Perfekt Control (The Ære Saga Book 2) (6 page)

With that, Tyr turned off his phone and
shoved it in his back pocket. He let out a growl and stared me down
with angry eyes. I held his gaze, barely ruffled by his outburst.
We could handle any death trap Tyr thought we’d be walking into.
Odds were good we’d seen far worse.

“Where is she?” Tyr barked.

“You’re awake. And walking. How do you
feel?”

“Where is Mia?” he repeated.

“I’m here!” Mia flew down the hall and threw
herself at Tyr. “Oh, thank god you’re okay. The last thing I saw
was… well, you’re here. And you’re standing.” She pulled back just
enough to take in his features. “And you’re angry, but you’re not
bleeding, so that’s a good sign. Right?”

Tyr kissed the top of her head, and set her
on her feet. “I need you to pack a bag. We’re taking you to the
safe house.”

“Already on it. I’m packing one for you,
too.” Mia squeezed Tyr’s arm.

“
Takk
. Go finish, and be back here in
five.” Tyr was all business.

“Okay.” Mia scurried back into Tyr’s room,
shooting a worried glance over her shoulder as she ran.

“So we
are
taking Mia to the safe
house,” I confirmed. I’d guessed correctly.

“
Förbaskat
right, she’s going to the
safe house.” Tyr glowered. “Along with my sister, and…” He glanced
between Forse, Henrik, and me. With a furious growl, he ran his
fingers through his messy blond hair. “Living room. Now. The
trail’s lost; we can’t waste any more time.”

“Elsa needs to heal you, Tyr. She’s got the
room prepped,” I said.

“I don’t need a healing. I’m fine. Living
room.”

I opened my mouth, but Henrik shot me a look
that said
not now
. If the fire emanating from his normally
cool grey-blue stare was any indication, he was every bit as
furious about Freya’s abduction as Tyr.

Well, honestly. Who wasn’t?

The boys turned in unison and filed down the
stairs. The door to Tyr’s room was cracked open, and inside Mia
stuffed shirts and shoes into a bag. Without giving myself a chance
to think, I jogged after the guys.

“Okay, what’s the plan?” I sat gingerly on
the edge of the couch. The tension radiating off three sets of male
shoulders was palpable. Whoever took our friend would have some
serious
testosterone to contend with. Tyr paced furiously in
front of the fireplace, his footsteps landing with heavy thuds as
he placed each heel on the ground. Henrik stood in front of the
window, his arms crossed, angry sweat beading in the crook of his
beautifully sculpted biceps.

I cleared my throat. Forse looked up from his
seat beside me on the couch. His hands were clenched so tight, I
was surprised his fingernails hadn’t drawn blood.

Boys could do anger like no other, but they
had nothing on the wrath of me. I’d lived through this once
already. And I knew the casualties it could bring.

“The plan?” I ground out through gritted
teeth.

Henrik’s face softened. “Brynn.”

“Later.” I held up a hand. “Tyr, what are our
orders? You
do
have a plan to get her back,
ja?
”

Tyr stopped pacing long enough to stare me
down. “Before I decide, are you fit to proceed on this mission? Be
honest with me, Brynn. I can’t have a weak link in this chain.”

“I am plenty fit,
thank you very
much
.” I tried to keep the indignation out of my voice. I might
have had the highest stakes in the room but Freya had trained me to
be a warrior first.

Tyr stared at my jutted jaw, blazing eyes,
and fingers tightly gripping each other. “You sure about that,
hotshot?”

“Stuff it, Fredriksen. I said I’m good, so
I’m good.” I loosened my grip on my knuckles to prove my point.

“Fair enough. Odin thinks this is a trap to
get to me, and he doesn’t want Love and War incapacitated
simultaneously. So against my advisement, the Alfödr has ordered
the two of you to go after Freya.” Tyr crossed his arms over his
chest. “Henrik, you’re the most efficient assassin in the corps at
the moment, and Brynn, for whatever reason, you temper his
destructive energy with an impulse for creation. We don’t know
who’s taken Freya or why, so innovation is going to be the name of
the game on this one. But the second you feel like this mission
exceeds the standard level of danger,
the second
, call me in
and I’ll be your backup. Odin can just deal.” Tyr’s eyes moved to
my right. “Forse, you’re going to stay behind and run intel with
me. We’re transferring the girls to the northwest compound.”

