Dead Wrath (17 page)

And she looked pretty proud of herself, staring at us from head to toe over the top of her glasses. Then she glanced at her watch and said, "Ladies, follow me. Boys, I'm sure you know your way around a comb and some cologne."

I wanted to giggle at that but managed to control the urge, unsure of Edna's reaction. Then I wanted to burst out laughing. Brynhildr, Valkyrie, daughter of Odin, leader of the armies of Asgard, was afraid of a tiny little einherjar that looked like she spent far too much time in Midgard.

Siri and I followed Edna toward the left side of the room to a set of double doors. She threw them open and led us inside. We stepped into what looked like a hairdressing salon. Edna waved the two of us to the two available seats in front of a huge mirror. Then she turned on her heel and disappeared from the room. Just like that, she was gone.

Siri glanced at my reflection in the mirror. "Do you think she's always like that?"

"I was wondering that myself." I grinned. "But I think I'm willing to forgive the woman for anything. She does have amazing taste. These dresses are simply gorgeous."

Siri laughed. "I have to admit I've not been in a position to wear a dress like this."

"Not even to a prom?"

Her expression darkened. "No, not even prom. Grandmother chose two days before prom to come fetch me. I'd say that was perfect timing." Her jaw tightened and her expression revealed a sense of longing. I wondered if she'd left behind someone special. It would explain the pain I saw in her eyes when she talked about being taken away from her home.

I tilted my head and studied her face, feeling a little sad for the girl. "It's not easy having responsibility thrust upon you," I said with a sigh. I knew what it felt like, the suffocating weight of everyone else's demands.

"You've been through it too, right?" she asked softly, her eyes darkening to a rich honey. Sometimes, like now, she let her guard down, and I could see flames dancing in her eyes.

I nodded. "I promise it does get easier. Sometimes we are the ones that have to make the biggest sacrifice. It sounds unfair, but usually it means you're destined for bigger things."

"Yeah. I guess."

I let the silence simmer for a moment before looking at her dress as she lounged in her chair, asking, "Are you uncomfortable at all?"

She frowned and shook her head. "No, not at all. The dress is heavenly. And this color is amazing."

"Grandmother would not approve," I said with a wink.

"Oh no," she said in mock seriousness. "She definitely won't."

We both dissolved into giggles.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The blades of the helicopter whirred slower and slower until it came to a stop. We waited inside the car, within the safety of the vehicle, while the swirling air and dust settled. Iain had provided us with two black Bentleys to shuttle us to the helipad some miles away from HQ. I shifted, the feel of the glamored spear in its holster mildly uncomfortable, but I wouldn't have dared to come without it. I'd decided not to waste time bringing anything else, so Gungnir would be Joshua's safety net if anything hit the fan.

Derek sat beside me, hugging his collection of bags while glancing nervously at the helicopter as it came in to land. He glanced at his tablet and said, "Just one more test and I'll be good." He looked up at me, and when I nodded, he said, "Blink a few times. I want to calibrate how long the camera takes to focus after you blink." I obeyed, blinked half a dozen times, and allowed the contact lenses in my eyes to settle back into place. After tapping his screen a few times, he said, "Good, that's perfect. Give me a few seconds to run the same diagnostic on the rest of the team cameras," he said, then proceeded to tap away. It still amazed me that a complicated device like a camera could be inserted into a contact lens and then be placed inside a person's eye.

Even James Bond never had it this good.

Once Derek was done, we left the cars and headed to the helicopter, wrapped in cashmere shawls courtesy of the poker-faced Edna.

From my knowledge of the Scottish evening weather, I would have assumed we'd need more than mere shawls, but we had to be able to leave the property in case things went haywire, and fetching our coats from a coat check could not be part of our emergency exit procedure. We'd have to just suck it up and endure the cold.

We'd barely clicked our seatbelts closed when the pilot lifted off, announcing it would be a little over an hour to our destination. Castle McClellan was located just outside Edinburgh, and during the long flight, we discussed possible options. That's when Derek said, "Oh, I have something for you. I almost forgot, but I was thinking of the code I wrote to plant a virus inside their system if they manage to track me when I hack--" He stopped suddenly and looked up at us as we waited patiently.

"Derek?"

"Yes?" He glanced at me, clearly off guard. I raised my eyebrows, and then he said, "Oh right. Er... Okay, so I have these earwigs for you all, but they aren't your normal design, see." He opened his palm to reveal two different types of earpieces that looked more like jewelry than surveillance equipment. "These are all fitted with microphones. And see... the teeny little speaker? Both parts are wireless."

I pursed my lips, more than impressed. "Derek, where have you been with this stuff? We could have done with them on our last mission," said Joshua, a wry grin on his face.

"Er... I only just manage to find a way to reduce the size to enable me to--" He stopped in midsentence and looked around at our amused expressions. "Um, yup, anyway. They're working now."

I picked one up from his hand, and it was stunningly perfect. It was an ear cuff that would hug the curve at the top of my ear with little leaves and flowers filled with sparkling diamonds. Beside it was a tiny black speaker that I assumed was the earwig. "The microphone is set within the piece because I didn't think you'd want to pin anything to your dresses. It's strong enough to pick up sound within ten inches. I've modulated the receiver to isolate your voice so we pick up everything you say. If you have a conversation with someone, we will be able to hear them, but not as clearly."

