Storm Guardian: Viking Soul Book 3

by Rachel Medhurst

  Lunging from the ground, I grabbed hold of a pipe that lined the ceiling. Tugging on it, I grunted when it gave way, breaking off in my hand. Ah, the lovely smell of gas. That was exactly what I wanted.

  Hearing a commotion out the front, I put my head around the door of the back of the shop. A couple of people were standing on the pavement outside, taking photos. Senior’s jacket hung on his chair, his car keys probably in the pocket.

  If only I had got the witch to put a cloaking spell on me before she had gone, I wouldn’t have had to piss around.

  Crouching low to the ground, I snuck behind the counter. Stealth was a strong point, one I had worked on my whole life. One that had rarely got me caught.

  I reached the chair, whipped the coat off the back and turned. The crunch of broken glass under foot made me pause. Someone had entered the shop.

  Crawling onto my hands and knees, I draped the coat over my back and silently moved to the edge of the counter. It was only a few yards to the door that led out the back. Hopefully, whoever was in the shop was distracted by the mess.

  “Shannon, get out of there! If someone sees you, they’ll think you’re stealing.” A young girl obviously called to her friend.

  The girl in the shop laughed before the sound of a quick retreat followed. Releasing my breath, which I didn’t even realise I’d held, I shot to the door and got through. I just hoped no one saw me.

  “There you are,” Serenity said from the outside door. “I can hear sirens.”

  She wrung her hands together as I shoved past her. The poor girl had probably seen enough damaging events in the last few weeks to cause PTSD.

  Wasting no time getting into the driver’s seat, I plunged the keys that were in Senior’s pocket into the slot and started the engine. Serenity squeaked as she got in the car and I started to reverse before she could close the door properly.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, her shaking hands pulling on her seat belt.

  She was wise to fasten her belt. It wouldn’t matter to me if we crashed, I wouldn’t get hurt. But, she could die if anything did happen.

  Keeping my eyes on the alley, I slowly edged us out onto the street behind the shops. If I caused any suspicion, it would bring attention to us. And, two attractive, albeit funny looking, people in a car would make others look.

  “I’m taking him to…” My initial thought was to take Senior to mine and hide the car in the factory. Just until I worked out what to do with him.

  Serenity’s hand reached forward to switch on the radio. A song filled the car, making her relax in her seat. Okay, that was odd, but maybe she needed it to help her calm down.

  I couldn’t take the girl to my home. It was too much of a risk. However, I couldn’t take her back to the club either. Slamming my palm on the steering wheel, I swore, making her jump.

  “What is it?”

  “London has the best CCTV in the world. Get your head down.”

  Undoing my ponytail, I draped my hair over my shoulder to try and cover my face. Not that it would do much good. The police were fucking amazing nowadays. It had only taken them hundreds of years, but they had finally got good at their job. The amount of times I watched them blunder through investigations. Well, it had made me shake my head on more than one occasion.

  “Oh shit, the police are going to know we drove a dead body out of the vicinity.”

  There was no way I could disagree with her, even though I tried to think of a way to cover our tracks. It was too late. We didn’t have a witch, or wizard, that was alive anyway, to help us. Great, a police hunt was all I needed.

  Indicating, I pulled over. Serenity looked at me, her eyes wide when I gestured for her to get out.

  “Really?” her small voice whispered.

  Nodding, I glanced behind me at Senior. He was face down, which was suspect in itself. “You need to keep your tattoos covered, although it probably won’t help. When you get back to the club, tell Gavin that Trygger requests that he disguises you to all who don’t know you. That way if police come looking for you, you’ll look nothing like the girl in the CCTV.”

  Her throat moved as she swallowed. The pink of her cheeks deepened as she looked at the back seat. If she got hysterical on me, I would have to shove her out the car and leave. The longer we stayed stationary, the easier it would be for the police to catch us.

  “Okay,” she whispered as she undid her seatbelt. “Thank you.”

