Viking Warrior Rebel (25 page)

“I'm a little faster and stronger than the average guy.”

“A little?” Whalert snorted. “I knew there was something weird about your skills. Your military service records are filled with incidents where you pulled off a last-minute miracle and saved the men of your unit. And you forgot to mention how your rifle always finds its target. Your shooting instructor at the academy wrote two pages in your evaluation about how he'd never seen anything like it.”

Luke decided not to mention the wolverines he'd missed when he and Astrid rescued Scott. Up to that point, he'd always hit his target. But then, he'd never met anyone who moved as fast as those freaky creatures.

Naya watched him intently. “The head scientist at the North Dakota lab told me all the soldiers of my generation were dead.”

Luke shrugged. “Well, here I am. Not dead.” He started to smile but changed his mind when he caught Leif's icy stare. It said Luke's alive status could be downgraded very quickly.

“So, why this meeting?” Leif said. “What do you want from Naya?”

“I need someone to hack into the Denver and Pine Rapid PDs' systems and get rid of the video.”

Naya straightened. “And we should pull any files they may have on you or Kraus.” She fished out her phone and started tapping its keys. “I'll get Ulf to start right away.”

Leif held his hand over hers to stop her typing. “Can we at least talk about this before you agree to help them?”

Naya shook her head. “They're working to bring down the labs. Of course we're going to help them.” She shook off Leif's grip and focused on Whalert. “You should check the FBI and DTU records as well, in case the PDs have sent them information.”

Whalert shifted in his seat. “That's going to be a problem. I'm not actually with the bureau right now.” He told them about sending in the blood sample and the fallout from that.

Leif's gaze bore into Luke. “You sent Astrid's blood to the FBI lab for analysis.” His voice was dangerously dark.

“I wanted to see if she was telling the truth about who she is.”

“You wanted to see if
she
was telling the truth?”

Luke cringed.

Naya tapped faster on her phone. “We need to see what became of that sample and erase any records.” She gave Whalert a quick smile. “And see who ordered the email to be deleted from your account.”

“You can do all that?” Whalert asked. “Won't someone notice you dicking around in all of these databases?”

“They haven't so far.” She shot him a cocky grin. She turned to Leif. “We should continue to unravel the money trail to this Kraus guy. If anyone is helping him financially, they're probably behind the fertility lab.”

“Hold up,” Luke interrupted. “What fertility lab?”

Leif sighed and rolled his eyes.

“What?” Naya asked. “He would have found out eventually anyway.”

“How?” Leif threw out his hands. “They don't have access to any information. They're frozen out of their agency.”

“Astrid would have told him,” Naya countered. “After they made up and were back together.” She shot Luke a smile.

The cold lump that had lodged in his chest ever since Astrid left his apartment thawed a little. If Naya thought he had a chance to make it right with Astrid, maybe there was hope.

Whalert leaned in over the table. “What about this fertility lab?”

“We found a warehouse by the railroad tracks that looks like it's an in vitro fertilization facility,” Leif said.

Luke nodded. That explained the location marked on the map found on the tablet.

Naya picked up the thread. “The abducted women we rescued were probably destined for that warehouse. There were human-size cages inside. I'm certain Kraus is connected to both the lab and the abduction.”

Luke swallowed. The thought of women imprisoned and used in genetic experiments turned his stomach. Anger rose in his chest. “Did Astrid see this lab?” She'd befriended one of the Mexican women, and knowing about the lab would have hit her hard.

“She's the one who discovered it.” Leif's voice was quiet.

No wonder she'd been upset when she found out he had met with Kraus. She had the image of those cages in her head when she came to confront him.

“What's next on our action-item list?” Whalert asked. “What do you need from us?”

Naya looked at Leif expectantly and squeezed his arm.

He rolled his eyes but caressed her hand. “We've already started digging up information about Kraus. We know he's financing the lab here in Pine Rapids. We want to see if he has other investors. We don't have his address yet, but when we do, we'll…have a conversation with him.”

“Who has jurisdiction once you arrest him?” Whalert asked. “Will he be extradited to Sweden?”

Leif turned and looked out over the lake. He gestured to the fisherman in the boat. “Sure,” he mumbled. “We'll extradite him.”

A chill ran down Luke's spine. Kraus would not stand trial anywhere. Once Leif and his warriors got their hands on him, he'd be exterminated, not extradited.

