“I prefer something hot and steamy,” Sasha beamed.
Jasper was still in the kitchen when she returned. “Who is this Sasha?”
“Sasha is a close friend and neighbour. She is also dating Heinrekh.”
“Does that not cause you issues?”
“No. Sasha is quite neutral in all of this. We do not discuss anything related to the Second Realm at all.”
“But she has confirmed Lars is alive.” Jasper’s voice shook ever so slightly.
“Yes.” Erin recalled that Sasha has come over particularly strange when talking about Lars. She wished she could have interrogated her friend further on that subject, but that was against their rules.
“Perhaps she might be able to pass a message to Lars next time she is in Vasmaar?”
“Out of the question. We would be asking her to betray Heinrekh which is something I cannot do. For now you will have to make do with the knowledge that Lars is alive. Actually she said very much alive, so I would presume he is quite fit and healthy. Now are you up for some more tuition?”
“Yes, but we need a volunteer for you to practice on.”
“I know just the person,” she grinned, opening the door. “Magnus, I need you.”
Magnus was anything but happy to be her guinea pig. “I’ve been on the receiving end of Loxhadrin before, I really don’t want to repeat that experience.”
“Relax, I ‘m not using Loxhadrin.”
“Good.”
“It’s Droxhardin instead,” she smiled wickedly. “This is pay back for my bike.”
“You already destroyed mine.”
“Picky, picky, picky,” she grunted and propelled him toward the training room.
“I’ve seen you use Droxhardin to open locks and things like that,” Jasper instructed. “It is a very similar process to wrap the strands of energy around someone. Clear your mind, and think of the energy as just an extension of your arm and hand. In your thoughts, see the blue energy strands wrapped around Magnus’s body, almost as if you’ve just lassoed him. Once you’ve done that, you can lift him off the ground by raising your hand.”
Erin stood a few feet away from Magnus and began to clear her mind. There was so much going on up there, it was fairly cluttered at first but she got there eventually. She visualised a strand of blue exploding out her hand and wrapping itself around Magnus like a rope. She then raised her hand a fraction. The noise coming from in front of her told her she had succeeded. For the first time she actually looked ahead and Magnus was indeed suspended about a foot above the ground, bound by her energy.
“Feel free to put me down any time you want,” he growled.
She moved her hand from side to side. “I could always make you motion sick?”
“Then you get to clean up the puke.”
“Fair enough.” She lowered him to the ground.
“Good work, Erin,” Jasper smiled.
“How do I block such an energy force as that? Heinrekh once had me choked by it, the only way I got out was using my Asgardian shield.”
“Not everyone is lucky enough to have one. You need to cross your energy wires with Heinrekh’s to weaken his. Sadly I cannot demonstrate that.”
“So if he has me in a hold, I wrap my energy strands around his?”
“Yes. Exactly that. It will hurt him if he does not release his hold. Now I want you to practice holding a shield.”
“My Asgardian one?” Erin queried.
“No. An energy shield. You drew one around yourself pretty convincingly in Frejboren. I want you to put one up on front of Magnus so he cannot leave this room.”
Before Magnus could object, Erin had waved her hand. “Piece of cake,” she smiled.
“Now go and do something for an hour, but keep that shield in place. If it drops, you will do all Magnus’ chores tomorrow.”
“Not a chance,” Erin headed from the room.
“You can’t leave me here?” Magnus bellowed. He really did not like Jasper’s methods one bit.
Erin went to the South Tower to help a limping Wilhelm set up his new quarters. At the very least it gave him something to focus on. The furniture needed the dust sheets removing and bringing back to life.
“Give the rooms a day to air, and you should be in here tomorrow.”
“Good. When did you want to examine that artefact?”
“Tomorrow is probably best.” She glanced up at his handsome face. “Are you really doing alright?”
“Yes. To be honest I quite like the freedom that comes from having no throne. Your world is also a lot more exciting than mine.”
“I would say it is the other way around, but then we always want what we don’t have.”
“I do miss my mother. And Ajax’ wisdom,” Wilhelm sighed deeply. He would dearly like to see his mother again.
“I imagine she misses you too. There is nothing to say she cannot come through the Gate is there?”
“I don’t think my father would allow it.”
“It is a shame we don’t have anyone in Lokranor who can tell us what is truly going on. I know Olav has troops along the Skarsgaard border.”
“Sasha?”
“Yes. Heinrekh has assigned minimal guard to the borders. He really does not see Olav as any kind of threat without you.”
“Why would I be a threat?” Wilhelm queried.
“You led the army from the front. The men followed you anywhere. Olav gets the respect but not the undying loyalty.” She glanced down at the time on her phone. Another ten minutes before she could release Magnus.