  Frowning, I put a hand on her arm to stop her when she went to get out. “Why are you thanking me?”

  A small smile lit her lips. “Because I got to watch Thunder Hunter in action. It’s…you have no idea how powerful you are. Or, how much of a hero you are.”

  I snorted ungracefully. “Hero? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me?”

  The shake of her head made me mimic her. She had no idea what she was talking about. There was no way I was a hero. I was the villain. The horrid grandson of Thor who only had one goal. To kill Fallen Ones, no matter who got in my way. If they did, I would take them down, too. Like Martin. He would go down because he was getting in the way of my mission.

  “You’ll realise, one day, when all this is over…”

  “Realise what?” I had been successfully distracted by Serenity.

  Her small fingers wrapped around my hand where I squeezed her arm unconsciously. “That it’s all been worth it. That all these years haven’t been wasted. Everything you do is not just to save Thor or yourself, it’s to save humanity too. You just can’t see it yet.”

  Pushing me off her, she quickly opened the car door and left, the sound of it slamming after her resounding in my head. The girl was crazy. A stupid fan. Someone who had no idea who I really was, what I was really capable of. Well, I would let her think what she wanted. She would never be right. I would never be a hero.

  Chapter 9

  It’s time to Leave

  “Why the fuck have you brought him here, mate? Surely, that’s going to cause suspicion?”

  Jack ducked his head through the window, a scowl on his face when he came back out. Senior was still face down on the back seat.

  “I need a favour from your friend,” I told Jack, gesturing towards the block of flats behind us. “A cloaking spell. And, bloody quick if you don’t mind.”

  I had called Jack to tell him to meet me. He tried to object, but I insisted, telling him to drag Chloe along if need be. Luckily, the woman was fine, so my informant did as I asked. I knew a witch friend of his lived in the building behind us. I had picked Jack up from here a few times.

  “You’ve lost it. Why bring his car? Fuck me, you’ve lost it.” Jack muttered to himself as he turned away to ring his friend. “And, hurry the fuck up,” he said at the end of the conversation.

  “You bring nothing but trouble with you at the moment, what’s going on?” Jack leant his arms on the top of the car as he regarded me over it, his perfect light hair moving slightly in the breeze.

  If I could stab him, I would. No one ever questioned me, ever. Yet, I hadn’t exactly been too honest with them about my plans to leave. Senior’s death had cemented that for me.

  “What’s going on?” a pretty witch asked as she came out of the entrance to the building.

  Her eyes traced me as I stood, waiting for her to get a move on. The quick scurry of her steps slowed as she stared, almost spellbound. In the old days, I would have seen exactly why Jack spent time with her. Not at the moment, though, it was the last thing on my mind.

  “I need a cloaking spell over this car,” I said, keeping the door shut so she wasn’t tempted to look inside. “No questions asked.”

  Her long thin arms crossed over her ample chest, squeezing her breasts together in invitation. “And, what do I get in return?”

  Glancing over at Jack, I raised my eyebrows. My friend knew me well. Coming around the car, he approached the witch and put his arm around her shoulders. “You get a night with me, gorgeous lady.”

  To say that sh
e didn’t look enticed by his offer was an understatement. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing. Jack was a smooth male, one that could talk his way in or out of any situation. Could he win his witch over? When we both knew who she actually wanted.

  Thor’s power was a pain in the arse sometimes. Although, on a normal day, I wouldn’t be complaining.

  “Come on, lovely, we need you. Like, now.” Jack’s expression turned serious as he made her look at him.

  Huffing, the witch waved her hand towards the car. I smiled my thanks, about to climb back in. A small sound in the back of her throat caught, making me stop. No one else would have noticed it, but I knew people.

  “Who is that?” Her tone was sharp, demanding.

  She meant Senior, she had spotted him through the window.

  “Come on, lady, let’s…”

  She batted Jack away as she went to approach the car. Taking two steps, I gripped her arms and looked into her face. Her head tried to bend round me, but she stopped when I forced her to look at me by taking her chin in my hand.

