Arctic Dawn (The Norse Chronicles Book 2) (17 page)

Amala sighed, but a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “I guess… if that’s the best you can do.”

I laughed and went to the Aerie’s massive pantry to sort out the necessary ingredients while Val went in search of other occupations. Brownie baking started my second day of keeping busy in the kitchen while the household buzzed around me. Just before noon, Skyla strolled into the kitchen and sniffed at my plate of double-fudge brownies.

When she reached for one, I smacked her hand. “Save them for lunch.”

“But I missed breakfast.”

“Have a banana.” I pointed toward a bowl of fruit on the kitchen table.

Skyla set her jaw and went for the brownies again, snagging one away before I caught her. “Ha!” She shoved it into her mouth, making her cheeks bulge. “God,” she mumbled, “these are like chocolate orgasms.”

“Do you think I should put those on the order form for the bakery? Chocolate orgasms, eight ninety-nine a dozen?”

“I’d buy them,” she said with a sigh. “I’d buy any kind of orgasm I could get.”

“I don’t know why you and Val hate each other so much. You’re both so much alike on this subject.”

Skyla shrugged, swallowed, and stuffed another brownie in her mouth. I shook my head and went back to stirring a giant pot of vegetable soup. Although a baker by trade, I was a monkey with more than one trick when it came to the kitchen. “How did your workout go?”

“Embla gave me a new blade to try.”

“I heard.”

“Right. I wondered where you were hiding.”

“Under the bed.”

“I almost died when Val said you were in Embla’s room when we came back. What were you doing in there?”

I gave her a rundown of our morning’s activities and finished by pulling the photo from my pocket. “I found something else you’re going to be interested in.”

Skyla took the photo and looked at the image. She gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth. While she struggled for composure, I told her about Embla’s box and the other photos I found in it.

“My mother and my brother?” Skyla said, breathless. “What does she know about my family?”

“I guess you’ll have to ask her, but you can’t tell her how you know. If she knows we were in her room, it puts everything at risk. You’re right not to trust anyone here.” I motioned to the photo. “You have proof you’ve been lied to, but don’t let your indignation interfere with our plans.”

Skyla’s face reddened, and she gritted her teeth. “Are you insinuating I don’t know how to handle myself?”

I raised my hands in a defensive pose. “I didn’t say that to offend you. I can only imagine your outrage. But above all else, we’ve got to find out what happened to Tori and that sword.”

“I
know
that.” Skyla slapped the tabletop. “I know my mission, and I won’t jeopardize it for personal issues. I mean, if you of all people can keep your head on straight, don’t you think I can do the same?”

“Me of all people? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Skyla’s shoulders slumped. “I meant it as a compliment. I meant a relatively naive small-town girl got thrown into this big, steaming pile of crap, and she’s handled it with decorum. You’ve had every right to have a meltdown and fly off the handle, but you’ve held it together.”

“I don’t know if you were paying attention, but I
have
had a meltdown. And it lasted for a month.”

“Oh, I was paying attention,” she said. “That wasn’t a meltdown.”

“What was it then?”

“A flare-up.”

I snorted and grinned. “Are you calling me a hemorrhoid?”

Skyla barked a sharp laugh that dissolved into a fit of quivering giggles. “Sh-should I start carrying around some of that cream?”

“Sure,” I said, hiccupping with laughter. “But only if you think it would help.”

I rubbed my hands over my face, clearing away the last of my mirth. Then I sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter. “I need to call Thorin and give him an update. I promised to stay in touch, but I haven’t had a chance. Things around here have been…
distracting
, to say the least.”

“You two seem to be getting along better than before,” Skyla said. “There’s still tension between you, but it’s a different kind.”

I pressed my lips together and avoided her gaze. “Maybe we understand each other a little better than we used to.”

Skyla made a sound in the back of her throat. “Don’t lie. You think he’s hot.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Even I wouldn’t lie about that.”

“Go call him.” Skyla grinned. “Tell him I was a Valkyrie after all.”

I pushed away from the counter and slipped my arm around Skyla’s shoulder for a brief hug. “Somehow, I don’t think he’ll be surprised.”

But I didn’t find out whether Thorin was surprised by Skyla’s lineage. When I ducked up to my room to give him a call, his phone rang and went to voice mail. After several failed attempts to reach him, I left a message assuring him no further emergencies had arisen, and I urged him to call me as soon as he could. I fingered the chain around my neck, and the gold radiated heat from where it had lain close to my skin. Despite its warmth, a cold shiver snaked over my skin.

Thorin said he could use the chain to locate me if something happened to me. But if something had happened to him, how would I know? How would I ever find him?

