Shield Maiden (The Lone Valkyrie Book 1)

by Charley Case

  “How many siblings do you have?” Mila asked, not really knowing what to do until Howard fixed the phone but make small talk.

  “Thirteen. Eight brothers and five sisters.” He glanced at her and laughed at the open-mouthed stare she was giving him. “My family was very Catholic. No condoms equals lots of babies, plus we were on a farm. My dad always said it was natural to grow crops and livestock, so why not grow your own workforce as well?” He laughed again. “Man, he was a character. He kept complaining that he had to add on to the house every two years because it smelled too much like a barn for people, but he and mom just kept pushing out a new one every year or so.”

  “That’s insane.” Mila was gobsmacked.

  “What’s insane is my youngest sister is twenty-seven, and my parents aren’t even sixty yet. My dad just turned fifty-nine, and my mom is only fifty-eight. They were married and having their first kid while my mom was only eighteen.” He chuckled. “I can't even imagine having kids that young.”

  “Speaking of full houses,” Mila said, looking around the cramped condo, “what are we going to do with a whole town full of people?”

  Most of the people had sat down in small groups, leaning against the walls or lying on the wood floor, still exhausted from the fight and flight. Mila noticed Remmy for the first time, one of the goblins who lived on the second floor, walking among the Elk Riverites with a cloth shopping bag dragging behind her from which she was passing out waters and packages of oyster crackers.

  Her green hoodie was up, but her confusingly slim but stocky figure let everyone know she wasn't one of the “normal” races that could walk freely among the Peabrains. She never bothered with concealment spells to hide her greenish skin and sharp features. Instead, she reveled in her goblin-ness and prowess as the top warrior in her tribe, which was evident by her full body tattoo.

  Remmy saw her looking her way and gave an over the top wave and smile. Mila smiled and waved back. She liked the little goblin, even if she tended to be naked a lot. Like, a lot—in the hallway, in the lobby, when she would come over for some random ingredient while baking, and even once when she just stopped by for a chat. When Mila had asked her why she was always naked, she said, “How else are you supposed to see my tattoos?” then flexed and stuck a power pose. Mila still burst out laughing at the most random times, thinking about that.

  Carl brought her back to their conversation. “Preston has temporary housing on the manor grounds. He sent transportation that should be arriving within half an hour to get everyone there.”

  “He has housing set aside for refugees?”

  “You’d be surprised how many times we have to evacuate an area when dealing with a threat. Most evildoers don't care about collateral damage.”

  “Boy, do I know about that,” Mila said, thinking back to all the shit Hermin and Garret had to clean up in her and Finn's wake.

  Howard moved through the crowd toward them, extending his arm, the repaired phone in his palm. “Here you are. Good as new.”

  “Thank you!” Mila turned the phone over in her hands a few times before hitting the power button.

  The screen lit up and she entered her code, unlocking the phone.

  “Excuse me, gentlemen,” she said, heading for the door and stepping out into the lobby.

  She quickly pulled up Victoria’s number and hit send. The phone rang several times before the sultry voice of Victoria answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Victoria, it’s Mila.”

  “Yes, I know. I’m on a conference call with the Tokyo office. Can I call you back?” She sounded slightly irritated.

  Mila frowned. “No, Victoria. It can't wait.” She was pissed. “I know you think of me as a kid, and I can understand that mentality to a degree, but you need to listen to me.”

  There was a sigh on the other end of the line, which pissed Mila off even more.

  “Okay, Mila. What is it you need to say?”

  “Heather is dead,” Mila started, but Victoria cut her off, obviously wanting to get back to her conference call.

  “We already know that, dear. We spoke about it when you dragged me all the way up to Idaho and showed me an empty cave. I said—”

  “Will you shut the fuck up and listen to me?” Mila growled, cutting her off.

  Victoria cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. Please continue.”

  “As I was saying, Heather is dead, and not as in her body was slain. I mean she is dead for real. Her soul was consumed right from her body. Then her body was turned to dust.”

