Dead Wrath (25 page)

Instead, I studied the goggles, turning them over in my hands, then looking through them experimentally. "This is perfect for us right now, Derek. Although, I'll just take the one. Edrik won't be needing one."

"Why not?" he asked, his forehead scrunched.

I raised an eyebrow. "He's an Ulfr, remember. Natural night vision."

"Oh yes. I did forget about that," he said, his eyes going wide.

I studied his face, noting the golden emanation to his skin. "Tell me, Derek, how long have you been an einherjar?"

"About a year now," he answered, his expression serious. "Why?"

"No real reason. I just like to get to know my team," I answered. "You said you come home regularly for training?"

"Yeah." He snorted. Waving a hand to himself, he said, "I'm not exactly your average warrior type."

I grinned and shook my head while Aimee snorted from her end of the room. "I think if we only ever got warrior-type warriors, we'd be in deep trouble. We need techies like you. Especially now with Loki getting all technologically advanced in his tactics."

"Well, I'm glad to help. Just let me know if you ever need anything else. You name it, I'm your man."

I believed him.

"You bet. I don't think you'll be able to get rid of me now that I know how super efficient you are." I beamed at him, and he flushed pink before launching himself out of his seat.

He bobbed in place for a moment, then said, "I'd better get to that program, then." With that, he scurried out of the room, leaving Aimee and me to roll our eyes and giggle.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

After everyone had suited up and readied themselves, we headed to the front door. As we reached the doorway, I drew the Tarnkappe from my bag and dusted it out. It made an impressively hollow flapping sound.

I handed the cloak to Enya. "Here. You will need this."

"What is it?" she asked, running a finger over the silky leather.

"It's a cloak of invisibility. Thor gave it to me, so be careful with it," I said, then frowned as I stared at her. "Unless you have the ability to use glamor and haven't told us yet." I winked.

She shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, no. I still have to figure out if I can. I will let you know if it ever happens."

I shook my head. "That's fine. Don't force anything. If you have the ability, it will no doubt come to you in time. For now, you can use the Tarnkappe. Just wear it like a cloak and keep yourself covered. Nobody will see you."

"I will, thanks," she said with a grateful smile. She swung the cloak around her and pulled it over her head. As soon as she was ready, I turned the knob and opened the door.

We filed out of the house one by one without a word. If anyone noticed the door of Maria Chekhov's boarding house open and close on it's own, I was sure they would find a million reasons for it yet be utterly wrong with every one of them.

We circled Yuri's van. I stepped closer and peered in through the greasy windows only to find it empty of our friendly neighborhood Interpol agent. Seemed he'd gone off somewhere without inviting us. Edrik gave me a questioning glance as we left the empty van, and I shrugged. I hadn't yet formulated a guess as to what the agent was up to.

We walked up the road until we reached a small clearing. I faced Siri and nodded, then backed away a few paces. Like me, she was cloaked in glamor that would hide her from all eyes. Slowly, golden sparks swirled as her human form disintegrated and the dragon came forth. Siri grew larger and larger until she reached her full size. She leaned forward and bent one knee, allowing Enya and Edrik to scramble up her back.

Once they were safely up, I shucked out my wings, dusting them free behind me. A few red feathers floated back and forth in little half circles until they landed on the gravel. I rose into the air, and Siri followed, giving me a toothy dragon grin. We headed for the manor, the moon shining down on us, bright and white.

From our height, we could see the land undulating in valleys and hills. Despite the moonlight, the night shadowed the finer details, but I still enjoyed a view that was as original as it could ever get. How many people could say they got to take a ride on the back of a beautiful golden dragon on a regular basis?

We descended slowly and came down in a clearing a few yards away from the house. Siri landed and let her passengers off before transforming back into her human self. We ducked down behind a stand of scraggly trees and studied the house.

The old building would have been magnificent in its heyday, built in the old manor style. It even had a few turrets that added character. Now in the early hours of the morning, the house looked silent. Nothing stirred outside, which confirmed they didn't have guards on the outside perimeter.

I glanced at Enya. "Ready?" I asked softly, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Wait here for me. I'll fly around and find a good entrance. Then I'll come get you. Aimee was saying you can send a stream of heat directly at a specific point?"

She nodded, her cheeks going pink. "Yes, I just learned how to do that. It was pretty amazing." She seemed happy and quite impressed at her newfound talent.

She wasn't the only one impressed. "Right. So I need you to direct your heat at a lock. You know the part that goes from the door into the side panel? I'm not sure what they're called."

Enya smiled. "Yeah, the thingy that goes into the whatsit. I know exactly what you're talking about." She giggled and I wanted to giggle too. Only we were working, so levity had to wait.

I patted her shoulder, warned everyone to stay down and out of sight, then launched into the air and glided around the house toward the back yard. The place was rundown, with broken planters scattered across what must have once been a bright-green lawn. The property was bordered by lines of skinny, dying trees.

From the front of the house, I'd seen the main entrance. It had a fairly deep porch that was steeped in shadow, hidden from the glare of moonlight by a long overhanging roof. But it looked a bit too direct for me. I preferred a more secluded way in, so I drew around the house and hovered, taking my time studying the house from end to end. My wings flapped strongly at my back, keeping me steady.

Then I saw something that looked like it could work. I tilted forward, then sped closer to a balcony that sat on the second floor to the far right of the building. The balcony was wide with double cottage pane doors.

It would do.

I flew back to the team and landed smoothly on the ground. It had taken me a while to master this whole flying and landing thing. Now I could land and ease into a walk and it looked effortless.

