by Ayer, T. G.
A blue sky hung overhead while a happy, bright sun scorched the top of my skull. An old farmhouse rose in the distance, but I was completely alone. Not even the bark of a dog in the distance to confirm signs of life.
My heart thumped as a sudden breeze threw strands of my hair against my face. I thrust it away impatiently as I concentrated and tried to access the Bifrost again. I'd arrived right here, so surely the entrance was somewhere nearby. But nothing worked. The Bridge remained closed to me. And fear crept slowly up my throat.
I glanced around frantically. A line of trees edged the field on three sides, while the third led up to the house in the distance. The place felt abandoned, and I felt alone and afraid.
A large shadow crossed the field, closing in on me, gathering speed as it came. I scanned the sky and cried out in shock as a gigantic, black falcon flew straight toward me, yellowed claws outspread, ready to skewer me.
Instead, the bird landed close by and strutted toward me, staring at me with its beady, black eyes. My knees began to melt but I forced myself to remain upright. I needed some kind of upper hand with this bird, but what kind of upper hand succeeds with a bird as large as a two-story building?
"Well met, Valkyrie Brynhildr," the bird said, its voice so clear and so familiar I wanted to strangle it.
"Loki?" A shudder of rage ran through me and I wanted to scream until I was hoarse.
Loki laughed, the sound a strange blend of his enigmatic laughter and a falcon’s call.
"What do you want?" I asked, my hostile tone palpable.
"Always straight to the point aren't you, Bryn? That's why I like you so much."
"I don't particularly care whether you like me or not. Where am I? Where have you brought me?"
"Oh, don't worry, my dear, you are safe enough."
"Stop messing around and just tell me what you want." I demanded.
"Very well, my dear Valkyrie." Loki sighed and scratched in the sand with his talons. "I have a proposition for you."
"Do tell." I folded my arms and stood with my back rigid, my jaw tight.
"Well, since you want your friend Brody back so badly, I'd like to make you an offer. You can have Brody back, but I want an exchange."
"Who do you want in return?"
"You, of course dear, Bryn." A smile lurked in the voice for the bird.
I frowned at the creature, still trying to get used to the fact that I was having a conversation with a giant falcon. "What do you really want, Loki? What do you want with me? Is it to use me again for your freakish experiments? Or do you just want me out of the way?" It was hard to read Loki’s expression while he remained in the bird form.
"And why would I want to get you out of the way? You are such a fun opponent." Loki tilted his feathery head. He evaded the question, which told me there was probably a hint of truth in my words. Was I a hindrance to his cause? Well, I think I like being a problem for Loki. And I didn’t believe a word he said anyway. He had no intention of returning Brody to us.
"No," I said, shaking my head.
"What did you say?" The falcon took a step toward me and the hairs on the back of my neck rose at the proximity of the gigantic, yellow beak to my face.
"I said no, Loki. No deal. Go to Hel." I yelled to make sure he heard me well enough.
Loki flapped his great black wings and surged into the air, screeching his anger. In the distance, a flock of birds rose into the sky and flew off. I ducked down, afraid he'd try to grab me by the hair but he rose higher into the sky and circled me.
I didn't trust him and should have been more careful. After circling me one last time, Loki flew straight at me, so fast I couldn’t duck. He aimed a vicious claw my face and screeched loudly as he turned away and flew up high into the sky.
And then he disappeared.
I blinked. The claw that had grazed my skin had come way too close for comfort. Any closer and he would have ripped my jaw off.
I touched my face and my fingers came away bloody.
Boy, was I tired of being injured.
***
Loki must have blocked my access to the Bifrost because once he'd disappeared, I managed to find the entrance to the bridge fairly quickly. It still boggled my mind that the Bifrost had entrances and exits in the oddest places on Midgard.
