Dead Embers (16 page)

When the footsteps stopped, the man who stood at the
threshold needed no glamor to hold the room spellbound. His arrestingly
gorgeous looks cut my introspection short and, I'm ashamed to admit, stole the
breath from my lungs. I felt the urge to sigh like a silly schoolgirl.
Schoolgirl I was, silly I was not. So I squelched the impulse and waited, sure
I would find out soon enough who he was.

Nobody dashed forward to challenge the man; nobody tried to
lop his head off either. In fact, Valkyries and Ulfr began to rematerialize all
around the room. The fear-edged tension that had filled the air only moments
ago dissipated. Fine then, guess he wasn't much of a threat after all.

Beside me, a half-materialized Sigrun sighed in a way that
reminded me way too much of the air-head, boy-crazy girls back in Midgard. I
threw her a disgusted look.

"Mmhh, he is so good to look at," she said softly.

"What? Who is he, and why the hell are you looking at
him as if he were a mug of Mead?"

"That is Thor, God of Thunder, Son of Odin," she
answered, a dreamy smile on her lips.

"Oh," was all I could manage.

Thor. Wow.

She continued, silly grin still plastered across her face.
"Although, to be brutally honest, he does not hold a candle to his brother
Baldur. But he is good enough."

I glanced over at Fen, whose gaze was trained on the god.
Fen,
you really should get a load of this little display of female infatuation.

Thor strode across the room, and the ground still rumbled
beneath his feet. Sure, he wouldn't be the god of thunder without the odd
rumble, would he? The god went straight to the still-hazy image of Fenrir and
stuck out his hand.

"Well met, brother Fenrir."

Fen materialized slowly, a familiar grin on his face.

One look around the room and I had to stifle a giggle. Every
female—Valkyrie, Ulfr and Warrior alike—gaped at the god with similar smitten
expressions. Oh boy. Even Mika stared.

I eyed Sigrun and wanted to giggle. This exact situation
would so easily have fit into any random school in Midgard. I guess the whole
infatuation thing wasn't unique to humans. Even Asgard had its fair share of
besotted fans of certain hot dude gods.

Fen frowned and so did Joshua, each of them flicking glances
at Sigrun and Mika, respectively.

Oh, boy. Jealous much?

Apart from being majorly hot with all his blond locks and
yummy muscles, the god was dressed in human clothes very similar to ours: black
pants, black shirt and matching fake-leather coat. His muscles bulged beneath
the shoulders and sleeves of the leather, reminding me of a well-built wrestler
or bodybuilder.

In his fist an object shimmered, an object whose glamor had
almost tricked my eye. Almost. Thor held his famous hammer, Mjölnir, as calm as
you please. And every time he clenched his fingers around the handle of the
hammer or so much as moved it, a soft thunder rumbled around the room. Mjölnir,
then, had contributed to some of the intermittent rumblings that seemed to
accompany Thor as he moved.

"It is good to see you, brother Thor." Fen placed
his hand on Thor's shoulder and gave the muscles a familiar squeeze.

"I have come to offer my help," said Thor as he
set Mjölnir on the table. He walked to the map and studied the black pins.
"The All-Father has sent me."

"How did he know?" I whispered to Sigrun.

I had to elbow her in the ribs to get a response. If Thor
had this effect on the girls, I'd hate to see what happened should Baldur walk
into the room.

"What? Oh, Hugin or Munin," she replied, her gaze
never leaving the god's face.

Made sense. Those birds were everywhere. I almost wanted to
look over my shoulder for them, just in case.

We suffered through the next few minutes, forced to relive
the horror as Fen explained the situation to Thor. Noticing the god's concern,
the sadness in his eyes, I realized he was very much like his father, Odin. He
commanded the attention of the room and the admiration of all, either besotted
or respectful. Thor listened to Fen, paying attention to more than just his
words. His eyes covered the room, nodding and greeting everyone, telling us all
that he was here for us, that he saw us, acknowledged our efforts.

"The black poison had worried me from the first time I
. . . we saw it," Fen said to the god, throwing a fleeting glance in my
direction. Fen filled him in on everything that had happened since he and I
discovered the first body in the LA mausoleum. "At the time that the
Valkyrie Brynhildr and I first saw the substance, we never suspected it to be
this deadly.