“I want in on the action,” Luke said. “I want to be there when you take down the lab.”

Leif quirked an eyebrow. “You've done enough, don't you think? I need my warriors in top shape, and having you in the group is going to distract them. All of them. It's not just Astrid who wants to kill you.”

Luke gritted his teeth. “Kraus thinks I'm laundering his money through the club. If I call a meeting, he'll be there.”

Leif watched him with cold eyes but nodded once. “I'll keep you posted.”

Luke hid the triumphant smile about to break out on his lips. He was in.

The sound of a boat engine reached them, and Luke turned to watch the fisherman approach the boat launch. “We better adjourn our meeting if we don't want this guy to overhear us.” He frowned. There was something familiar about the guy.

“Yep, good plan,” Leif said and stood. He walked over to the boat and caught the line the fisherman threw him. The guy then handed Leif the fishing rod and jumped ashore holding a rifle case. He nodded at Luke, who finally recognized him as one of the wedding guests. “Meet my marksman, Per,” Leif said with a shit-eating grin.

That explained the itch on Luke's neck. The entire meeting had taken place with a long-range rifle aimed at his head.

Leif and his warriors were not to be underestimated. He'd better remember that.

Astrid watched the dark streets of Pine Rapids pass by the window of the black Escalade as they rolled toward the warehouse district. She ignored the dull headache that had plagued her for the last three days, ever since she'd stormed out of Luke's apartment. Irja told her it was caused by Astrid's separation from her
själsfrände
. That was also why a low-grade fever racked Astrid's body. She pulled out a jar of ibuprofen and swallowed two pills with the help of a swig from her water bottle.

“That's not going to cure your problem,” Naya said. The queen was sharing the backseat with Astrid, while Leif drove and Ulf rode shotgun. “You should talk to Luke.”

“There's nothing to talk about.” The bastard had lied to her. Used her. She closed her eyes to clamp down her restless berserker. The beast paced and shook its restraints. For the last twenty-four hours, her inner warrior had been close to the edge of running completely amok. Astrid was pretty sure the only reason she was allowed on this mission was because Leif was afraid of what would happen if he didn't keep an eye on her. Her berserker technically had to listen to the king's commands.

“He had a reason for what he was doing,” Naya insisted. “His brother killed himself because of what had happened in a lab. Luke couldn't know you were on his side.”

“He should have known by the time he left Denver,” Astrid bit out.

“Did you know you could trust him by the time you left Denver?”

Astrid clenched her jaw to keep from snapping at the queen. Maybe she hadn't trusted Luke implicitly back then, but enough to sleep with him. Enough to believe his interest in her had been real and that he'd pursued her because he wanted to be with her. What he'd wanted was information and bonus sex. She'd been played the entire time. “I don't want to talk about Luke.”

The queen ignored her. “Think about it. He didn't have to help you rescue Scott. He could have left you on your own in Denver and then made contact once you were back in Pine Rapids.”

Astrid swallowed. “He wanted information from me and knew he had to get me to trust him. That's why he helped. It was all part of his game.”

“On some level, you know that's not true.” Naya's voice was gentle. “And even if you believe that, why did he help us place the abducted women where they could get counseling? He did that because he knew you cared about Camila and the others, that you related to their situation.”

“Let's concentrate on tonight's mission.” Astrid didn't have enough mental strength to process the Luke situation
and
prepare for battle with a jittery berserker.

The warriors had had the lab under surveillance ever since she and Ulf first discovered it. Tonight, Torvald and Pekka had been on duty, and they'd called in some unusual activity. The warehouse was crawling with wolverines unloading equipment and stock. Ulf and Naya hadn't seen any news on the Darknet about more human cargo making its way to Pine Rapids, but the creatures were preparing for something. Unfortunately, the building had some kind of jammer rigged so Leif's team couldn't use satellite imaging to monitor the wolverines' heat signatures.

“I wish we had a little more time before we have to storm the lab,” Naya said. “I've tracked the main financial backing of this clinic, lab—whatever it is—to an investment banker in New Mexico. It's a little too much of a coincidence that the Vikings in New Mexico are having trouble with these new wolverines and that's also the state to which the money trail leads.”

“You're worried the finance guys will go underground if we take down the lab tonight?”

