“Um…” I hesitated. I couldn’t go home. Not for a while, anyway. “I’m not sure. Sam is thinking her parents will be in”—I glanced at her for help, my face imploring, and she mouthed, Hawaii —“Hawaii next. So I can’t really pass that up. This entire trip has been a dream come true.”
Sam gave me a thumbs-up.
“Grandpa Richard’s birthday is in two weeks. Can you give him a call? Everyone is missing you here like crazy,” my mom said. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen your beautiful face. Maybe we can make a trip out to New York next month for a quick visit?” Her voice was hopeful.
“Er ,” I started, “I’m not sure I’ll be back in a month, but once I’m there, yes! Of course. I miss you guys like crazy, too. I can’t wait to see you.” I gave Sam a nod, and she got up and walked over to the tower, tugging on the side marked with red tape.
The line started to break apart instantly.
My mom said something, but I heard only, “…visit…holidays…hardware store.”
“Mom, the line is failing!” I called. “The connections here are so unreliable. I’m so sorry, but I have to run. I’ll call you next week! I promise.”
“Okay, sweetie,” she yelled through the buzzing. “We love you!”
“Bye, sweet pea. Be safe,” my father added.
“Goodbye,” I said. “I love you both!” I ended the call, meeting Sam’s gaze. “I’m a horrible person. They deserve better.” I stood, dusting off my pants. I shoved the phone in my back pocket as we headed toward the edge where a steep path would wind us down to the valley below. “If I didn’t already think there’s a chance I’m going to hell, I’d say I just earned a one-way ticket for being such a skunky liar. My parents are so sweet, and I’m awful. I feel like a dirty cheat.”
“Relax, you’re not going to hell. You’re just doing what you gotta do,” Sam assured me. “You can’t leave here, and you can’t have them worried. It’s not like you can say, ‘Hey, Mom and Dad, I was struck by lightning and now I’m a Valkyrie! Oh, and Odin’s my real dad, and the Norns are out to get me, but have no fear because my boyfriend is a wolf!’ Seriously, you’re doing them a solid by not saying a single, solitary word.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” I snorted. “You just had to tell your mom you were shacking up with some dude in New Mexico, and all was forgiven.”
“My mom doesn’t know the definition of ‘helicopter parent.’ I was on my own at fifteen. But the last time we chatted, I happened to sneak in a question about my real dad.” Her voice was jubilant, as it was every time she discussed Asgard.
“And?” I asked as we began to shimmy down the side of the mesa. “Don’t leave me in suspense here.”
“She was coy at first, but then she totally admitted he was a one-night stand, which didn’t surprise me in the least. My mom was never good at hiding her hookups.” Sam maneuvered over some rocks in front of me. “I guess he did come around a few times after I was born, but then she said he disappeared and she never heard from him again.”
“That sounds very mysterious indeed,” I said, sidestepping a small gap. “Did you ask his name?”
“Duh, of course.” Sam jumped down onto a short ledge. “But it was really weird. My mom kind of paused for a few seconds before she answered. Then had to come clean with the fact she couldn’t remember! She thinks it started with an H, but that’s all she had.”
“Wow,” I said, shimmying over a big boulder. The view was majestic as we made our way down. The horizon was dotted with mesas and buttes, and the valley beneath us shone brightly in the early morning light. The sky was crisp and clear, only a few billowy clouds lazing across the blue expanse. “I wonder if he wiped her memory?”
“That’s what I was thinking!” Sam said excitedly as she scooted down onto another ledge. “Like an Asgardian mind-meld. But it could also be that my mom is just too ditzy to remember. I’m kind of bummed out, since a first letter doesn’t really help me at all.”
“It’s better than nothing,” I pointed out as we stepped onto a gravel path around a big stone wall. “It narrows the playing field.”
“The guys,” Sam said, meaning Tyr and Fen, “don’t think my father is a god, so that leaves the entire populous of Asgard with a possible first name that begins with H. How many people live on Asgard anyway?”
I shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve never asked. I assume it’s metropolitan, but I could be wrong.” When I thought of Asgard, I always envisioned a bustling New York City, but instead of dirt and grime, it was ethereal, clean, and shiny, with castles as tall as skyscrapers made of stone, with turrets and waterfalls around every corner, and windy paths of marble.
“I hope we get to find out someday,” she mused. “That would be so freaking cool.”
“I’m sure we will,” I answered, not sure in the least. I had no idea if we would be welcome there or not.
We rounded a corner, reaching the halfway point. Fen was perched on a small ledge waiting for us. The tiny space made him look huge. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, his sword attached to a belt around his waist. His casual attire belied his focus. He was tense, like a predator stalking prey.
We were technically still inside the Valkyrie stronghold high on this mesa, but he didn’t trust it. The first few times I’d made a call, he accompanied me to the top, until he decided something could attack us from the bottom and trap us up there. Then Sam started coming with me and he stayed midway between.
So far my phone calls had happened without incident.
Fen slid his arm around my waist as I approached and gave me a quick kiss. He smelled delicious. “We must get back,” he murmured. “Training has already started again.”
After I asked this morning, Rae granted me permission to make this call during our first break, but I didn’t relish getting special privileges. Billie had sparred with me, but I knew I wasn’t going to be so lucky this afternoon. Valkyries changed their partners often to keep fighting styles fresh. I’d spotted Anya whispering with a group of her cohorts. She wasn’t going to let today go without comment. I had a feeling it was going to be another grueling session.
“I know,” I said, following Sam as we all made our way down. “But maybe I’ll be able to use Gundren today.”
* * *
“Midday break!” Rae announced after several long hours of hard combat training. “For evening sparring, I want Phoebe, Ingrid, Elise, Mari, Billie, Anya, and Nadia back. All others are excused for the day.”
There was instant chatter from the crowd.
Being excused from training didn’t happen very often, if ever. Valkyries rarely got a break if they were on the grounds. The only time they weren’t training was when they traveled back to Asgard and other places to visit family. That was considered their downtime. None of them ever seemed bothered by the rigorous schedule. They loved fighting. It was in their blood.
I tossed my wooden swords down and nodded to Billie, who’d ended up being my midday partner, and went to find Ingrid. She was chatting with another Valkyrie outside the Park, so I waited.
Once she was finished, she turned and gave me a warm smile. “Well done, Phoebe. Your skills are coming along nicely. I saw you throw in some fakes that had Billie going right when she should’ve been dodging left.” She clasped my shoulder, like she usually did, draping her arm comfortably around me as we made our way toward Yggdrasil.
It was lunchtime. The shieldmaidens alternated days to feed, or it would’ve been too hard for everyone to touch the tree at once.
“Yeah.” I blew out a tired breath. “But it’s still a huge bummer I’m not allowed to use my swords yet.”
“That’s all about to change,” Ingrid said confidently as we turned down a small path.
“How do you know?”
“Rae has ordered the battle team back for training. After today, you will be working with this group exclusively.” We rounded a corner. Yggdrasil came into view. It was tucke
d inside a small valley close to where we trained. Its rich dark drown bark, ribbed with deep, furrowed veins, flowed up through the ground, melding seamlessly into the mesa, giving it an otherworldly effect. It radiated strength and energy. My body responded to it immediately. My fingers curled, and my blood pulsed faster, anticipating what was to come.
Feeding from the tree was a unique experience, one I didn’t have a name for. It was euphoric. A high that rivaled any and made me feel invincible in the best way possible. “Only the battle team gets to train?” I asked.
“For a time. These are our best warriors,” Ingrid answered as she pressed her back against with the bark, her arms splayed. I joined her. “The team we’re bringing to Svartalfheim. We usually take eight on a mission. It’s hard to be stealthy with a large group, and eight has worked for us in the past.”
“Are they required to go?” I exhaled as raw energy flowed into me, pooling in my extremities first, then filtering through the rest of my body. Ingrid had taught me the optimal way to drink it all in, and relaxation was key. I closed my eyes.
“No, of course not,” Ingrid said, her voice steady and calm. “But Valkyries don’t say no to a mission, especially when it involves Leela. Your mother is beloved around here. We’re taking the best of the best.” Ingrid’s voice was wistful.
