by Ken Lange
Kira glares at me then her expression changes, a hint of recognition coming into her eyes. “It’s you…but it’s not.” Raising her voice, her tone becomes dangerous. “What have you done to the Gray Wanderer?”
I move around the bed, placing myself between Kira and Nora. “You know he’s dead. You were there when we confirmed it.”
She shakes her head. “It isn’t possible.” Stumbling back, she places her hand against the wall to steady herself. “What have you done?”
I hold out my hands for calm. “Kira—”
Fury and hatred fill her voice. “Why do you keep calling me that? Don’t you recognize me?”
I frown. “Of course I recognize my own daughter…and your name is Kira.”
Her aura flares golden. “My name is Heidr.”
Gungnir tries to rouse itself from its slumber but doesn’t quite manage it. He whispers, “Dangerous, murderer, butcher.”
The bracelet warms again then goes cold as he falls back into a deep sleep.
Guess he won’t be able to help me.
“You’re Heidr?”
She nods. “But you’re not the Gray Wanderer.”
I shake my head. “No, I killed him not that long ago. Why are you looking for him?”
She speeds across the room and slams her forearm into my chest. “Liar. There’s no way someone as feeble as you could kill the Mad God.”
If she applies any more pressure, she’s going to collapse my rib cage. At a thought, ice wraps around me, creating armor from the neck down. I deliver a wicked uppercut to her stomach with my newly formed gauntlet, causing her to double over. I hit her again in the face, knocking her to the ground.
“Look, lady, I don’t know how you got here, but you need to vacate my daughter’s body.”
She slowly gets to her feet and wipes the blood off her cheek. “You’ll pay for that.”
Moving at top speed, I slam my shoulder into her gut and hammer her into the wall. Before she can respond, I wrap ice around her body to keep her in place. “Stay.”
Heidr growls. “Fool.” Amber light fills the room, and the ice falls away. “I’m a god, and you’re just living inside the carcass of the most powerful being to ever exist.”
Nora slowly crawls into a sitting position. “Careful, Viktor. She’s lost her mind.”
Justine helps Nora to her feet. “We’ve figured that out for ourselves.”
Nora stumbles to the side. “Guess I missed that part.”
Justine nods. “Yeah…things are not going so well.”
I hold my hand out to them. “Ladies, do you mind? I’m trying to handle a rather bad situation here.”
Heidr glares at Nora. “You’re still alive? That’s unfortunate. I really wanted to send your broken corpse to your master.”
Nora struggles to free herself from Justine’s grip but fails. “I don’t know who you are—”
Heidr screeches, “I’m Heidr, Queen of the Álfheimr.”
Nora goes rigid. “That’s not possible.”
Heidr sneers at her. “You’d be surprised what’s possible, little one.” She cuts her eyes at me. “And you, I’ll have to find a way to fix whatever it is you’ve done.”
When I speak, there’s a power to my words I hadn’t intended. “Listen to me when I say this: what you want is not possible.”
Tears well in the corners of her eyes as she screams, “No! You’ve ruined everything. You have no idea what you’ve done.”
I’m getting really tired of hearing that. “Lady, I’m going to ask you once more to vacate my daughter and go home—”
She screams again and charges me. “I’ll kill you.”
Lightning arcs from my hand into her chest, sending her through the already weakened window. Shattering glass fills the room then there’s a nasty crunch when she lands in the hallway. I step out the door to grab her, but she wiggles away. This time, when she looks at me, the arrogance is gone, replaced by fear.
She gets to her feet and throws a bolt of yellow light at me. The power knocks me into the room and pins me to the wall. I’m unable to move, and the ice armor melts in an instant. My skin bubbles as I catch fire. Agony courses through my veins, and I let out a howl.
This seems to go on for a short eternity until there’s a dull roar of thunder and I’m dropped to the ground. I’m having difficulty seeing, but I can still make out Kira—Heidr—standing at the end of the hall with a massive black divot in her forehead. Trails of black settle into the deep gashes across the side of her face. She slaps her hand over the wound, turns, and runs toward the wall at top speed. She’s moving so fast that she’s little more than a blur that turns to an amber light before vanishing entirely.
In an instant, my daughter, and Heidr, are gone.
Chapter 29
June 18th
The last ten days have been…unusual, to say the least. My encounter with Heidr was painful and left me on the brink of death, mostly due to my own stubbornness. Mir has warned me time and time again that my reserves have limits.
I ignored his warnings, which is why the day after Heidr nearly murdered me was spent in a coma. That’s when Mir had Nicholas transferred me to the tank, where I’ve spent the last nine days suspended in an ice block.