  There was silence on the other line for a few beats. When Victoria spoke again, she used a cautious tone. “You must be mistaken. There are very few creatures who could do that to a Valkyrie.”

  “I know what a soul looks like, Victoria. You watched me cleanse the Dark Star’s yourself. It was eaten. I was there, and I saw the whole thing happen, not ten feet away from me.”

  Now her voice was concerned, the power CEO persona she had been in falling away. “What did this?”

  “I spoke with her before she was killed. She told me to tell you that the Drude had returned,” Mila said, thinking she got the name right. “Seline referred to him as Lord Azoth.”

  Mila could hear Victoria swallow hard. “That…that’s not possible. I killed him myself,” she whispered.

  “Evidently, you didn't. Heather said he had gone into a deep slumber, but now he’s awakening and consuming the souls of magicals to regain his powers. He’s the one who killed her.” Mila swallowed a lump in her throat as she remembered the power he possessed and just how close to death she had come. “He’s weak, but still too strong for me to fight on my own.”

  “No!” she shouted, then lowered her voice. “No, do not try to fight that monster. I’ll get the sisterhood together and go after him right now. We need to attack while he’s still weak.”

  “Who is he?” Mila asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

  “He was the assassin who followed us when we took passage on Earth. He was instructed to steal the Reaper and return it to his master. Many sisters perished during the battle to put him down. He is the antithesis of celestial magic since he is from a race of infernal magic users. Our magics cancel one another out.”

  “That explains why it was so hard to fight his disciple. She was using some black and purple magic that I had never seen before that ate through my shield like acid.”

  “Where is Azoth now?” Mila could hear Victoria’s heels clacking along as she started running.

  “There’s a sawmill five miles north of Elk River. That’s where they’re based, either that or the cave I took you to.”

  “Okay. I can get the exact location from your phone.” Her breathing became more labored as she continued to run. “Good work, little sister. I should have listened to you from the start. Your part is done, now let the sisterhood take care of the rest.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Mila, Danica, and Penny collapsed onto the big L-shaped couch in their living room, exhausted and hungry.

  “You want pizza?” Danica asked, pulling her phone out and turning it on. “I’m ordering pizza.”

  “Chi,” Penny said, a smoke ring floating up from where she had curled into a ball on the back cushion of the couch.

  “Agreed. Pizza sounds good,” Mila mumbled, looking at the door on the far side of the condo. “If we pay them extra, do you think they’ll deliver it to the coffee table? The door is so fucking far away.”

  “Wow, that is a whole new level of laziness.” Danica chuckled, lifting the phone to her ear while it rang.

  Unzipping her corset holster, Mila tossed it onto the cushion beside her before unlacing her hiking boots. With great effort, she was finally able to pull them off her feet. Evidently, traipsing through the woods all day and fighting Rougarou was pretty tiring. Who knew?

  She dropped the boots beside the couch instead of putting them away, which really spoke to how tired she was. She couldn't st
and to have the house a mess, to the point that she described herself as a neat-freak, but she couldn't even muster the motivation to walk the boots to the shoe rack beside the front door.

  Her socks got the same treatment, being dropped on top of the boots in two wadded up balls.

  Putting her bare feet on the coffee table, she splayed and flexed her toes, reveling in the freedom of movement. She felt bad that she was able to relax, knowing that Carl and his team were heading back up there in a few hours when two more teams would be ready to go with them. At least this time, they would be fully prepared.

  The transfer of the townsfolk went off without a hitch. The buses arrived within twenty minutes and had everyone loaded up ten minutes later. Harvey had thanked her and Danica profusely for saving his people before being ushered onto the bus by Tina, who had seen how tired they were and taken pity on Mila and Danica, steering the still-talking man away.

  Carl had given her his card and said to call him directly if she ever needed fire support in the future. He said he would do his best to get the team there, even if Preston had other plans for them.