She headed to the kitchen and grabbed a can of Coke out the fridge. Time to really test Magnus’s strength. She sauntered back into the training room. Magnus was sat on the floor, slouched up against the wall.
“Having fun, are we?” he scowled.
“Yes, thanks,” she grinned, pulling the tab on the Coke can. “Did you want some?”
“Very funny,” he hissed.
“I’m surprised a big strong Viking like yourself cannot overcome one small energy barrier,” she teased.
Every time he touched it, it sparked. “Damn it, Erin, drop the barrier.”
“Not until Jasper says I can. I’m not falling for that trick, dropping it a minute early and losing the bet.”
Jasper reappeared as well. “You’ve held the barrier well, almost with ease. Now I want to test you further. Put me behind a barrier.”
Erin waved her hand and as another shield went up, Magnus’ started to drop.
“It takes incredible strength and ability to hold more than one shield. It is something you will need to practice until you have mastered it.”
“Is there a time when I will need to raise two shields?”
“Perhaps. But you may need to hold a shield and use another form of energy. They are all connected, so it is about learning how to use two at the same time.”
“I get it now,” Erin nodded. Multitasking with blue energy.
CHAPTER 21
Heinrekh tried to contain his excitement as Angus handed over Aria’s bracelet. It was truly a work of art, considering how long ago it had been made.
“It is really Aria’s?” Angus asked.
“There is only one sure fire way to find out,” Heinrekh responded. He grabbed a dagger and pricked his finger, allowing one drop of his blood to touch the bracelet. It sparked up a storm. “I think that is fairly conclusive evidence that it is.”
“In that case, my job is done.” Angus stood up, eager to be out of Vasmaar as quickly as possible.
“Not quite, there is the matter of the two other objects.”
“But you don’t know where they are yet.”
“I will do shortly. Wait in the living room, I will not be long. Ask the servants to bring you some food and drink.”
“Strange as it might seem, I am not here to serve you. I do have an estate to run back home.”
Heinrekh glanced at him as though he was no more than an errand boy. “The commissions
you undertake for me provide the much needed finance you require to keep your estate running. Remember that when you’re taking your fill of my wine.”
As soon as Angus had left the study, Heinrekh retreated to his vault. Some serious sorcery was needed now. He laid out several charts around him, then slipped the bracelet around his wrist. He was channelling so much blue energy through him, not only did his whole body glow, the entire room did. “Find your brothers,” he murmured to the bracelet. His wrist started to move of its own accord, darting over the charts that littered the floor. Eventually it came to rest on the chart of Iceland. The location has been scorched. Then the bracelet was off again, circulating over various charts till once again it found what it was looking for. Greenland.
Greenland was odd, Heinrekh thought. He would have expected it to be in a Viking stronghold. He headed back up to his study and called Angus back in.
“I have your locations.” He slid the two charts over to him. “Obviously these charts are ancient, you will need to transcribe the positions onto the modern ones you have.”
“Iceland and Greenland?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a bloody shame I didn’t know I was driving right by one of the items when I was there,” Angus moaned. “How do I know exactly where to look?”
Heinrekh passed him back the bracelet. “It is fully charged now, and will show you the locations when you get close.”
“How?”
“It will draw you to them.” Heinrekh tossed a pouch full of gemstones over to Angus. “This should cover your fees and any other expenses incurred.”
“Are you in a rush for these items? I do have some things at home I need to sort out first.”
“The sooner the better,” Heinrekh responded.
Several days later, Erin and Wilhelm finally found themselves alone in the house. Magnus and Ingrid were out for the day and Birdie had taken Jasper to Inverness Library to work on his research. It was just the two of them, excluding Mrs McDowell.
Armed with a basket of firewood, they headed down to the concealed chamber in the South Tower to examine the book. Once they had a good fire going, Erin sat next to Wilhelm and turned the first page. She was amazed how many gateways there originally were.
“I guess when a landmass is torn away, fractures happen and these gateways are just fractures in time.”
“They can’t all still be working, can they?” Wilhelm asked.
“I imagine the only thing stopping them being used was if they were blocked, like with a building.”
She studied all the plans. She already knew about the one on McLomard land that she had gone through when Birdie was snatched. What caught her attention was the one on McBride land. So that was how Sasha kept sneaking off to see Heinrekh, it linked directly to Vasmaar. But it was not close enough to the castle to be of benefit. Then her mind really started to wander. If the McBrides had access to a gateway to Vasmaar, was Angus the traitor in the Circle? It made sense, but she could not figure out what he would benefit from such an alliance.
