“Understood.”
Chapter 9
~ Finn ~
“Finn. Nine o’clock.” Darren nods his head, showing me our next target. Two of Bjarne’s men lurking in the shadows of the trees. As snow covers the ground, the imbeciles seem to have forgotten dark clothing makes you stand out like a sore thumb. Fucking idiots should just have a target sign on their backs.
“Looks like they have a death wish today.” I joke as I adjust my scope. “Time to send a message to Bjarne.”
Since I arrived in Alta twenty-four hours ago, it’s been a complete shit show. Three men attacked Liam’s safe house the morning we arrived, and those same three men are now knocking on the doors of Valhalla, waiting to get inside and feast with the gods.
Fat chance that is going to happen. I inscribed ancient symbols on their skin, marking them as traitors to their kind, and they will be banned from ever drinking beside their brothers and sisters, enjoying the afterlife. Their souls will rot until they fade away from existence.
It may sound harsh, but if you knew what these men are capable of and the countless lives they have taken for sport, you wouldn’t think twice about what we did.
“That or they are just fucking with us to lure us away from Stephanie. Shit doesn’t feel right.” Darren quips. One thing is for sure, this entire thing is odd. Why send us to Colorado for a funeral and give us false leads? Then lure us out to a mountain to pick off your goons who are pretending to cause problems? But that doesn’t matter at this moment. Right now, I have my orders from Hrothgier and need to clear the mountain.
A few more clicks and my sights are set. Snow litters the ground as I lay on my stomach with my sniper rifle. So far, we have killed twelve men, and the sun has barely begun to rise.
The beast inside me roars to life at the thought of Stephanie in danger, but there is nothing I can do about it. Normally, I would feed off the deaths of my enemies and hunt for my next kill, but something has changed. The image of a brunette with sapphire eyes flashes through my mind, and the beast stands down. We are no longer hunting for the thrill of it. We are protecting our home and the woman who captured our heart so long ago.
“No fucking shit. But what better way to make an example of these fuckers than to pop them off one by one. Bjarne’s men are untrained and callus. Murderers, rapists, and convicts, looking for a job, living to cause harm to others. No one will blink an eye at their deaths.”
Daren mutters something under his breath and shifts his weight to get a better look. “You going to tell me what is up your ass? Since we got here, you have been worse than normal. What gives?”
Darren and I are perched on a cliff, scoping out the mountainside for any sign of movement, while Ian and Dimitri keep to the trees. Hidden from sight, they walk amongst the branches, attacking from above. I swear they’re part monkey. They’re light on their feet, and you never see them coming.
Shifting my weight, I move my elbow a fraction of an inch when I see movement in the trees. “Mind your own damn business.” I snap, not wanting to have this conversation with him right now. “Target, five o’clock.”
“Don’t let him get to you, Darren. He is just pissy that Hrothgier made sure to point out that the heir was off limits.” Ian’s voice filters through our coms, making me wish I never told them shit this morning.
When I arrived in Hrothgier earlier this morning, our leaders made sure to point out that the heir is off limits to all warriors and is to be brought here immediately. For as long as I can remember, the Warriors are never to settle down, but we are granted permission to fuck as we please. A woman would distract us from the task at hand and could be used as a weakness against us.
Eira is furious that we are going to show Steph around Norway and divert Bjarne off our trail, but she understands our reasoning. She has her hands full with our leaders, who are having a fit over what’s going on, so she is glad to have us take over. Kari, Steph’s cousin, is finally on the mend after we found her locked away in a shed with Asbjørn’s men surrounding her. After a few shots to the head, and torturing another to get information, we were able to find out where Asbjørn is hiding. Finally.
“Shut it, Ghost.” Using Ian’s code name is sure to shut that fucker’s trap.
A voice echoes in the coms, and I hear a few muttered curses before Ian responds. “You have spent your entire life fighting to be the warrior she needs. You were fucking thirteen at the time. You can go to war and kill without a second thought. But hell, confronting the girl who you vowed to take as your own one day, you pussy out.”
“He’s got a point.” Dimitri retorts on the coms. He lets me know the raiding party on the east side has been dealt with, and there are only a few men left.
Shaking my head, my knuckles turn white with how hard I am gripping my sniper.
“I heard you bought special wood for her. Why are you doing this? You are willing to break everything you stand for, for her. She is just a woman, like all the others. Why is she so special to you?”
The one question I can’t answer. Liam and Etienne know about my past, but the others are left in the dark. They can never know how the little girl, with sapphire eyes, softened the heart of a man born to kill. I made my first kill at five years old when the Hrothgier took me in. They told me I was chosen by the gods to rid the evil of this world and protect our way of life. My mother and father were heads of the council, but when everything happened, I vowed to make them proud.
My jaw ticks at Darren’s comment regarding Stephanie. He has no idea what the fuck he is talking about and is trying to fuck with my head. Grinding my teeth, I keep my mouth shut, not wanting to kill one of my own today.
“Shut your fucking mouth. You know nothing about her.” I say, never taking my eyes off the task at hand.