At the mention of my name, the enigmatic god looked straight
at me, as if he'd known who I was from the moment he'd walked into the room.

"Valkyrie Brynhildr, I have heard so much about
you."

The moment the god spoke to me, it seemed to pull Sigrun out
of her adoring trance. She stiffened beside me and her fingers gripped my arm,
pushing me forward. I had no choice but to approach Thor.

Dimly, I was aware of Joshua across the room, staring
daggers at the god and alternately staring angrily at me. It seemed his
attention had moved from Mika to me. What, did he think I was also besotted
with the god? Why the hell would Joshua be angry if Thor paid attention to
little old me? He should be paying more heed to the roaming eyes of the girl
he
had the hots for.

I sent him a narrow-eyed, what's-your-problem glare, but he
just gave me a short, sharp shake of his head and glared back. Beside him, Fen
frowned at me as well. What the hell was going on with the males in this room?

I didn't have much time to wonder. In a few steps I stood
before Thor, bathed in his golden aura.

The god glowed, much like Odin and the other gods, a low
simmering aura and a constant reminder of Asgard and their godly nature. Even
the skin of all our Warriors, like Joshua and Aimee, gleamed a little. Pity the
Valkyries didn't have this special glow.

Thor smiled, and I was not immune. "Brynhildr, can you
tell me more? I believe you and Fenrir were the first to discover this strange
liquid on the bodies of the Warriors?"

Behind him, Ingrid walked back into the room, just in time
to hear his words. Her face tightened. But even if I hadn't seen her reaction,
I still would've thought it odd for him to say that. The last thing I wanted to
do was steal any credit, even for something as important as the poisonous
gloop.

"My lord, I doubt we were the first to see the residue.
I would think there were others before us, considering the number of losses we
have had all over Midgard. Many of the scout teams arrived at almost the same
time to report what they'd seen."

Thor nodded at my answer and stroked his bearded chin. I
wasn't entirely sure I'd impressed him by deflecting his praise. I had no idea
what to say next. So I just said nothing.

"We are losing new Warriors by the dozen." Fen
broke into the uncomfortable void and probably saved me from saying something
dumb. "We find them, but they do not survive long enough for
Retrieval." He thrust his finger at the map full of black dots as if to
sweep them away. "Someone is getting to them before us. And that means we
need more surveillance. Possibly someone with the Warrior
twenty-four-seven."

I stiffened, chilled by a sudden thought. "What if
they're glamored?" I asked. A Valkyrie or an Ulfr could sneak into a
gathering of humans and deliver the fatal poison unseen.

"That is true." A thoughtful expression settled on
Fen's face. "So that means we must look harder, be more aware of what to
expect."

He leaned closer to Thor and spoke in tones too low for my
ears, and the god nodded.

I backed away as they began to discuss strategy, glad to get
out of the spotlight, and returned to my small group of friends. Joshua, Aimee,
Sigrun and Mika waited against the far wall.

I sighed as I leaned my weight against the wall, sure that
the room was closing in on me. "I think I need some space."

"I know what you mean, Bryn," said Sigrun.
"Ingrid has advised that there are rooms upstairs if you wish to
rest."

I glanced quickly back at Thor and Fen. They were so deep in
conversation it didn't seem like they'd be needing me anytime soon. I gave
Sigrun a nod, relieved to have somewhere to go that wasn't filled with tension
and despair. Sigrun and Mika waited by the door as I pushed wearily off the
wall and began to walk after them with Aimee and Joshua. But our escape attempt
was interrupted by the Valkyrie who had left with Ingrid earlier to tend to
Olaf. She half-ran into the room, her white wings quivering, eyes filling with
tears. She spoke into Ingrid's ear, stopping to calm herself in mid-speech. We
couldn't hear what she said, but whatever it was, it wasn't good. My stomach
plunged to my feet.

The Valkyrie stepped back, swiping at the moisture on her
cheeks, and Ingrid cleared her throat, her eyes clear and colder than ever.
"There is more to this black substance than we could ever have suspected.
Olaf is dead."