“Not exactly. They have a legitimate front, so they'll probably just get rid of the evidence and continue to operate as if they're a fully legal business.” She turned and gave Astrid a chilling smile. “But we don't really need evidence to take them down. It's not like we're going to bring them to trial.” An ice-cold tickle trailed down Astrid's back. The queen sounded downright bloodthirsty. Astrid's berserker picked up on the mood and paced faster.

Fight
, it whispered.
Blood
.

Naya's nostrils flared when her berserker felt Astrid's inner warrior's restlessness. “You okay?” she asked.

“I'll be fine once the fighting starts.” Maybe she'd finally be able to sleep tonight if the berserker got exhausted in battle. The problem was that sometimes a good fight riled up the beast even more.

She got her head in the game. “So, we have Torvald and Pekka on-site. Sten and Harald have gone ahead on the Kawasakis to help survey the terrain. Is Per on the rooftop with his rifle?” Per had left the fortress with Irja earlier in the afternoon. Neither had come back before the rest of the warriors headed out. Astrid assumed Leif or Naya had been in contact with them via phone and they were meeting the rest of the team on-site.

Naya turned to look out the window. “Irja and Per are not participating in this mission.”

That was unusual but not unheard of. Usually someone stayed behind at the fortress to prepare for any wounded being brought back. But tonight Scott was taking care of that duty, so Irja and Per could have joined them. “Are they okay?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Naya said, still facing the window. “They're working on something else.”

Leif glanced over his shoulder at Astrid. “They're backing up Holden.”

She froze. “Why does Luke need backup?”

Naya faced Astrid again. “He's meeting with Kraus. We've narrowed down the government corruption to three possible candidates. Luke's going to see if he can trip up Kraus to give us the final clue.” Naya watched her carefully.

Astrid forced her face to remain calm, but her heart raced. If Leif had sent Irja and Per as backup, he believed there was a threat to Luke.

As if he could read her thoughts, Leif shot her a quick look through the rearview mirror. “It's just a precaution. Luke's helping us out by meeting with Kraus. That means we have his back.”

“Okay,” Astrid said. “I wasn't worried.”

“Liar,” Naya said.

Astrid ignored her.

Leif slowed down the car as they got closer to the warehouse and turned off the headlights. They crept down the streets and then turned into an alley a block away from where Ulf and Astrid had first encountered the wolverines. All four of them exited the car and closed the doors with the softest of clicks. Ulf handed them their communication headsets.

Leif looped the set over his ear and waited for the others to do the same. He tapped the mic with his unique signal. After a short delay, a response sounded. Harald, Torvald, Pekka, and then Sten all signaled that they were connected. Naya tapped in her signal, and Astrid added hers before Ulf did the same. Everyone was set and raring to go.

Astrid closed her eyes and connected with her berserker. The beast threw its head back and roared. She sent it a command to calm, with minimal effect, but she was able to reach beyond her own inner warrior and search for the connection her beast had with the others. The invisible web glowed brightly in her mind. It was familiar but also more intense. Ever since the king's and queen's wedding, the connection she felt with the other warriors had increased in strength.

She followed the threads and identified each of her battle brothers and sisters. She could even detect Irja and Per, although they were dimmer because of their distance. Both emotionally and geographically.

Being on another mission meant their mental focus was not on a shared goal with Astrid. She startled when she noticed a third presence with Irja and Per. Something wasn't right about its essence. She tried to analyze why it felt off, but her own inner warrior grew agitated as she extended her senses.

Go
, it roared.
Go now
.

Astrid severed the line with the odd connection, which infuriated her berserker. It howled out its frustration.

Someone grabbing her arm made her snap her eyes open. “Odin's eye,” Leif said. “Are you okay? It felt like your berserker was on the verge of taking complete control.”

“I'm good,” Astrid said. “Just a little unused to the strong connection between us.” Who was the third berserker with Irja and Per? She looked toward Naya. The queen had been a mortal—might still be a mortal—but she now had an inner warrior. Had Luke developed an inner warrior through the
själsfrände
bond?

“Astrid,” Leif shook her.

“What?”

“Are you sure you're okay? You zoned out again, didn't hear a word I said.” He frowned. “I think you should sit this one out.”

“No,” Astrid hissed. “I need this fight.” Leif dropped his grip but still looked doubtful. The words rushed out of her. “It's the only thing that will calm the berserker. I'll take up the rear position and return to the car if I feel I'm about to lose control.”

