by T. G. Ayer
Joshua just shook his head and scowled.
Fen rose to his feet, his features strained and tight. "I shall leave you to rest. And remember, do not tell anyone of your plans, even me. Until you return with the sword nobody besides your team needs to know what you are doing."
I nodded and Fen turned to leave. At the door, he paused to glance back at me, as if he wanted to say something else. I gave him a soft smile and waved at him. It seemed the right thing to do as his tight features relaxed a little and his mouth curved into a smile.
"Take care, Brynhildr. May Odin be with you." Then he was gone and Joshua and I were staring at each other in silence.
Throwing the furs off, I sat still for a moment. It wasn't easy for me to ask for help and feeling like a useless invalid did nothing to make the situation better.
I cleared my throat. "Can you help me get ready?"
Joshua nodded and went to dig inside my trunk for my armor and special garments.
I would have preferred a shower but with so few bathing facilities I didn't want to waste time waiting for water to be brought up to the room.
Still sitting, I changed into a fresh shift, and slipped my feet into my pants legs. Joshua helped me dress, and eventually tied the straps to all the sheaths for my weapons for me.
When he was done, he turned to drag the bag he'd left on the floor onto the bed. I watched him unzip the back and tears welled to my eyes. I stared at his face, at the high cheekbones, the straight nose, the glint of green in his soft gaze. And no matter how good he looked he had a heart that was a million times better.
While he changed, I gathered changes of clothing and stuffed a few things into a shoulder bag, including my additional weapons.
When Joshua came to stand at my side I looked up at him. The expression on his face was enough for me. I wasn't sure how it happened but I straightened and he moved, and our lips met. The kiss was fiery and passionate, tinged with sadness and a little desperation.
I reveled in the smell of him, the taste of him, and I wished desperately that the kiss wouldn't end. But soon, we pulled apart and caught our breath but not before Joshua planted a tender kiss on my forehead.
Then he headed out to gather the team. I'd asked for Suri, Aimee and Brody. Suri, I needed for her heat skills.
And Brody? Was he an intelligent choice? He too had a bone to pick with the trickster god after Loki abducted him and imprisoned him in a cell in Jotunnheim, all just to get back at me. He too wanted Loki's head, to use Brody's own words.
And I'd accepted it wasn't fair to keep him in the dark about Ms Custer for so long.
Hopefully, he wouldn't be too mad.
The group arrived and as they entered the room I found myself looking for Myst, watching the door and expecting her to enter. I blinked and frowned. Aimee and Suri saw my searching gaze and I caught them sharing a worried glance.
"Myst?" asked Aimee, a sad look on her face.
I smiled. "I guess I'll be doing that for a while."
Neither knew what to say and all they did was nod sadly. Seems sometimes words were not appropriate. Myst, despite her short time with the team, had been a good friend, one who everyone had grown to like and trust.
Now, I stared around me at the small team of warriors crowded into my tiny room and I worried that I'd be putting them in danger, that I was playing with their lives.
For a moment I stiffened with fear and then I remembered Myst's words.
Every one of these people were here because they wanted to be. And that was something I respected.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Before we left the room I'd rummaged inside my weapons trunk and found a ragged piece of paper at the bottom, beneath the dinner-plate sized scale I'd taken from Steinn the first time I'd fought the dragon.
We used the Bifrost after Derek gave us the go-ahead and arrived at the blue dumpster in the alley in New York, making sure we checked for any warnings in case the location was compromised.
We hurried out of the putrid alley as fast as we could, no real need for glamor. Shaking off the odor of the alley, I wondered again why we kept that entrance open considering the total lack of hygiene. I'd been shot in that alley, been far to close to infection from rotting garbage and urine, along with who knew what else.
I suppressed a shudder as I went straight to the nearest pay phone, retrieving the paper from my pocket. Now, I tapped the number into the pay-phone after Aimee dropped in the requisite amount of coins, then waited for a ring-tone. Part of me expected to hear her voice-mail claiming her absence, but she answered on the third ring.
"Elisabeth Wayne." Her tone was cool and brief, inviting little chitchat and even less time-wasting.
"Professor Wayne? It's Bryn." I fell silent as I waited for her response, tension gripping me in a fervent fist.
"My dear Bryn. I had hoped to hear from you before this." There was a clear note of admonition in her a voice, enough to tell me she was annoyed I hadn't caught up with her before. "How have you been? And how is Aidan?"
I didn't want to talk to her about Aidan right now, not on the phone on a sidewalk, in a city that was about to be obliterated by war.
"Professor, I really need to speak to you in person. Somewhere safe and secure." Nothing I could do about the urgency in my voice, or the fatigue either.
"Very well, Bryn." Her voice was edge with concern, so she'd read my tone very clearly. She rattled off an address in the Hamptons and I was glad we had the Bifrost as transport.
"We'll be there soon," I said before I cut the call. Then I made three more calls, the airport, a cab company and the Greyhound bus station.
I'd done it all instinctively and hoped that if anyone had tapped the phone that the calls would confuse them long enough to give us a head start.
