Dead Embers (12 page)

The rest of us jumped in back, still glamored and safe from
prying eyes. Impatience gnawed at me, with annoyance fighting for space. I
couldn't understand what all the cloak-and-dagger spy stuff was about. The
driver put the truck in gear, and the engine churned and screeched before it
settled into a regular rhythm that sounded far too much like the vehicle was
about to throw up. Soon we began to slowly roll down the street. Way too slow
for my taste.
Come on. I can walk faster than this
.

The trip felt interminable, the potholes and bumpy ride
churning my stomach even worse than the Bifrost did.

When we finally halted at a checkpoint I sent a silent
grateful prayer up to Odin. Somehow the prospect of falling off a cliff seemed
welcome when compared to the rocking and rolling in the back of the ancient
truck.

Great. Just what we needed. A carsick Valkyrie. Probably
because I was meant for flight, not road travel.

Neither Mika nor Sigrun seemed to mind the ride. They sat
opposite me, moving back and forth as we bounced on the untarred roads,
patiently awaiting the end of our trip.

At a checkpoint, a soldier rapped out a command, and our
driver rolled his window down, greeting him in Arabic. The soldier didn't
answer, just stared back, irritation clearly imprinted in his dark scowl. He
barked another order, both his tone and volume harsh and demanding.

Beside me Fen stiffened, bringing both his hands together,
steepling them, the movement slow and deliberate. Both Warriors handed over
their passports and waited while the soldier inspected the documents and scrutinized
Joshua and Aimee, an unfriendly, suspicious gleam in his eyes.

I feared the man would have the audacity to ask Aimee to
remove her head covering. Sigrun, on my right, tensed, and I knew exactly how
she felt. Blood thundered in my ears, and I held my breath, waiting. I craned
my neck to watch the soldier as he walked around the car to the passenger
window. He motioned for Joshua to roll the window down, and in that moment I
was glad for my friend's dark looks. Courtesy of his Indian mom, Joshua had jet-black
hair and a pair of ebony eyes to match.

My heart thumped louder when the soldier shot another
instruction at them. Joshua glanced back at the driver, then pushed the door
open and stepped out of the car very slowly.

My heart sank. The soldier's nostrils flared, as if the
truck and its occupants angered him. The look on his face didn't bode well for
Joshua, or for us. I met Fen's hooded eyes, but the gathering night shadowed
his expression. Only the tightness in his shoulders confirmed my fear.

Joshua was about to get arrested.

The soldier squinted again at the passport, then stared up
at Joshua's face. Way up. Joshua towered head and shoulders above the soldier.
A desperate giggle rippled through me as I realized for the first time since my
friend had been reborn into his role as
einherjar
, Warrior of Valhalla,
how much Joshua had grown.

Joshua's jaw tightened as he stared down his interrogator.
Nobody breathed. Fen still sat with his fingers pressed firmly against each
other. Perhaps he was praying really hard. At last the soldier gave Joshua a
nod and walked around the back of the truck. He stopped, stooped low to inspect
the undercarriage, then returned the passports to the driver.

I exhaled only when the soldier stalked to the boom gate to
raise the iron bar. Fen too seemed to relax, finally unsteepling his rigid
fingers. The truck grunted, lurched forward, and we were on our way.

The dusty horizon darkened, promising a swift desert
nightfall. Safely out of the central city limits, we traveled for a short
distance deeper into the residential area that bordered the city. In the
gathering darkness, the buildings loomed, stacked cheek to cheek, so close that
each house seemed to either lean against or suffocate the other.

The ratchety old car grumbled to a stop beside a shadowed
door whose blue paint had flaked away after years in the heat of the
unforgiving Cairo sun. A house loomed over us, identical to the drab building
attached to it, a thin three-story whose windows stared coldly down on us.

Sigrun let out a sigh, easing the comically pained
expression she'd worn for the entire twenty-minute ride. She'd wriggled
throughout the trip, and I wasn't surprised. Now she stretched and leaned
toward me to whisper, "Thank Odin that horrible ride is over. Valkyries
were made to fly and fight, not be packed into Midgard vehicles on long trips
like this." She added, almost to herself, "Next time I am
flying."

