Chapter 27
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
Yeah, so that’s how I ended up betting a lifetime of your servitude to Odin versus you belonging to me.
We just have to defeat the Darkness that Comes and pin Geri or Freki in a wrestling match, or maybe both of Odin’s wolves.
I’m not sure what he meant exactly because when I told him we were going to kick his ass, he started laughing so hard mead came out of his nose.
Rolf wondered about the best way to tell Syl all that. As he pondered, Odin stared at the field in front of Valhalla, now clearly visible and projecting noise. No more silent peace for Rolf and Odin.
“Ah, now that’s a sight for a sore eye.” Odin winked at Rolf with his one good eye. “My warriors placing bets on the women beating each other to a pulp. Lovely.”
Rolf spotted his loudmouth valkyrie in the midst of it all, bloody, laughing, and punching everyone she could reach.
He noticed two groups of the female warriors, one rallying around Syl, whom the majority kept trying to hold down.
The other led by a large valkyrie with blood-red hair and thighs the size of Orion’s.
“Who’s that?” He nodded to the woman who had to be part giant. That or she had a troll in her family tree.
“Ah, Agatha. She’s a new addition. She hates Sylvara.”
“Part giant?”
Odin nodded. “Brought her on as a favor for an old friend of mine a few hundred years ago. Great scrapper, especially fond of her spear, War Stick.”
“Stupid name,” Rolf said at the same time Odin added, “I named it myself.”
After an awkward pause, Rolf gave a bright smile. “Nice that they’re fighting for you, eh?”
Odin turned back to the battle. “I appreciate a good battle, sure, but they’ve distracted the einherjar long enough.” Odin motioned to a large fellow nearby. “Break it up, would you? And tell Sylvara that Rolf is ready for her.”
The warrior nodded and left. The fight broke up immediately, all eyes turning to Odin and Rolf, who waved.
Syl took another punch in the gut before delivering a loud backhand to Agatha’s face that had to sting. Then she grabbed the redhead by the hair and swung her around, ending with a toss like a champion athlete in the hammer throw.
Agatha swore and went flying while Syl and her buddies, all bloodied and bruised, laughed and congratulated each other on a good fight.
No love was lost as their opponents shot them verbal insults and obscene hand gestures while they parted, a few of the male warriors stepping in to keep them separate.
Syl jogged over after waving goodbye to her friends. “You called?”
Odin stared at her with disapproval.
Rolf wanted to mount her right then and there. So sexy, his mate all bloodied and bruised. Fuck. Thinking of her as my mate. Again. And glad of it. This is all Morpheus’s doing! The worst part of it was, Rolf wanted to thank the obnoxious dream god instead of killing him.
He forced a smile. “Want me to lick you clean?”
She blinked then turned pink. “Shut up.”
Odin stared from Rolf to Sylvara and smiled, resembling Loki in a most unsettling way.
Rolf didn’t trust it.
“Take the time to go see your aunts before you leave or I’ll never hear the end of it,” Odin ordered. “You’ll have passage back to the mortal plane at the Norns’.”
Syl didn’t say goodbye or ask to leave, she just turned and left.
Odin’s mouth tightened at the slight.
Rolf quickly shook his hand. He wouldn’t have minded watching the fallout, but after his stint with Hades, he’d learned his lesson. Don’t fuck with a god in his own realm. “Thank you for the hospitality. I’ll think on all you’ve said.” Then he hustled to join Syl marching away.
He caught up with her before they crossed a wooden bridge leading away from Valhalla. They walked quietly together, and he found the silence oddly comforting.
She smelled sweet, of blood, sweat, and power. She walked, not just with confidence, but with an exaggerated awareness, which he found curious. Even here, in her home, she seemed cautious.
“What was the fight about? Or was it just for fun?” he asked when she continued in silence.
She shrugged. “Both, I guess. Agatha started on me. I wasn’t in the mood to let it go.”
“Oh, now you have to tell me. Dish.” He bumped her shoulder with his.
She gave him a ghost of a smile. “I seriously can’t stand her, and I had a terrific time showing her.” They continued through the woods, the air clean, free of humanity, which should have pleased him. To Rolf’s annoyance, he found he missed the scent of bad choices and immeasurable possibilities.
Humans, though food, had started to amuse him. They could be wildly creative, funny, and crueler than some strigoi he knew.
“Why don’t you like Agatha?” he asked. “Because she’s part jotun?”
“Nah. I don’t care about where a valkyrie comes from. But she’s been out to get me since I joined the sisterhood.”
“Why? Jealousy, I’ll bet. You’re so much prettier.”
She huffed. “Thanks, Rolf. Glad to be known for being pretty.”
“What? It’s a thing. I know a lot of females who enjoy being considered attractive.” He glanced at her. “I mean, look at you. Covered in blood and sweat. It’s like you’re doing your best to flirt, and I’m an easy get.”
She chuckled. “You’re an idiot.”
“But I’m your idiot.”
She shot him an odd look, then faced front once more. “If you must know—”
“I must.”