This time, it deposited me in the smelly alley with the dented blue dumpster. I hurried the few blocks to number Forty Wall Street. I used my keycard to get past security and up the private elevator to the main foyer of the New York Headquarters and I heaved a sigh of relief. There was no busty Betty around, so I saw myself inside. I stopped at the nearest table asked an einherjar where Aidan was. I followed the pointed finger to the smaller of the two plush meeting rooms at the opposite end of the floor and found Aidan hunched over the computer. Another einherjar sat at the table behind him, studying screeds of paper printouts. I was glad to see him, glad to know someone had kept Aidan company, but also glad to know that someone was around to make sure Aidan didn’t run out on us.
"Hey," I said, pulling up a high stool.
"Hi," Aidan replied a little absently. He hadn’t even looked at me. I bristled and gritted my teeth. If he thought he could go back to his dismissive self, he was mistaken. I had no time for this crap.
"Where’s Joshua?"
"Erik needed him for something." There was a sharpness in his tone that hinted at not being Joshua’s babysitter. I just nodded.
"Ready?" I asked, keeping my tone as neutral as possible.
"What for?" Aidan deigned to look up at me, and for the briefest moment, my heart warmed. He looked so endearing with his glasses perched on the tip of his nose and his hair falling into his face. Lines of fatigue etched his features and I felt the pull of sympathy for him.
"I'm here to help you fetch your mother and sister." I bit the words out, trying to squelch my sympathy.
"You don't have to come with me, you know."
"I do. I said I would and here I am. Can we get going? I don't have much time." I stood up and tugged my backpack higher up my shoulder.
"I'm still in the middle of—"
"This stuff isn't going anywhere, Aidan. Your computer and all the information on the system will still be here after your family is safe."
Aidan still appeared unsure as he scanned the monitor then glanced at the ream of paper beside the keyboard. Then his eyes settled on my face and they widened as he scanned my cheek. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Loki. He hijacked my Bifrost trip and tried to force me to give myself up in return for Brody. When I said no, he had a bit of a tantrum and scratched me."
"Loki scratched your face?" Aidan echoed, seemingly finding it hard to absorb the concept.
"Yeah. I guess it was easy what with Loki in the form of a two-story tall falcon with a giant beak and claws." My voice was dry as I traced a finger on the wound. "I’ll be right back. May be good to get this cleaned up. You round your stuff up. I’ll be back in a minute."
I left the room and headed for the nearest bathroom. Wads of sodden, reddened paper towels later, my cheek looked halfway decent except for a thin line that ran from the corner of my eye to my earlobe. I stared at the scar. Just another to add to the dozens of injuries a Valkyrie received. I gave a small shrug and headed back to Aidan.
"Let's go," I said, poking my head inside the room, waiting for him at the doorway. He flicked me a glance, then hesitated before clicking away with his mouse. I narrowed my eyes, watched him for a moment. "What the hell is the matter with you? You’re so on edge and you’re not acting like yourself at all."
Aidan’s eye tightened. There was that defensiveness again. "I’m sure I don’t know what you mean."
"You do. Stop skirting the issue. You’ve been distracted, cold, and unfeeling and I want to know why. We’ve been through so much together . . . You at least owe me an explanation. What’s going on with you?"
For a moment, Aidan seemed to close down, as if he was about to pretend that n
othing was going on, as if he were going to refuse to talk to me. Then he spoke and his voice was soft. "I saw one of them."
I slid into the high-backed leather chair beside him. "Saw who?"
"One of those frost giants."
I frowned. "And?" I prodded. We didn’t have time to dawdle and I wished he’d explain faster instead of making me draw every word out.
"They were taking him away and he was in his Jotunn form, and when I saw him, I realized what all this was about. What the purpose was to finding you, to studying you, and then in the end, to experimenting on you."
The hollow silence that followed worried me. Not once did Aidan sound at all like he was sorry I’d been experimented on or been targeted by his father.
"And the purpose was?" I nudged again and gritted my teeth.
"To find a cure for my sister." Aidan met my eyes, his expression clear and a little triumphant. When I shook my head, confused, he continued. "I’m pretty certain my sister has Jotunn blood in her. That would explain why my father had always wanted to find you and find out more about your father’s research. It makes sense now. About a year or two after he knew you had been born, my mother was expecting Enya. And it makes more sense now why he would want your blood — to experiment on your DNA structure to find out what went wrong with her and why you were fine and healthy."