"Right, let's go." I headed back to the Bifrost and the team followed closely. Nobody asked any questions as I called up the Bridge of the Gods again and headed for the Hamptons. We were fortunate the bridge touched down only a block from the Professor's house. And unfortunate too, because anyone else using the bridge to target Professor Wayne wouldn't have far to travel either.
We hurried through the streets hoping our glamors of jeans and tees would make an onlooker think we were a bunch of kids cutting school.
I headed straight past the Professor's house and went around the block and into the narrow road that ran all the way along the back of the long row of houses.
The back gate was flanked by two large rubbish bins and I flicked the catch open and hurried up the back stairs to what looked like a kitchen door.
I knocked and waited less than a minute before the door opened to reveal the Professor's worried expression.
"What's with the cloak-and-dagger routine, Bryn? Is something wrong?" As she spoke her attention was waylaid by the rest of the team as they gathered behind me on the back porch. "And pray tell, who are all these people?"
Although her tone was curt, I could tell she was filled with curiosity. I didn't blame her since the last time I'd seen her Aidan and I had revealed that Norse Mythology was actually Norse reality. Score for the Professor considering she was a huge fan on anything Norse.
"Professor, this is my team. And we really need your help."
She raised her eyebrows. "This must be big," she said, her amber gaze going from one face to the next, auburn curls bouncing as she moved her head. Then her keen eyes returned to my face and I found her studying me a little too closely. A concerned expression on her face. The Professor was far too observant.
"End of the world big." My tone was dry but I could tell from the strain in her face that she was already worried.
"Well then, come on inside." She shooed us into the kitchen and said, "Let's go to the games room. Lights on down there won't draw any undue attention. If you need to keep this visit a secret, that is."
I nodded and followed as she lead us into a narrow corridor, floors and walls all mahogany, then down a short flight of stairs to a bea
utifully designed games room complete with green pool table scattered with colored balls, and even a Foosball table .
But none of us were in the least bit interested in the games.
Professor Wayne waved a hand at a set of red and blue checkered sofas and I paced while the team dutifully took seats.
"Well, Bryn. Out with it. You can't keep me in suspense."
I cleared my throat and tried to shake the fatigue from my foggy brain. I'd come prepared. I held out a piece of paper on which I'd written, 'We need to find a sword.'
She frowned as her gaze went from the note to my face and back again. "Oh," she said as if she'd expected something of a more monumental proportion than a mere sword.
I handed her another note that said, 'Freyr's sword.'
She took it, her eyes large with curiosity and when she read the words she stopped breathing. "Oh," she said, this time more slowly as she realized it was bigger than I'd originally let on. "Okay, what do you need from me?"
Her eyes sparkled and I wondered if she was remembering the last time she'd seen me. Did she remember what I'd looked like in full Valkyrie dress?
"I wanted to know if you could do this for us." I showed her a note on which I'd scribbled 'access the records of these museums', followed by the names of the three museums. The less said the better.
She frowned, her gaze flicking from the paper, then at me and then at the team sitting quietly on her checkered sofas. Then she nodded. "Okay. Let me see what I can find out for you."
She turned to leave and I signaled Suri to follow me. "Watch the house," I told the rest of the team, then followed Professor Wayne as she hurried up the stairs.
She glanced over her shoulder as I kept close. "You don't have to come with me Bryn." She gave me a soft encouraging smile and I wanted to believe her but right now we could trust nobody.
We had to keep an eye on her for both her sake and ours as well.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
I followed her closely. "Unfortunately we have to. By coming here we may have endangered you. When I leave, I'll have one of my team stay behind to ensure you're safe."
"There really is no need," she said as we entered the hall and she led us to a small study on the right. When she saw the look on my face I figured she realized that I wouldn't change my mind. "Very well. You do what you must, but I assure you I can take care of myself." There was an edge to her voice, as if my assumption that she needed to be taken care of had offended her.
"Professor, at the risk of sounding disrespectful, I have to say an attitude like that will get you killed. The people we're hiding from are more dangerous than you can imagine. Simple things like doors and locks won't keep them away."
The Professor tuned around and came face-to-face with me. She had to crane her head to meet my gaze but she did a pretty good job of making the difference in our height not matter. "Then why did you bring this danger to my door?"
I stared at her for a moment, as the truth of her question sank in. I took a heavy breath. "Your immediate safety is important to us, which is why we will do everything we can to protect you. But long-term, danger is coming anyway. The whole world is in for dark days and not a single place or person is truly safe."
The Professor ran her hands down the front of gray tweed skirt and walked to the window. She stopped and stared outside. The night was dark and strangely pink, the light of the moon no longer white. The ash cloud gave it a strange and unreal hue.
"The world is already going to hell, my dear," she said as she gazed at the moon. I sighed and came to a standstill at the edge of her desk, waiting until she continued, "There were more earthquakes over the last two days. Rio is mostly gone, and Johannesburg lost millions of lives with the collapse of the mines. Whole canyons opened up for miles across the north of the country." She shook her head, the sorrow evident in her face. I wanted to ask if she'd lost someone but I didn't want to disturb her. She deserved what little peace she had left before I entirely ruined her world.
