. Unless you want to take it to that level, of course. I’d be up for that.” Who wouldn’t be? It was Freya, the goddess of Fucking…well, not literally, but she may as well be.

  “Don’t try my patience, Trygger. You may think you are god’s gift…literally…but, you’re still mostly human. Do me a favour and step up the game. Get rid of Martin and his gang. Then go and find the next Fallen One. I grow weary of all this drama.”

  She left the car as quickly as she had appeared. The bitch had a cheek, invading my space and demanding I do something for her. Yet, I allowed myself to be her lacky. Her personal slave. Without any perks to make it worth my while. The promise of living with the gods was a lusty one, but how much did I really want it?

  Rusty’s head perked up as a man passed the car. I quickly shook all thoughts of Freya out of my mind as I kept my gaze glued to Martin. He walked up the garden path, his step faltering half way to the door. Jack managed to find out that Hannah had moved out of Martin’s home with her musician boyfriend. I had been waiting patiently for someone to show, but I hadn’t been expecting daddy.

  “Let’s go,” I said to the dog, opening the back door.

  He understood me perfectly, jumping out before me. I followed Martin up the path to the little house on the outskirts of London. Hannah now lived in a pretty borough, all green and flowery.

  Martin stood on the doorstep, waiting for his daughter to let him in. He hummed to himself as I approached from behind.

  His back stiffened right before I opened my mouth. Spinning, he put his hand to his chest as his gaze dropped to Rusty, who stood next to me.

  “Hello, Martin, nice to see you.”

  His eyes darted around as he searched the area around us. No one was with me, but was there anyone with him?

  “What do you want?” His curt tone was interrupted by the door opening behind him.

  Hannah’s boyfriend, I forgot his name, stood in a pair of boxer shorts. “Yeah?” he demanded, rubbing his eyes.

  Martin held up his hand in my direction and turned back to the lad. “Where’s Hannah?”

  The boy shrugged, his jaw cracking open as he yawned. “No idea, man. I played a gig last night. Think she went out earlier.”

  Keeping my cool, I waited patiently while Martin said goodbye to the loser. The boy waved at me as he shut the door, far more interested in sleep than anything else.

  “I repeat,” Martin said, turning back to me. “What do you want?”

  Digging his phone from his pocket, he dialled someone and put it to his ear. “Hannah,” he barked. “Where are you? If you don’t answer your phone, I’ll track you. You know I can do it.”

  I walked beside him as he strutted down the pathway, towards the car that waited behind mine.

  “I’m here to talk. I’ve had a few…”

  “That little bitch is going to be in so much trouble.” Martin’s agitated manner was unlike him.

  I paused, listening to his rant. Maybe he would give me some relevant information.

  “Last night, she told me that she was done. Apparently, she wants nothing to do with Odin…or me.”

  Tilting my head to the side when we reached his car, I waited for him to go on. He wasn’t exactly paying much attention to me. His pockmarked face turned red as he re-dialled, swearing when the answerphone came on again.

  “That’s it, I’m going to trace her. She asked me to respect her privacy when I installed the tracking device in the rune scars, but I’m her father.”

  Now, that was a juicy bit of information to come from the leader’s mouth. It seemed that he knew exactly where all his minions were at any time. The magic that had burnt the Hagalaz scar into the necks of the fools who believed he was a high and mighty descendant of god had tracking in it. It was genius.

  I was about to congratulate Martin on his apparent talent when the roar of an engine blasted through the street. A motorbike approached us, the rider extending his arm as he came closer. Ducking behind the car, I dragged Martin down with me just before bullets started to fly around us. There was no way I was going to let anyone else kill my enemy. That was my job.

  The bike turned around and came back, obviously determined to finish the job.

  “Stay the fuck down,” I told Martin as I got to my feet.

  Running into the middle of the road, I distracted the rider. He fired at me, the bullet lodging into my shoulder. I grunted, but stayed on my feet. The bastard wouldn’t be able to kill me, although, it did fucking hurt.

  “Move,” he shouted.

  As he was about to pass me, I jumped on him, knocking the bike flying out from underneath us. We rolled away from the machine, wrestling to the ground as we came to a stop. He struggled, trying to get me off him. That wasn’t going to happen, not when he had just shot me.

  Pain radiated throughout my torso as I pinned his arms to the ground. “I’d give up if I were you.”

  The black helmet rested against the road as the rider stopped struggling. It was only then that I noticed the slightness of the figure under me. A female?

  “Get the fuck off me,” a feminine voice grounded out beneath the visor.

  Flipping it up, I smiled broadly. Although, my humour wasn’t returned. The pretty face scowled, bucking to try and dislodge me.

  Martin’s footsteps alerted us to his presence. “Hannah?”

  Climbing up from the man’s daughter, I tugged her to a stand. Apparently, the bad blood went deeper than even I had anticipated. I had assumed Hannah was a spoilt little woman who got dragged into the dar
kness. However, people rarely wanted to kill their own parents unless there was an extremely good reason.

  “Did you just try to assassinate me?” The shake of Martin’s hands was evident as he extended one towards his daughter.

  It quickly dropped when she shoved the helmet off her head, letting it slam to the floor. “Yes, I did! All my life you’ve tried to control me. You tried to control her, too.”

  And, who was this mysterious her…?

  “Mother!”

  Oh, god, it was like watching a bloody soap opera. Some people were addicted to the drama, but I didn’t have time for it. However, an opportunity had presented itself. I stood idly by, waiting for my chance to kill the pair of them.

  Looking down, I checked for Rusty, heaving a sigh of relief when I spotted him standing by my car. Good dog. He knew when to keep out of the way.

  Pain vibrated through my arm when Hannah tried to tug out of my grip. I had held on in case she tried to escape. The little bitch would pay for putting a bullet in me.

  “I can’t…Hannah…” It appeared Martin was a little lost for words.

  “I failed,” the would-be assassin sobbed, tears hovering on the lids of her eyes.

  What had Martin done to the poor girl to evoke such a reaction? Surely, for her to be that sad because she had failed to kill her own father must mean that something was seriously wrong.

  Another engine roared, alerting me to another motorcycle. The sound increased ten-fold.

  All three of us stared down the street as a string of bikes made their way slowly towards us. Dragging Hannah towards my car, I opened the door and shoved her inside. She squirmed against me the whole time, trying to get free.

  Martin stood, open mouthed as guns were pulled from jackets. His face paled, his glasses shaking as his whole body moved from fear.

  “Get in,” I shouted at him, unsure exactly why I was going to save them when the others would do a thorough job at getting rid of the pair for me.

  He jolted alert, rushing over to climb in next to his daughter. The engines gunned behind us, their speed revving when they realised that I was rescuing the Hagalaz leader.