I frowned, again not liking the way Aidan sounded like he was justifying his father’s torture. But could I really judge him when it was his sister he was talking about? I knew experimenting with me would probably allow someone to help Enya, but it still didn’t make me feel any better about Aidan’s behavior toward me.
Aidan grabbed my hand. "Don’t you see? There is a chance we can get Enya healthy again. And it’s thanks to you."
I didn't feel very happy about that. Chiding myself, I fixed a smile on my face. "Well, if some good can come of that torture, then I guess I can be happy for your sister." I spoke but it was Aidan’s unsaid words that haunted me. What his father had done to me was justified in his eyes. And how could I change that? How could I ever make him understand the depth of what I’d been through if he had a ready and available justification there all the time?
I knew then that what we had between us was slowly reaching an end. Taking a deep breath I said, "So, where do we go from here?"
"They’re in Florida." Aidan put his pen down and closed the file.
As he leaned forward to shut the computer down, I said, "That’s not what I meant. I mean us. Where do we go from here? Are we together? Or are we calling it quits?"
Just a few days ago, he’d said that I was the one good thing that came out of all this mess. I guess sometimes even good things don’t last.
He didn’t look at me when he spoke. "I need time to think, Bryn. This whole thing with Enya . . . I need to figure a way out to help her. And I need time for that."
And it went unsaid that there would be no time for me. I sucked in a breath, confused by the emotions swirling within me. I wasn’t devastated; my heart wasn't breaking. Was I so hard-hearted that the end of my entire relationship with a boy I thought I’d loved didn’t have me falling to pieces? Or had I seen the signs already? Had I known we were never meant to be an eternal love?
"Fine. Then let’s get going. I need to get back to Asgard ASAP." Then he looked at me and frowned. Had he also expected me to fall apart?
"Bryn." His voice stopped me as I turned. "Are you going to be okay?"
I looked at his face. There was concern there, even a caring that I’d once seen much more of, but what he had to give me wasn't enough. And I was okay with that. "Yes. I’m fine. Now we really need to get going."
I walked off and heard him follow me. I didn’t want to analyze the whole breakup too much, so I just concentrated on getting to Florida.
***
Chapter 10
The Bifrost deposited us in the middle of a very sunny, very hot and humid Miami City. Aidan looked around.
"Where are we?" We’d arrived in a small grove of trees with a gorgeous view over the water—all greeny-blue lapping waves and stunning clear skies.
"Bicentennial Park. We need to head up to Biscayne Boulevard and catch a bus to the estate," Aidan said. He walked a little ahead of me and I followed in silence. What small talk would ease the discomfort between us anyway? He led me to the nearest bus stop.
"How far?" I was tempted to go invisible, but the prospect of being accidentally bumped into or sat on in the confined space of the bus wasn’t welcome.
"About a twenty-minute ride."
It didn't take too long before the next bus arrived and we were soon on our way to Aidan's father’s estate. The bus dropped us off about two streets over from the house and I followed Aidan in silence as we walked through beautiful shady, tree-lined streets.
At last, we stopped before a set of large wrought iron gates and stared through the bars at a large, imposing mansion surrounded by expansive green lawns. I glanced at Aidan's face, sourly impressed by the grandiose building. His father must be very wealthy.
But Aidan's expression remained dark and stormy, as if just nearing the building destroyed his mood. He sighed and walked to the pillar at our left. A little silver keypad, set into the stonework, gleamed in the sunlight. Aidan tapped in a code and my breathing stilled. The gate swung open in eerie silence and I relaxed—until they swung shut behind us, and I realized I was stuck inside and only Aidan knew the code. I was struck by a horrible thought. He was as fascinated with my biological makeup as his father. What if the son followed in the father’s footsteps? I snapped myself out of it. But I did understand where it was coming from. I no longer trusted him as implicitly as I had in the past.
