Protector (Night War Saga Book 1)

by Leia Stone

  “On it, Tore.” I turned my head to find Bodie standing over me. He knelt down and scooped me carefully into his arms. My ribcage shrieked in protest. “I’ve got you. Hold on tight. Johann! Start her car.”

  I tried to wrap my arms around Bodie’s neck as he ran, but the pain in my torso was too intense. I settled for gripping the fabric of his shirt in my white-knuckled fists. In the time it took Bodie to carry me to my car, Mack pinned the pointy-eared woman down while Tore raised some crazy glowing sword over her chest. Was he going to stab her with it? Was I about to witness a homicide? Oh my God. These guys upped the crazy factor by a million. I couldn’t look . . . but I couldn’t not look, either. The woman hissed, and Tore brought his blade down, piercing her in the heart. A shrill scream escaped her lips before she flopped onto the ground. Mack and Tore both scrambled backward as a black mist rose over the woman’s body. It was the darkest energy I had ever seen.

  “She can’t heal yet, can she?” Mack asked Tore.

  Tore looked back at me, then gripped his glowing blue blade and slashed at the black energy ball until it dissipated. I must be dreaming. I buried my face in Bodie’s chest and closed my eyes. This was just a horrible dream. I was having a night terror—that was it. None of this was real.

  Except that, somehow, it was.

  ****

  “What the mother of all things messed up was that?” I limped back and forth in front of the fireplace. The orange flames warmed my legs, but failed to improve the ice laced around my heart. And no amount of fire could stop my hands from shaking—those tremors had nothing to do with the cold.

  Tore, Bodie, and Johann sat calmly around me, unfazed by the fact that my seemingly cracked rib appeared to have downgraded its injury to something on par with a nasty bruise. While I fought against a barely contained panic attack over what was either a miraculous healing or a delusion, the guys covered the sectional and loveseat with their not-nearly-freaked-out-enough bodies. Mack walked into the living room and offered me a cup of hot chocolate, but I waved him away. I couldn’t drink. I couldn’t do anything but focus on the fact that Tore had just murdered someone. The only things keeping me from calling the authorities were (a) the fact that Tore’s victim hadn’t appeared to be human, and (b) my phone was still somewhere in the guest room. Also, (c) I was still hoping I was in a dream.

  “I am dreaming, right?” I asked. “I ate too much cheese before bed, and I’m having a lactose-induced nightmare?”

  No one said a word. They just stared at each other, as if they were willing some information to magically appear in my brain.

  “No dream? Fine. Start talking, or I go to the cops. Somebody just got killed, and I am not going to prison for accomplice-ing,” I ordered.

  “That’s not a word,” Johann piped up.

  “Shut up,” I snapped.

  Tore was the one to lean forward. “Okay, there’s no easy way to say this. And as much as the guys wish I would just dance around the truth, I think you just need to be hit with it.”

  “Then hit me with it, pal, because I’m ready to chug some lithium and move into my padded cell.” I stopped my pacing long enough to pin him with a glare.

  Tore put his palms on his knees. “Okay, here’s the deal.” He frowned. “Maybe you should sit back down.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Spit it out, Vidarsson.”

  Tore shrugged. “You asked for it. Allie Rydell, you are not human. You’re an Asgardian demigod.”

  “Excuse me?” My eyebrows shot to my hairline.

  Tore continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “You are the direct descendant of the Goddess of Healing. It was her job to protect Midgard—what you call Earth—from environmental deprivation and climatic trauma. When you were a baby, the night goddess, Nott, declared war on Midgard. She wanted to take over this realm and rule it as her own. But to do that, she needed to bleed all of the light from the realm—convince its citizens to drain Midgard’s energy through war and resource depletion, thereby weakening the native species and races. She and her half-breed race of night elves planned to wipe Midgard of all of its light and beauty, convert it to a dark realm, and take it over as their own. Her battle cry was the beginning of the Night War.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? Night War? Elves? Goddesses?” I backed closer to the fire so I could grab a poker. I picked it up and held it in front of me. “You’re insane, aren’t you? You’re all complete nut jobs.” Leave it to me to buddy up with members of the campus cult.

