4. Inferno
“Holy shit!”
I don’t take my eyes off the door at Reaper’s exclamation. Seeing the way Emmaline Daniels tensed when we touched sent a shiver of longing through my system. I know I saw her last night, but she didn’t know I was there, and apparently, that makes a helluva difference.
“Yo, Inferno,” Viking calls, gaining my attention. “Where are you right now?”
Buried between a sexy woman’s thighs.
“I’m right here,” I snap.
“The pictures we were given didn’t do that chick justice,” Reaper comments. “She’s fucking hot.”
That she is.
“She’s a job,” I say dryly.
“So was Makayla,” Viking points out.
“Dear Odin,” I groan. “I’m not here to hook up with her. I’m here to protect her.”
Soulmates don’t just exist for humans.
My god’s words taunt me. Odin made it clear that I’m in the human world for more than just saving Emmaline’s ass, but my brothers don’t need to know that.
“Any idea what kinda trouble she’s in?” Acid asks.
“Nope. Odin didn’t specify,” I tell them. “All he said was that trouble is comin’ for her.”
“At least with Makayla, we had more information,” Demo comments. “How are we supposed to save someone when we have no clue what we’re saving them from?”
I don’t correct his assumption that we are here to save anyone. They’re here, and there has to be a reason.
“We need to figure it out quick,” Viking says. “I wanna get back to Valhalla.”
“You mean you wanna get back to Makayla,” I correct with a smirk.
My president rolls his eyes. “Same thing.”
“Not even a little bit,” Demo says with a chuckle.
Before the conversation can continue, the waitress comes to take our orders. We get through the meal in relative silence as each of us inhales the delicious food. Sure, we might eat like kings in Valhalla, but there’s something to be said for tacos.
When we return to the clubhouse that Ms. Steinbeck procured for us, we head straight for the meeting room to conduct church.
“Since Odin didn’t give you any specifics,” Viking says to me after calling the session into order. “We need to come up with a plan to get close to Ms. Daniels.”
“Emmy,” I say.
“What?”
“When I saved her from the fire, she told me that people call her Emmy.”
“Riiiight,” Demo drawls.
“Okay, Emmy,” Viking capitulates. “Doesn’t matter to me what we call her. What I give a damn about is how we’re going to keep her safe.”
“Especially when we don’t know shit about what’s coming,” Acid states.
“What does she do for work?” Reaper asks. “We could use that as a way to get close.”
“The file said she was a trauma counselor,” I remind them.
“That’s perfect. We’ve all experienced trauma. I mean, we are dead after all.”
“I don’t wanna sit and talk about my feelings,” Demo snaps as he rapidly shakes his head. “Nope. Not happening.”
“And it’s not like we can open up about how we died,” Viking adds.
“She knows how I died,” I comment quietly, trying to keep my emotions under control so I don’t burn the place down. “She was there.”
“True. And she’d probably recognize you if you if?—”
“She didn’t recognize him at the restaurant,” Acid spits out, silencing Viking. “She was a little girl when she saw him, right? She might have suspicions if she’s around him long enough, but she won’t put the pieces together. I mean, she thinks he’s dead.”
“And if she does?” Demo counters. “Put the pieces together, I mean.”
“We cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“Maybe there’s another way,” Acid suggests. “What if we just tail her until something bad happens? Then we’re right there to save the day, and then we can go home.”
Shooting to my feet, I slam my fists on the table, and flame shoots from my hands to the wood. Quickly, I cover the fire with my palms to snuff it out before dropping back into my chair and thrusting a hand through my hair.
Viking eyes me suspiciously. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit,” he barks. “You’re getting to the point where you’re not able to control your power. That’s dangerous. So fucking talk.”
“It’s just…” I take a deep breath as I try to come up with the words to describe what is going on in my head. There are none that they will understand so I just spit it all out. “You’re all talking about her like she’s nothing. She’s not nothing. Her name is Emmaline Daniels, and I didn’t die saving her life just so she could still die young.” I whip my head around to glare at Acid. “And home?” I sneer. “Valhalla isn’t home. It’s the afterlife, a very poor simulation of what home is.”
With that, I rise from my chair and storm out of the room. I know I’ve just invited the wrath of Viking, but fuck it. I might have been able to treat this like any other job, but then Odin had to throw the word soulmates out there, and everything changed.
Thinking about that one bit of information has flipped my world on its axis, made me consider things I never would’ve considered before. It’s made me want more than what Odin’s provided for us in Valhalla.
Knowing there’s a deeper reason I’m here in the human world has made me… crave.