I put those thoughts out of my head. Right now, fear and second-guessing him was too dangerous to my concentration.
We walked up the curving drive and around a large white fountain spraying clear, bubbling water into the air. A cool mist blew at us as we passed and I reveled in it, knowing it wouldn’t last long.
We approached the front door where a burly hulk of a man guarded the front door. His beefy arms folded over an equally bulky chest, and hard, grey eyes stared straight through us. I blinked hard and had to force myself not to gasp. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The guard seemed superimposed on the body of someone or something else.
The burly man’s image almost shimmered, revealing another creature beneath. One with icy blue eyes, sparkling, sharp-white hair, and pale, pale skin marked with deep blue veins. Aidan's father had a friggin' frost giant guarding his front door? I instinctively glamored myself, keeping the same physical traits, but safeguarding against the Jotunn recognizing me as a Valkyrie.
But Aidan seemed unperturbed by the Jotunn. "Hey, Gus," he said as he reached for the door handle.
"Good day, Mr. Lee." Gus the frost giant inclined his head in a respectful greeting, flicked a glance at me, and settled back into his guard position, staring straight ahead at nothing and standing as still as a statue.
I remained speechless as I passed within inches of the Jotunn and followed Aidan into the house. Did he not recognize them? Or did he know and was just pretending? I breathed deep, trying to settle my nerves. I was getting a bit too suspicious for my own good.
Aidan opened the door and ushered me into the entrance hall before shutting the it firmly. Inside, air-conditioning buzzed and we both breathed in the cool air. Gus hadn’t come racing for me, so I figured he hadn’t recognized what I was, although I didn’t relax for a single second.
"Where are they?" My gaze roamed the house, taking in the opulence around me — mahogany banisters, expensive painting, crystal chandeliers. This is what Aidan had come from. I shook my head, finding it hard to take in.
"Upstairs," he said, climbing the large curving stairway. "I don't think they leave their wing much."
"Wing?" I asked.
"Yeah, they occupy the west wing. It’s how my father’s managed to keep them out of the way. Out of sight."
Again, I felt the pull of sympathy for Aidan. He'd had to go through so much in his life, not the least being shot point-blank on the instruction of his own father. Could he see how much his own father had used him? I hoped he could.
Aidan strode across meticulously polished, dark wood floors to a set of doors. He knocked briefly, then opened the right-hand door and popped his head inside. "Anyone home?" he called in a little singsong way.
"Aidan, oh, Aidan, my boy. How are you?" I followed him inside and shut the door behind me, watching as a tiny woman threw her arms around Aidan and laughed. The sound of her joy bordered on sadness as she held him by the shoulders and inspected his face as if the structure and condition of his features would tell his mother if he were well or not. What would she say if she could have seen the bullet wound to the center of his forehead the way I'd seen it when I’d retrieved his corpse from the stream back in Craven?
"Hey, Mom." Aidan laughed too, and for the first time, I heard the sound of the little boy inside him. He was genuinely overjoyed to see his mother, the love for the woman so clear in his voice that I didn't need to see his face to know the depth of his feelings. "How are you guys doing?"
"As always, we are fine, my dear boy. You’ve been gone a long while," she said, and even I heard the hint of accusation and the hurt.
"He didn't allow me to come, Mom. He sent me on a mission." Aidan looked at me over his shoulder, his eyes searching my face and yet still distant and unfocused, as if a hundred thoughts clouded his brain.
"A mission? I thought you were working at the museum with that nice professor." His mother frowned.
"I was working there when father sent me to a town called Craven to look for someone." Another glance over his shoulder at me. "I hadn’t realized at the time what he meant to do with her, but I do now."
"Aidan, you’re not making any sense at all," his mother admonished.
"I'm sorry, Mom. Okay, Bryn, come here." Aidan beckoned me and I stepped the few paces to stand beside him. "Mom, this is Brynhildr, the girl that father sent me to find. This is Bryn Halbrook."