I hurried to the team and crouched down. "Edrik, come around the back. There's a balcony on the right, first floor. Meet me there." He nodded, and I turned to Enya. "You ready?" I asked.

"As I'll ever be," she said, and we both got to our feet together. She'd stayed beneath the cloak the entire time, even keeping the hood up to hide her face. Now she looked up at me from beneath the cowl, and I was struck by what the moonlight did to her face. Her pale skin was now transformed and looked more like stone than real skin. The dark veins that crawled across the skin resembled cracks. The girl could pass for a very beautiful stone statue.

I pushed my thoughts away and grabbed her around her waist, surging upward. I had to thrust harder to compensate for the added weight, but I soon found that Enya was as light as she was fragile.

I glided down to the balcony and landed softly in front of the double doors. Enya shuffled beneath the cloak and moved to the lock. I watched as she bent closer and pointed the fingers of her right hand at the lock. The handle of the door began to glow as Enya aimed her heat and tried to focus it to a more specific location. I watched, amazed as her hand began to shrivel and her skin took on the look of white-hot coals.

She was so silent I almost pushed back the hood to check she was still with me. Then she adjusted her position and must have changed the direction of the heat to achieve a better focus because the handle now cooled, losing the red tinge. I squinted at the gap between the two doors and was certain I could see the glow of hot metal. When the door shuddered slightly, I knew she'd managed to melt the catch.

Then she straightened and glanced up at me, her expression saying,
Job done
. I pulled the hood over her eyes and grabbed her around the waist. Spreading my wings, I lifted off, then glided around the house, heading back to leave Enya with Siri.

By the time I returned, Edrik had made his way to the dead garden below the balcony. I was about to lower myself and give him a lift up when he backed away a few steps, then took a running leap. For a wolf, he moved like a monkey. Super fast and light on his feet. He sprinted, running at the wall, then planted a foot on it to boost himself up to the balcony. He grabbed onto the balustrade and used the momentum of his jump to swing himself up and over, landing in front of the doors in silence.

Well, okay then.

He didn't need my help at all. I headed to the balcony, landing softly beside him seconds before realizing creeping up on an unsuspecting werewolf was bad for my health. But he just looked over his shoulder at me as if expecting me to be there. I raised an eyebrow, then moved around him to open the door slowly. It glided inward without making a sound. Odd for a house that had been abandoned for years.

We slipped inside and I pulled my night-vision goggles over my eyes. I bent my head to my microphone. "You getting this, Derek?" His voice crackled in my ears as he confirmed. He'd attached a camera to the front of my jacket and provided us all with the requisite earwigs and microphones. I was more than thankful I didn't get those annoying contact lens cameras, but I suspected adding goggles would have messed up the quality of the recording.

I stood still, my back to the wall as I stared at the opposite wall. The room was empty, cobwebs thick in the corners. The moon streamed in through the open windows, lighting a path all the way to the open door that led into the passage.

Through the wall, I could just make out a faint outline of orange and purple. A live one probably two rooms away. I whispered into my microphone, knowing Edrik would hear as well. I headed to the door and pointed left, and Edrik nodded. He'd take the right. I slipped into the hall and glided down the corridor, looking left and right and coming up empty. All the doors were open, revealing rooms that were filled with makeshift tables with stacks of bricks supporting long pieces of wood. There were ragged holes in the walls between many of the rooms, making the open spaces larger.

I frowned. What the hell was going in this old house? And that was when I walked into the room containing guns. Every size and shape imaginable. And one end of the room seemed to be designated as some sort of laboratory or experimental operation, with beakers and microscopes and big strange machines.

I knew Derek would be getting it all on tape, so I passed through, heading toward the orange splodge. I neared the door and waited outside the room, only daring to peer inside. A frost giant stood at the window, staring out.

My heart thudded so hard I almost felt it in my throat. Thank goodness we had glamor or this oaf would have seen us. I slipped past and left him to his watch, hoping the girls didn't do anything to draw his attention.

Down the hall and to the right, another orange smudge glowed. I slid forward, fingers touching the wall, and I tried to control my breathing. Here, another frost giant paced the room. His face was pale and rugged and not in the least friendly. What did girl frost giants looked like anyway? I'd never seen one before.

I shook my head and reminded myself to focus instead of thinking ridiculous and irrelevant thoughts.

At the end of the hall, I reached a landing that led down toward the stairs. The balustrade curved around the stairwell, leading right and down the hall. I was about to head right when I caught a hint of orange straight ahead. Just at the top of the landing was a set of double doors. It must have once been a main bedroom or an upstairs living room.

As I got closer, the smudge grew large. It moved first to the left then right. Whispers of a voice reached me through the door.

"He won't win this time. He just won't. I won't let him."

"I am simply telling you what I see." A woman's voice, musical, but not happy at all. "No matter how may times you try to change fate, fate itself will find a way back to what is meant to be."

"But the prophecy. I don't understand why the original prophecy isn't coming to pass?" Loki snapped. He sounded frustrated and angry.

"Perhaps they interpreted it incorrectly all those years ago. Or perhaps people heard only what they wanted to hear," came the woman's voice. I detected a trace of satisfaction in her tone that made me smile. She certainly wasn't happy to be working with our favorite god.

"I gave you his blood, just as you asked," Loki growled. "You made me bring him to you and bleed him almost dry. And the spell didn't work. Are you playing games with me, woman?"

"I assure you I am not. I am doing what I can. I don't have much choice, do I?" He didn't answer, just sucked in another angry breath. "If it makes you feel better, your brother will recover as soon as his body replenishes the lost blood. I only bled him. I didn't kill him."