Jasper nervously chewed on a thumbnail as he followed Thor down a dark street behind the W Hotel. Cameron sighed and reminded him, again, that no one would be able to see them, and he should know that since it wasn’t the first time he’d masked him. Jasper nodded slowly and let his hand fall by his side.
“I know, but this is treason, Cameron,” he whispered. “It’s one thing to hide from a bunch of asshole gods, but I’m defying my government. I can’t just pick up and go live in the Otherworld like the rest of you.”
“Technically,” Cameron corrected, “you can. Your fiancée just doesn’t want to.”
“My fiancée is human. The rules are different for them, no matter what world they live in.”
“Are they?” Cameron asked. He tapped Thor’s shoulder and repeated his question.
Thor shrugged that same shoulder at him. “I don’t know. I’ve never hauled a human off to your world.”
“What about Asgard?” Cameron persisted. “Same thing, different name.”
“Never hauled a human off to Asgard either,” Thor replied.
Cameron pressed his lips together as he attempted to pull knowledge from Midir’s memories. Jasper gave him a funny look so Cameron returned it.
“Oisín!” he finally exclaimed.
“Sh!” Jasper hissed.
Cameron waved him off as they passed a group of soldiers who never even looked in their direction. “They can’t hear us. And there’s that whole legend about Oisín going to live with Niamh in the Otherworld. Wait…” Cameron pressed his lips together again and concentrated. “Think the Land of the Young is the same thing as the Otherworld?”
“Cameron,” Jasper groaned, “I really don’t care.”
Nemain appeared beside him and asked, “Are you talking about the Land of the Young? Is this about Oisín and Niamh?”
Cameron nodded and Jasper grunted at him. “Now look what you’ve started.”
“Tragic story,” Nemain persisted.
“I want to hear it,” London said.
“No,” Jasper ordered. “You don’t.”
“Obnoxious asshole,” Cameron reminded him.
“Do we have a Land of the Young?” Cameron asked Nemain.
“Nope. It’s just the Otherworld. Niamh wasn’t a fairy either but a goddess, and Oisín was the demigod she fell in love with.”
“So he was a demigod and not human?” Cameron asked. “Damn. There goes my proof that a human could live in the Otherworld.”
“Don’t see why they couldn’t,” Nemain replied.
“But Midir didn’t really know either of them, did he?” Cameron murmured. “I don’t seem to remember them that well.”
“Niamh was a bit older than Midir,” Nemain explained. “And Findias is a huge place. You were all there at the same time, but you and Étain had each other and that’s all either of you ever wanted.”
“Anybody else see a big hawk on that balcony up there?” London interrupted, pointing to the brown and yellow bird perched on the railing.
“That is one huge bird,” Cameron mumbled.
“Not a bird,” Thor hissed. “It’s Loki.”
“Of course it is,” Cameron sighed.
Mjölnir appeared in Thor’s hand, and the bird flapped its wings but didn’t fly away. It seemed to be taunting the Norse thunder god.
Cameron’s Spear lit up the dark alleyway, and he threw it toward the shapeshifting god but Loki inexplicably disappeared. He gestured toward the now empty balcony and protested, “Nobody’s supposed to be able to avoid my Spear! I’m calling bullshit on your ridiculous trickster god.”
“Cameron!” Nemain scolded. “Whine later. We have to figure out where he went!”
The shrieking of a hawk from behind them made all of the gods spin around as the giant bird sailed toward them with its long talons open. Thor threw his hammer at Loki, but the bird disappeared again and Thor’s hammer hit the side of a building instead, causing the wall to break under its impact. The people inside screamed, and Cameron groaned.
“Great. It’s an apartment building.”
“How is Loki evading us?” London cried.
The enormous hawk appeared behind them again and she threw her spear at it, but just as Cameron and Thor’s weapons missed their targets, so did her spear.
“Because he’s not really here,” Thor growled. “They’re just illusions. He must be around somewhere and one of these hawks will be him, but the others aren’t real. That’s why even Cameron’s Spear proved useless.”