Chapter Eighteen

O
ld paper and beeswax candles scented the air in the Valkyries’ library—a welcome respite from the smoke. The room’s antique furnishings and tapestries sent me back in time to another century, one with suits of armor. Except for books and scrolls and some musty old furniture, the library was empty. All the Valkyries had gone to bed except a few who patrolled the grounds outside.
Hope nobody gets a sudden late-night craving for historical records.

“So, we’re looking for some kind of book that tells you how to commune with the dead?” Val asked.

Skyla’s brow furrowed. “I guess so. Unless you got a better idea.”

No one did.

We pawed through the stacks of books and scrolls. Some things were obviously unrelated to our search, and I passed over them after a quick glance. I paused here and there to read pages in journals and diaries that referenced the Valkyries’ interactions with battles and wars throughout history. I found one that mentioned World War II. The journalist had served as a Night Witch, a member of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces. Without the need to fulfill the Aesir’s ancient charge, the Valkyries found other ways to meet the call of the battlefield. What a history lesson those diaries would have made.
But I’m not here for a history lesson.

Eventually, I worked my way to a scroll-stuffed cubby hole. The first parchment roll revealed a genealogy record. Tori said the Valkyries kept track of their bloodlines, and there lay the evidence. I dug through a few more, looking for a trace of Skyla’s past. Before I could find her, though, I found a scroll detailing the lineage of Mani and Sol. I wheezed. My knees turned to water, and I plopped to the floor.

“What?” Skyla rushed to my side. “Did you find something?”

“Look at this.” I handed her the scroll, which she stretched across an empty desk.

Val pulled me up to my feet, and we stood behind Skyla, reading over her shoulder.

Skyla ran her finger down line after line until she found an entry for Mani and me. “Look,” she whispered. “It’s you.”

In bright, illuminated inscriptions, a record keeper for the Valkyries had marked every generation in the Mundy family line where a pair of twins had appeared. Sometimes, they were a hundred years or more apart, but they happened frequently enough to show the trait persisted in our family. Our very distant blood connection to the original Sol and Mani came through my father. Seeing it laid out in print, for thousands of years, gave my history gravity and a tangible reality.

“How did they know?” I asked.

Skyla shrugged. “Birth records are easy to find. Maybe it’s the librarian’s job to watch out for these kinds of things.”

Those scrolls confirmed that, in some subtle way, Mani and I had always been together.

“He isn’t really gone, then, is he? This is proof that someday, some part of his spirit and mine will be together again.”

Skyla blinked, and her face went slack. She swept a finger over Mani’s name, scribed in shimmering, silver ink. The names blurred together when tears gathered in my eyes. I blinked and backed away, taking several deep breaths to recover my composure.

“It’s like a pedigree,” Val said. “We can breed you and get top dollar.”

I grunted and smacked his shoulder. “Too bad there aren’t any suitable studs.”

Skyla opened her mouth to form a retort but stopped. Her face softened. “Do you think there might be a chart for me?”

“That’s what I was looking for in the first place,” I said.

Val huffed. “I thought we were looking for instructions on contacting the dead.”

“I was, but when I stumbled on these scrolls, I thought about Embla having those pictures of Skyla, and I thought there might be more proof in here.”

Skyla peered up at me, her eyes shining and earnest. “Would it bother you to keep looking?”

“Not at all,” I said.

We worked late into the night, stopping a few times to retrieve drinks and snacks to fuel our research. I finished the pile of scrolls without finding specific mention of Skyla’s family, and none of us knew what that meant, but sometime in the early morning, Skyla discovered what we originally had come for.

“Look,” she said, “a grimoire.”

“Oh, oh,” I said, “I know what that means. A book of spells.”

Val’s mouth twisted into a quirky frown. “How’d you know that?”

“I read.”

“The old Valkyries weren’t witches who chanted spells,” Val said. “They lived in our realm and traveled to Midgard,
Earth
, whenever Odin asked them.”

“Things have changed, haven’t they?” Skyla asked. “You don’t live in Asgard anymore, and there is no Valhalla. The Valkyries had to come up with another way.”

“So what do you need?” I asked. “Eye of newt, wing of bat?”

Skyla briefly smiled as her eyes grazed back and forth over the spellbook’s text. “Looks something like a séance. Draw some runes, meditate, set a conducive atmosphere. The most important thing is the person attempting to make contact be sensitive to the spirit world, which the Valkyries inherently are.” Skyla looked up. “Give me some peace and quiet. I’m going to give this a go.”

“You don’t need us to sit in a circle and hold hands?” I tried not to laugh.

“Do you need a crystal ball?” asked Val, who wasn’t holding back his laughter at all.

Skyla ignored him. “Shoo
.
Both of you,
out
.”

