Love's Choice (17 page)

A shadow fell on me as I sat on the gurney. I looked back at Owen. He seemed remarkably healthy. “Fenrir bit you.” I didn't mean to make it an accusation, but that's how it came out. “Yet you're fine.”

“I'm a god,” he answered, sitting down beside me. “But that did hurt.”

His eye glanced at the pile of ash that had been Fenrir. “Few creatures can hurt me. Fenrir was one of them.”

I nodded my head. “So, I guess I work for you.”

“Yes,” he answered. “So you figured out who I am.”

“The eye patch. You are Odin.” I shuddered admitting that fact out loud.

“That is one of my names. Though, I have enjoyed being simply Owen and getting to know you the last year.”

Loki's words echoed through my mind. “I don't understand what happened. Everything was normal, and then that troll attacked yesterday, and somehow Magnus and I ended up in Utgard and he died and I brought him back to life and then...”

I let my words trail off as I tried to suck in a deep breath. I hadn't meant for them to spill out in a flood like that. “What is going on?”

“Events are moving fast,” Odin answered. Tears glinted in his eye. “My son Baldur...he died. You saw him Friday night, glowing in the fog, stumbling as he died.”

“He was a god. How could he die?”

“The same way Heimdall did,” Odin answered. “Someone killed him.”

“How did you know Heimdall died? Were you watching us over there?” I glanced up at Muninn. A second raven joined Muninn on the power line.

“I heard Heimdall's horn sounding across the world. He let us know Bifrost had been breached.”

My body trembled. I wanted to ask if Loki was right. Had Odin sent Magnus and me to Utgard?

“You are as strong as your mother, if not stronger,” Odin smiled. “There is so much of Sigrid in you. And Ragnar.”

My cheeks burned.

“For five centuries, your parents served me and defended Midgard. They had earned their peace. Their retirement.” His face grew somber. “I wasn't in time to save them. I tracked Fenrir after he broke his chains. But...I was too late.”

Tears filled my eyes. Muninn's vision replayed in my mind.

“You survived Utgard. You learned how to use your powers and you defeated one of the most dangerous monsters ever to walk the worlds.” Odin looked at me, his eye sharp. “It was cruel of me to send you to Utgard. But it was the only way to force you to learn. With Baldur's death, events are moving too swiftly.”

My blood chilled. I had thought Owen was my friend and he sent me to that terrible place. Magnus burned with anger at whoever threw us in there. My jaw clenched. I glared at the one-eyed god. “How dare you! Did you send the troll after us?”

“Magnus had to die to become your guardian.”

I recoiled from Odin. I leaped to my feet. “You son of a bitch. You didn't warn me. You didn't prepare me. You just threw a monster at me and then tossed me into a frozen hell.”

Odin stood. His back was straighter than I had ever seen it. My friend Owen was completely gone. They had the same face, but I was seeing the true man for the first time. He was hard. He was strong. He had seen death.

Loki was right. Fenrir had come for me as a child. I was special and Odin needed me for something. Would he hide the prophecy from me as well?

“You are mine, Valkyrie,” he growled. “Your ancestor swore herself and all of her blood to my service. I will do with you as I please. You are my sword. I needed you honed for the coming battle. The enemies of Midgard are vast and terrible. They want your world to suffer. They hate humans. They hate their existence. They want to place mankind under the cruel yoke of eternal winter. You were in Utgard. It is their version of your world. It is what they want to turn this in to.” He raised his hands and pointed around us. “I had to throw you to the wolves and force you to fight off the predators. And how fantastic you fought. You and Magnus both. What a choice you made, Valkyrie. In another age, songs would have been composed about your love.”

A smile crossed Odin's lips. “You are a warrior. Your instincts are fantastic, Raven. You and Magnus shall fight and bleed to protect your world.”

“We're your slaves?” I demanded.

“Yes.” He leaned over me. “You are not my only weapons, Valkyrie. I dislike to needlessly throw away my blades, but if you think pouting will stir my heart then you will find to your misfortune that I do what I have to.”

His hand clapped my shoulder. His grip was strong. “Do you understand me, Valkyrie? This is how it is.” His expression softened. “I am sorry for how cruel I had to be. You are like a granddaughter to me. I have cared for all my Valkyries and their Einherjers. I have watched you all grow up and wept as you bled. But it is for the greater good.”

