Viking Unbound (5 page)

As he pondered his choices, he felt an all-too familiar tingle in his fingers and the runes on his armbands began to glow. Einarr smiled into the darkness. His magic was returning. Unfortunately for his opponents, he had another source of power beyond that of his strength. He had the magic of a hundred seers in his blood—right back to his ancestor Odin. If strength would not or could not defeat a man’s enemies, there was always another way. In truth, unlike his brother Aki, he’d always used violence as a last resort.

Eventually, the powerful light swung toward his hiding place. Lifting his hand, palm facing outward, he reflected the beam back toward his pursuers, getting his first good look at the two brawny males and the man behind them who was obviously in charge. Even as they complained about the sudden unexpected reflection, he magicked a cloud around himself, distorting his image and making him disappear into the shadows. If they were like most men, they wouldn’t be able to see him at all.

With a sign from their commander, they moved on deeper into the space leaving Einarr in peace. He was just about to relax when one of the men turned back, his expression puzzled, and came straight toward Einarr’s hiding place. With a silent curse, Einarr caught the man around the neck and silenced him dropping the unconscious body to the floor and taking the “weapon” for further examination.

He knew he’d have to move again. Following his instincts, he searched out a series of ladders that took him even further into the bowels of the ship and set about finding a secure place to get some rest.

Chapter Four

Frey sat up straight as a security guard was brought into the already cramped medical facility and placed on the last remaining gurney. The doc turned away from examining her throat and grimaced.

“Another one? What’s going on?”

“We have a defrosted Viking running around the ship. What else do you need to know?” Brown snapped. “What happened, Ross?”

“We’re not sure.” The man who’d brought the new patient in paused at the door. “We made a sweep of storage bay one. The captain and I were at the door ready to move out when we realized Moshe wasn’t with us. I retraced our path and found him like this.” Ross shook his head. “I have to get back. The captain’s waiting for me.”

The doctor looked up from his examination. “Tell the captain Moshe’s been knocked unconscious with a blow to the side of the head. He’ll have a slight concussion, but otherwise he’ll be fine. In fact, he’s coming around now.”

As Ross left, Brown moved over to stand by the gurney. “Moshe? What happened?”

His much younger colleague groaned as the doctor gave him a shot in the arm. “Jeez, that scared the fuck out of me.”

“What did?” Brown asked with an edge to his voice.

“We scanned the storage bay, checked it out and found nothing, and then I got this sense, this kind of
tickling
sensation in the back of my neck, you know? So I had to turn around and go back. And
shit
, this huge dude was just suddenly there and that was the last thing I remember.”

“Where’s your weapon?”

Moshe sighed. “Shit,
I
don’t know. I certainly didn’t get to use it. He was too damned fast.”

“Nice attitude for a security operative, Moshe,” Brown muttered.

“You wouldn’t have done any better. One moment there was nothing except this grey fog and then suddenly that guy was
right in my face
.” He shuddered. “Did I mention that he was fucking
huge
?”

“So he’s a
magical
Viking, is he?”

“Maybe. He certainly knows how to hide his tracks.”

Despite Brown’s sarcastic tone, Frey considered Ross’s words very carefully. The Viking was telepathic and his ability to survive in ice for thousands of years hinted at other powers… As a Pavlovan, she knew her Gods were magical and often did extraordinary things. She’d also noticed that those from Earth didn’t seem to have much faith in anything at all.

Both Captain Travis and Brown were from Earth. Moshe was half-Pavlovan which might explain why he’d had to go and check out that feeling.

“If the Viking has acquired one of our weapons, Brown, it might cause a problem if he inadvertently sets it off.” Frey said as calmly as she could. “Perhaps you should inform the captain.”

“I’ll do that as soon as I’ve returned you to your quarters.”

Frey slid off the gurney and re-buttoned her uniform. “You should just let
me
tell him and how I intend to deal with the problem.”

“Nice try, Tecky, but you’re not going near the captain, or that Viking until I’m given the okay.”