“Twenty-four years is a long time to be gone,” I murmured. I didn’t want to think about my mother being tortured by the dark elves in Svartalfheim. It was bad enough knowing she’d been gone so long.
“It is. I miss her like crazy,” Ingrid said. “I’m just glad she wasn’t sent to Helheim. Then we might not ever have gotten her back.”
“Why?” I didn’t pretend to know anything about the realms.
“Hel is a dark place inhabited by dark, evil creatures. But I’ve never been there personally. You can ask Fenrir about it. It’s not my place to gossip.”
“Gossip?” That was an interesting word choice. I’d reached my energy limit, my body swirling with light. Lighting up like a glow stick was something I’d gotten mostly used to. It was still spectacularly weird to think I fed on electricity and felt full after feeding. Consuming the energy was actually more satisfying than having a meal—it was like eating a five-course dinner, starting with crab cakes drizzled in béarnaise, moving on to lobster bisque, then to a perfect Caesar salad with just enough anchovy paste to make the taste buds tingle, followed by a rich, buttery truffle oil drizzled over sautéed mushrooms, and ending with a porterhouse steak as big as my face. That’s how satisfied I was. I gave a sigh as I stepped away from the tree. “Has Fen been to Helheim?”
“Let’s just say he has family there,” Ingrid said, rubbing her belly. “We can leave it at that.”
Family? Before I had a chance to ask what she was talking about, a loud noise reverberated through the valley, shaking the ground like a mini-quake.
A loud bellow followed.
It was the alarm. Something was outside the gates.
Ingrid had her spear in hand before I could blink. We began to run.
“What’s going on?” I asked, sprinting after her, wishing I had Gundren on me, cursing for the seventieth time today that I had been forced to use crappy wooden substitutes.
“I’m not sure,” she called over her shoulder, “but whatever it is, it’s not supposed to be here.”
We rushed toward the main entrance, which was located between two buttes. The span of the opening wasn’t more than fifty feet across.
Other Valkyries had beaten us there, their weapons drawn. There were shouts and general pandemonium as they tried to determine what the threat was. Ingrid and I couldn’t make out what was there, because we were too far back and too many bodies stood in our way.
Then I heard, “What’s a troll doing here?”
“That’s one mad-looking creature. Look at its horn.”
“I say we kill it.”
“Yeah, but what the hell is it doing here?”
I began to push my way toward the gate. It might have been a stupid move, since I was likely the only one present without a weapon, but I had an inkling who it was.
Once in front, I let out a gasp of happiness and ran forward, my face breaking into a wide grin. “Junnal!”
5
__________________________
____________
A hand landed on my shoulder before I reached the invisible barrier, effectively stopping me in my tracks.
“You know this creature?” Rae asked skeptically. “He is a rare breed, a cross between a giant and a troll. They are immune to most magics and are extremely hard to kill.”
“Yes, I know him. He saved my life,” I answered simply.
Rae glanced at Junnal, who was less than ten feet away, and then back. “Who did he defeat in your favor?” she challenged.
“Verdandi,” I answered without pause, “and the ettin Bragnon. I thought Junnal was dead, but I’m happy he’s not!” I was so, so relieved. “Odin sent him to the Norns’ lair to protect me. He helped me escape.”
Rae’s eyebrows shot up as she let go of my shoulder, directing her gaze back at Junnal, who had stopped pounding on the barrier and stood watching us. He could clearly see in, so he was definitely immune to the Valkyries’ glamour, or whatever they used to ward the entry.
“Drop the gate!” Rae shouted. There were loud grumbles and protests. “Do it. This hybrid was sent by Odin.”
Ingrid reached my side. “Tyr said something was coming. I’m thinking this must be it.”
The barrier wavered a few times before it completely disappeared, and I ran, not realizing I was moving, and jumped straight into Junnal’s arms.
The troll-giant was huge, bigger than I remembered, at least eight or nine feet tall, but his skin was softer than it looked. He was all gray, like a walking boulder. A tusk protruded out of his forehead and he wore some kind of loincloth.
