The lack of embarrassment on her part told me that she was someone who got what she wanted. Even daddy gazed at her lovingly.
“Isn’t it a miracle? Hannah turned up here a few weeks ago. Apparently…” Martin cleared his throat of the lump that blocked it. “…she hadn’t died. I…still don’t quite understand what happened, but my little girl is here…alive.”
Snorting, I raised my eyebrows at Hannah. Her short hair had started to grow out, but her body was still tall and perfectly shaped. I blocked out the flashback to the toilets at Frankie’s party and turned to her father.
“Do you really think I’m stupid? You worked together all along. There’s a lot more going on than you’re telling me. And, I’m here to get some answers.” Slowly pulling the gun from my pocket, I hid it under the table, bringing up the nozzle to rest on the surface, aimed towards Martin. Leaning forward, my jacket covered it from anyone else’s prying gaze.
Jack quickly sat next to the gallery owner, putting an arm around the man in greeting. “Shall we take this to your office?”
Martin’s cheeks heated, his acne scars stretching as he pursed his lips. “I don’t appreciate that in my gallery. Yes, let’s take this to my office. Hannah.”
He shoved Jack off him, got up from his chair and marched towards the lift. Tucking the gun into my pocket again, I followed him. My fingers were still wrapped around the handle in case anyone tried anything.
Jack and Hannah followed behind, their footsteps echoing on the wooden floor.
“Get in,” Martin ordered when the door opened and he stepped inside.
Swinging into the lift, I raised my gun towards Hannah and Jack. “You can get the next one,” I declared, pressing the button.
They both froze, glaring at me as the doors closed. I wanted a moment to speak to the man who had tricked us.
“Your daughter said you were the leader of the Hagalaz cult. Is that true?”
We both faced forward as the lift rose. The noise was smooth, the ride easy. I waited for a second, not daring to look at his face. I should have, his expression would have alerted me to the truth.
“I am, yes. I wanted to explain…”
The lift came to a stop and the doors pinged open. Stepping out, Martin led us to his office. Going inside, I automatically glanced at the walls, the runes jumping out at me instantly. A normal person would never see them, but Thor’s power had always given me extra visual qualities.
“What is the cult? Why did you kill Loki’s descendants? And, why lie about your daughter being dead?”
I didn’t mention Chloe. He had no idea she was involved with me. She had gone home from the club, promising to do research on the Hagalaz cult. I had trusted that she would stick to her word. Although she had broken my trust once or twice, I couldn’t keep her on a tight lead rope. She had to take responsibility for herself.
Martin moved to the table and brought out a bottle of vodka. Digging out four glasses, he lined them up. I waited, not ready to get too comfortable. Not after all the lying.
“Let me answer your questions as bluntly as you asked them.”
Jack and Hannah came through the door. The woman instantly moved to sit next to her father. Jack hovered by me, his hands tucked into his tight jean pockets. His eyes shifted from each of us, weighing up the tension in the room. It did vibrate with intensity. Martin was on guard, I was on the attack. The energy pulsed around us as I waited for answers.
“Please, sit.” Martin gestured for us to join them.
I hesitated. The man was a liar. Someone I couldn’t trust. Someone who had pretended that his daughter was dead to get what he wanted. Who would do that?
“I’ll sit,” Jack said, going over and placing himself on the sofa opposite the pair.
Martin sat back, his ankle lifting to rest on his knee. I could wait all day, but I probably wouldn’t have the patience. However, Hannah nudged her father in the ribs before I pressed him, raising her eyebrows when he looked at her.
“The cult is made up of Odin’s descendants, which are me and Hannah. And…some of our allies.” Martin took a swig of the vodka, smiling at Hannah when she patted his knee. “Loki’s descendants are vermin, you know that. I was doing you a favour.”
“Me? Are you sure about that? There wasn’t another reason you wanted them dead?”
Chloe’s words came to me. She had said the journal mentioned that Odin wanted all other gods’ human descendants to be wiped out. Surely that had something to do with why Chloe’s fake family had been slaughtered?