Wilhelm brought her back to the now. “See here, those are the gates from Frejboren and Grunfeld into Vasmaar. But there are two more.”
Erin’s eyes were glued to the page. “Skallengaard is one gateway, it links to a rock face close to Vasmaar Castle.” She pointed to the final gateway location. “This looks like it’s on one of the tiny island off the Norwegian coast. I guess we give that one a miss for now.”
“You have found the way in, now you need to work out how to break the shield.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. Perhaps I might be able to circumnavigate it.”
“How so?”
“If the shield ran around the entire room, mum would not have been able to make even the small contact she has with me. I’m thinking that if the floor and walls are not protected, what is stopping me from blowing a bloody great hole in them?”
“It might not be the stealthiest rescue in history,” Wilhelm laughed.
“You’re a Viking, you don’t do stealth,” she sniffed.
“True. But once Heinrekh is alerted to our presence, we would have virtually no time to escape.”
“And we also have to rescue Lars.”
“Who’s Lars?” Wilhelm frowned.
“Jasper’s son. And we’re not too sure where he’s being held.” Erin drummed the pages of the book for a few minutes, lost in thought. “I can’t see how we can rescue Mum and Lars, get Mum to the Lokranor border via a gateway or Lars and us back through to Vokteren territory. Somewhere along the line, I think we’re going to have to stick together. And we won’t be crossing into Lokranor.”
“I know you don’t want Lodraill near the Vokteren, but you are forgetting that you are the one with true power. And she is not exactly defenceless herself, remember.”
“You have a point, but she will be weak from many years in captivity.”
“And we also have Lars as a bargaining point.”
“I don’t bargain with people.”
“I meant by rescuing Lars we should have earned ourselves free passage across Vokteren territory.”
“I guess.”
“When are you planning this not so sneak attack?”
Erin laughed. “We can’t wait too long, thinking about Lars. I’m aiming for the next time Sasha is in Vasmaar. Heinrekh’s attention will be on her, so he will not be as switched on as he usually is.”
“Which gives us how long?”
“About a two weeks. Let us hope your father does not nothing more than sit at Vasmaar’s border.”
“He does not have the force to invade. Without you, or even Lodraill, it would be suicide.”
“Good, then let’s hope he stays there. In the meantime we need to think up a decoy. Heinrekh will be expecting a move from me, so I think I should let him have one.”
Wilhelm wrapped his arm around her. “You’re pretty good at this.”
“First Realm knowledge and Viking stealth. It’s a lethal combination,” she laughed, resting her head against his shoulder. Right about now, her mind was starting to wander. Small room, cosy fire, hot Viking, and completely privacy.
Wilhelm was obviously thinking along the same lines. As his mouth met hers, he pushed her back gently to the stone floor, his weight pinning her beneath him. As their kiss grew in intensity, she felt a warmth spreading through her body. His lips ran along her jaw and down her neck. Her body arched against his in response. Her hand found its way under his shirt, exploring the beautiful tautness of his back.
“Keep doing that, Erin,” he groaned in her ear, “and we’ll be finishing this at the top of the tower.”
She inhaled sharply as his hand gently stroked her stomach before heading up and coming to rest on her ribcage. Her limbs felt so incredibly heavy, it was impossible to move. Her body was aching for him, so wanting to dispense with the clothes and give in to the desires racing through her. Her head was of a different opinion; she had enough on her plate right now without having to deal with the complications that sex would bring. Not to mention that the additional birthday gift from Sasha was in the study. And maybe explaining the rules of safe sex to a Viking really might kill the moment. But he was just so damn delicious.
A faint noise was echoing around in Erin’s frazzled brain. Birdie was calling her. “Wilhelm, stop,” she murmured. “Birdie’s home.”
“We’re not doing anything wrong,” he nibbled her ear.
“No, but she can’t know about the book.”
He let out a frustrated sound and rolled off her. Erin leapt to her feet, putting the book back in its cover before slipping it back into its hiding place. She hauled Wilhelm up and propelled him to the stairs. The fire was completely safe to burn itself out. Birdie was waiting for them in the living room of the South Tower. She did not look too impressed with Erin and Wilhelm’s hot and flustered state but said nothing.
“Jasper needs to see you. He thinks he might have found something useful for you.”
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CHAPTER 22
Birdie was not altogether comfortable around Jasper. He was rarely showed emotion and was quite introverted. Unless she got him to talk about history, then there was no shutting him up. Especially Norse history. There was nothing he didn’t know. But Erin had taken to him, had even made him laugh on occasion, so she would make an effort for her niece.
Realms Gate: A Realm Divided Page 15