Thanks to Mir’s ingenuity, I’m completely off reserve power and functioning fully on my own. While we’ve flipped on as many systems as we can, I’m still running at about nine percent capacity. That doesn’t sound great until you realize that I’ve been living on a fraction of a percentage point until now. Granted, we’ve still got a lot of work to do, and I’ll have to revisit the tank yearly until I’m fully operational again.
We’re not entirely sure that’s possible until all the inactive bits of DNA are switched on, but that won’t stop me from doing what’s necessary.
My time in the tank has brought about some physical changes as well. I’ve put on several pounds of muscle and gained just enough height to make sure nothing I own fits, and my beard and hair have gone mostly gray. Then there’s Hlidskjalf. It’s gone through a slight change too. The pupil is an octagonal thing the color of amethyst. Around that, the golden surface has become raised to form a triquetra atop the runic symbol called the helm of awe. The weird thing is, I’m no longer seeing auras randomly. Apparently, I actually have to think about doing it before the ability kicks in. Which, honestly, is pretty damn nice since it was a little disorienting. It’s easier to focus now and with enough concentration, I’m able to gain more information. I’m sure that’ll grow and expand over time.
While the tank has repaired my body, it’s done little for my emotional state. Guilt, anger, and depression constantly war inside my soul over the loss of my daughter. It’s because of me that she’s out there alone and possessed by Heidr. I know it wasn’t me who put the IV in her arm, or took her memories, but it was me who missed all the signs. One way or another, I will find a way to make her better.
Nicholas has done a fantastic job of running the company while I was unavailable, so much so that my desk is actually clean this afternoon. Leaning back in my chair, I close my eyes. A moment later, there’s a soft knock on the door.
Sitting up, I say, “Come in.”
Justine pushes open the door and steps inside, quickly followed by Nora.
Justine’s voice is low and quiet when she speaks. “Afternoon. How are you feeling?”
I shrug. “All things considered, pretty good. Physically, at least.”
She frowns. “Mind if we talk?”
I gesture at the chairs in front of the desk. “Sure, what’s on your mind?”
Nora glances over at her and then me. “She’s worried that you’re upset with her.”
Honestly, I’m more than a bit conflicted about the situation. On the one hand, Justine saved my life; on the other, she could’ve killed Kira. But admitting this won’t make things right. Or even better. “If it helps, I get why you did what you did. If I were in your shoes, I don’t know what I woul
d’ve done.”
Justine sits there quietly. “I’m not sure if that’s your way of forgiving me or not.”
I shake my head. “What’s to forgive? You made a choice in a shitty situation. The upside is that Kira lived and so did I.”
Nora grimaces. “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?”
Turning to her, I ask, “What do you want me to do?” I gesture at Justine. “Can’t you see that she’s torn up about this? Am I thrilled about the situation? No, but for Christ’s sake, if she hadn’t done it, I’d be dead. Kira would still be missing, and there’d be no way for me to help her.”
Nora gives me a curious look. “Wait. You have a way to fix this?”
Holding my hands out to either side, I say, “Maybe. I won’t know for a while, but there’s a possibility that with some help, we can turn the Idunn back on. From there, it’d be a matter of the Idunn going to war with the other nanites in her system…but at least it’d be a chance.”
Justine chews on her lip. “Is that even possible?”
A bitter chuckle escapes my lips. “Like I said, maybe. But it really depends on if the Idunn are willing to help me or not. I’ve reached out to them but they’ve yet to get back in touch. All we can do now is hope for the best while we track her down.”
Nora runs her hand over the top of her head. “If that’s the case, I’ll see what I can do to bring her in.”
“How about you settle for tracking her? If you find her, call, and I’ll be there to help. Okay?”
She nods. “I can do that.” Nora gets to her feet. “I’ll be in touch.”
Without another word, she walks out of the office.
Justine looks over at me nervously. “Thank you for not hating me.”
I get up and close the door before walking over to sit next to her. “How could I hate you for saving me?”
And there’s the rub. I really can’t fault her for what she did, but I’m not thrilled about it either. We’re going to need some time to get through this, and it’s not going to be fun for either of us.
Justine gives me a weak smile. “Thank you, anyway.” She gets to her feet and kisses me on the cheek. “I’ve got some work to tend to, but I’ll be up later, if that’s okay.”
I nod. “That’d be great.”
Chapter 30
June 30th
Kira has been completely off grid for twenty-two days now. Nora’s been gone for twelve, and we’re all silently holding our breaths until the other shoe drops. In the meantime, I’ve got a visitor. Omar has called and wants to meet. I’m guessing he’s pissed off about his brother’s death, but there’s nothing I could’ve done to prevent that.