Martin shook his head, a small smile coming to his face. “Has Chloe let you read the journal?”
I froze, my muscles glued in place as if Rusty had pinned me with his stare. Martin knew about Chloe. Great, something else I hadn’t managed to keep from him. How did the man know so much?
“No, she hasn’t.”
I didn’t even bother to enquire how he knew. The man obviously had people all over the place. How did Jack not know about his knowledge base?
“Well, the journal was written by my mother. She had dreams and visions often. In fact, I’m sure she was a seer, but no one knew what one of those were in our family. So, she was put in a psychiatric hospital, locked away for most of her life.”
Hannah clasped his hand in hers, her eyes filling with tears as she took over the story. “She had an affair with one of the workers there, resulting in my father. He was locked away with her for the first year of his life. And, then, he was adopted.”
The affection between the pair was obvious. She was dark, there was no doubting it. Something inside drove Hannah to crave the pleasures that were only felt from deep down inside the soul. A dark part of the soul that not many people even dared to acknowledge, let alone explore.
“Woe is you,” Jack quipped, crossing his legs.
I smiled, pleased that my friend hadn’t started to feel sorry for Martin. The man was powerful, I would give him that. But, he was also someone to be extremely wary of. There was not a chance in Helheim I would ever trust him. In fact, he would be lucky if I let him live out the rest of the day.
“I know, we’ve all had hard childhoods. But, when I was eighteen, my real mother wrote me a letter, including the journal in the package. She killed herself right after she’d sent it.” Martin looked me square in the eye, fishing for some type of sympathy.
Empathy was an emotion I had lost almost a thousand years ago. It wasn’t about to redevelop. I wouldn’t let it. I had watched my whole family die. I had fallen in love, then had to bury my wife when she grew old. My heart had been ripped out, cut open, squeezed and stamped on by loss so many times, I could swear it no longer beat. So, no, I didn’t feel sorry for the puny human who had only lived, at most, for fifty years.
“And, since then, you’ve been convinced her delusions were real?”
Jack stared at me. Biting his lip, he nodded as he faced Martin again. “I don’t fucking believe it. You’ve created a whole cult on the basis of a crazy woman’s journal? Seriously?”
Hannah sat forward, her gaze boring into Jack as she clenched her hands into fists on her lap. “No, he didn’t fucking do it on the basis of a journal. He had the dreams himself…from a very young age. I can prove it.”
“Go on, then,” I said.
Pacing, I went round the back of the sofa that Jack sat on, coming to rest behind his head. My friend had a way with words that may or may not get him killed one day. Hannah’s reaction had been from an emotional response. One that went deep. One that could drive someone to harm someone else if tested in the wrong way.
“Fine.” Hannah got up from her seat, shaking her dad off when he tried to grab her back.
Going over to the television on the wall, she grabbed a remote control from a sideboard and clicked it on. After pressing another button, the screen switched to a camera feed.
“This is a video of my father asleep.”
She didn’t say anymore as the video started. Martin was asleep i
n a plush double bed, surrounded by those stupid decorative pillows. He was alone, snoring lightly. Hannah fast forwarded to an hour later and pressed play again.
“This is where it starts.”
I glanced at Martin, noting his tight shoulders and white knuckles where he linked his fingers so hard together, it cut off the blood supply. He was bothered about seeing the video. Why was that?
Looking back at the screen, I watched as Martin started to thrash around. The mumbling turned into a full blown one sided conversation. The name Odin was mentioned several times. It was as if he was talking to him in his sleep.
When he calmed, Hannah fast forwarded again, showing another similar episode. The conversation had moved to a different topic. It was hard to make out exactly what he was saying, but I heard him mention Chloe.
“What was that all about? Did you manage to transcribe what he was saying?” I asked Hannah.
Martin’s face flushed as he got to his feet. “Excuse me, I believe I’m in the room. Yes, we did manage to get my secretary to type up the conversations. They were fairly similar every time.”