“So, the rumors are true. Our little brother does have a heart. And here I thought you were Satan’s goon sent here to corrupt us all.” Darren says with enough sarcasm to choke a horse.
Moving my hand away from the trigger, I smack him on the back of the head. A loud umph escapes his lips as he curses me out under his breath.
“As much as I would love to talk about my affiliation with Satan, you need to keep your fucking mouth shut. Only the Brotherhood knows my true nature, and the one we are willing to sacrifice everything for. But I am willing to put aside my oath and beat the ever-loving-fuck out of you.”
Movement catches my eye as one of Bjarne’s men emerges from the trees. He carries a gun strapped to his back as he walks lazily amongst the trees. Another goon whose time is up. Pressing my finger on the trigger, blood splatters on the snow, signaling he is no longer with us.
“Damn. You haven't even fucked her, and you’re whipped like a dog.”
“Watch it.”
From the corner of my eye, I see a ghost of a smile on Darren’s face. He shakes his head, knowing he is one hundred percent right. How can a woman I barely know, own my heart and soul?
After the incident so long ago, she said something to me I will never forget. “Odin only blesses the true of heart. You call yourself a monster, but you are a man fighting the demons that trick the mind into a false reality. Fight the monster that hurt you. Don’t become like the man who took my mother from me.” She spoke those words to me when she was six years old. When no one else was around, I was the only one she would talk to. How the fuck does a six-year-old know this shit?
“Finn-”
“I am done talking about this. Iyrik is at the cabin with Liam making last-minute preparations for her arrival. No one will fuck with Liam at my cabin. I made sure to take every precaution to make sure Bjarne’s men wouldn’t be able to track her.”
After Liam’s safe house was hit, I moved our base of operations to my home. If she is going to be safe anywhere, it would be at my place. Liam would put it off as a family home, yada yada, more bullshit, while I stayed with my brothers, not too far away.
“And how did you do that? Adjust ten degrees south an
d five degrees southwest.” Darren instructs.
“Don’t rile the beast, Marvel. Let him blow off steam before she gets here.” Dimitri orders, stopping what Darren was about to say.
“Liam said-”
Snapping my attention back to Darren, he drops the scope and faces me. “Enough already! Do as you are fucking told or get the hell away from me. I am done being on trial.” I grab his shoulder and slam his body into position. Fucking nosey ass piece of shit.
For the next several hours, we will be positioned on the mountain’s ledge as we continue to pick off Bjarne’s goons, one by one. With Stephanie’s arrival, things are about to get a hell of a lot more complicated. She will be surrounded at all times, with our men in the shadows. Some may say I am crazy for being madly in love with a woman I hardly know, but sometimes, you just know.
“There,” Darren whispers as one of them emerges from the tree line. Taking a deep breath to steady my movements, my finger pulls the trigger. I may sound like a sick fuck, but as we continue to eliminate them, my mind starts to hum Another One Bites the Dust.
As his body hit the ground, Ian leaps from the trees and covers his tracks. Like before, it looks as if nothing has ever happened.
“Nice shot,” Darren comments.
My eyes don’t leave their spot until Ian is out of sight. I have two hours until I need to head back to Liam’s place to get things in order. Stephanie’s family has already been notified of her arrival but knows it will take time before we can arrange a meeting. For the next five weeks, we will be traveling all around Norway, and showing her what this place has to offer. Blackhawk gave me a list a mile long of the things she has always dreamt of doing, and I plan to make every single item on that list come true.
“Yeah? Uh huh, no, he is right here. One sec.” Darren taps me on the shoulder and slides the phone between my shoulder and head, allowing me to keep my eyes on the task at hand.
“It’s here,” Liam says on the other end of the phone.
“It wasn’t supposed to arrive until tonight.”
“Don’t know what to tell you. But get your ass over here and get this shit done. We have twenty-four hours until they get here. If you want to get this done in time, I suggest you leave our brothers to it.” Liam barks and hangs up the phone.
“Everything alright, Finn?”
I grumble something under my breath and pack up my girl. Next time, we will finish what we started.
“Well, would you look at that.” Liam leans against the side of the door and admires my work. “She is going to love it.”
“It’s a replica of the one she had when she was little. Etienne told me about the furball, so I figured what the hell.” I shrug as I put the final touches on Stephanie’s gift.
“I don’t know what Stephanie has done to you, but you better be damn sure she is the one. She is my only niece, and if you fuck her over, no one will stop me from ripping you limb from limb. The Blood Eagle will be a gift compared to what I will do to you.” Liam says as he pushes off the door and walks out of sight.
Shaking my head at Liam’s half-assed attempt to scare me, I carve out the final touches. The symbol of the Nils family crest is carved on the highest peak for everyone to see. It took me over twenty hours to get this thing done, and we only have a few hours until she arrives. Smoothing over the final touches, I put a special symbol inside, hoping one day she will see it, and she will remember.
“You won’t need to worry about that. Steph is the light that holds the darkness at bay when the nights get rough. For years, I sought revenge for what happened, but the moment I held her in my arms that night, she changed all that. My life will never be whole until she is in my arms again. A Viking is not a man or true warrior without his woman by his side. She will either be my greatest blessing from Odin, or she’ll be my downfall.”