  “This is nothing to do with you. Or, me, in fact. But, I’m trying to keep the police away. He’s hurt, so I need to get him to the hospital without anyone seeing me. Okay?”

  The stretch of her eyes as she looked into mine showed fear. She knew that I could snap her…and that I would…if she dared to question anymore.

  “I owe you,” I said, the corner of my lip lifting into my cheek.

  The glow of her cheeks intensified as she sucked in a breath. Using my power to manipulate hadn’t taken long to perfect. And, I didn’t feel guilty. Not one bit.

  “Okay.”

  Letting her go, I tucked a rogue strand of hair behind her ear before nodding for her to go back inside. She looked at Jack, biting her lip as he blew her a kiss.

  Chloe would have berated me for what I had just done. Yet, she would use her femininity to get what she wanted, when she wanted. It was in a person’s nature. As long as no one was hurt in the process, well…she didn’t know how many times I had hurt someone in the process, but I tried not to anymore.

  Clicking at Jack to get into the car, I got in myself, ready to burn some rubber and get out of there. He had managed to get a taxi to bring him to the witch, but had sent it away as soon as he had arrived.

  “Why the fuck is Senior on the back seat with a bullet in his head?” He spoke through gritted teeth, his hands white from where he gripped his thighs.

  Pulling the car onto the road, I heaved a breath out of my lungs. “It’s a long story.”

  “Then you better start talking, lover boy, before I get all whiney on your arse.”

  The tone of Jack’s voice was nearing sadness. Something I rarely heard from him. He was right to feel that emotion in this situation.

  “It’s my fault,” I blurted. “I let someone live and they killed him.”

  My conscious had never shouted so loud in my life. Never, ever allow a Dark Crawler to live. Ever. So, why had I allowed Devon to stay alive? Even now?

  “Who? What the fuck is going on?”

  “Let’s just get him back,” I said, putting my foot down on the accelerator.

  “No, Trygger, I can tell you’re holding back something fucking huge. I want to know what went down.”

  It was rare for Jack to get pissed off with me. He was usually so laid back, at times I wondered how people didn’t take advantage of him. Or, maybe they did. Including me.

  “Last night, when you were in the basement with Hannah, that little witch who tried to kidnap you with Jerry turned up outside. Gavin and I sorted it, but she had a Dark Crawler with her. The host’s body was killed by a fellow witch, but I couldn’t reach him in time. Therefore the Crawler jumped into the witch, Devon.”

  “You’re fucking joking? Let me guess? You allowed the pretty witch to stay alive because you had a hard on for her, but she killed Senior? Fucking A-hole.” Jack’s tone was raised as I pulled up outside the factory and pressed the button for the garage door I had hidden in the side of the building.

  “Clever boy, worked it out without me having to explain.” My sarcastic tone didn’t help much, but Jack’s judgement was just another layer added to my own guilt.

  I shut off the engine, jumping out of the vehicle as soon as the door shut behind us. My body stalled as I contemplated what to do with Senior. Looking towards the small door that led to the factory, I made my choice.

  “What are you going to do now, smartarse?” My friend stood, waiting for my order.

  As frustrated as he was with me, he would still help with anything I needed. That’s what friends were for. Would I ever be as loyal as him?

  “There’s an incinerator in the old factory. We put him in there.”

  Jack’s usually smooth forehead creased as I opened the car door and picked Senior up. The man was lucky I hadn’t left the body at the shop. Usually, I would go to ground and forget about such goings on. But, today I hadn’t. Why?

  “Look, I’m responsible for this, although I didn’t actually kill him, so it’s only fair I try my best to give him a tiny bit of dignity.”

  My footsteps were heavy as I carried the wizard through the door and to the end of the factory. The incinerator had been unused for a few months. It would need starting up again. It was a good job that the witches had cloaked my home as well as my car. Hopefully, no one would see the smoke.

  Laying Senior on a table nearby, I set about shoving coal into the machine, ready to fire it up.