“Is taking Mia and Elsa to the beach house
the safest idea?” I questioned. “Are you sure the location is
secure after… you know…”

After Fenrir attacked the shield barrier.
After Hel’s guard, Garm—a dragon, not a dog, for the
record—attacked Henrik. After Tyr lost his arm and nearly died…

“It’s safe. Henrik beefed up security last
week, and I cast a holographic enchantment along the barrier so the
entire region looks like an uninhabited forest. The Oregon coast
lost a good twenty square miles of cove, but they can spare
it.”

Forse stood up. “Do I have time to pack or
are we evacuating right now?”

“You have five minutes.” Tyr pulled his phone
out of his pocket and checked the time. “I want to touch down at
the safe house and have Heimdall’s remote surveillance operational
in ten. Wherever Freya is, we need to get her back. We can’t have a
repeat of—” Tyr’s gaze shifted to me and back to Forse so quickly,
anyone else would have missed it. I pulled my shoulders back and
rose from the couch. Anybody who thought I wasn’t strong enough for
this mission was dead wrong.

“Just be back here in five. I’ll contact
Heimdall.” With that, Tyr stormed toward the hallway.

“You might want to tell Elsa her stubborn
brother’s refusing medical attention,” I called after him.

“Shut up, Brynn,” Tyr said back.

Henrik grabbed Tyr’s arm as he passed the
window. “Where do Brynn and I go?”

Tyr narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know. Didn’t
you say you were working on a new device? Something that can freeze
time?”

“We are. It’s in the weapons closet, but it’s
unfinished. If only we’d been faster with development…” Henrik
frowned, his arms again clenching his remarkable biceps. “We ran
out of
älva
dust and we can’t proceed to beta phase without
it.”

“Then I suggest you start in Alfheim.” Tyr
raised one eyebrow. “They took Freya right out from under three
assassins, Henrik. Whoever they are, they’re good. But if we’d had
the advantage of stopping time…” Tyr shook his head. “I’ll transfer
the contents of the closet to the compound. Get the
älva
dust and report back to the safe house. We’ll need to weapon up
with every tool in our arsenal.”

“Affirmative.” Henrik pulled his shoulders
back and stood with his fists at his sides while Tyr strode from
the room. On the outside, he was the picture of determination. But
I’d been obsessed with him for so long, I knew exactly what the
twitch in his eye meant.

Henrik was nervous.

“What’s the matter, Henrik? Not thrilled to
go on a jotun hunt with me?” I furrowed my brow. “Troll hunt? Fire
giant hunt?” My fingers framed my waist as I crossed to his side.
“Do you have any idea who did this?”

“You were watching the monitors. Did
you
see who took her?”

“No. I slowed the images to micro when I
tracked the vacuum disappearance, and those creatures are still
nothing more than a black blur. I don’t get it—we modified that
camera so it would catch a hundred frames a second.
Nobody
moves that fast.”

“Somebody does.” Henrik scratched at the
day-old stubble on his chin. “Unless those blobs are just shapeless
energy.”

“Gods, why couldn’t we have had the time
freezer ready for today?” I squeezed my stomach harder. “One of us
could have activated it and she’d still be here. Ugh. I guess we’re
going to Alfheim.”

Henrik’s eye twitched again.
Gotcha
.

“Have you spent much time there?” I asked,
innocently.

Henrik’s knuckles turned white. “I haven’t
been there in a long time.”

That
so
didn’t answer my question.
Unfortunately, my five prep minutes were closing in on four. “Well,
if you’ve been reading Tyr’s weekly state-of-the-realm
compilations, you’ll know it’s still in a friendly state; one of
the light elves or meadow elves or fairies will show us where the
newest coffee shops have popped up.” I nudged Henrik with my elbow,
and he gave a thin smile. Enough digging. Time to lighten his mood
or I’d have a seriously crabby traveling companion on my hands.
“Well, you heard the commandant. We’re down to four minutes to pack
whatever we might need for Odin knows how long of a trip. And I,
for one, have got a slew of hair products to wade through.”

Henrik raised an eyebrow. “We’re on the brink
of war and you’re worried about your hair?”

“
Hei
. I’m kidding.” I darted into the
hallway. At the foot of the stairs, I turned and gave him a
brilliant smile. “I know
exactly
which products to
pack.”

Henrik chuckled. Mission completed. I darted
into my room and threw on my black cargo pants and matching V-neck
t-shirt, then tossed a change of clothes, the bare minimum
toiletries, and my warm jacket into a backpack. My dagger fit
neatly into the side of one combat boot, and I sheathed my rapier
at my belt. It was a friendly realm; no need to go in with weapons
drawn.