"I'll take this one, thanks," I said, narrowing my eyes and holding the silver ear cuff possessively.

"Yes, I have a few, but I picked those to go with your dresses." He smiled shyly. Then he tried to get to his feet, only to be snapped back into his seat by the straps. With an annoyed look, he unclipped his belt, then came to crouch beside me to fit the ear cuff in place. It didn't take long and then he was attending, first to Siri with her gold version of the jewelry, and then to the boys.

They were both fortunate that with dark suits and pockets, they had places to hold a microphone, but I wasn't complaining about my gorgeous accessory. Derek exchanged the third button of each of their shirts with two that he'd modified, then handed them tiny earwigs. "These are wireless too."

Once we were all hooked up, we decided the plan would be to enter at the main entrance, then sweep the floor, checking faces for glamors and frost giants. We needed to get in and out as soon as possible.

He reached for a tablet and swiped at the blank screen. "Their systems are advanced enough that I wouldn't put it past them to run facial recognition on all the guests as they enter. Means you need to move fast. Anything goes wrong, get out fast." Then he tapped his tablet and opened a small map of the inside of the castle. "Here is the ballroom. To the right and left are stairs that take you to the upper landing, which they are using as a second ballroom. On the far right of that ballroom is a large balcony. Once you've done the sweep, get to it as fast as possible."

I glanced at Siri. "Can you use the balcony? Do you need more space?"

Siri leaned forward. "How large is the balcony?" she asked.

"It's large enough to be the third ballroom. The McClellan's use it for summer parties. It's definitely large enough for you," he said, his cheeks blooming with a tinge of red.

Siri then looked at me. "Okay then, looks like we're all set. Do these boys get airsick?" she asked, looking them up and down.

Joshua shook his head, but Edrik stared at Siri, a strange expression on his face, as if he were about to throw up. "I'll be fine. I'll just glamor up and run."

"All the way back to London?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Edrik stiffened. "Very well, then. I suppose I will have to hold on tight."

"Fear of flying?" Joshua asked him with a small smirk.

"More like a fear of dying," Edrik answered, and everyone laughed.

***

We reached the castle in darkness, but fortunately, the house was lit up like a veritable Christmas tree. There were lights that ran all the way from the steps of the castle right down to the gate hundreds of yards away. In real life, the castle looked even more impressive, and I had to admit I loved the look. The natural stone and creeping moss worked so well together.

The helicopter touched down in the middle of the parking lot at the bottom of the drive. Iain had assured us that he had RSVP'd with a notice to advise the host of our intended method of arrival. We were certainly going to make a spectacular entrance.

We waited a while for the blades to stop moving, then alighted and walked carefully, on spindly heels, across the gravel to the entrance where a surly red-coated guard watched and waited, tablet in hand.

I held on to Joshua's arm and beamed at the expressionless man, barely needing to scan him for glamor. I found a frost giant hidden beneath a shimmer of magic that gave off an electric buzz. I gritted my teeth and squeezed Joshua's arm as he tugged the invitation out of his breast pocket.

Behind us, Edrik did the same, handing over their invitation as well.

The guard scanned the stationery, then tapped the tablet in his hand. He scrolled through a list and then came to a stop, scanned the invitations, then nodded.

"Welcome, and have a nice evening," he said with a small bow.

We headed up the stone stairs, and as soon as we were out of earshot, I said, "The guard at the door is a creep."

Muffled chuckles reached me over the comms, and I smiled as we passed through the front doors and entered into the grand hall. The ballroom was filled with dancing couples and well-dressed men and women lining the sides of the marble floor. Definitely a first-time experience for me.

Joshua glanced at me, his brows rising almost to his hairline. As impressed as I was, then. We glided along looking around and scanning face after face. I noted a few more surly looking guards positioned near the exits. Seemed I didn't need to look for glamors to identity the Jotunns. They all looked like they would rather be elsewhere.

We kept a good distance from Siri and Edrik, who made their way around the other side of the room. Both Edrik and Siri could see glamors, but only Edrik's power was strong enough to see through a strong glamor. And the problem today was these glamors were damned strong.

Joshua and I headed up the stairs to the next level, walking slowly through the gathered couples. The string quartet set up in the far left corner of the room began a waltz, and Joshua grabbed me around the waist, his cheeky grin so pleasant, so normal. Nothing like what our real lives were like. "A dance, my lady?" he asked, his eyes sparkling.

I giggled. "Why, thank you, sir. I do believe I have an empty spot on my dance card."

He laughed and so did I. Then he swung me around toward the floor where dozens of other couples had begun to move to the music. Joining the dancing horde was a good cover, and as we went around and around, I scanned faces for the lord and anyone that looked like they were glamored.

It took less than five minutes to identify our host. And to notice that the two dark-suited men that stood a foot behind him were both frost giants. Their glamors were strong and gave off the same electric field the first Jotunn at the entrance had. Glamor magic on freaking steroids.

That was not a good sign.

CHAPTER TWENTY

I stiffened as soon as I set eyes on the Jotunn. Joshua bent close to my ear. "You see something?" he asked, moving his body slowly to the music.

I gazed up, giving him what I thought was a devoted look. "Yes. Scott and two big bad wolves a step behind him. Armed and dangerous."