  “I told you this was too much.” Mack spoke up from the couch.

  “She needs to hear it.” Tore gritted his teeth and pushed forward. “Nott knew she couldn’t destroy Midgard so long as the Goddess of Healing was protecting the realm. So Nott broke into Asgard and put her into a deep sleep; one that can only be broken by an immortal weapon. A weapon that’s . . . that’s lost.” Tore grimaced. “Once Healing was out of commission, Nott began wreaking havoc on Midgard. The climate change, the deforestation, the uptick in endangered species, the rise in hate crimes, all of it comes back to Nott. And if we don’t wake your mother from her sleep, there’s no telling what will happen to this realm.”

  “My mother . . . my mother’s dead. She died when I was a baby.”

  “No, she didn’t.” Tore pushed himself to his feet. He walked toward me, but stopped when I brandished the poker at him. “Allie.” He held up his palms, his face softening the slightest bit. For the first time since I’d met him, compassion crossed his normally impassive features. Understanding danced in his eyes—a flicker of been there, felt that, and I get that it sucks. He looked genuinely remorseful when he spoke. “Your mother is in the Night Sleep. She is Eir, the Goddess of Healing. And we need you to help wake her.”

  My mouth dropped open at the same time my knees gave out. Tore dove to catch me, so I plopped, rather than fell, onto the carpet. The poker clanked as it dropped beside me. What the hell did he just say? Goddess of Healing? Asgard? My mother? A hand at my back reminded me that I was positioned awkwardly close to Tore. And the concern in his eyes showed me that Tore seemed to believe his words, and was, in fact, a stage ten nut job. He reached up to brush a lock of hair from my face, and the gentleness in his touch took me by surprise. Was this the same jerk who’d energy-shamed me in front of my entire class? Did he think a little missing mom compassion was seriously going to make me believe his wacked-out story? I was about to tell him to screw off when the lumberjack spoke up.

  “You’re untrained, but you’re incredibly powerful, Allie,” Mack jumped in. “The gods sent you to Midgard to protect it in your mother’s place. Just your presence here has been enough to keep Nott from completely taking over. And that necklace you wear around your neck—it was your mother’s. It was sent by our prophets to awaken the powers you’ll need to defeat Nott.”

  “Excuse me?” My mouth finally started working. “Powers?”

  Tore shifted so he sat in front of me. “We know you can see and manipulate subtle energies, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With the necklace, some training, and your weapon, you’ll be Midgard’s mightiest protector.”

  Suddenly, it was stifling in here.

  “My weapon?” I pulled my hoodie over my head and tossed it on the ground next to me. How did these strangers know about what I could do to energy? I hadn’t told a soul since I moved here, and Gran was the only one who’d known back home.

  Mack leaned forward in his seat. “Your weapon is called Gud Morder. The gods gave it to you at birth, but Nott stole it, destroyed it, and scattered its pieces across the realms. It’s the only thing that can defeat Nott, and break the curse of the Night Sleep—the only thing that can bring your mother back. We’re here to help you find the pieces and heal the weapon. We’re going to prepare you to kill Nott, wake your mother . . . and save Midgard.”

  And here I’d thought my biggest freshman year concern would be not flunking a midterm.

  “I have a weapon.” Somehow, I found the a
bility to speak through this nonsense. “And it’s named Gud Morder?”

  “God Killer,” Tore translated.

  All four guys sat forward, as if they were waiting for me to pick up the poker, declare war on Nott, and assume my place as a . . . a demigod? But instead, laughter bubbled up inside of me. They were insane. This was insane. Yes, I could see energy. I could give them that. And yes, I’d had some weird stuff happen since I got this necklace. But all the rest of their mumbo jumbo was straight up crazy.

  I jumped to my feet. “I don’t know what you think you’re playing at, but I’m out. I’m going home. Don’t try to follow me, or I’ll call the cops.”

  Tore stood as well. He stepped closer, eating up the distance between us so his wintry scent pushed against me. “Sorry, Allie. We’re your protectors. We can’t let you leave.”

  What an arrogant jerk. Without bothering to address his stupidity, I started for the door.

  “Bodie,” Tore commanded. Bodie quickly crossed the room, blocking my path.