“And?” I pushed sarcastically when he didn’t go on.
Jack scoffed, covering his laugh with a cough. The man was never discreet when he was amused. Hannah switched off the TV and came back over, glaring at my friend as she reached Martin. Taking his hand, she pulled him to sit again.
“And, they match what my mother wrote in her journal. The exact same conversations. Yet, hers had Odin’s part also. That’s why we want it back. For the last few months, I’ve started to remember what Odin says to me in the dreams. I want to confirm if it’s the same.”
“So, why did you give the fucking thing to Chloe in the first place?” Jack sat forward, getting defensive.
The energy in the room changed. Martin’s shoulders dropped as he looked at his daughter. Her big eyes brimmed with unshed tears as she gazed at him. What had happened in the world of Martin Sturgent that provoked such a sad response?
“I gave it to her when I lost my wife. It…it was the reason she was…killed. My obsession drove her to a dark place. It happened to Hannah, too, but we’re working on bringing her back, aren’t we, darling?”
Hannah nodded, turning away from her father to wipe the tears from her cheeks. I wasn’t convinced that the ‘darling daughter’ was as clean as her daddy might believe. She avoided looking at either of us, not prepared for us to see the truth in her eyes.
“So, you gave the journal to Chloe in an attempt to calm your obsession. But, why Chloe? What did she have to do with it?”
Martin shrugged, his gaze on mine as I waited for him to lie to me. “Odin told me to. It was the only time I remembered what he had said in a dream. He said that she would soon meet someone who would be an important role in all of this. He told me where to find her. I resisted at first, it was my mother’s journal, why would I want to give it to a stranger? But, the more I resisted, the more insistent Odin got. I…started to struggle to concentrate on anything else. Once the journal was in Chloe’s hand, I returned to my normal self and Odin stopped allowing me to remember the dreams.”
“You said you didn’t remember your conversations?” I said, trying to catch him out in any way I could.
“Those were the only ones until the last two months. I gave her that journal a couple of years ago now. I need it back to confirm the dreams are the same as my mothers.” He didn’t directly ask me to get it for him, but I could feel the request coming.
There was still far too much I needed to know before I even thought about leaving that office.
“And, the Hagalaz cult. What is it?”
Rubbing his cheek, Martin glanced at Hannah. She nodded, finally composed enough to face us again.
“I’ve been friends with believers of Odin for years. I studied mythology at university, making many contacts. We sort of became a club of sorts, but it didn’t get serious until recently. There’s a lot of us that still believe in Odin and the Norse gods. Most humans think its myth, but we don’t. I inadvertently became their leader when I revealed my dreams to them.”
I nodded slowly, taking in the information. Jack was quick, already absorbing everything in a nanosecond. “Ah, I remember talk about a geeky group of people who liked to call themselves…what was it?” He tapped his chin, trying to remember.
Hannah giggled at the same time Martin grinned. “Erm, we named the club Norse Code. It was…not cool.”
“And, now? We just named you Hagalaz cult because of your obsession with that rune. Which will take some explaining too.” I moved to sit beside Jack, balancing on the edge of my seat, ready to move if needed.
The Sturgents’ were being pretty free with their story so far. That was a positive. If they were willing to tell us so much, maybe there wasn’t bad blood behind their whole weird obsession.
“We are just called Hagalaz. I upgraded the whole system when it became clear what Odin wanted us to do,” Martin said, staring straight into my eyes.
My suspicion level rose instantly, my skin heating warm. A hot burning suddenly exploded in my chest, alerting me to…A Fallen One. What the hell?
Jumping up from my seat, I looked around. Not sure what I was looking for, I strode to the window and looked out over the city of London.
“Are you okay?” Hannah asked, coming to stand beside me.
A Fallen One had just moved within a ten-mile radius of me. What the…? As far as I was aware, there was only one Fallen One in London. I thought I would have to move on soon, chasing the next in another country. I never imagined that there was more than one of the vile creatures in the city of London.