My anger burned inside me. “Fine. I have no choice.”

Magnus will be so angry if he finds out. What if he tried to attack Odin? This old man was practically torn in half by the wolf and now seemed perfectly healthy. What could Magnus do against Odin?

“But you have to tell me what is going on. You can't throw me into a situation without any preparation.”

Odin nodded his head. “Fair enough.”

“Is there anything you haven't told me?” I asked, my body trembling. Would Loki be right about everything? “Like why Fenrir attacked my parents.”

“I don't know why he attacked your parents.” His words seemed so sincere. His face was once again the friendly Owen.

But it was all lies. I knew about the prophecy. There was something special about me. Something Odin didn't want me to know.

“Okay,” I answered, pretending to believe him. I sat back down on the gurney. “Thank you for your honesty.”

Odin nodded his head.

~   ~   ~

Magnus

My eyes opened and my hands reached out across the bed for Raven.

The ceiling was strange. The room smelled of antiseptic. Machines whirred and beeped. My body ached. My hand brushed a plastic railing. Where was I? I blinked my eyes, struggling to get them to focus.
The needle in the back of my hand was connected to a tube that ran to a pouch hanging on a metal pole
.

I was in the hospital. I lived.

Raven sat beside my hospital bed. “Hey,” she smiled as she took my hand. “Looks like you'll have more sexy scars to decorate your body.”

I laughed as I squeezed her hand. “And how about you?”

She lifted the hem of her shirt and exposed a bandage covering half her side. “I'll have three.”

“I bet they'll be so sexy,” I answered as I sat up. That hurt.

“Relax,” Raven smiled. “Odin says you'll heal fast. In a few days, you'll be out and able to take me on our first date.”

“Oh? So charging through Utgard and being chased by monsters wasn't good enough to count for you?”

“Nope.”

I relaxed. “So what happened? Did Odin tell you how we ended up in Utgard?”

“He thinks it was the thief.” Raven leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Now get your rest. I need you to have all your strength back.”

Before I could object that I didn't need rest, she kissed my lips. When our kiss broke, my eyes closed. I smiled as I slipped back into sleep.

Chapter Nineteen

Raven

Three days since Magnus and I chased a giant wolf through downtown Seattle and all anyone was talking about were the two freak tornadoes that whipped through the city. Not the giant frost troll or Fenrir. Tornadoes.

I did not understand how Odin and the other gods covered up the attack. I know Magnus and I were caught on cell phones and security cameras, but all the footage I had seen was of convincingly real, dirt-gray funnels racing down the streets, battering cars and kicking up debris. Even the people that had to have witnessed the attack believed they saw a tornado.

That made absolutely no sense to me.

My side no longer hurt. The three deep gashes Fenrir had carved into my body had healed down to the faintest of white lines. Three little scars to remind me that, yes, there had been a giant wolf rampaging through Seattle and I killed it before it could cause any more harm. They were proof I had avenged my parents.

So why didn't I feel glad about it?

I left my apartment. Magnus was discharging himself from the hospital today. And I thought I had healed fast enough. Three days ago, Magnus's leg had been mangled, he had a dozen broken ribs, bruised organs, and a concussion. Today, he was up and about like the attack never happened.

He was picking me up in a little while for our first date. A proper date. Hopefully, not one that would end with us fighting a troll.

Canvas hung over the shattered windows of the Boar Coffee and Cafe. A sign out front read, “Closed for repairs.” I pushed past the canvas and slipped inside the cafe. For once, Freddy wasn't wearing a dress but a tight pair of jeans and a tank top, his masculine face covered in his usual makeup, a bandanna tied over his hair.

To my surprise, he was surprisingly muscular as he hefted around debris. The dresses he wore always made him seem so soft and feminine. Gerdie, his tall wife, appeared out of the cafe's back room in similar garb.

A smile appeared when Gerdie saw me. “Good afternoon, Raven.”

“Hi, Gerdie,” I said, shifting my stance. There was an awkward air between us. She was one of the gods, like Owen.

“Freddy, take a break, Raven's here.”

Freddy set down the piece of broken table and turned, a smile crossing his red-painted lips. “Oh, Raven, it's so good to see you.”