I grinned, and glanced beside me at Fen in time to catch his
amused expression. We scrambled from the bed of the truck, grateful for the
opportunity to stretch limbs that had taken a beating from the bumpy ride.

Joshua jumped from the cab and scanned the darkness
intently. Something told me he wasn't searching for signs of danger. Knowing
Joshua, he was probably hoping for a glimpse of Mika. But my Ulfr friend paid
no attention to his furtive glances as she checked her weapons and stood on the
sidewalk, watching the street and waiting for her commanding officer. The darkness
hid my smile; Mika was all business, but I knew she couldn't hold out against
Joshua's charms for too long.

The cool Cairo night seemed too still and too silent as the
team gathered at the door, eyes on the street and the buildings around us.

"Mika. Aimee. Watch the street. Everyone be aware, and
be silent." Fen, too, kept his eye on the shadows around us.

My heart tripped as I checked frantically for my glamor. No
matter how many times I used it, I always felt as if I'd lose it when it
mattered the most.

The driver came around, handed a small object to Fen, nodded
curtly and returned to the vehicle. I peered over Fen's shoulder, but the night
hid the object in the shadows of his palm.

He turned to fidget at the doorway. Metal scraped metal and
the lock clicked.

The door creaked open into a maw of blackness. The team
slipped inside like a cluster of shadows, dark and silent. We'd made it inside
the old Egyptian house, shutting the door behind us. So far, so good.

My heart lurched again with the grumble and clatter from the
truck as the driver revved the engine and slowly drove down the darkened
street. The racket caused more than a few cringes and hasty glances from my
team. Guess Fen forgot to give the driver the "silent and undetected at
all times" speech.

So far we hadn't been followed or chased, or shot at, for
that matter. I was beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. But despite
my doubts, my heart still thumped as I waited with the others inside the
deserted house.

The musty darkness hung thick with incense and unwashed
bodies. Mika's eyes glowed amber, and I could just make out the sound of
sniffing as she scented the building. Although the room was large and airy, its
whitewashed walls suddenly seemed to close in on us. The eight people gathered
in the dark were tall, muscle-bound and took up far too much space.

Great. First carsick, now claustrophobic. I was beginning to
think I sucked at being a brave and strong Valkyrie.

I choked off a sigh and looked around. Though I couldn't
claim to have Ulfr-sight, my eyes began to slowly adjust to the darkness and
soon I was able to make out more than just the glowing eyes of our Ulfr
partners. Before us, a single door sat open, revealing a dusty, silent passage.
Nobody moved; we just waited for the next signal from Fen.

I watched him, hoping he'd get on with it. How long were we
expected to stand around waiting?

He tilted his head, listening with what looked decidedly
like a wolf's ear. I shuddered, hoping there would be no need for any of the
Ulfr to transform.

My own patience ran out faster than the rest. "Fen,
what—"

He glanced sharply at me, admonition clear in his amber
gaze. "Silence, Valkyrie," he said, his voice low with a trace of
wolf rumble. I cringed and wished I'd just shut up in the first place. He
continued in such a hushed tone that I had to strain to hear him. "This is
supposed to be our North African headquarters. Do you want to alert any spies
who might have been following us, or watching us? Would you like to reveal the
location of these headquarters to the Vanir?"

I paled, feeling very foolish. I really hadn't paid much
attention at the briefing to have missed all this vital information.

"Listen. Can you hear that?" Muffled voices
drifted to us from somewhere below. "I assume this building has a
basement. We need to find it."

I raised an eyebrow and waited. What did we have Ulfr for,
if not to sniff out hidden nooks and crannies? Sure enough, only seconds later
Mika beckoned to Fen, pointing at the far wall. Half-hidden in the shadows and
tucked directly behind the entrance door sat a second, almost invisible door.
Painted to match the whitewashed walls, it blended so well into the wall that
it wouldn't have been easy to spot even in the daylight.

Fen twisted the knob, and the door swung open, a rush of
cool air rising to meet us. A stone staircase dropped down into the darkness
below. Fen waited for the team to descend before shutting the thick wooden door
and following us down. And he seemed to have suddenly dispensed with the need
for creeping about and being silent. His heels echoed as he marched down the
darkened stone stairs. The narrow steps and shadows forced those of us without
wolfish night-vision to tread carefully.