I trudged up the basement stairs with Val, my body heavy with exhaustion. He reached over, put a hand on my shoulder, and squeezed. I imagined those strong fingers digging into the tense muscles in my neck and craved the relief it would bring, but inviting Val to my room for a massage session meant inviting the worst kind of trouble. I sighed, letting out my exhaustion and frustrations in a long breath.

“Tired?” Val asked.

I started to assure him I was fine, but my step fell short and I stumbled on a stair. Val caught me and swept me up in his arms.

I squealed. “What are you doing?”

“You promised we could have some fun today.” Val carried me to the top of the stairs before setting me on my feet.

“I walked with you on the beach after dinner,” I said as we crossed the open foyer leading to the staircase.

“You stayed a pace ahead of me the whole time, and the wind blew so hard I couldn’t hear myself think.”

Val was right. I had walked quickly on purpose, keeping a safe distance from his smooth tongue.

“You said we could talk,” he said.

I did say that. Doesn’t mean I don’t regret it.

We ascended to the second floor in silence. When we reached my room, I went to the bed and slouched on the foot of the mattress. “You want to go first?”

Val frowned. “I don’t know what to say. ‘I’m sorry’ seems hardly sufficient.”

I raised an eyebrow and sniffed. “It’s a start. At least it means you take some responsibility for your actions.”

Val stepped closer and leaned a hip against the bed near the headboard. A pensive look stole across his face, masking his usual good cheer. “Our kind have always been passionate, Solina: jealous, possessive, ferocious. We do nothing by halves. Hating. Fighting… Loving. It’s all or nothing for us. For a human, I could see where that would be overwhelming.”

“So you’re saying you can’t help it when you act like an overbearing control freak?”

Val’s eyebrows arched, and he leaned back, his mouth popping open in a soft
O
. “Is that really how you see me?”

“Not always. But when that side of you comes out, that all-or-nothing side, it’s scary.”

“It wouldn’t be if you trusted me.”

I folded my hands in my lap and studied the ridges of my knuckles. “Trust is a gift not easily given.”

“And laboriously earned. Is there anyone you
do
trust, Solina?”

I shrugged. “Skyla. My parents, maybe. They love me in their own weird way. They used me a lot, too, but some of that was my own fault.”

“Do you trust Thorin?”

I shrugged again. “He’s not the one trying to seduce me. I am a means to his ends. You’re the one who insists on having more. You’re the one trying to put me in a position where I could get hurt.”

“You’ve already been hurt,” Val said. “And lived to tell the tale.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m eager to do it again.”

Val nodded. “I am immortal, Solina. I have an eternity. If time is what you need, then time is what you’ll get. I’m not going anywhere.”

His answer resolved nothing, but maybe it meant a truce between us, and I welcomed it.

I rubbed my tired eyes and slumped back on the bed. “What time is it?”

Val checked the display on his phone. “Three.”

“It’s obscenely late.” I looked back and studied Val. In the darkness of the room, he appeared as little more than a shadow. My memory filled in the details: shaggy auburn hair and a day-old beard. Devilishly handsome, as usual. Our relationship might have been simpler, easier, if he were a human man, but he wasn’t, so I wouldn’t my waste time on “what-ifs”.

Val held still, letting me study him. “What are you thinking, Solina? Even in the dark, I can tell you’re thinking.”

I took a breath to say something, but before I voiced my thoughts, the bedroom door creaked open, and a thread of light spilled into the room.

“Solina?” Skyla hissed, tiptoeing closer. “Are you awake?”

I sat up. “Yes, I’m awake.”

“I found her. Ariel. She’s here, and she’ll talk to us, but we have to do it fast. She won’t last much longer.”

“Us?”

“Well, you and me. She’s a little wary of Val.”

I rose to my feet. “I don’t blame her.”

“Hey
,
” Val objected.

“Val?” Skyla asked. “You’re in here too?”

“You have a problem with that?”

I interrupted before they could start something. “I don’t know for sure, but it’s probably rude to keep a ghost waiting.”

“I’m coming with you.” Val took a step toward the door.

“No,” Skyla said. “She only wanted to talk to me and Solina. We can’t risk you scaring her off, and we can’t waste time appeasing your ego.”

“You promised to respect my autonomy,” I said. “Remember?”

Val crossed his arms over his chest, glowering, but agreed. “Okay, but I expect a full report.”

“Thanks for understanding.” I turned to follow Skyla.

In the hallway, Skyla whirled around on me and narrowed her eyes. She looked pointedly toward the dark room where Val had stayed behind. Then she looked back at me. Without further comment about finding me sharing intimate space with her mortal enemy, she spun on her heel and led me down to the library.