Freya held his gaze. “Then you won’t catch him, and more of our crew will be injured. Is that what you want?”

“And you think you can save the day?”

“Yes.”

His smile was somewhere between kind and dismissive. “Let’s get you safely back to your quarters, shall we?”

Frey let out her breath and stomped down the path to the crew quarters, glad that she had her own cabin to fret and fume in alone. Brown opened the door and ushered her inside.

“Have a good evening, Tecky.”

She let him do his thing, heard him tapping away at the security panel changing the access codes so that she couldn’t leave without setting off an alert. He had no idea that as a Pavlovan, she had the telepathic ability to manipulate electrical signals, get out of that door in less than a second, and reset the alarms to make it look as if she’d never left.

But first, she needed to check her emergency supplies from FREN, form a plan and make sure she knew where her Viking was hiding. This time she would come prepared for a fight.

It was warm down in the innards of whatever magical flying boat Einarr was currently on. He’d finished the loaf of excellent bread and drank most of the water he’d decanted into his leather-drinking pouch. Now he was waiting for either another attack or the reappearance of his female. He had no doubt that she would find him. He believed in the Fates and she, whoever she was, had become part of his destiny, he could sense it.

Time passed slowly, the warmth of his hiding place and the regular roar of whatever powered the ship making him yawn and fight sleep. He didn’t want to sleep. Some part of him feared that if he did so, he’d wake up in another world and he would finally go mad.

He jerked awake and inhaled sharply as the scent of his female’s blood reached him and allowed his mind to relax its vigil. Her thoughts briefly touched his in a moment of recognition as intimate as the brushing of their lips together. He stayed where he was, his axe in plain view on the floor by his side, his throwing dagger in his left hand. Her silhouette grew closer until she blocked out all the light behind her.

She went down on all fours and crawled very slowly toward him and then sat back on her heels. Even in the darkness he drank in her sweetness, the full curve of her lower lip and the fullness of her breasts.

“
komdu hérna.”

He sent the thought to her and held out his hand, willing her to understand him and come to him. When she moved forward and grasped his fingers it was as if a thunderbolt shuddered through him and his cock hardened in a sudden aching rush. He growled and tightened his grip in case she had any thoughts of changing her mind and retreating.

He urged her closer until she was practically in his lap, which suited him perfectly, because once she opened her legs he could be inside her in seconds. She tugged on his hand and he reluctantly released her only to shiver as she placed her fingers on his cheek and stared right into his eyes. He let the dagger fall gently to the floor aware only of her soft breathing and the pounding of his heart.

“
Blóð af blóði mínu
.”

He licked a line along the seam of her lips and she moaned something. Cupping her head in his hands he gently kissed her until she was kissing him back, her tongue in his mouth, her teeth nipping at his lips and…

“
Fjandi
!” He tried to jerk his head away but it was too late. The she-devil pierced his skin with something and everything went black…

Frey let out her breath in a sudden rush as the Viking beneath her went still. She could only hope that the stun gun would hold him long enough to secure him in a safe place. Gods, he’d tasted so fine she hadn’t wanted to stop kissing him. She made sure he was still breathing and then focused on the task at hand.

“
Slavin? Get Brown and his team down to the engine room ASAP. I have the Viking
.”

Einarr was aware of being lifted and carried out of his hiding place, his female walked in front of him holding open the doors. She’d betrayed him. Anger coalesced in his gut and the metal of his armbands grew warm illuminating the runes etched into their surfaces in the darkness.

As if she sensed the emergence of his magic, the female raised some kind of alarm and pointed at him. It was too late. He was already on the move, smashing his fist into one of the men who carried him whilst sending a burst of magical power through the second. As both men went down, Einarr rolled over and came back to his feet, his hand already shooting out to grab the female.

She screamed once as he slammed his hand over her mouth and drew her hard against his chest, his dagger at her throat. The other male took one look at him and backed away, his mouth moving, his words unintelligible as he spoke urgently to the captive female.