I nodded my head before I surveyed the damage. “Looks like you have your work cut out for you.”

He laughed. “Yes, yes. But we've had to rebuild before. It is no matter.”

I swallowed. I wanted to ask them so many questions.

“Ask,” Gerdie smiled.

“You're gods?”

“I am,” Freddy answered. “I'm Freyr, god of fertility and cultivation. My Gerd is a giantess.”

I blinked. “What?” I had done research on Norse mythology over the weekend. I hadn't made the Freddy/Freyr connection, but I had read about giants. “I thought giants were the bad guys. Evil.”

“Not all giants are,” Gerdie smiled. “It's more of a general term to describe non-human immortals on par with the gods. Like the titans of Greece.”

“She was prettier than any goddess,” Freddy smiled at his wife. “I traded my sword to meet her.”

“Yes, Odin mentioned that.” I would never call him Owen again.

“You hate him?” Gerdie asked, putting her arm around me.

“Yes.” My fist clenched. I had to serve him. It was in my bones. Whatever oath my ancestor had sworn seemed to pass on to me. But I didn't have to like it, and I couldn't let Magnus know about it. He would do something wonderfully heroic and absolutely idiotic.

Like trying to free me from the oath. I felt Odin was more than a match for the two of us combined.

“He loves you, Raven,” Gerdie said. She smelled like flowers, which was far more pleasant than the dusty smell of the rest of the cafe. “But like any parent, he has to make choices that may seem cruel but really are for your own good.”

“Like throwing me into Utgard so I could die?”

“Sometimes, you have to teach a child to swim by throwing her into the deep end and letting her instincts guide her.” Gerdie's arm tightened. “But that doesn't mean he wasn't right there watching you.”

I frowned. I had noticed a raven in Utgard.

“No, that doesn't make it okay. You don't ever treat a child like that.” I pushed away from Gerdie and headed for the canvas door.

“It would have been more cruel not to train you,” Gerdie stated. “What would have happened when Fenrir arrived here and you had no idea how to use your powers? What if you hadn't chosen your Einherjer and gifted him the wolf's cloak?”

“Odin didn't need my help to kill Fenrir,” I snapped. “He could have done it himself.”

“Oh, child, that is where you are wrong.”

No. She was wrong. I stormed out, throwing the canvas to the side. The air was cleaner out here.

~   ~   ~

Magnus

“Boss, we need to talk about the Blood Eagles,” Big Hoss said as he rolled my bike out of the back of his pickup truck.

“Later,” I grinned. “I have a date.”

“With her?”

“Yep.”

I straddled my motorcycle and nodded. I felt great. In three days my battered body had healed fully. Being an Einherjer and a berserker had its advantages. The wolf howled inside me, eager to see Raven, and another power blazed—the ax. I had bonded to Heimdall's weapon. I think I could summon it like Raven summons her sword.

“Listen. The Blood Eagles know you've been gone. Talon's pushing the truce. Something's going down. You need to return. I can't be in charge.” He folded his arms. The breeze blew a strand of russet hair out from beneath the black bandanna tied over his head. “You were elected to lead the Wolf Council. Not me. I ain't no leader.”

“I'll be back tomorrow,” I answered, and started up my Harley. I loved that wolfish growl rumbling beneath me. “Set up another meeting with Griff. I'll ram this truce down his throat. There are bigger things going on.”

“Like what? Getting caught up in a tornado?”

I gave him a grin. “You wouldn't believe me.”

I twisted the accelerator and roared away from the hospital. The beauty of the night awaited. Club business could wait a day. I worked my way through the terrible Seattle traffic. Sun was warm on my bare arms. My blond hair streamed behind me.

I was free.

As I neared Raven's work, my eyes scanned the buildings, looking for any blurs of another frost troll about to ruin everything. I didn't see any. I wasn't sure if I was relieved or disappointed. Fighting alongside Raven was exhilarating. She was a warrior woman. She made my blood boil. The rest of my club could be satisfied with the simpering women that hung out at the biker bars, each eager to be an old lady. The barflies would do anything, be anyone, for that chance.

Not Raven.

She stood on the corner in a pair of tight jeans and a halter top, her hair falling dark around her pale skin. A smile crossed her lips as I pulled up to the curb. She climbed onto my bike, her body pressed into my back. It was her place.