“I’m in,” Gunnar said in his ear. “Taking position to watch the exit.”
“There had better be only one way out.”
“I’ve got Hrothgar coming to mind the back.”
He heard rapid footsteps approaching, racing down the stairs toward him. He pulled his sidearm and pointed it up the steps, waiting.
Bjorn was the first one to appear. His name meant ‘bear,’ and it suited him perfectly. His eyes widened, and then he grinned, flashing long black fangs. Their tips were a stunning red.
“Huntsman!” he called to his fellows.
Erik shot him in the face.
The man’s big body tumbled down the stairs, and Erik stepped around it, heading up. He could hear one of the brothers shouting.
“Sigrunn! Give me the Sword!”
He proceeded cautiously, with his gun still aimed upward. Above him, the largest of the brothers, Ivar, leaned over the railing then ducked back, avoiding the silver bullet that Erik shot in his direction. The projectile clanged off of the metal beams supporting the stairs and ricocheted twice before it buried itself into the wall.
Another of the brothers, the youngest, Arne, leaped over the rails and landed in front of Erik. He slashed at him with his left hand, his fingers hooked into claws. Erik ducked, and the vampire caught a fistful of plaster from the wall behind him. He growled and tried again with the other hand.
This time when Erik shot, he didn’t miss. Arne’s body rolled down the stairs to join Bjorn’s on the landing below.
“Arne!” Sigrunn, the woman who had stolen the sword from the museum, screamed.
Erik charged up the stairs just in time to see the middle brother, Knut, dragging Sigrunn through a doorway and into one of the interior corridors. Ivar, the last brother on the stairs, whispered words of power and threw a handful of dust at him. In mid-air, the dust became an impassable wall of tangled branches, studded with long, glistening thorns.
He knew from past experience not to touch that wall. Cursing again, he raced back down the stairs to doorway on that level, heading into the interior of the building, as well.
He reached the corridor just as the elevator dinged to mark its passing. He activated his earpiece and spoke.
“Coming down.”
“I’ve got them.”
Gunnar sounded confident, but Erik was less sure. He went back into the stairwell.
He should have known that a single bullet, even a silver one, would not keep the Draugr down. Both Arne and Bjorn were struggling to sit up, recovering and healing as he emerged from the corridor. He didn’t have time to properly decapitate them, so he shot them each in the head once more. At least it would keep them quiet for a few minutes longer.
He ran down the stairs, hearing the sound of battle in the foyer as he approached. Shouts and the clang of metal led him like a beacon. He reached the bottom floor just as a brilliant flash of green light erupted, searing his eyes and making his ears ring with the hum of magic. Sigrunn was using the Rune Sword.
Ivar saw him coming and flung a hand axe at him. Erik dropped to one knee and fired, hitting Sigrunn between the shoulder blades. She screamed and turned away from Gunnar, who was lying on the ground, bleeding heavily.
Knut, the last brother, grabbed her. “Let’s go!” he shouted to her in their native tongue, Old Norse. He caught his brother by the arm, as well. “Go!”
Erik pursued them out onto the street, where the three Draugr took flight. He emptied his clip, trying and failing to bring them down.
“Damn,” he spat. Astrid would have his head for this.
He went back into the building and found Gunnar cradling his arm, which had been deeply wounded by Ivar’s axe. Erik knelt beside him.
“You’re lucky to still have that hand.”
“I know. Hopefully I’ll have it a while longer.” He glanced at the stairs. “Where are the other brothers?”
Erik grimaced. “Down, but not out. I’ll be back.”
He picked up the axe and went to finish the job his bullets had started.
Chapter Three - Revelations
Nika spent the rest of the evening overseeing the building crew as they carefully removed the artifacts from the shattered gallery. With the floor perforated and the ceiling open to the air, there was no way that she would allow those priceless materials to remain at risk.