  “And, where is this witch now? Obliterated?”

  Glancing over my shoulder, I winced when my ponytail flicked into my face. “No.”

  “What’s going on?” Chloe’s voice interrupted whatever Jack was about to say.

  “You should be upstairs,” I snapped.

  “Nothing,” Jack said, moving to her side.

  Chloe’s sleepy face cleared as she watched me pile coal. Her eyes followed my gaze to Senior, who now laid face up, his eyes closed.

  “Senior?” Chloe’s throat closed as she came closer. “What…?”

  Tears came to her eyes, the light in them dimming as she connected the dots and pointed at the incinerator.

  “Did you kill him?”

  Shaking my head, I dropped the old shovel to the ground and slammed the door shut. Pressing the button to start it, I turned back to my trainee.

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “It was his fault, though,” Jack chimed in from where he had pulled himself up to sit on one of the wooden workbenches.

  My gaze met Chloe’s. She searched my eyes, trying to find the truth. She must have found it because she frowned as her light feet stepped closer to Senior. Laying a hand on his chest, she took a deep breath before exhaling. That woman would die by her emotions, no matter how hard I tried to train it out of her. She didn’t even know Senior very well, yet, she mourned him.

  “I think you need to finish the story.” Jack had never held so much contempt for me, even though I had killed a lot of people in the past.

  Chloe moved away from the body, her hands shaking as she tucked them into the blanket she held tight around her. She waited for me to explain. To tell her how much of a fuck up I was.

  “Devon is a witch, a wizard and a Dark Crawler. She can sometimes control the Crawler, although, for a moment she couldn’t and that’s when it killed Senior. She told me that there’s a way for me to draw out a Dark Crawler or Fallen One from a human host without killing them.”

  The gasp from both of them echoed around the mostly empty room. They both knew what that could mean, but…

  “How the hell do you know she was telling the truth?” Chloe’s face flushed red as she faced me, her messy hair all over the place.

  “I could see it in her eyes. She believes it. So, I’m going to try. And, if it doesn’t work, she’ll die anyway.”

  More emotion crossed Chloe’s face as she thought. Was it such a bad thing for me to want to try? If I could save the life of those
humans who hosted the Crawlers before their health became jeopardised, maybe it would be worth seeing if it worked?

  Jack shuffled on the seat, cringing when his hand encountered a pile of old wood dust. “She’s alive then?”

  The disgust lacing his voice made me clench my teeth. There was no point in getting angry with him, he had every right to want her dead. She was one of the witches who tried to kidnap him, after all. However, the man should trust me. Should know that I was doing everything I could to end the distrust and bollocks going on in London.

  “You should have just killed her and let it be over with.”

  Although his statement was fair, and one I would have previously agreed with, it confirmed what I was thinking. I was trying too hard to sort out the mess that Victor had made in the underworld. Just because I was the target, didn’t mean it was my fault. I was done. With it all.

  “I don’t need you both questioning my motives. If you could please leave, I’m going to deal with Senior.”

  They looked between themselves, frowning at each other. I didn’t care what they thought about me. They had their opinion, I had mine.

  Turning, I dug around behind the machine to see if I could find something suitable to place Senior on. Movement in the background alerted me to the retreat from my two friends. People who I had never dreamed I would feel anything for. Not after so long being disconnected from my emotions. But, they had become my weakness.

  Finding an old metal crate, long enough for Senior to go on, I placed it on the floor beside the table he was on. Gently lifting him, I transferred him to his new resting place before opening the incinerator door. The fire had started quickly, too quickly without me stoking it.

  Looking over my shoulder, I smiled my thanks when Chloe waved a hand, igniting the fire with magic, before going back through the door. She had helped build the heat so I could get it over with.

  Taking the big crate in my hands, I grunted under the weight as I manoeuvred Senior enough to put the end of it into the incinerator. Shoving it in with an almighty push, I slammed the door shut after to avoid the smell.