I waited, feeling an apology would be out of place and certainly not welcome considering it wasn't my fault that Armageddon had arrive.
"It's Ragnarok, isn't it?" she asked still staring outside.
"Yes."
The Professor sighed, then smiled weakly before moving to her chair. "I should have known when I saw you the first time that something like this was possible. I admit I ignored what was right in front of my eyes."
Then took a deep breath and pulled her keyboard close, then began to tap away at the keys as if nothing we'd discussed bothered her. Then she crooked her finger at me and called me to her side. Before long the screen filled with pages of coded data. While I watched the monitor she opened up a Note program and began to write.
My access allows me to view all the catalogs of all the museums across Europe and North America. There's a common data-bank that we all use. It's an agreement with fellow museums that allow partner museums to requisition items for special events. Sometimes a piece can travel around the world because it's popular in other museums. This system allows artifacts to be tracked across the world, from its original museum to its current location.
"That's handy," said Suri, pursing her lips, her expression impressed. She'd followed me and now stood on the other side of the Professor.
Professor Wayne gave her a curious glance, then returned her attention to her computer. Another two sets of records filled an alternate screen and she nodded.
"At a time like this we need Derek," said Suri softly.
"You'd do better with Aidan," said the Professor. "Where is that boy?" she asked, not noticing Suri's eyes gleam with tears. I looked away, focusing on the strange round moon outside the window. "Bryn?" the Professor prompted.
I sighed and turned to meet her gaze. "Aidan is dead. This time forever," I said softly.
She went completely still for a moment and I heard the clock in the hall tick, and the click of floorboards as they cooled. "What happened?" she asked in a whisper.
"One of Loki's men killed him."
Professor Wayne sat back in her chair, frozen for a moment as she processed the horrible news. Then she shook her head, her short cropped curls bouncing. "I'm not sure I believe it."
"The ceremony was yesterday," I said, now more tired than ever.
"Where did they have it? How are his mother and sister doing?" Professor Wayne asked leaning forward with an urgency that I expected from her considering her relationship with Aidan, her sometimes protégé.
"In Asgard. They're both handling it well. They're very strong."
After a moment of pained silence, the Professor nodded then tipped her head as she frowned. "I take it these natural disasters have spilled into the Asgard realm?"
"Yes. We think it may be attribute to Jormungandr."
Again, the Professor shook her head. "Just myths," she said to herself, but in the silence her words were clear.
Both Suri and I smiled. Then I cleared my throat. "We need to identify if any of these items are what we're looking for."
"Are there any specific identifying marks that I can look for?" she asked.
I handed her another sheet of paper with Freyr's notes and a detailed drawing of the sword. I'd skimmed the list. Runes cut into a hilt of pure silver, and a myriad designs carved into the silver blade of the sword. All-in-all a bad-ass weapon, and one after my own heart.
The Professor grunted, then leaned closer to the screen. "I can't find anything with that description. Let's focus on the possible location of discovery." She tapped away, clearly already understanding the mythology enough to know where it could have been found. "Right. I got a bunch of hits."
I moved around the table to see what she'd come up with, and watched her type up a note.
Only England and France have swords originating in Norwegian/Swedish region.
"Good. One down, one to go." I stared at the monitor. "What about time-line?"
She nodded. "When did it go missing?" I leaned over and ty
ped in the date Freyr had given us. She raised an eyebrow. "He knew the exact date?"
I shrugged. "Must have been a memorable day. Not every day a guy loses . . . something so important. Who wouldn't remember that day for the rest of their lives?"
The Professor clicked the mouse and waited. As soon as I saw the Louvre come up as the only location with sword artifacts from that time-frame I knew we'd found the right place. Must have been my Volva ability kicking in because deep down I knew we were heading in the right direction.
"Thank you, Professor," I said as I turned to leave." Don't you want the location of the item?"
"Location?"
"Yes," she said before typing 'floor number, hall number, collection name and further details'.
"Oh, yes," I answered with a nonchalance I didn't feel. "I suppose we might need that."
Suri chuckled as the Professor handed her a piece of paper with the details scribbled in blue pen.
We headed for the kitchen where I waited for Suri to call the rest of the team. They trooped into the large room as Professor Wayne entered the kitchen.
"Bryn, I want you to stay as safe as possible. And I'm not blind either, young lady. I can see you are unwell and you're pushing yourself beyond your limits." She watched me sternly. "You must take care of your health."
"Thanks, Professor. I'll try," I said with a wince. I'd almost forgotten the pain I was in, and figured I only felt the agony now that the tension of waiting for the information regarding the sword had faded.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked hurrying to me as I sank into the nearest chair. She felt my forehead and gasped. "That's way too high to be healthy, Bryn. You need a hospital."
I shook my head "Not happening. We have a stop to make first before we get this." I waved the piece of paper.
The Professor set her hands on her hips, and glared at me as if the mere look would make me change mind. When she figured out that it wasn't going to work she clicked her tongue in disgust and took a seat beside me. "You know I think you're crazy, Bryn."
"We all do, Professor," said Joshua as he came to crouch beside me, running the back of his knuckles on my cheek. "Hey, Bee. Can you manage another trip?"