Sigurdsdottir hovered near her, observing as she responsibly cared for the loaned treasures. The woman said virtually nothing, but she watched with icy eyes, silently appraising and judging everything that Nika did.
When the last of the artifacts were packed away, Sigurdsdottir finally spoke. There was something heavy and meaningful in her tone. “You look very Nordic, Miss Graves. Do you have any Scandinavian ancestry?”
She ran a hand over her red hair. “Most people say I look Irish.”
The other woman smiled tightly. “Red hair is a Norse trait. If the Irish have it, it is because the Vikings owned Dublin for a very long time. But you haven’t answered my question.”
Nika shrugged. “I don’t honestly know. I was adopted when I was very small, so I have no clue what my birth family’s heritage might be.”
“Too bad.” Sigurdsdottir picked up her purse, a sleek black number with a tiny padlock on the zipper. “Everyone should know where they come from. Good night, Miss Graves.”
She smiled. “Good night.”
When the icy chill of Sigurdsdottir’s presence finally left the blasted gallery, Nika let out a sigh of relief. Something about the woman made her profoundly uncomfortable, like a mouse pinned in the gaze of a raptor. It was unsettling.
She walked slowly through the mess that remained in her museum. The case that had held the sword was completely smashed, and everything else had been rolled away on dollies and stored in the archives under lock and key. This was not the way she had wanted this exhibit to end. So much for her hopes of success.
Her morose contemplation was broken by a soft green shimmer that caught her eye. Something in the bottom of the sword case was glowing, the illumination throbbing in her view. She moved closer, subconsciously holding her breath, and the glow intensified as she approached. Moving the shattered glass aside, she peered into the case.
A tiny green cabochon jewel, unfaceted and smooth, lay on the green felt. It was glowing, just like the sword had glowed in the hands of the thief. She remembered Erik’s hand burning like meat on a grill when he’d grabbed that sword, and she was reluctant to touch the jewel. She looked over her shoulder, not sure what she was watching for, and steeled herself to the deed.
Against her expectation, the jewel was cool in her palm. It continued to glow, pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat, which was quickening with excitement and wonder. She touched the little bauble with the index finger of her other hand, stroking it. It seemed to welcome her touch. She could almost hear a voice in the back of her mind, whispering.
She shook her head abruptly, breaking herself out of the strange reverie. This jewel belonged to the sword, and therefore to the Royal Museum of Stockholm. She would give it to Sigurdsdottir in the morning.
For now, she slipped it into her skirt pocket, where it settled with a hum.
***
Astrid went to her temporary office, a loan from the museum while she was there shepherding the exhibit. It was small and cramped, with one window, a desk, and one chair for visitors. A bookcase stood to the side of the room, beside the visitor chair and between the desk and the wall. “You failed me twice,” she said without preamble. “Some special forces soldiers you turned out to be.”
“We did our best,” Gunnar began, but Erik silenced him with a look. He fell quiet.
“Two of the brothers are dead,” he told her. “Sigrunn has the sword.”
“Which two?” She took out her smartphone to make notes.
“Bjorn and Arne.”
“Truly dead?”
He looked insulted. “I took their heads. They are as dead as it gets.”<
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“Good.” She sat back. “I don’t need to tell you what this means. For the Draugr to have the Rune Sword while Hakon’s body is here, unguarded –”
“My men are standing watch over it. They won’t be able to get near enough to it to start a ritual without my knowing.”
She sneered. “Like you knew that they were going to take the sword today?”
“I was expecting a night raid,” he told her, his tone hard. “I did not anticipate that they would be so brazen.”
Astrid looked at Gunnar. “Go get some dreyri,” she told him. “Both of you.”
Erik shook his head. “You know my vow.” He nodded to his partner. “Go ahead.”
Gunnar left them, and once the door was closed, Astrid leaned forward. “If you would take the dreyri, you wouldn’t be reduced to bullets and automobiles.”
He set his jaw. “I swore that I would abstain from drinking blood until I found her again. I swore to the Aesir. Would you have me break my oath?”