  Then everyone was gone, and exhaustion caught up with them like a punch to the face. It was all they could do to get to the couch, and now that she was there, Mila had no plans to move until the pizza arrived.

  Danica hung up, dropping the phone onto the couch beside her and letting her head flop back. “Thirty to forty minutes. I got three large pizzas. Pineapple on one for you and Penny.”

  “Thanks,” Mila mumbled, falling asleep where she reclined. “Why did you get three?”

  “Finn,” Danica said, explaining everything.

  “You know he won’t be back tonight,” Mila argued. “There is no way in hell he found Montezuma’s gold in one day of searching, and we both know he’ll keep looking until he finds it.”

  “Hey. I made a bet, and I intend to honor it,” Danica countered. “My part in that bet is believing he will be home any minute, and we all know he can eat a large pie on his own. He’s going to be extra-hungry after hauling all that treasure home.”

  “Har, har,” Mila said, sarcastically. “He’s probably having the best tacos of his life in a street-side cafe right now.”

  Penny raised her head and looked at the door, then started chuckling. Turning to Mila, she smiled.

  Mila narrowed her eyes. “What—”

  The door burst open, slamming into the doorstop and rebounding closed again.

  “Motherfucker!” Finn roared, pushing the door open again and stumbling in.

  Mila and Danica both leaped to their feet, eyes wide. Taking in his state, they both stifled laughs. It was so bad that Mila had to clamp her hands over her mouth to not burst into hysterics.

  Finn narrowed his eyes and stared them both down. “What’s so funny?”

  Tears were running down Mila's cheeks as she held it in. She pointed at his shirt. “Are...are you wearing a crop top?”

  Danica couldn't take it and burst into wailing laughter, pointing at his pants, or what was left of them. “And Daisy Dukes?”

  Finn frowned and looked down at himself, then turned to the floor-to-ceiling mirror behind the small bench they stored shoes under and looked at himself for what was obvious to Mila was the first time since he had left the condo that morning.

  His frown turned into a grudging smile. “I suppose I am.”

  That was all it took for Mila to lose it. She fell onto the couch in uncontrollable laughter.

  Even Penny was laughing, sending spouts of fire into the air.

  Finn lost his smile as the laughter went on for quite a bit longer than he thought necessary.

  He loudly proclaimed over the laughs, “I’m going to take a shower. I have this here bag of treasure that I’m going to put beside my door. It would be a shame if a dragon were to steal it for their hoard.” He then grumbled something, but Mila couldn't hear what it was.

  He stalked down the hall toward them, the frown on his face making his dirty beard puff out. The sight sent Mila into another round of laughter, but when he got close, she sucked in a breath and nearly vomited from the smell.

  “Oh, my God.” She swallowed the rising lump in her throat. “Is that shit all over your legs?”

  Danica suddenly stopped laughing and started gagging.

  “Raw sewage, actually, so probably more than just shit.” Finn smiled sadistically as he stopped beside the couch and let them take in the stench.

  “For the love of God, babe! Please go get in the shower. I’ll bring a trash bag to throw those things into,” Mila begged, backing away from him.

  He chuckled. “Good call. I don't think I can pull this look off anyway.”

  Mila saw the backpack for the first time. “No. Fucking. Way. You found it?”

  He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “I told you it would be easy.” He gave her a brilliant smile and continued across the mats, his boots leaving what Mila decided she would think of as muddy prints.

  Carefully slipping one arm out of the backpack, Finn gently lowered it to the floor. Even though he was being careful, the room still shook when he let go of the bag. There was an audible groan of wood as the obviously heavy bag settled. Satisfied the bag was not going to fall over, he opened the door to their room and went in, closing it behind him.

  Mila looked at Danica with wide eyes. “I can't believe he actually did it.”

  “Looks like someone owes Finn a ride on Death Machine,” Danica said, winking and giving Mila finger guns.

  “Why did he have to name his motorcycle ‘Death Machine?’” she muttered.