When he took the samples down to the cryo-unit, one got out and bonded with him. I’m assuming it took control of his mind and drove him to steal the other samples. After which, he went to visit Kira pretending to be a nurse. The moment he touched Kira’s skin, he transferred the nanites from his system to hers. That’s what allowed Kira…Heidr to wake up and gain full control of Kira’s body.
I’ve got everything on video for Omar when he gets here. Hopefully, it’ll be enough to convince him I’m not the enemy. Then again, his family keeps getting dead when they’re around me.
A few minutes later, Omar steps into my office. “Evening, Viktor.”
I get up and shake his hand. “Omar.” Gesturing at the tablet on my desk, I say, “I’ve got the footage for you to review.”
He shakes his head. “It’s not necessary. If you say it happened that way, that’s good enough for me.”
I wave at the chair. “Please sit.”
He shrugs. “Actually, do you mind if we do this at the bar? I’d like to have a drink while we talk.”
I chuckle. “Fair enough. What are you drinking?”
He eyes the liquor for several seconds and points. “Tequila.”
After pouring him a tequila and myself a whiskey, I ask, “What’s on your mind?”
He downs the glass and pours himself another. “I’ve been in Haiti for the last few weeks, tracking down the loa who aren’t absolutely insane.”
I arch an eyebrow. “Oh?”
He nods. “Yeah…believe it or not, there are more than a few that are quite pleased with your handling of the Baron. Their only regret is that Bakulu is still walking around. From what they tell me, he’s missing an arm and stuck in Ethan’s body—permanently, because of something you did—but he’s still alive.”
I sigh. “Well shit, I was hoping that was going to kill him.”
He shakes his head and downs a second shot. “He’s hurt, though, and won’t be in any condition to put up a fight for some time, which is great.”
I grimace. “Hey, if they’ve got a location, I’m all about finishing the job.”
He snickers. “They’d like nothing more than to give you that information. Only problem is, he disappeared as quickly as he arrived. They were actually moving in to take care of things themselves when he got wind of it and fled the island.”
I sip my drink. “Okay, that sucks.”
He smiles. “Yes, it does.”
“So, why are you here?”
He reaches inside his pocket and produces a piece of parchment. “To give you an invitation. They’d like to meet you soon. They realize you’ve got an upcoming appointment with the dragon lord Xiwangmu, but afterward, they’d like to pay their respects.”
A dragon lord? Really? Xiwangmu? “Okay. That’s…unexpected.”
He pours himself another shot and downs it. “There’s one more thing I’m supposed to do.”
My body tenses, and I slowly nod. “And that is?”
He blows out a long breath. “Until such time as you can meet them, I’m to be your connection to the loa. In short, I’m the messenger between you two.”
I relax. “So you’re not here to kill me?”
He laughs. “Hell no. While I don’t quite understand it all, the loa assure me that you’re the key to everyone having a long and happy life. So, it’s in my best interests not to kill you.”
Well, someone thinks very highly of me. “They may’ve overstated my importance.”
He shrugs. “Whatever the case, I’m here if you need anything. You still got my card?”
“Yep.”
Omar turns and claps me on the shoulder. “Be well, Viktor. I’ll be in touch soon.”
He sets his glass down and walks toward the door.
Walking over to the window, I sip my drink as the sun dips lower in the sky. Things are changing quickly now and all I can do is wait for the next piece of the puzzle to fall into place. There’s a storm coming my way and I hope I’m strong enough to weather it. If I fail, Heidr, or Ethan, or the next in the unending line of threats will end this world and all life as we know it.
No pressure.
About the Author
Ken Lange is a current resident of the “Big Easy,” along with his partner and evil, yet loving, cats. Any delay, typo, or missed edit can and will be blamed on the latter’s interference.
He arrived at this career a little later in life, and his work reflects it. Most of his characters won’t be in their twenties, and they aren’t always warm and fuzzy. He is of the opinion that middle-aged adults are woefully underrepresented in fiction, and has made it his mission to plug that gap.
Translation: he’s middle aged and crotchety.
Connect with him online
Email him: [email protected]
Like him on Facebook: Ken Lange’s Writing Page
Check out his website: www.kenlangeauthor.com
Visit his Amazon author page: Ken Lange
Want more?
Other titles by this author:
The Vigiles Urbani Chronicles
Accession of the Stone Born
Dust Walkers
Shades of Fire & Ash
Warden Global
The Wanderer Awakens
Sleipnir’s Heart
Rise of the Sto
rm Bringer
Lamia’s Curse
Upcoming
Dawning (Plague Bearer Book 1)
Shattered Peace (Vigiles Urbani Book 4)