He hugged me back with one hand, careful not to crush me. He held a fierce-looking club in the other. I gazed up at him, smiling. “I thought Bragnon poisoned you! And if that hadn’t worked, I was positive Verdandi would’ve finished you off. I’m so sorry I couldn’t stay and help you. I never got a chance to thank you for telling me how to get out, so thank you! I’m alive because of you.” There was no doubt in my mind that this giant had saved my life.
He nodded, seeming to smile, but it was hard to tell because his features were so huge. “Safe,” he boomed in a low, rumbling voice before he let go of me.
I turned, intending to lead him inside and stopped short.
A line of Valkyries stood in front of us, most of them with stunned looks on their faces. Some had their weapons up, others looked unsure, glancing at Rae to get her read of the situation.
Rae stood stoically, her arms crossed. She was going to leave this up to me.
“Um,” I addressed the crowd. “This is Junnal. He saved my life. I believe Odin sent him here to help us get my mother back.”
That was it in a nutshell. The best I had. If they retaliated, things were going to get ugly fast.
Ingrid followed me, announcing in a jubilant tone, “Welcome to the stronghold, Junnal. Any friend of Phoebe’s and Odin’s”—she stressed the word Odin’s —“is a friend of ours. Please enter. We are grateful for any assistance in finding Leela. I’m certain you will be an asset to our mission.”
I took a few tentative steps forward, Junnal following, his footsteps shaking the ground as he lumbered along. Begrudgingly, the Valkyries parted so we could enter. With relief, I spotted Fen and my brother waiting for us behind the group.
The guys looked relaxed, but both had weapons by their sides. Tyr, it seemed, had shoved Sam behind him at some point, and she poked her head out from behind his broad back, smiling, appraising the troll. “Dang, you’re a big boy,” she said as she maneuvered around the god.
“Nothing to see here,” Ingrid announced to the Valkyries who lingered, gawking at the giant. “Time to get back to work.”
; “The battle team will meet back in the Park in ten,” Rae said, her voice carrying. “You heard Ingrid. Disperse.”
A few offhanded comments about pet trolls followed in their wake, but it wasn’t awful, and I was way too happy my giant friend was alive and well to be bothered.
Rae addressed me, her tone firm. “This is on you, Phoebe. If your troll causes any problems, it’s your mess to clean up.”
I nodded. “I understand. Thanks for letting him enter.”
“See you in the Park in ten.”
After she took off, I turned to the guys. “This is Junnal,” I said. “He saved me from Verdandi by telling me how to get out of her lair with Gram.” I patted my midsection where the trusty dagger was stashed. “Not to mention, he yanked Bragnon off me and selflessly put himself between me and Verdandi.”
Fen glanced up at the troll appraisingly. “My thanks to you, giant. My mother is the giantess Angrboda, Queen of Jotunheim. Is that where you hail from?”
Junnal nodded, his big head bobbing.
Tyr came forward, his face set. “You are a crossbreed.” He stated it as fact, not a question. “Both Jotun and troll. That is a rare mix, indeed. Were you born with both resiliencies?”
Junnal nodded again.
“My father makes it his business to be in partnership with powerful beings. Odin is masterful about such things.” Tyr finished, “We are grateful for your aid.”
Sam craned her neck. “You’re tall,” she said, stating the obvious, “and big. You’re kind of like the best bodyguard ever invented.” She gave him a sunny smile. “I’ll tell you what, I’m going to let you hang out with me while Phoebe trains. They don’t let the boys near the Park.” She jabbed a thumb in the guys’ direction. “But they can’t stop you from doing much of anything, which is super sweet. Honestly, they’d need a bulldozer to remove you. As a bonus, I bet they won’t insult Phoebe nearly as much with you around.” She stepped boldly in front of him. “Come on.” She grabbed on to his meaty fist. “Let’s go get front-row seats before they fill up. Only a few Valkyries are training tonight, so there will be more curious onlookers than usual.” She shook her head, her curls bouncing. “I can’t wait to see their faces when you show up. It’s going to be epic.”
Freed: (Phoebe Meadows Book 2) Page 4