Another hawk dove toward them, making a sound that sounded suspiciously like a cross between a screech and a laugh.
“That… is the most disturbing thing I’ve ever heard,” Cameron said.
Nemain swung her sword as the bird’s expansive wingspan glided above her, but her sword found only air.
Sirens mixed with the rattling of windows and placards on the buildings as local law enforcement and a military convoy approached this seemingly abandoned street of the French Quarter. Cameron glanced up at the hole in the side of the building and sighed. “How are we going to explain that?”
“There’s a six foot hawk attacking us!” London yelled. “Let’s explain that first!”
She twirled around and thrust her spear toward another apparition that vanished as soon as the blade touched its body.
“This is ridiculous,” Nemain protested. “If they’re not real, they can’t hurt us. Why bother?”
“Because one of them will be real and that’s exactly what Loki is waiting for,” Thor replied. “To get us to stop fighting so he can attack us.”
“So let’s offer Jasper as bait,” Cameron suggested. “When one of these hawks grabs him, we’ll know that’s the real Loki.”
Swirling blue and red lights reflected off of the glass in the windows and doors all along the street as the police, followed by the armored vehicles of the National Guard, turned the corner. Another hawk dove toward them just as one of the cops turned on his siren. Cameron threw his Spear toward the bird, which was apparently just another one of Loki’s tricks.
The gods kept themselves hidden so that the only thing others could see was the monstrously huge hawk that somehow kept appearing then disappearing again. A confused voice blasted from a loudspeaker attached to one of the Humvees at the end of the street. “Whoever is responsible for the… eagle?... this city is…”
“Eagle?” Cameron repeated. “Do they seriously think some mutant pet is on the loose in New Orleans?”
Thor shrugged as he watched the hawk circle above them again. “Even if it were somebody’s freakishly huge pet, it’s still a hawk, not an eagle.”
“Yeah, because that’s what we should be arguing with humans about right now,” London retorted.
Cameron nodded seriously as he threw his Spear again. “Like me, Thor appreciates keeping his facts straight.”
His Spear passed through the phantom bird in the sky and returned to his hand. He heard the man’s voice come through the loudspeaker again. “What the…”
He snickered and gestured toward the rows of vehicles, ready to make a smartass comment about remembering to turn off the volume before muttering confused obscenities, but he muttered one himself when he saw the brown and yellow hawk lunging toward one of the soldiers who’d gotten out of his vehicle. This hawk, though, flew much faster than the others and by the time Cameron had prepared his Spear to throw it at the bird he knew must be Loki, its sharp talons had already pierced the soldier’s body and lifted him into the air.
“Son of a bitch!” Thor yelled. His angry outburst blew out the glass from the nearby windows, causing people from within to scream again. The terrified soldiers and police officers that had responded to the initial report of a hole being blown into the side of a building weren’t even sure what to be panicking about anymore: the giant hawk that had just abducted one of their own or the sudden explosion farther down the street.
Thor spun around to face the Guardians, his eyes
frenzied, and yelled, “We have to find him! He’s going to kill that man!”
“None of us can fly!” Nemain yelled back. “How are we supposed to follow him?”
“The Valkyries,” he whispered to himself.
“What the hell is that?” Jasper asked, gesturing toward a bright light at the end of the alleyway ahead of them.
“That,” Thor answered, “is one of my Valkyries.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Jasper mumbled.
“They’re not as friendly as you’d expect spirits to be that roam battlefields selecting which men should die,” Cameron responded smartly.
Gunnr’s form materialized from the bright light, and she immediately bowed her head toward her leader and awaited his directions.
“Loki shifted into a hawk and just abducted a soldier. A young man who’s already badly injured from the talons. He headed east. While Loki needs to be apprehended, that man could die because of our mistake in not killing this evil god in the first place. Make this soldier your first priority.”