My fingers trailed the cool wall as we descended. This was
what it must have felt like when the first Egyptian tombs were opened. Taking
steps into the cool, musty unknown darkness. I assumed Fen knew where the hell
he was leading us. Of course, should we meet danger, Fen would surely go all
werewolf on our attackers' asses and save us all.

I hoped.

At the bottom of the staircase, a pair of large, metal
double doors greeted us, held open by matching, rickety wooden chairs
pretending to be doorstops.

Light poured through the opening.

Bright fluorescent light.

Fen strode straight in; he seemed so in control. Unlike the
rest of us. I followed the team inside and stopped as we reached the middle of
the room. A scattering of fluorescent lamps lit the underground room, which
buzzed with energy, computers, maps and whiteboards. It took my breath away,
literally. Seemed the others around me were equally surprised.

"I'd never have imagined they'd be this
organized," Joshua whispered from behind me.

A dozen or so Warriors and unglamored Valkyries milled
around, tapping computer keys and marking maps, speaking into cell phones and
satellite phones. It looked like the center of operations for the CIA or MI6 or
some other spy-type group. Amazing to think that many of these operatives were
from a realm most people thought didn't exist. Equally fascinating was how
temporary everything looked. As if it would take mere minutes to grab laptops
and phones, maps and foldaway tables, and make a quick getaway.

Fen paused at a nearby computer, studying the monitor,
before turning his attention to a large map on the far wall. His movements drew
a few curious glances from around the room, but none of the Warriors approached
him. Everyone remained at a respectful distance, although an Ulfr or two did
give him a respectful bow when he looked at them.

No one stopped their work. Computer keys clicked. Somewhere,
a printer whirred. Very efficient. As I studied the frenetic room, I found
myself nodding.

"So you like what you see?" a sharp voice asked.

My wings shivered beneath the glamor. I turned to the speaker
and met a pair of icy blue eyes. She stood straight-backed, her head tilted to
look at me. Her blonde hair glinted in the white light. A pair of dove-grey
wings framed her head, still and silent. I had to force my own wings to stop
their little flutters. Something about this Valkyrie made me nervous.

The twist to her lips resembled a smile, but her eyes were
cool. Not an Astrid glare, but hardly a warm welcome. And when those eyes
shifted away from me and settled on Fen, her entire face transformed. Wow. A
nice big smile for the general. So, her wintry welcome had been solely blasted
at me. Great. Another blue-eyed blonde who wasn't all that fond of me.

Fen grasped her hand with his, a greeting I hadn't seen
before. But then again, I'd barely had much interaction with the Warriors and
Valkyries, what with running around after Freya's bling. "Valkyrie
Ingrid." Fen nodded at the blonde woman.

"My lord Fenrir." She bowed her head slightly, and
I blinked. First time I'd ever heard anyone call him "my lord." She
hesitated a moment before continuing, "I assume it's still all clear
outside?"

"Do not fear, Ingrid. Neither my team nor I have given
away the location of your headquarters."

In everything he'd done so far, Fen had protected the
location of the Cairo HQ. Now it all made sense. The whole secret spy routine,
the glamors and the fake identities for our two Warriors. And yet this Valkyrie
had the audacity to question her superior?

I glanced at Fen, waiting for some kind of admonition, but
he merely nodded, as if he approved of her interrogating him on his methods.
"We have very little time, could you give us the intel we need?"

Intel? Fen, you did not just go FBI on us. What next?

"Very well, Fenrir, if you will follow me." She
stalked to the far corner of the room, her back still ramrod straight despite
her obvious wilting to Fen's charms. I flicked a glance over at Sigrun.
Satisfied she wasn't being consumed by little green jealousy monsters, I turned
my attention back to the blond Valkyrie.

I drew a little pleasure from the knowledge that despite
having the whole blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Scandinavian thing going for her,
she certainly hadn't received the beauty part of that agreement. Then I chided
myself for being mean. She may have been plain, but that didn't justify my
unkind thoughts.