by Danny Bell
“Elana, punctual as ever,” Freyja said with a smile as she came around to the other side of her desk. Freyja or Erika or whoever looked similar to the first time I met her, dressed in white with gold accents. She was a tall, imposing woman with golden blonde hair so thick that you could have probably anchored a boat with it. “I trust you are well, and my little Singasteinn, are you taking good care of her? Singing to her every day?”
“Yes, on all counts, I have her right here,” I replied, rubbing my bag where the sentient gold nugget nestled. It bothered me a little that Freya referred to the singing stone, a gift, as if it were still her possession. Like maybe she was a gift, but also maybe she wasn’t. I wasn’t sure what to make of the entire situation, honestly. I didn’t know she was anything more than a hunk of metal when I first got her, and I found out the hard way that she was alive. It was the level of sentience that made the whole thing ambiguous. Was the singing stone closer to a person or a puppy? People give puppies as gifts, right? Freyja didn’t seem keen to answer too many questions, though, and the research I’d done so far had led nowhere. The Norse gods really liked them, like enough to get into a super brawl at the mere idea of a singing stone. There’s not a lot of them, and maybe Freyja made this one? That’s about all I had on the subject.
“And I see you’re still wearing that absurd winter coat in the height of July. I could always have one of my artificers take a look at it for you; see if we can’t make it a bit more comfortable.”
“Appreciate it, but I like it the way it is, thanks.”
Freyja’s smile didn’t waver, and it struck me that something was off. “I see, and are you sure it’s not for the same reason you don’t simply draw a salary and come to work for me here?”
We’d been over this before, but that didn’t stop her from trying. As it was right now, I am something of a partner on a project, maybe a freelancer, however you want to call it. The deal was set; I work on her behalf to whatever end she requires to stop Ragnarök, and she saved Logan. Beyond that, I was out of freebies. If I take a salary, that makes me an employee. If I accept extra resources, I might owe something else in return. Freyja had assured me the costs would be minor, but I could see that getting out of control in a hurry.
“No offense, I just think I should focus on repaying the one debt before I start making any more deals. I’m grateful for what you’ve done so far, but my plate seems full.” I had hoped my tone wasn’t too defensive, but—no matter how she took it—I wasn’t about to make any more deals. I’ve been learning foresight the hard way.
“Interesting turn of phrase,” Freyja said, motioning me towards the couches. “Please, sit.”
“Thanks,” I said, sitting on the edge of the couch cushion, unconsciously leaning forward. “There’s nothing new on my end, not from lack of trying. I can’t enter into any of the Norse mythology books, either by fast traveling or taking the long way. Not just your story, all the mythological or old creation stories. This past month I tried The Odyssey, Ramayana, and Paradise Lost; they’re just too old. I don’t know if it’s a matter of me getting stronger or if those doors are just shut for good, but either way, I have nothing.”
Freyja steepled her fingers for a moment in exactly the way I’d expect a CEO to respond to interesting news. “It may be that or it may be the fact that you are attempting to invade a story when your players are not present. I, as an example, am sitting before you, but I am elsewhere. I am anywhere Freyja exists.”
That wasn’t anything I didn’t already know, but it always made me feel a bit small all the same. “Well, that’s the business. You asked me to keep trying, so I’ll keep trying.”
“And without the pretense of small talk? Well, if we are getting right into it, then I suppose I should inform you that I have no updates on your friend, Logan Kobayashi, other than that he is still alive and with Freyr. As I’ve said before, I don’t expect anything new, but you have what I have on this all the same. Tell me, anything new to report in the city?”
This was how it usually was. Initially, there had been a bit more pageantry to our meetings, even the occasional speech about the severity and importance of our arrangement. Lately, however, it has boiled down to me showing up and talking about where I’m at with her thing, she talks about where she’s at with Logan’s thing—which hasn’t changed since we began either, by the way—then we get into what my issues are locally. On rare occasions, some of those issues find themselves mysteriously and abruptly resolved by the end of the day. Freyja then makes a bid to get me to go full time, maybe tells me to avoid an area, we high-five, and go about our day. Okay, maybe the high-five is only implied. I don’t think I could reach her high-five, regardless.
The mental image of Freyja holding something up over my head like a kid in a game of keep away should have been funny. Instead, I found it oddly chilling.
I got back to business. “Well, let’s see, some woman stopped by today. I’m pretty sure her brother found something he wasn’t supposed to out in the Mojave Desert. Asked me to find him, but I’m not sure if there’s anything to find.”
“Mojave is a bit far for you, isn’t it?” she asked coolly.
“Yeah, yeah, no coloring outside the lines, I remember,” I said, catching her meaning and disposing of the subtext. “You can rest easy; I’m not going. Chalsarda volunteered and I don’t have the time to wander the desert.”
“Indeed, you do not. Anything else?”
“The dwarves in Whittier still won’t see me. Is that news?”
Freyja’s grin showed some actual mirth behind it this time. “It is not.”