Gunnr nodded and flicked her wrist at the two Valkyries beside her. Without ever speaking, two golden streaks lit up the dark sky as they pursued Loki and the man who most likely wouldn’t survive much longer. As soon as her Valkyries were in the air, Gunnr faced Thor again and asked, “And if this soldier is already dead when we find him? Shall we bring you his body or continue our pursuit of Loki?”
Thor glanced at Cameron but sighed, most likely already suspecting that the spirits of humans couldn’t be retrieved from the clutches of death as easily as the spirits of demigods and gods. If Loki had murdered the young man, not even Selena would be able to save him.
“Follow Loki,” Thor answered sadly. “We can at least prevent more needless deaths.”
Gunnr nodded at him again before her own brilliant golden streak illuminated the inky sky. At the end of the street, the same man’s voice tried again. “Um… hello? Anybody around here can tell us what the hell happened to Corporal Landry?”
Cameron rubbed his tired eyes and allowed his Spear to return to Murias. “I’ll go talk to them.”
“Are you kidding me?” London asked. “You’re only going to make things worse. Let me go.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, we’ll all go,” Thor interrupted.
“You know, last time we all confronted the military, it didn’t work out so well,” Cameron pointed out.
“True, but none of the war gods are here,” Thor responded. He stopped walking and looked around him, his bushy red eyebrows pulling together. “Where are Athena and Ares?”
“That’s… odd,” Cameron admitted. “They were with us when we turned down this street. Think they have a weird hawk phobia?”
“This coming from the god who’s terrified of snakes,” London teased.
“That’s not a phobia,” Cameron retorted, “but a completely justified and rational response to being in close proximity with the Devil.”
Only Thor didn’t roll his eyes at him but nodded in complete agreement.
Cameron headed toward the bewildered group of soldiers and cops who were still trying to figure out how to pursue an enormous hawk that had plucked a grown man from the street. The Guardians followed him, peering into shattered windows to try to gauge if anyone inside had been hurt.
They’d made it halfway down the street when one of the soldiers yelled, “It’s coming back!”
Cameron planted his feet on the sidewalk and sighed. “This bastard is really starting to piss me off.”
“You’re about two thousand years behind us,” Thor mumbled.
“Um…” Cameron responded. “Is it just me, or is everyone else seeing like a dozen giant hawks now?”
“Not just you,” London answered helpfully.
“And it’s more like fourteen,” Nemain added just as helpfully.
“I’m torching all of them,” Cameron threatened.
“You’ll burn down the entire French Quarter!” London protested.
“Well, yeah, but I’ll also kill Loki!” Cameron protested back. “Hopefully.”
“You’re not burning down the whole French Quarter,” Athena scolded.
Cameron turned around to blink at her then folded his arms indignantly. “Where the hell have you been while we’ve been fighting fake birds!”
“Where do you think?” Athena answered. “Trying to find Loviatar. If we can just get our hands on her, we can end this outbreak. And what is that giant bird carrying?”
Cameron tilted his face toward the sky again and groaned. “I think that would be the soldier we were hoping to save.”
The cast of hawks swarmed lower to the ground and the largest hawk in the middle, the one carrying a body in its talons, dropped its load over the convoy of soldiers. Cameron’s heart seemed to leap into his throat as he watched helplessly as the lifeless form tumbled toward one of the Humvees. For once, he felt completely and utterly powerless.
He closed his eyes as the man’s body slammed onto the roof of the nearest Humvee. He didn’t have to see the result to know they could do nothing to help him now.
The flapping of wings disturbed the air above him, and Cameron reopened his eyes in time to see the hawks diving toward the soldiers, their talons spread as they prepared to seize another prize from the ground. Thor threw Mjölnir at the same hawk that had been carrying the body, but the birds flew back into the sky, and his hammer missed its mark. That disconcerting sound that crossed the scream of a hawk with the laughter of an insane god echoed around the French Quarter before the entire cast disappeared.