  “I understand this is overwhelming and really tough to believe. Let me just show you what we’re talking about. It’s my gift.” He held his hands up near my face, and I could see the energy vortices spinning and . . . glowing. Whoa. I want to learn how to do that. Since there was no getting past the six feet of muscle standing in front of me, I decided there was no harm in entertaining some more crazy. I nodded, and Bodie cupped my face in his hands. The moment his skin touched mine, I shot into a vision like the one I’d had when I touched the textbook. I was still in the guys’ cabin—I could feel my body grounded to the earth—but my mind was somewhere totally different as a movie played out inside my head.

  I was in a beautiful room. The all-glass walls overlooked a lake. A woman with long, blonde hair, fair skin, and rosy cheeks lay motionless on a bed made entirely of crystal. Two young women in white silk robes raced between the bed and a table covered with small vials.

  “It’s not working!” one of the women cried out. “She’s not waking!”

  The door opened, and a regal man entered. He was unnaturally tall, and wore a silver eye patch over one eye. The women bowed, but the man ignored them. He strode across the room in clipped strides, until he reached the woman on the bed. He rested his fingertips against her cheek and closed his eyes. Sorrow lined his aging features.

  “She is in the Night Sleep,” he said. The women began to sob.

  The scene dissolved into fizzy grey static and refocused on the woman in a different bed, one inside a much smaller room—was it a house? A small child pulled lightly at the woman’s hair, crying, “Mama! Mama!” She pulled incessantly, as if she might be able to wake her mother if she tried hard enough. When the child looked up, I was shocked to see her resemblance to baby pictures Gran had kept around our house. Oh my God. A knowing ripped through me. The child was me. This was my childhood, which meant the sleeping woman was . . . was my mother!

  A silver-haired woman came into view, pulling the child back. The woman was Gran—she had raised me after my mom ‘died.’ Tears streamed down my face, both in the vision and in my physical body—I could feel the wet heat prickle my cheeks.

  “Come, sweet child. We’ll fix this,” Gran whispered. She touched my nose like she had a thousand times.

  The scene dissolved, and when it came back into focus, Tore, Mack, Bodie, Johann, and the man with the eye patch stood around my mom’s bed. The man now held a big staff with a large crystal at the end.

  “Eir’s daughter’s weapon has been taken and destroyed, scattered in eight pieces throughout the realms.” He pointed the staff at Tore. “You must right the wrong, or all of Midgard will be lost.”

  Tore bowed his head, “Alfödr, I’m sorry, I—”

  “It is done,” the man declared. “You must find Eir’s daughter when the relic calls you, and train her. Guide her through the realms to find the weapon and fix it. She is destined to be the end of Nott, and only she can awaken Eir. Without our healing goddess, Midgard will fall, and the rest of the light realms will follow. Do you understand?”

  Tore took to one knee. “I give my oath to protect and guide the daughter of Eir.”

  The Alfödr placed the tip of his staff on Tore’s shoulder. Mack, Bodie, and Johann all took to one knee, lining up beside Tore. As they swore to protect the daughter of Eir, the Alfödr touched his staff to their shoulders in turn.

  With one final flicker, the scene dissolved, and I was sucked back into my body, staring into Bodie’s concerned eyes.

  “Did you get all that?” Bodie asked.

  My eyes felt like they were about to pop right out of my head. “Yes.”

  “You’ll need to stay the night here so we can keep an eye on you,” Tore ordered. “The guest room and its en suite are yours now; you’ll find they’re stocked with clothing and toiletries. We’ll start training tomorrow.”

  I wiped the tears from my cheeks. “Huh?”

  “The guest room,” Tore repeated. “It’s yours now.”

  My gut clenched. I shifted my gaze from Tore to Mack to Johann, before settling on Bodie. He’d shown me this madness; surely, he’d understand why I was about to shoot to an eleven on the one-to-ten panic scale. “You want me to move into your guest room? Do I have any say in this?”

  “We’d love to say yes, but . . .” Bodie shrugged. “There’s kind of a lot riding on you, Allie. We’re sorry to spring this on you, but we waited as long as we could. We didn’t come for you until your powers activated, but now that you have the necklace, and your Asgardian genes are kicking in, we need you to stop Nott and end the Night War. The future of this realm depends on it.”

