Dead Wrath (19 page)

Siri leaned forward, stretching out her forelegs, and for a moment I was worried how she'd land, crushing our poor Ulfr agent. But Siri touched ground smoothly on three legs, settling beside the helicopter and lowering her hand to gently place Edrik on the ground. So gently he didn't even need to regain his balance.

She paused to let us slide off her. The scales along her back were smooth as silk, and although I'd been concerned about something catching the fabric of my gown, I needn't have worried. The only thing I had to concern myself with was Odin's spear still coated with frost giant blood.

As soon as we were clear of the dragon, Siri transformed smoothly back into her human form, with just a smattering of golden dust and just a light puff of golden air. She fluffed out her golden hair and smoothed down her dress as she followed us back to the helicopter. It was the strangest sight I'd ever seen. A golden dragon transforming into a girl in a golden gown. Just uniquely beautiful.

As soon as we stepped inside the helicopter, the pilot started the engines and began to flick buttons and knobs on the console in front of him. I laid the spear on the floor in front of me, setting a foot on it so it wouldn't roll away and disappear beneath the seats. We strapped up tight in preparation for takeoff.

After we were airborne and on our way, I asked, "Anybody have a wet wipe?" The pilot pointed behind his seat. Siri, sitting back to back with him, leaned sideways and withdrew a small black bag, unzipped it, and produced a packet of baby wipes. I grabbed a few and proceeded to deal with the spear, all the while making a disgusted face.

Siri giggled. "It's only blood," she said, thoroughly amused.

"It's frost giant blood. That's just eww," I said, glaring at her. Everyone broke out into laughter at that.

After the laughter died down, I noticed Derek staring at Siri, his eyes a little rounder than normal, pure admiration on his face. Looking at me, Siri followed my gaze to Derek and frowned. "What's the matter?" she asked, her cheeks a little pink.

He sucked in a breath. "I can't believe it. You toasted him to ash."

She chuckled. "That's the way you deal with a frost giant. No nonsense, no messing around. Just toast," she said with a cheeky grin.

I snorted, staring at her, wanting to laugh. "You enjoyed that," I said suspiciously.

"I'm afraid I did." She giggled. "It's not often I get to use my abilities to win battles. Not that this one was on any kind of grand scale, but I still think it counts." She shrugged, her lip twisting in a wry smirk.

I shook my head at her, then tried to refocus my attention on someone else who might need it more. I glanced at Edrik, who sat quietly beside me, his face turned to the window. I nudged him in the side. "Hey, you okay?" I asked, watching his face.

He turned to me and a small smile curved his lips as he said, "Sure, as okay as a guy can feel about being a coward." His jaw was tight and his shoulders tense as his mouth twisted in self-disgust. He glanced away again.

I touched his arm. "Hey, there is nothing cowardly about feeling the way you do. Is it the heights or the dragon?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"The height," he said softly, the skin at his eyes tightening. "There has never been a need for me to be airborne before. The helicopter is bad enough, but at least being inside helps." He stopped abruptly and pumped his jaw.

"It really is okay, you know. Everyone has fears. Besides, it's not as if you need to fly on a dragon's back for your job. Who knows? The need may never arise again." I shrugged lightly, hoping he saw I meant what I said.

But his gaze turned on me, his emotions giving it a distinct loping shape. "I am a warrior. Warriors do not fear."

I snorted. "If you told me you didn't fear anything, I'd tell you you're off my team."

His eyes widened and confusion flickered within their dark depths. "Why would you do such a thing? You need brave warriors by your side."

"I need warriors who are afraid way more than I need one who is fearless. Fear means you will not be reckless. Because recklessness courts danger." I met his eyes, tilting my head a little to examine his face.

He lips curved wryly. "You know, for a human girl, you are extremely smart."

"You forget. I am no longer human." I winked.

His smile disappeared and he shifted more toward me. "I do apologize, Brynhildr. I did not mean to insult you."

I waved him off. "No need to apologize. I've been human most of my life so I can't deny being one. And despite my wings and my responsibility, I have yet to begin to feel un-human," I said with a grin.

He nodded. "Thank you for being so good to me. We have heard much of what is said about you, Brynhildr. And I see that it's all true."

Startled, I did a quick double take. "What have they been saying?" I asked, curious as to what people said about me behind my back. It had never bothered me before what people discussed while I wasn't around, simply because in the past, most people disliked me or what I was the moment they met me. But since my entry to Asgard, I could think of only one person who'd made me feel like I was back in school, and that was the Valkyrie Astrid, Freya's former 2IC. As for her, I hadn't seen hide nor hair of her for a while.

Edrik shook his head and laughed softly. But his attempt to answer me was disturbed by Derek, who was trying to get my attention. "We've located the address that McClellan gave you and we already have a team in place. I'm assuming you want your team to go in ASAP?"

"I do. And how soon can you rustle us up some house plans? And find out if the place is alarmed. How many guards, that sort of thing," I asked. I was thinking off the top of my head. This kind of super-spy espionage stuff wasn't something I'd ever expected to do. "We can finalize a plan of attack as soon as we know what we are up against."

Derek was already tapping away at his keyboard before I finished speaking. I was beginning to have a soft spot for the kid, with his bumbling ways and his tendency to go off on a tangent. I wouldn't say adorable because, well, how many nerds are really adorable? But he'd grown on me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Once we returned to HQ, Iain led us to the upper level of the main house and showed us a set of rooms. Much like New York HQ, the London offices provided comfortable resting areas for visiting teams. We were glad for a shower and a hot meal. I stood by the window and looked out at the dark street. The world continued to spin, people continued to live, while we fought to allow them the privilege of their ignorant and peaceful lives.