The soldiers and police officers who had fallen to the ground slowly rose and watched the sky warily for the return of the giant, deadly birds. A few gathered around the dead soldier’s body. The man who must have been in charge began pointing, and soldiers responded by setting up blockades and defensive positions along the street as they awaited the return of the impossibly huge hawks.
“He headed south,” Thor said. “Perhaps we should split up in case he returns to this street because he knows those humans are just standing around waiting and if there’s one thing Loki loves, it’s being the center of attention.”
“We’ll stay,” Ares offered. “If he comes back, we’ll get you immediately.”
Thor nodded in acknowledgement but none of the Guardians had a chance to pursue the bird that had murdered a National Guardsman. A bright yellow light from a narrow alleyway between two buildings told them the Valkyries had returned.
“God, I hope they’ve come to tell us they captured Loki,” Cameron sighed.
Thor waved a large hand at them, encouraging the Guardians to follow him into the alleyway where Gunnr awaited them. She immediately addressed Thor in what Cameron assumed was old Norse, but he held up a hand and stopped her. “These are my friends and allies, Gunnr. No matter what news you have, you will speak English for them.”
“Dude,” Cameron whispered, “can one of your own Valkyries smite you? If so, I’m totally cool with you translating for us.”
“Cameron,” Thor replied, “the Valkyries are nothing for you to fear. Their concern is only for one world, and it’s neither that you live in.”
“Yet they’re here,” Cameron pointed out. “Helping you look for a god who isn’t dead.”
Gunnr blinked at him then turned her attention back to Thor. “I’ve sent the rest of the Valkyries after Loki. Once he left the French Quarter, he just disappeared. I don’t think he’s in New Orleans anymore.”
“Loviatar,” Nemain breathed. “I can sense her.”
“Loki knew we were close to catching his evil ass and dumped her,” Cameron said. “Which means…”
Loviatar, the Finnish goddess who had brought smallpox back to the world, appeared before the group of gods and Jasper, and Cameron grabbed her arm and pushed her against the side of the building.
“End this outbreak,” he demanded.
Loviatar laughed and her dark brown eyes seemed to darken even more.
“Or what?”
A fire began to smolder at her feet and Cameron hissed, “Or I’ll treat you like the witch you are.”
Loviatar swallowed and her nostrils flared, but her expression promised Cameron she had no intention of backing down. “Are you in the habit of burning witches?”
Nemain snickered and lifted her sword. “Awfully cocky for a goddess who’s about to be burned alive slowly. Unless I get impatient and start stabbing you with my sword.”
“Oh, can I play, too?” London asked. “Spears are perfect for those stabby moods.”
Thor held up his hammer and gave it a pretend-disgusted look. “Damn. I can’t stab anything with this.”
“No, but it’s probably great for crushing bones,” Cameron said.
Thor nodded seriously. “And you should know considering what you did to my shoulder with it.”
Cameron shrugged but kept his attention on the Finnish goddess who refused to end the outbreak in the Crescent City. “And just think: all that damage was inflicted by a demigod. Imagine what you can do to her with that hammer.”
Loviatar raised her chin higher in defiance of the gods attempting to intimidate her. And she obviously knew Cameron didn’t really want to watch anyone being tortured, even her.
His fire crept up Loviatar’s legs, and she grimaced but still wouldn’t relent. He didn’t really want to watch her burn alive slowly, especially since he had no way of knowing if her death alone could end the outbreak, so he did the only other thing he could think of.
“I’m here again?” Ukko complained but his voice trailed off as he noticed the goddess that Cameron kept pressed against the building.
“You bitch!” Ukko hissed.
“Ukko,” Loviatar croaked, her eyes finally registering the complete fear the Guardians had been unable to evoke. “It’s not…”
“Don’t worry, Cameron,” Ukko said, his voice chillingly flat. “I’ll take care of this.”
The Finnish thunder god reached over Cameron’s fire and grabbed Loviatar’s other arm then they both disappeared, leaving the alliance of gods and the single demigod alone and bewildered in a city still under siege.
Chapter Seven
The Battle Cry (The Guardians of Tara Book 2) Page 6