“—I wasn’t born human. I don’t think.”
“Oh, interesting.” He looked her over, not spotting a slanted brow or pointed ears, nothing about her skin tone to suggest fae or demonic heritage either. “What are you then?”
“I’m not sure exactly. Asgardian, maybe.”
“Please tell me you’re not a god. That’s so unattractive.”
“Do you want to hear this or not?” she snapped.
He mimed zipping his lips.
“Not that it’s a big deal or anything. But my mom left me when I was young. They found me here in Asgard, just a toddler. The Norns took me in and raised me like one of their own.”
“So you’ve spun the web? Woven the weave?” He found that interesting. If anyone gave him control over the past, present, or future, he’d make an absolute mess of things. What fun that would be.
“No. Only the Norns and their kind do that. It’s not just Urth, Verthandi, and Skuld, you know. They’re the big guns, but they have a ton of helpers.”
“Just not you.”
She shook her head. “I’ve always felt like I didn’t belong. The great web of destiny never felt like my calling. It wasn’t until I picked up an ax when I knew I was called to war.”
“See? We’re meant to be.” He hugged her by the shoulder and refused to let her go.
“The Norns talked Freyja into letting me get my wings. Since I wasn’t chosen by Odin or Freyja for the role, I’m kind of outside the norm. Most of the valkyries gave me crap for a long time because of it. I mean, not all of them. I have friends.”
She sounded defensive. He didn’t say anything.
“Once I started training under Hlokk, they left me alone. She’s nuts.” Syl smiled at that. “I love her, but I’d never cross her. Anyway, it’s been a while since anyone started shit with me. I thought we were beyond that.”
He could tell it bothered her.
“I guess we aren’t. So I reminded them why they should leave me the hell alone.”
“At least you had fun with it. I used to love fighting with my kin. Not so much now. None of us really wants to kill anyone. Although I fought with Khent not too long ago, and he was super pissed at me. Tried his best to do some damage.” He paused with a frown.
“I think he might have reanimated me if he’d killed me.
Reapers aren’t supposed to be able to do that, but he’s holding his power close. ”
She blinked at him. “Reanimated you? How does that work?”
“No idea, but I didn’t want to chance it. My point is, all fights should feel like that. Killing lesser beings is what I do, not that I’m saying Khent is a lesser being.”
“Hagatha is.”
“Yeah, she’s a super troll.”
Syl smiled at him, and he felt good for being supportive. For being what Macy liked to call, “boyfriend material.”
“You look pretty pleased with yourself,” she commented as they entered a field with lazing warriors. The area smelled like flowers. Freyja’s field. Fólkvangr.
“I am pleased with myself. I banged the toughest valkyrie in Asgard.”
She beamed. “You totally did.”
“And she was killer good in the sack.” He chuckled. “Killer. Good. See what I did there? Not only are you sexy, you’re a killer.”
“Yes, Rolf. I caught that the first time you said it. Let it go.”
“I will if you tell me why Odin has a hard-on for you. And not the good kind.” He was proud of himself for slipping that in. Subtle be my name. Ha. Take that, Khent, for saying I have no finesse.
Syl shrugged. “He’s like the others. Not happy that Freyja took me in because Skuld asked her. He’s old school on a lot of issues. And he’s fucking annoying.”
“So annoying.” He nodded.
“Like, would it kill him to let me play with his wolves now and then? Or to go out and determine which battles he should focus on when looking for new warriors? He’s so, been there done that.
Relying on old methods for acquiring his army when the present world is all about new ways of waging war.
Some warriors are behind keyboards. Some use automatic weapons and strategize coups.
I was happy to kill a few nerds so he could indulge in drones and high-tech weaponry for when he fights the giants.
Does he really think they aren’t arming themselves with nukes too? ”
“Er, what?”
She grew more animated. “War is ever-changing. Sure, the fun part is mashing someone’s brains in with a mace.” At his nod, she added, “But there’s so much more to battle than one front. You need to think outside the box. Not what is or was or will be, but what could be.”
He considered that. “You know, that’s interesting.
You should be in on our strategizing when we battle the Darkness that Comes.
Hecate seems to think we’ll decimate the Darkness with a vampire army.
But if they bring their own form of chaos nukes, we might be outmatched.
” After a pause, he added, “Nah. I mean, we’re vampires.
We’ll crush everyone. But it never hurts to be careful. ”
She snorted. “Sure. Isn’t that what Master Atanase of the Crimson Veil thought right before his son killed him? Something about nobody being able to kill his Better?”
“Probably.” He was so pleased she knew about vampire politics. “How’d you know about Atanase?”
“When Loki told me we were dealing with you guys, when he was sneaking around in Hecate’s domain and dragging me along with him, I made notes. You Night Bloode should be required reading. Vampires of different tribes getting along? Not good for the rest of us.”
“Aw, see? You do understand about lesser beings and the things they fear.”
“You just called yourself a ‘thing,’” she said drily.
“Not my point.”
“Works for me.”