  I moved in the general direction of the hallway, stumbling over the area rug by the couch. “I’m not that powerful.”

  “But you are, Allie,” Johann swore. “You’ve lived as a human for so long that you don’t remember, but you come from a long line of warriors. You’re tougher than you know.”

  “No.” I moved, more purposefully this time, toward the front door. “I’m not doing this.”

  “Doing what?” Bodie tilted his head in confusion.

  “All of this.” I waved my hands in circles big enough to encompass the four crazies and their sweet mountain house. No wonder they’d been able to afford the rent. They were gods.

  “You don’t have a choice.” Tore’s massive frame stepped in front of me, blocking my path to the exit. “This is happening, Allie, whether you’re on board with it or not. And you’ll make all of our lives significantly easier if you just play along.”

  The words sparked something inside me, whether frustration or fear, I wasn’t quite sure. But I stepped right into Tore’s space and met his authoritative stare. “Listen, buddy, I don’t know what kind of a sick joke you’re playing. But I told you already, I’m out. Stay the hell away from me, or I’ll file restraining orders against every single one of you.”

  I stepped to the side, intending to go around Tore, but he mirrored my movement. I tried again, and he quickly blocked me. After two more attempts, I put my hands on Tore’s chest, and pushed with every bit of strength I had. Tore didn’t budge.

  Crap.

  “Let me go, Tore,” I warned.

  “I can’t,” he answered simply.

  “I said,” I gritted out, “let. Me. Go. Now.”

  “And I said, I. Can’t.”

  “Allie.” Mack’s peaceful voice came from behind me. “Your mom really needs your help. We all do.”

  My heart thudded at the mention of my mom. The tension in my neck ebbed, and I closed my eyes to stop the flow of warm moisture pooling in their depths. Eyes, don’t you dare cry in front of Tore. Don’t. You. Freaking. Dare.

  “Please let me go.” I took a deep breath and pressed the heels of my hands to my still-closed lids. “I’m not the girl you need me to be.”

  “Allie.” Tore’s voice cracked. The tenderness in his voice shocked me enough that I lowered my hands. Was the resident jerk finally rea
dy to see reason?

  “What?” I blinked. Sure enough, an expression that bore a surprising resemblance to sympathy lined his hard features.

  “Guys? Give us a minute.” Tore moved out of my path. He stepped further into the living room and leaned against the couch. He crossed his arms so his biceps popped against the thick muscles of his chest. Wow.

  Mack raised an eyebrow, but led Johann and Bodie into the hallway without question. “We’ll be in the kitchen if you need us, Allie,” Mack said softly. “Tore, be kind.”

  “I am kind,” Tore growled.

  “Fine. Be kinder,” Mack chastised.

  The voice of reason disappeared around the corner, with Johann and Bodie close behind. I reached out with my energy to confirm that they hadn’t gone far. Walls didn’t block my energy-vision, so even though I sensed the guys in the kitchen, I knew their signatures were heavy with concern. As I pulled my energy back to me, I tried to pick up a read on Tore, but I still had zero idea what his signature felt like . . . or if he even had one. My inability to read him bothered me. A lot.

  “Start talking, Tore.” I shifted my gaze between his biceps and the front door. I had a clear path and I could made a break for it . . . but I knew he’d take me down before I made it off the front porch. New life goal: work out more so I can outrun the Asgardian crazies.

  “You don’t like me,” Tore said simply.

  “Obviously.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Well, I’m not the biggest fan of yours, at the moment.” Tore pushed himself away from the couch and stepped forward. Now he was entirely too close to my personal space. “The four of us put our lives on hold to help you, and you want to walk away from your responsibilities like they don’t exist at all. That’s not how we do things in Asgard. There we act with ære—with honor.”

  “Excuse me?” I squeaked. I took a step closer to Tore, so my chest brushed against his. He was tall enough that I had to stand on tiptoe and crane my neck to meet his eyes, but I made up for my literal shortcoming by injecting an additional dose of venom into my glare.

  “You heard me,” Tore challenged. “You need to deal with this, Allie. So we can all move on with our lives.”