“I’m fine,” I said, coming back to the room as the heat filtered out of me.
They had moved on. Oh, the excitement that rushed through me almost amounted to the fun I’d had with the celebrity earlier. If a Fallen One was here, in the city, I could send it back to Freya in record timing. That was more than enough to fire my veins into action.
“And, what does Odin want you to do?”
Martin got up to face me, his eyes blinking slowly. Hannah stood beside me, her arms crossed below her chest. They glanced at each other, obviously weighing up the consequence of telling me. Quite frankly, I was a little surprised they were not locked up somewhere. Everything they said would sound crazy to normal humans. However, I wasn’t normal. And after everything I had seen in my ridiculously long lifetime, I wasn’t a bit phased by what was about to come out of the man’s mouth.
“Trygger, Odin wants us to destroy any link to the Norse gods that still lingers on earth. Including ourselves.”
.
5
Taken Ransom
“THEY’RE GOING TO commit suicide?” Chloe squeaked, hugging the journal to her.
Martin had made his excuses after his confession. Apparently, he had a meeting with his private investors. I arranged another appointment of our own, promising him that if he dared to try and do anything to me or Chloe, he wouldn’t get the chance to take a shit again, let alone do Odin’s bidding.
“It seemed that way. Bloody raving idiots if you ask me.” Jack hugged his knees to his chest.
We had come straight back to the apartment, ready to share the information with Chloe and demand she hand over the journal. She had asked if we could come out to sit by the river. Apparently, it made her relax easier.
I had thrown my hands in the air in defeat when Jack enthusiastically agreed. The soft grass under their arses was damp, there was no way I was sitting down. I was happy to lean against the wooden pole by the jetty. It was a bright day, the sunrays glistening against the small ripples of water. Jack stared, seemingly absorbed in the scenery of London.
“Please can I have the journal now?” I asked Chloe, keeping my tone steady.
Jack had been the one to tell her that we needed to read the journal. Apparently, whenever I said anything, she got defensive, which did not help our cause. I personally wanted to handle the situat
ion in my old way of doing things, but Jack had somehow managed to persuade me to do otherwise.
“How about I read it out?” Chloe stroked Rusty as he sat next to her.
Shaking my head, I bit my tongue when Jack put up his hand.
“How about I read it out?”
Chloe’s mouth screwed up. Her blonde hair ruffled as a tiny breeze rushed over us. The day was moving on, getting cooler. It had been one full of revelations. And, I was sure there were about to be more.
“Why don’t you trust me?” she snapped, unclipping the journal.
It was good that she trusted Jack. Although, not helpful for me.
“Because I have a feeling that you’re trying to…protect me,” I admitted.
For some reason, our new friend, if I had to call her that, was unsure about telling me everything. It didn’t feel as if it was because she was trying to play me. No, she was trying to protect me from something. Which was bizarre, considering I was basically immortal.
Chloe sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. Yes, I was right. I could read every human reaction, down to the minimal of actions. However, I often didn’t bother. I usually didn’t care what a human thought or felt, but when I needed to use my skill to my advantage, I always did. It wasn’t something I had always picked up on, but being around society for so many years, I couldn’t not learn how to read people.
“How does he do that?” Chloe asked Jack.
My friend went to put his arm around her shoulder, but she knocked him away. Laughing, he snatched the journal from her when she gingerly held it out.
“He’s been alive for a long time, or so he claims. I’m not sure how someone can live for as long as him and not be…more intelligent.”
It was lucky my mind had been wondering to the new Fallen One, or Jack may have got a punch in the head. “I know, I agree with you. Surely, if I had been alive for a thousand years, I would’ve killed an idiot like you as soon as I laid eyes on you. Bloody vermin of this day and age.”
“Grandad’s getting his pipe out and smoking it. Make sure you don’t accidently shove it up your own arse.”
Lightning Seeker: Viking Soul Book 2 (Viking Soul Series) Page 4