“Why not? You’ve broken countless others.” Her tone was biting as acid.
“Only one.”
“The only one that ever mattered to me.”
He looked like he wanted to scream. “Time and place, kona. This is neither.”
She smiled thinly at his use of the word for ‘wife.’ “So at least you remember making the vow, even if you chose not to keep it.”
“That was hundreds of years ago.”
“We are immortal. What are a hundred years to us?”
He scowled. “Long enough for you to get over yourself.” Erik ran a hand over his face. “Sigrunn used the sword. That’s how Gunnar was hurt.”
She looked surprised, their argument forgotten. “He wasn’t burned.”
“No,” he agreed. “He wasn’t. That means that the Sálsteinn is missing.”
Astrid’s eyes widened. “You have to find that stone. Everything depends on it.”
“I’ll check by the display and backtrack. Maybe, if we’re lucky, it just fell off somewhere between here and our little urban battleground.”
“Wait.” He stopped halfway to the door, and she said, “The curator.”
“Miss Graves?”
“Yes. I left her alone in the gallery.” She looked up at him, her eyes stormy. “She may have it.”
He nodded. “Then I’ll find the curator, and I’ll have Magnus and Rolf do the backtracking. If we know the stone is missing, you can bet for damn sure that they do, too.”
Against her better judgment, Astrid told him, “Find the curator and stay with her, even if she doesn’t have the stone. She is one of the Valtaeigr.”
Erik was surprised. “Descended from the vala?”
“No.” She curled her lip as she said it. “The vala reborn.”
****
She took the bus from the museum to her apartment building, just like she did every night. The driver was the same as always. She smiled at him as she climbed the steps into the vehicle.
“Evening, Sam,” Nika greeted.
“Evening, Nika,” he returned. He waited for her to scan her bus pass, and then held the bus while she found a seat halfway to the back, just past the benches that faced the center aisle. She sat and held her purse on her lap.
A young man got on the bus after her. He was small but muscular, wearing a leather jacket and motorcycle boots with his faded jeans. She watched him as he made his way slowly through the bus and took up a position on the seat across from her.
He had a handsome face, and his eyes were the bluest she had ever seen, but there was something disturbing about him. The other passengers made room for him, either because he willed them to do so or because they were made too uncomfortable by his presence to stay too close. He was staring at her.
She looked out the window. Darkness was falling heavily outside, bringing a touch of chill wind. It would be winter soon. She put her hand into her pocket and fiddled with the stone, wishing Sam would stop being quite so cautious and put on some speed.
The bus stopped, and there was a general exodus as a majority of the riders got out at one of the busier subway stations. Sam closed the door, and she was alone beside the man in the leather jacket.
As the bus rumbled forward, he moved to sit beside her. He put one arm across the back of the seat and grasped the upright rail in front of him. She was three-quarters contained by his body, and she started to panic.
“Hello,” he said, his accent lilting. “And who might you be?”
She looked away from him. “I’m sorry… I’m just trying to get home.”
“Alone?”
There was something obscene insinuated in his voice. Her heart was pounding, and she pulled her purse closer. He reached out with one hand and tucked a stray hair back behind her ear.
She pulled away and glared at him. “Yes. Alone.”
“No,” he smiled. “I don’t think so.”
His eyes flashed, a speck of green light igniting in the center of his pupil. She tried to recoil, to look away, but something in that gaze held her fast. She could feel all of her will draining away the longer she looked into those deep blue pools.
He reached over and took her purse away. Her hands fell uselessly to her sides, and she let it go. Without breaking eye contact, he turned her purse upside down, spilling the contents across the bus floor. Wallet, makeup mirror, mascara and lipstick rolled away from her, and she could not find the will to reach for them. She could not bring herself to even look away.
The young man reached into her purse and tore out the lining with his fingers, feeling through the wrecked bag. She realized that he was looking for the jewel, and cold fear dripped down her spine like ice water. He abandoned the purse with a grin.