Candles lit the interior in a warm glow. Nothing unusual jumped out of the shadows, and I wondered about the validity of Skyla’s scheme.

“This is Solina,” Skyla said and motioned in my direction.

I scanned the room. Nothing. No one. “Who are you talking to?”

“Ariel.”

“There’s no one here.”

“You don’t see her?”

I pursed my lips and shook my head, wondering if sleep deprivation had made Skyla hallucinate.

“That doesn’t matter. She can see you.”

“Where is she?”

Skyla motioned toward a tapestry hanging on the stone wall. The fabric swayed, and I squeaked.

“Don’t hurt her feelings,” Skyla said.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t been trained in proper ghost etiquette.”

“Well, get over it. She won’t be able keep it together much longer.” Skyla turned toward the tapestry where Ariel’s ghost supposedly stood. “What can you tell us about the fire, Ariel?”

“Surtalogi,” said a disembodied voice.

I was glad to hear my suspicions confirmed, even if it was by a disembodied spirit. “That’s what we thought,” I said.

Skyla turned to me with an eyebrow arched in question.

“I dreamed of it.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“When has there been time? Besides, it’s not something I wanted to talk about around any of
them
,” I said, meaning the Valkyries. I gave Skyla a quick summary of my vision and explained how the three gods and I agreed Surtalogi had mostly likely furnished the fire. “I had no idea who was wielding it, though. I didn’t think it was Helen.”

“Not Helen, not Tori,” said the voice… Ariel… whoever.

“What do you mean not Tori?”

“Tori is not your traitor.”

“Then who is?” Skyla asked.

“The Valkyries… rotten to the core. We were collecting artifacts of the gods, under the direction of our patron, but we were secretly seeking to empower the Valkyries and end our dependence on the gods. We found many things… Surtr’s sword.” Her voice weakened as she spoke, and her last words ended in a ghostly murmur.

“No way,” Skyla said. “They are handmaidens of the Aesir. They’ve maintained their customs to religious dedication. They’re not going to pervert that after all this time.”

“We are hostesses of war,” Ariel whispered. “We ache for battle. We long to return to Valhalla and Folkvangr and see our halls renewed. To do that, we need independence.”

“You too, Ariel?” Skyla’s voice rose.

I put an arm to her shoulder to remind her where we were and that someone might hear her.

“Did you forsake the Aesir?”

Ariel took so long to respond that I wondered if she had left. When she finally spoke, her words were barely audible. “Blinded by delusions of glory… Confession for atonement. Tori denied the plan. Still loyal to Aesir. Tori was to be killed. Tori fought.” Ariel’s voice faltered again, and I barely made out her last words. “Aerie burned… Tori ran.”

“Tori took the sword with her?” I said.

“Yes,” Ariel said.

“Where is she now?” Skyla asked.

“
Grim… Thorin… Corvallis…
”

The candles flickered as a gust of cool air blew through the room. Several candles went out, dimming the room further.

“Ariel?” Skyla asked. “Are you here?”

We held our breath and waited, but she had gone.

“Did she say
grim
?” I asked. “What does that mean?”

“I’m not sure.”

“And Thorin and Corvallis? Does she mean Corvallis as in Oregon?” I’d never heard Thorin mention a connection to Oregon, but there were probably lots of things Thorin had refrained from mentioning, especially if any of them were of a personal nature.

Skyla shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Looks like I need to get ahold of Thorin, ASAP. In the meantime, I could ask Val—”

“No.” Skyla latched onto my arm and squeezed. “Don’t breathe a word of this to Val.”

“I’m not always his biggest fan, either, Skyla. But he’s a good source of information. Why shouldn’t I ask him?”

“If Tori wasn’t Helen’s spy, then who told Helen where we were at Oneida Lake?”

“Why Val?”

“He had opportunity. So many times, he’s had opportunity. He knew where you were when you were kayaking with me. He knew you were in the desert.”

“He didn’t know we were at Oneida Lake… unless you’re saying the Valkyries were feeding him information. And if that’s true, why would he kill them?”

“It’s classic James Bond, Solina. Kill your own spy to throw the enemy off the trail. With Inyoni and Kalani dead, we would never know who to suspect other than Tori. Inyoni as good as said she was leaking word to someone. Maybe it was Val. Maybe she didn’t know he would pass it on to Helen.”

“Val had plenty of opportunities to kidnap me and take me to Helen himself, but he hasn’t. Why not?”

“He’s keeping your confidence so you’ll feed him inside information. He can’t kill you himself, but so long as you trust him and let him close, he’ll always know where you are, and when the time is right, he’ll call for Skoll.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s too convoluted. The truth is usually simpler than that. I won’t believe it. Not Val. You were wrong about Tori, and you’re wrong about him.”