  “Because he’s hilarious. Especially when he doesn't mean to be.”

  Mila snorted. “That’s true.” She looked at the “mud” stains. And sighed. Not putting shoes away she could do, but leaving that mess to dry was out of the question. “I’ll go get the mop.”

  “You might want to get some bleach too,” Danica suggested with a frown.

  “Oh, yeah. For sure, going to use some bleach on that.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  After cleaning up the mess Finn had inadvertently tracked through the house, Mila went and got a plastic trash bag from under the sink and headed for her and Finn's room.

  Danica stepped out of her room and nearly ran into Mila.

  “Oh, hey. I just got off the phone with Phil,” Danica said, leaning on her doorframe. “We’re heading over to the Refinery for some drinks and karaoke later tonight. You and Finn want to come?”

  “Uh, I’m pretty tired. When are you thinking of going?”

  “Yeah, I’m pretty tired too, but I haven't seen him in a few days. I said I needed to shower and take a nap first, so we’re meeting at ten.”

  Mila pulled her phone out and checked the time—6:52 pm. “Holy hell. How is it only seven? I feel like we’ve been up for days.”

  Danica smiled. “What can I say? We can take out supervillains and be home by dinner. We’re just that good.”

  Mila laughed and hugged her friend. “I love you. You’re such an idiot. How can I say no to karaoke with you?”

  “I’m guessing you can't?” she said hopefully.

  “We’re in. But,” Mila held up a finger and raised her brows in mock seriousness, “we have to sing We are the Champions.”

  Danica snorted a laugh. “Now who’s the idiot? Of course we were going to sing that. At this point, it’s our song. Duh.”

  “Okay, get in there and get a shower. Don't want to see Phil smelling like wet dog, do you?” Mila said, skipping away.

  She stuck her tongue out at Danica from over her shoulder, but it turned to a scream when she saw that Danica had rushed up on her. The elf slapped her ass, sending a shock up Mila's spine.

  “That’s rich, coming from someone who smells like wet dog and raw sewage.” Danica pinched her nose and waved away the stink while making a sour face.

  “Okay, okay. I see how it is,” Mila said in a cocky voice as she backed away, a hand rubbing he
r sore ass. “You better watch your back, Meadows. I gotta revenge slap locked and loaded.”

  Danica crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. “Please. I have an ass made of rock. You would break your little hand on it before I felt a thing.”

  Mila backed to the corner and turned to cross the dojo, keeping narrowed eyes on Danica the whole time. Just before she backed all the way around the corner, she held two fingers in a V, pointing at her eyes, then at Danica.

  “I know where you sleep, Meadows.”

  Danica laughed before disappearing into her room. “You really do need a shower, by the way. I wasn't joking,” she called from her room.

  Mila sniffed her armpit and had to agree.

  She saw Penny, her hands clasped behind her back and a worried look on her face, inspecting the backpack sitting between their room’s doors.

  “What’s wrong?” Mila asked, squatting beside the obviously troubled dragon.

  Penny stopped pacing and stared at the bag. “Shir. Chi chi, shee.”

  Mila's brows rose. “I don't think it was too much to ask. Finn was eager to help you, and you know how much he likes doing this kind of stuff.”

  Penny nodded and smacked the side of the full backpack, making a clinking sound. “Chi shee?”

  “I don't know, a couple hundred pounds?” Mila guessed.

  “Squee.”

  Mila frowned, looking from Penny to the pack. “That can't be right. How the fuck is he supposed to be able to carry an actual ton of gold? That’s ridiculous.”

  Penny explained and Mila listened, fascinated by the hidden abilities of dwarves. Then Penny explained the problem, and Mila understood her concerns.

  Mila reached out and took the small dragon’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’ll talk to him about it. Don't worry, between the two of us, we can keep him in line.”

  Penny pursed her lips and raised an eye ridge at the comment, making Mila snort a laugh.