“And you still won’t set that meeting.” I sighed, not even bothering to phrase it as a question at this point. It didn’t surprise me to learn that dwarves were real. I’ve met or fought with more things out of fairy tales than I ever would have thought possible, but still never met a dwarf. It turns out the tales of their craftmanship weren’t just the stuff of legend, and if I could meet them for even a few minutes, it would help immensely with my own arts and crafts. Too bad I’ve just about given up on that ever happening. “Well then, this was fun.”
Freyja managed to keep sitting as I started to stand in a way that forcefully let me know we weren’t done while also appearing as if she’d done nothing at all. “I’m so delighted to know that you enjoyed our meeting, and I am positive that you will be thrilled with your homework.” It began to dawn on me then why Freyja might have been smiling so much, and why I should have been more worried. Something was different about this meeting, and I’d been too slow to pick up on it. Freyja’s eyes met mine, and I suddenly felt like I was about to be sold a timeshare. “Tell me, Elana, have you ever been to the Port of Los Angeles?”
“You mean San Pedro?” I asked. “Usually not intentionally, why?”
“I was just wondering how you would feel about robbing a shipping container.”
Chapter Four
“I’ve been to the Port of Los Angeles,” I hedged, not sure that I should add that no one local actually called it that.
“Then I won’t need to give you directions. You’ll go tonight. I shall provide a security detail to act as your backup.”
I could feel my face grow hot all of a sudden as mild panic tried to set in. “Hold up a minute. Who am I robbing? Better question, why am I robbing? Best question, how does this have anything to do with our deal? No, wait, bestest question, I’m not robbing anybody.” Sometimes the best questions aren’t questions.
Freyja stood up at that, seeming impossibly tall as she looked down on me, no longer smiling and looking more like someone at the edge of their patience. “Elana, you and I made a deal better than half a year ago, and I have been tolerant of your lack of progress because I believe that you have been doing your best, regardless of the difficulty of the task. The deal, however, was not that I place the burden solely on your shoulders. I offered my help in exchange for your assistance in preventing Ragnarök, and now I have located somethin
g that I believe may play a key role in doing just that. I am asking you to retrieve it. This is literally what you signed up for.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling some of the panic fade away. “Okay, that makes sense, I’m sorry. I guess the question just threw me a little. You’re stupidly rich, why do you need to steal anything? And why have me of all people steal something?”
“Elana, listen to me. Theft is a small task, all things considered. Do not appear ungrateful with your questions. I will tell you everything that I feel you need to know. Are we clear?”
There was something under that firm voice that I couldn’t quite place. Freyja was telling me as gently as she could that I didn’t have a say in the matter, and I couldn’t even be mad about it. Logan was alive and I failed to produce anything for her, so as far as hastily made deals with the gods went, I was getting off easy and I knew it. There was something else, though, I just didn’t know what.
“Of course, sorry.”
“Good. You are to retrieve a plate known as Yata no Kagami,” Freyja began.
“I’m going to need to write that down.”
“Absolutely not, write down none of this and simply remember. To start, the plate is quite old, so take care not to damage it. The Japanese government would never forgive you.”
I started to say something that, at this point, would have been an incoherent string of obscenities, but a withering glance from Freyja shut my mouth for me before I had the chance.
“The assignment is simple. The shipping manifest has been set aside for you. The contents of the container have been rerouted to a vacant warehouse, along with several other containers chosen at random as a smoke screen. Bring the plate to me and, once I have had the opportunity to examine it, I will make sure it is returned safely. I will have a team standing watch for you, and everything has been taken care of. The appropriate people have been compensated for their discretion; it will be as if you were never there. Keep your phone on this evening; my people will let you know when it is time to leave.” The smile returned just then. “Now then, I have every confidence that you can handle this.”
I gritted my teeth in response. Nothing was ever that easy and, if it were, Freyja wouldn’t be sending the Suicide Squad with me. Still, what else was there to say? “Of course, I’ll bring it here safe and sound.”
“I believe you will, Elana, because if you don’t, I will consider this a breach of our contract.” The smile never left her face.
* * *
The meeting with Freyja managed to last long enough that traffic doubled, which made me late for my shift at the bookstore. I couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes late, but, all the same, the store was locked. With that locked door came a note from Claire low-key admonishing me to text her next time so she’d know exactly how late I was. I did text her then, but nothing came in response.
My neglect of the store and the added stress I’d placed on my friend had made me feel worse. Claire had been the most patient person in my life. More than Olivia, more than my foster parents, and, hell, probably more than Freyja herself. I didn’t just work in the Book’s End, I lived here—had my own little loft space and everything. Not only was I the sole, and very likely illegal, resident of the bookstore, I was also its sole employee. This meant that, whenever Claire couldn’t be there, I was it. The last guardian of the paperbacks and coffee. Truth be told, I barely managed it before I knew monsters were real, now that I’m fighting them on the regular, I can admit I straight up sucked as a clerk.
Guess which activity paid me?