Without waiting, Einarr pivoted on his heel and began to drag his female back to where he’d made his stand before. She tried to fight him, but he was twice her size and still enraged by her dishonorable tactics. She struggled to free one hand and slapped it against his neck.

With a growl, he caught her fingers and threw her over his shoulder. Her breath slammed out as he picked up the pace and jogged down the tight passageway between the tall iron containers. Eventually, he let her down, but wrapped a hand around her throat to keep her exactly where he could see her. He used his other hand to investigate his neck.

“Don’t take that off.”

His fingers froze.

“It’s a universal translator strip, FREN programmed it with Old Norse.”

He felt the edges of something foreign against his skin but didn’t remove it. She twisted around to gaze up at him, her brown eyes wide.

“You can understand me now, right?”

He nodded.

“Great.” She swallowed hard, her throat working against the blade of his dagger. “So, could you put the knife away while we talk?”

He shook his head and her skin went pale.

“You can’t understand me?”

He sank down to his knees bringing her with him, her back to his chest, one of his hands still at her throat, the other around her hips. On impulse he leaned forward and buried his face in her hair inhaling her flowery scent and the throb of her blood beneath her skin. With great care he bit down on the curve of her throat until she jumped.

“My female,” he growled.

“I certainly am not yours,”

“Mine.” He bit harder, and she tried to pull out of his grasp. “Mine by blood and magic.”

“I’m not magic and my blood is my own, thank you very much.”

“You will change your mind when you are under me begging for my cock and my seed.”

“I…will not! That’s disgusting, I—”

He wrapped her ponytail around his fingers and drew her face to his for a savage kiss. “You will beg.”

She bit his lip and he cursed and released his grip on her hair.

Her bravery impressed him. He settled her closer within the grip of his thighs until her arse was against his leather-clad groin. His cock kicked up and he fought a groan. He’d have her soon; have her spread beneath him while he fucked her hard but not yet, not quite yet.

“They’ll be coming to get you,” she whispered. “There isn’t anywhere for you to run.”

“I don’t run.”

The last time he’d done that, he’d been encased in ice by a fickle and demanding God.

“Good,” she breathed. “Then put down your weapons, and we can work this out.”

“Nay.” He pressed the edge of his dagger against her throat. “Tell me, sorceress how you called me from my sleep.”

“I didn’t do anything,”

“You lie.”

She shivered. “There was an eclipse. The systems went haywire. You just appeared out of nowhere.”

“I do not understand your words.” He pressed a little harder. “Your blood called me. I felt it in my soul.”

“That makes no sense. I didn’t call you I—” She went still and then started talking, babbling like a brook in high season making it difficult for him to follow her. “I pricked my finger, there was one drop of blood, but it came from the ice, it wasn’t… oh dear Gods, what happened?”

“You
called
to me.”

She subsided against him. “Well something happened because here you are. Maybe it was both, the eclipse
and
the blood.”

“What is this eclipse?”

“When the planets aligned and covered the Pavlovan moons of Odin and Thor.”

He didn’t understand half her words, but at least something made sense. “You know of my Gods?”

“I’ve studied up on them.” She sighed. “Will you
please
put the dagger away? You’re scaring me.”

He looked down at her auburn head. “Nay.”

“I won’t let them hurt you.”

“Let them?” He snorted. “I am a match for any man. I do not hide behind my womenfolk.”

“You can’t win this one. You have no idea where you are, what’s been happening, or where you are going.”

“This could be one of Floki’s tricks. I could be dreaming the whole thing.”

“I wish I was dreaming.” She tried to straighten and then winced as his blade grazed her neck. “I can’t let you run around this ship killing people and destroying things.”

“That decision isn’t yours to make, woman.”

“You’re kidding, right? I can give the order to have you shot right now.”

“And kill yourself?”

“We have weapons that could take you out and not damage a hair on my head. Please believe me.”

He picked up the stick he’d taken from the guard and tossed it in his palm. “This
paltry
thing?”