Liam pokes his head back into the room and smirks at me. “If I did not think you were worthy enough for her, I would have killed you myself for even thinking about going against the order. But I must warn you, if you insult Xena or cause any harm to her cat, Luna. You are a dead man.”
Insult who? Placing my tools in my tool belt, I turn to look at Liam. “Who the fuck is Xena?”
“Oh, and another thing, I am not the one you need to worry about. Blackhawk loves her like a sister. If I see his trademark symbol anywhere near you, I won’t stop him.”
“He already warned me. I got his message, loud and clear.”
Blackhawk has nothing to worry about when it comes to Stephanie. He reminded me the other night just what he would do to me. That man could make anyone cower in his presence. But what did this Xena person have to do with anything? “Who the fuck is Xena?”
“And here I thought this trip was going to be a bore. You are such a dead man.” Liam’s laughter echoes through the halls, as I pull out my phone, trying to figure out who the hell this Xena was. Was she her best friend? I have never heard her talk about her before.
As results from my search pop up on my phone, a wicked idea pops into my head. Looks like I have one last thing to do before she arrives.
Chapter 10
~ Stephanie ~
“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. The world awaits.”
Keeping my eyes shut, I bury my head under the covers and refuse to move. Two in the morning is way too damn early to be getting up. Not to mention, we have twenty-three hours of travel time ahead of us. Fuck a Goddamn duck.
The smell of coffee fills my room, causing my stomach to growl in approval. Ah, poison for my soul. It calls to me.
A small white paw starts to wiggle under the covers, making it impossible not to laugh. I lift the covers up slightly and am met with a tiny kitten nose and white whiskers, who has a look that said, ‘feed me human.’
Her soft purrs rumble her chest as she nudges my head. Her fur is incredibly soft as I rub her back, only to get swatted on my nose as Luna bolts off the bed. “You better run!”
“Meow.”
Chuckling to myself, I throw my covers off and make my way to the kitchen. I hear Etienne singing Camera Eye and belting the words off key. But hey, who am I to judge, I cannot carry a tune to save my life.
As I round the corner, I see him shaking what his momma gave him. To provide you with a mental image of what I am seeing, imagine Carleton from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air dancing his happy dance, and that is Etienne.
Laughing at Etienne’s ridiculousness, the smell of crispy bacon, waffles, and fried chicken invades my senses, causing my mouth to water. Making my way to the fridge, I notice a little furball on top of it, looking like she is ready to pounce at any minute.
“If you continue to cook like that, we may need to marry. Because that smells bomb.” I say as I grab a bottle of creamer and sugar for my coffee.
“Oh, please. I could never marry someone who detests Superman as much as you. Besides, you couldn’t handle me.” Etienne says over his shoulder, while he turns the bacon over.
“I would marry you to be my cooking slave. That’s all. You can find someone else to satisfy your other needs. I just want the food.” Pushing up on my tippy toes, I kiss Etienne on the cheek and go to pour myself a cup of coffee.
House blend, vanilla creamer, with a breakfast fit for a queen. Damn.
“So why are you so chipper this morning?” I say after sipping my poison and getting the table ready for us to eat.
“Been up all night making sure everything was ready for our trip. Had to finalize a few things before we meet up with your grandmother, Eira, and the rest of your family. I figured a few weeks of traveling around Norway would help loosen you up before you meet them.” Etienne says as he carries two plates full of food.
As my plate hits the table, I dive in. Normally at two in the morning, I would be a zombie bitch from hell, hell-bent on biting anyone who tries to talk to me. But this is the trip of a lifetime. The night Liam told me all about my father and mother, he told me my father arranged to have Etienne and Liam g
ive me a private tour of Norway. Everything was bought and paid for; I just needed to pack my bags and get to the airport. This was his last gift to me. Freedom from my chains and a chance to be me.
You remember that thing about waiting two weeks. It was all a sham. The lawyer never had my fathers will. Liam was the executor of my father’s possessions and assets until I completed whatever it was that he needed me to do. I opened my father’s letter last night and the few sentences it held meant the world to me.
Enjoy the trip of my lifetime, Stephanie. You give so much for others; it is time to be selfish and take care of you for once. I love you always, Dad.
“Etienne?”
“Yeah.” He replies with his mouth full of food.
“Thank you.”
Little did I know, Etienne was behind this entire thing and never mentioned a word to me about it before. He tricked me into thinking Finn was going to be at the bar, so I could meet Liam and get the surprise of a lifetime. I have been scolding Etienne ever since and told him to get crotch rot for messing with me. But I understand why he did it.
So not only is my mind racing at the thought of what we are going to do in Norway, but the anticipation that maybe I might run into Finn is killing me.
“Oh, I also forgot to mention. I went ahead and bought you a few new outfits for our trip. Where we are going, you will need clothes that are a lot thicker than what we have in Denver.”
“Since when do you know my size?” I reply, somewhat creeped out that we are that close, and it doesn’t bother us one bit.
“Since you had a Bloody Mary all over my floor and I needed to run to the store and get you some clothes.”
“You are never going to let me live that down, are you?”
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