A dead chill filled the room, a chill so thick that even the
cloying heat of the day did nothing to relieve it. A whisper of a rumble ran
around the room, and I glanced at Mjölnir, still sitting on the table where
Thor had left it. But when I looked at Thor's face, I was reminded again that a
god stood in our midst. His brows were dark and I could have sworn his very breath
was weaved from thunder.

"And this death is a result of the black substance?
There is no doubt?" asked Thor, his eyes turning to Ingrid.

"None," said Ingrid, her jaw clenching. She
lowered her head.

"Unfortunately, he came in contact with the black residue
on our last Retrieval," Fen said. "He touched it before we realized
the body was covered in it." A strange, hoarse note in his voice made me
search his face.

Lines of worry burrowed into his skin, and for a moment he
looked every bit the ancient werewolf. Fen would've been blaming himself all
along, but things had just gotten worse. Way worse. Knowing Fen, he'd now feel
entirely responsible for the Warrior's death.

***

The room swam with grief and worry, and we thought it best
to leave Ingrid and her team to comfort each other. Aimee and I left the
basement and escaped to a sparsely furnished room upstairs; Sigrun and Joshua
followed not two minutes later. Guess we all needed some time away from the
basement.

I sank onto the rickety, uncomfortable bed, feeling the
weight of tiredness push me down. Aimee plonked herself beside me, looking as
deflated as I felt.

Joshua stood at the open window, arms folded, staring out
into the murky dawn. The rigid set of his shoulders worried me. "What's
the matter?" I asked, but I suspected I had an idea.

He just shrugged and shared a quick glance over his shoulder
at Aimee before turning back to the window.

"It's this whole black gloop," Aimee said.
"If it kills Warriors, then it makes us vulnerable." She drew her
feet up, sitting cross-legged, but slumped forward in a depressed curve rather
than channeling a Yogic calm. Her head lowered, she picked at invisible lint
and added, "It also means we're no longer
invincible
."

Aimee spoke the word while drawing inverted commas with her
fingers.

"But you never were invincible, Aimee," said
Sigrun quite pleasantly. She'd taken a chair at the foot of the bed, and I
found it odd that she didn't seem to have any concerns about crushing the
little wooden seat.

We all stared at her. Joshua and Aimee with irritation, me
with affection. Poor Sigrun. She always said exactly what she was thinking.
Without thinking.

"What do you mean by that?" A tepid fire burned in
Joshua's narrowed eyes.

Sigrun shrugged, unaffected by Joshua's indignation.
"Even though you have been revived from the dead, it does not mean you are
immortal." A frown creased her forehead. "No . . . I mean unless you
are very badly wounded, you will survive."

"So we are long-lived, not immortal," he said
softly, as if trying that fact on for size.

"Yes. That is it." A tiny smile curled at the
corner of Sigrun's mouth.

Joshua laughed, the sound dry and cynical. "Just great,
isn't it? Just when we get started, training, learning, along comes this black
stuff that can kill a Warrior within hours. It means there is someone out there
who wants us all dead."

Sigrun rose and walked to the window, placing a gentle arm
on Joshua's shoulder. "It means that someone wants to stop Odin from
gathering more Warriors. And we have no choice but to concentrate on finding
this killer and stopping him. Or we will end up without a strong enough army,
come Ragnarok."

Aimee's golden hair framed the dark frown on her forehead.
"But who would do that? Who would be daring enough to go up against Odin?
To mess with the way things are meant to be done?"

"Loki," four voices said in unison. Guess we all
agreed who won the Scumbag of the Year Award. The trickster god was the only
one I knew who would be that bold.

I hated feeling helpless, but that's exactly what we all
were. We returned to Asgard, a group of rather glum scout teams. The thing that
bugged me most was the fact that I hadn't been able to search for Brody. No new
leads, no police or FBI to go searching for us, and without a demand from the
people who'd abducted him all we had to do was wait.

And I hated waiting.

We gathered in Odin's hall, feeling superfluous yet
beholden, while Fen and the gods talked. Joshua stood a few paces in front of
me, his back stiff, the muscles in his neck corded. He hadn't taken his eyes or
ears off the discussion up on the dais. And when Fen threw us a dark and
worried glance, my heart twisted, my fear almost palpable. The fact that
Warriors could die from the slightest physical contact with the substance
distressed us all.