“I guess you have it on you,” he said softly, his voice a nasty purr. He slid closer. “How lucky for me.”
The bus driver slammed on the brakes. The folding door whipped open, propelled by a push from the outside, and Erik Thorvald sprang into the vehicle. The man with Nika’s purse growled and threw it at him, though Erik easily batted it out of his way. He stalked forward.
The hold over Nika’s mind shattered, and she could move again. She grabbed her keys and held them between her fingers like claws, rising to her feet and pressing her back against the windows.
Erik grabbed the young thug by his shoulders and gave him a solid shake. “You tell her,” he hissed, “that this one is off limits. Do you understand?”
The man snorted. “What? Do you choose her?”
The words seemed to mortally insult Erik, who retaliated with a fist to the other man’s face. The smaller man staggered backward, tripping over the seat and falling onto his back on the black rubber of the aisle. Thorvald leaned over him, grabbing him by the jacket. He pounded him once more, striking him so solidly that Nika thought she could hear bones cracking.
Sam came out of his seat with a blackjack in his hand. He swung wildly and brought it down on Erik’s head. The man winced but did not fall. Instead, he turned to face the driver with a furious growl. He pulled the weapon out of the driver’s hand and flung it across the bus.
The man in the leather jacket took advantage of Erik’s distraction and bolted, running to the door and leaping out onto the street. He raced away down the sidewalk with all the speed of an Olympic sprinter and was gone.
Sam put his arms out and stepped between Nika and the angry Swede. “Don’t you hurt her,” he warned. “I already called the cops.”
Erik rose to his full impressive height. “I am not going to hurt you. I came to protect her. Are you all right, Miss Graves?”
She nodded. “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Sam, it’s all right. I know Mr. Thorvald. He was just defending me.”
Sam looked unconvinced, but she smiled for him encouragingly. Erik took her elbow in his hand, not ungently, and guided her out of the bus. She went with him.
“I don’t know who that man was, or how you managed to get here at just the right moment, but thank you.”<
br />
He pulled her down the sidewalk, moving rapidly. Apparently, the wound in his leg was causing him no trouble.
He escorted her along the path to her home without asking for directions. Erik was watchful the whole time, turning his head to watch the street and looking up at the sky and the roofs over their heads. His discomfort was making her paranoid, and she disliked the feeling.
When they got to her building, she unlocked the outer door and held it open for him. He took it in his hand and hesitated on the threshold for a moment, taking stock of the entrance as well as the street behind him.
“Come in,” she said.
He nodded. “Thank you.” He stepped through, and she locked the door behind him.
They took the stairs in silence. For a big man, he was light on his feet, not stomping up the stairs the way her neighbors sometimes did. That wary look was still on his face, and he frequently turned to look back the way they’d come.
Her apartment was on the fourth floor, taking up the southwestern corner of the building. She hurried to her door and put her key in the keyhole. Erik stood close beside her, watching as she fumbled with the lock. She took a deep breath and squeezed her fists, trying to will her fingers to stop shaking.
Erik caught her hands in his. His skin was cool to the touch, his knuckles showing no scuffs or bruises from the fight on the bus. She could detect no sign of burns or cuts on the hand that had caught the sword. She looked up into his eyes, and he promptly looked away.
“It’ll be all right,” he told her softly. “I will keep you safe, my lady.”
It was a strangely archaic thing to say, but she took comfort from it. She reluctantly removed her hands from his grasp and returned to the door. She managed to open the lock this time, and she pushed open the door.
“Am I invited?” he asked.
“Of course.”
“Of your own free will?”
Nika was confused. “Yes,” she said, perhaps a little more sharply than she intended. “Of my own free will.”
He took a breath. “Thank you.”
She held the door as Erik walked into her foyer. He turned to face her and she closed the door and set the chain.
Sight of Love (A Rizer Pack Shifter Series Book 2) Page 13