Though I did throw a second dagger in my
other boot, just in case the climate shifted.

I was at the foot of the stairs in less than
two minutes. Tyr joined me sixty seconds later, followed by Henrik,
who passed me one of our extra vacuums. I shoved the little box
into my backpack as Forse flew through the front door carrying two
bags.

“Elsa keeps emergency bags packed ever since…
you know.” He shrugged.

“She packing for you too, these days?” I
teased.

“Uh…” Forse’s blush stretched from the crew
neck of his T-shirt all the way to the roots of his hair.

“Where are the girls?” Tyr growled. “Elsa,
Mia. Get down here. It’s time to go.”

“We’re coming. I had to make sure I had all
my school books. And enough clothes to get me through the season
change—you didn’t say how long we’d be gone.” Mia appeared at the
top of the stairs, struggling to pull an enormous suitcase.

Elsa stood behind her, two of Mia’s
monogrammed bags in each arm. “Why do you torture me, Tyr? I had to
repack the healing box because you couldn’t wait a few extra
minutes and let me do my job. You know I’m giving you an exam when
we get to the safe house.”

“Whatever. Fine.” Tyr tapped his foot.

“Are you relocating permanently?” Henrik
stared at the sheer volume of items Mia carried with her. His eyes
shifted to my single backpack.

You’re welcome
, I mouthed.

Tyr blurred up the stairs and back down,
bringing Mia in one arm and the bulk of the luggage in the other.
Elsa followed at a more dignified pace, carrying the rest of the
bags.

“Everybody outside,” Tyr ordered. “The
Bifrost drops in one minute.”

We hurried through the front door, along the
porch and into the wooded grove that shielded the cabin from
curious eyes. When we stood a safe distance from the main
structure, I hugged my friends.

“Be safe,” I whispered to Mia as I pulled her
close. “Don’t let him boss you around more than usual.”

“You’re not coming?” she asked.

I shook my head. “I’m going with Henrik to
get the dust we need to finish the time freezer. Tyr’s bringing it
to the safe house, so play with it while we’re gone and do whatever
adjustments you think are necessary to have it functional when we
bring the dust.”

Mia squeezed me back. “I will. You two take
care of each other.” She stepped back and Elsa swooped in, wrapping
her arms around me.

“I’m so sorry, Brynn. I know this brings up
bad memories. Your aura’s off. I’ll do an emotional cleansing if
you want one when you get back.” Elsa kept her voice low.

“Thanks. I’m okay.” I spoke through an
oversized smile.
Fake it ‘til you make it
. History never
repeated itself… did it?

“Heimdall.” Tyr’s voice boomed in the
clearing. “Open the Bifrost. Two destinations. Northwest compound
first. We’re going to the safe house.”

A brilliant light filled the clearing, so
bright my hand flew to my face. I squinted as the colors
illuminated the dirt, running the spectrum from red to indigo.
Forse and Elsa stepped into the Bifrost, hands clasped and eyes
closed. Like me, Elsa thought the transports sucked. She was toying
with a remedy to quell the nausea. If I was better at the natural
sciences, I’d have volunteered to help. But my strengths, like
Henrik’s, were more technologically oriented.

That didn’t stop me from volunteering to test
her Anti-Nausea Bifrost Blend when it was ready.

With a flash, Elsa and Forse disappeared, and
Tyr pushed Mia’s luggage into the circle. He held out a hand and
she cautiously took it, shooting me a look that made it clear she
was none too thrilled to be traveling by rainbow. Tyr wrapped her
tightly in his arms and whispered something in her ear that seemed
to calm her. She rested her head against his chest and closed her
eyes. Tyr settled his chin on her forehead and looked at Henrik and
me in turn. Before he flashed out of the clearing, he mouthed two
words—
for
ære.

For honor. It was why we fought—what we
strove to protect. It was the very purpose of our immortal
existence, and it was the reason Henrik and I stepped willingly
into the blinding light once our friends vacated it, knowing full
well we might never return to the sleepy little hamlet of Arcata.
Because even though we’d built a life there, that life would mean
nothing if the very source of love Odin gifted to the realms was
really and truly gone. Without Freya, love would turn to hatred.
Mortals would surrender to their demons, immortals would forget
their sense of purpose, and the realms, one by one, would fall into
darkness. It had happened before.