I sighed, the memory of Loki and his inter-dimensional abduction making me shiver. How the hell was he able to do that? And it was the second time too. The last time he'd taken me mid-travel, I'd told Odin, but even he hadn't been able to come up with a way to prevent it.

I frowned and rubbed my forehead. What did Loki have that enabled him to find me on the bridge whenever he wanted? He didn't seem to have the same kind of ability to track me when I wasn't traveling. I stiffened. Loki did have my blood after all the experimentation he and his son had done on me. Maybe he had a way to find me in the bridge by using my blood, some kind of weird nine realms magic or something.

I stretched my neck and kneaded the knots in my shoulders, then sank onto the bed. I knew I wouldn't get any sleep. My mind wouldn't let me, considering everything it had to process and everything I was anticipating over the next few days.

While we got a little R&R, Derek was working magic with his little fingers. After struggling to even get comfortable on the incredible firm and comfortable mattress, I hurried back downstairs to check on him and was glad to find him bouncing around, impatient for someone to show up.

His hazel eyes sparkled when he saw me, and he beckoned me, excitement coloring his features. "Oh good, I was waiting for someone to come down."

"You should have come looking for us, then," I said, pulling up a chair and sinking into it.

"Oh, I didn't want to disturb you guys." The wary expression on his face said he wouldn't have dared. I opened my mouth, almost giving in to the urge to advantage of this opportunity to be alone with Derek. He saw me hesitate and asked, "What? What do you need?"

I scanned the room and found it empty, then focused on Derek. "I need you to do some research for me, totally off books." He leaned closer to listen. Seemed he too liked the idea of a top-secret mission. "Is there a way for you to digitally hack into the Bifrost?"

He pursed his lips and thought for a moment. "I haven't done it, but I have wondered if it's possible. I could try. I guess I'd have to work with an open entrance first and see what happens from there."

I nodded, feeling a little more relaxed. "Once you've found a way to monitor the bridge, I want you to find out if it's possible to track someone while they use it."

Derek's eyes went wide. "Wow, that possibility never even occurred to me." Then he frowned and stared at me. "Why do you want this information? I mean ... You don't have to tell me if you don't want to... But ..."

I smiled and decided to take the chance and trust. "Loki has been tracking me using the Bifrost. Twice now he's redirected me to arrive somewhere else. When we used the Brooklyn entrance, he hijacked me to an entrance in the Rockies."

Derek's mouth hung open as he listened. "So that's why you arrived after us when you entered right beside me. Makes sense. But that's not good. We need to find a way to use Loki's tactics against him."

I laughed softly. "That was exactly what I was thinking."

"How do you think he is tracking you?"

I fell silent for a moment, unsure how I was going to explain Loki's possession of my blood. Then I took a deep breath and kept it simple. "I suspect he is using my blood or my genetics to track me."

Derek's expression was thoughtful and totally lacking in curiosity, and I suspected he already knew about my history with Loki. "So the question is, how do we obtain samples of Loki's genetics?"

"We do have two people who can contribute the DNA, but I'm not sure how long you will need to extract the DNA and translate that to your programming."

"Leave that to me. Our agency has access to several genetics labs that will fast-track any of our requests."

Then I stiffened. "Oh, wait. I might have just the thing for you." I grinned. I'd had it with me all along. I drew the dagger from my right hip and help the tip out to him. It was dark with blood. I hadn't had a chance to clean my weapons yet, which, as it turns out, was a good thing. I placed it on the table beside Derek's keyboard.

He took the weapon and held the point close to study the sample I was giving him. "This will do. This will definitely do." He seemed pleased, and I was glad.

I was still worried he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but I could do no more. I sat forward, remembering he'd been about to show me something. "Right. What was it you wanted to tell me? Most of my team are ready to go at the drop of a hat, so all you have to do is say when."

He pursed his lips. "It's not good news, unfortunately."

"Of course it isn't. Good news would be boring," I said with a sigh. "Right, hit me with it."

Derek stared at me for a moment, the look on his face saying he was upset to relay such bad news. I waved at him with both hands to get on with it, and he spun around in his seat and faced his monitor. A few clicks later, he brought up an image, and I said, "This is not good."

"What's not good?" asked Joshua from behind me. Seemed the team had gotten restless too and followed me down here. I turned to see the whole gang waiting for me to answer.

"It's the Shard," I said, my face dark.

"What's a shard?" asked Edrik, looking around from face to face.

"It's a building in London," said Derek. "They are holding McClellan's family at the Shangri-La Hotel in the Shard." As he spoke, he turned the monitor so the gathered group could see it. As one they spoke.

"Crap."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"That's a building?"

"How does that not fall down when the wind blows?"

"We have to
climb
that?"

I laughed, thoroughly tickled by their responses. "Could you guys pipe down?" I moved my hands up and down like a conductor lowering the volume on their voices. "We don't have to scale the building. One of us has wings."

"Two of us," piped Siri, narrowing her eyes at me in mock fury.

"Yes." I pointed at her. "Two of us have wings and we can both use glamour, so nobody would ever see us coming."

"That's a bloody brilliant plan, I say." Iain drew closer, taking off his glasses as he came to a stop. He rubbed the bridge of his nose a little, then returned his spectacles to his face. He squinched his nose to adjust them before he was finally satisfied. "Right. Bryn, have you ever used a circular glass cutter?" he asked as if he were asking if I'd ever used a spade. Just something one does on the weekend.

I shook my head slowly. "I can't say that I have. But I do see where you're going. We fly to the room window, hover outside, cut a hole in the window, and fly them out."