I reopened the store and noticed after a few minutes that my gun-toting friends had decided to wait in the parking lot. That was definitely going to hurt business. It wouldn’t be great to have the cops show up because those donuts weren’t even trying to hide their assault rifles, and I’m not sure a security sticker on their car door was enough to dissuade anyone. Maybe it did, I honestly don’t know what deals Freyja might have with local law enforcement. It’s an unpopular opinion, but—for as much I don’t like people with guns—I really don’t like cops, and it had little to do with the fact that my car was a ticket magnet. Don’t worry everyone, we trained a bunch of people to be irrationally suspicious of everyone, but only some of them are racist. Oh, and we gave them all guns! This is very safe.
I shooed my mall cop buddies to the other side of the street with much the same annoyance I’d show teenagers trying to impress each other with the size of their vape clouds. Then, in attempt to earn a little karma, I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to clean and organize all the little things Claire would have to deal with in the morning. I knew it wasn’t going to make up for everything, but, hopefully, she would recognize the effort. Kisi came in after a while, asking to use the bathroom, and I used that moment as an excuse to guilt her into buying a book for James for his birthday. I regret nothing.
The rest of the day came and went. I closed up a little after seven, made sure the cats were fed, and asked the crew how much longer until we could get out of there. The answer was another four hours. Part of me wanted nothing more than to get precisely four hours of sleep before we left, but I knew there was plenty I could be doing and I didn’t want to be unprepared if things went the way I expected them to. That is to say, badly. Something absolutely didn’t add up about this mission, but there wasn’t any way to find out how it could go wrong until it did.
Before I became too wrapped up in my work, I owed Olivia a call. I always spoke to her after my meetings with Freyja. Sometimes they were short updates and, sometimes, they were cry sessions. Whichever this one was going to be, it was more important than whatever prep work the store required. The phone barely rang before Olivia picked up.
“Hey there!” Olivia said with the extra bit of chipper-ness that she used when she didn’t want people to know she was anxious.
“Hey, hey,” I answered, scooping up Koala, the greyer, fluffier, and slower of our two shop cats, and putting him on my lap as I sat. “Sorry I didn’t get to call earlier. The meeting ran long, then it was straight to work.”
“I figured it was something like that. So, you’re done for the day?” Olivia didn’t want to ask for what she needed to hear. She always did this. We could go around like this for an hour if I let her.
“Not exactly, but hey, before I get to that, Logan is good. No change,” I said and, without hearing anything, I could feel the relief on the other end of the line. “I don’t know when he’s coming back. I don’t really know anything else, honestly, but I know she’s telling the truth, and I know he’s okay.”
“Of course he is,” Olivia stated as if there has never been any question. “But thank you.”
I considered for a moment to tell her the rest, but history had taught me that keeping secrets from Olivia wasn’t going to do me any favors. I didn’t want to worry her, but life was worrisome, so oh well. “There’s something extra this time, though. We had a breakthrough with our assignment. She wants me to do something for her tonight. I got a bad feeling about it, but I sort of have to do it anyway.”
“What is it? Do you need my help?” It was Oliva’s eagerness to help no matter what that reminded me of how much I owed her.
I kept talking before I could second-guess myself. “I can’t get into it, but there’s a bit you need to know. She said if I don’t do this, our deal is off. She said that this was what I signed up for, and, honestly, there’s nothing to fight here on the subject. She’s right. This is my end of the bargain.”
“But if the deal is off, does that mean that Logan is—?”
“I don’t know,” I interrupted. “Look, it’s going to be fine. She’s sending a small army with me. Between what I got going on and the four bootleg Punishers I have watching my back, it’s going to get done, okay?”
“If Logan’s life is on the line, I should be there,” she insisted.
“You really can’t.” I sighed. I was technically lying. Olivia could’ve quickly and easily tied herse
lf into a deal with Freyja just as I had, but I wasn’t going to let her do that. She’s already given up too much for my screw-ups, so when it came to my deal with Freyja, I was determined to keep her out of it. I’d always told her that I had to do it alone. That, because I made a deal with Freyja, what happened with the goddess had to stay separate from her. That much wasn’t a lie; I just didn’t let her in on the other half. “You know how this goes. I just wanted to make sure you knew. I can meet you tomorrow sometime and catch up after it’s all done, okay?”
“I have a gig tomorrow morning,” her words came absently. “Script supervisor. Call time is six.”
“See? You can’t be out doing this kind of shadiness anyway,” I said unconvincingly. “You call me when you’re done for the day, how about that? We’ll get a drink, and I’ll tell you everything.”
There was an uncomfortable silence. The thought that I should’ve given more consideration to how my best friend might’ve dealt with the news, that her boyfriend’s life might be in my hands again for the second time in a year, was a tickle at the edge of my mind that I was smart enough to ignore. If I’d tried to plan for this conversation, I’d have never made the call. Sometimes things could be messy, and that was okay.
“Okay,” It took a long moment to get that word. It accompanied the hard sniff one has when the tears are coming back, but you can’t let anyone know that. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I replied gently. “Don’t worry. I got this.”
I got off the phone then, wondering exactly how much I did have this. Another day and just like that, out of nowhere, people were counting on me, and it was life or death. Again. “Welcome to the rest of your life, Elana,” I said, holding a confused grey polydactyl cat up to my face. Even the cat wouldn’t look me in the eye.