Leif hesitated, but then gave her a curt nod. “Fine. But any sign of trouble, and you get the hell out of here.”

“Promise.”

They fell into position with Leif and Ulf in the lead, shoulder to shoulder. Naya was just behind the men, and Astrid took the rear as promised. They would go in the back door while Harald and Sten took the front. Torvald and Pekka were positioned by a smaller side door.

They reached the parking lot in the alley and crept along the walls of the building to stay in the shadows. Leif ghosted up the stairs of the loading dock, and the rest of them followed. He and Ulf positioned themselves on either side of the door while Naya and Astrid hung back.

Ulf grabbed the handle and twisted slowly. He made eye contact with the king and nodded once. The door was unlocked.

Leif tapped the ready signal on his mic. It was returned by each of the warriors.

Ulf tore open the door, and the four of them jogged down the hallway to the double doors at the end. Leif kicked them open, and the Viking team spilled into the warehouse.

Twenty or so wolverines milled around in the huge space, stocking the cabinets with supplies. They turned around and froze in place.

Harald and Sten entered on the opposite side of the room a few seconds later. The wolverines' heads swiveled in unison, and Astrid would have laughed if there weren't so many of the creatures.

Torvald and Pekka appeared behind Harald and Sten.

The whole gang was there, so let the fighting commence. The problem was that even if Irja and Per had joined them, they'd still be dealing with a two-to-one opponent ratio. Whatever had jammed the satellite imaging had also kept their berserkers from getting an exact count of the number of wolverines.

Advantage, wolverines.

“Fuck,” Harald's voice said in the headset. “What are they waiting for?”

As if his voice had broken their enchantment, the wolverines threw down whatever they had in their hands and rushed the warriors. Astrid's group had only a few seconds to fan out into fighting formation. The wolverines moved impossibly fast. She tried to keep an eye on the two that seemed to be heading her way, but a third came out of nowhere and grabbed her braid from behind. It pulled back her head, exposing her throat. She jammed her elbow in its side and followed up with a back fist when the creature bowed forward.

It lost the grip on her hair, and she rotated her body just in time to avoid a jab from another creature, only to receive a flying punch to her temple from somewhere else. She'd completely lost perspective of where the suckers were. She dropped to the floor and rolled as her head rang from the impact of the punch. Through her headset, she heard the others' grunts and exclamations. They sounded like they were having as much trouble as she was.

She crawled under a counter to regroup, but one of the creatures caught her leg and pulled her out. Astrid twisted so she was facing the floor and pushed off with her palms. She twisted again midair and tried to execute a back kick to the creature's face, but her limited range of motion made the impact too weak to hurt. It was still enough for the wolverine to lose its grip, and she planted both feet on the floor again. Claws swiped along the full length of her back, but luckily her leather jacket held.

The strikes were coming so quickly that all she could do was try to block and evade. There was no time to get in a kick or a punch of her own. She had no idea how many opponents she was fighting. Three, maybe four?

She opened her connection with the berserker wide. The beast roared alive, its essence expanding until it felt as though it physically existed inside her body, filling her limbs. She caught another jab in the shoulder. The impact threw her into the wall.

The berserker roared a battle cry through Astrid's throat and mouth. She heard answers from the other warriors. She had to dampen the connection with her inner beast to remain in control of her body. The berserker flailed and scratched at its bindings, but she held fast.

A movement out of the corner of her eye had her instinctively throwing a jab. It made solid contact with a creature's jaw. When the wolverine hit the floor, she stomped its throat and crushed its windpipe. She hadn't drawn her knives yet—there hadn't been time—but now she buried a dagger in the wolverine's carotid artery. The berserker screamed in triumph, and again there were answering cries from her battle brothers and Naya.

Her victory was short. A vicious kick to her back made her fall forward, and all the air rushed out of her lungs. She gasped and had the horrible realization that she was losing this battle.

No!
the berserker screamed.
Fight.

Claws pierced Astrid's shoulder through the leather. She swept out with her foot and knocked the creature down, but its claws scraped across her already abused back. The leather jacket was getting shredded. She grabbed the creature as it went down and sliced her knife across its throat. It wasn't one of her favorite moves, since it meant she'd be sprayed with blood, but at this point, survival was more important than style.