Chapter 11 #2
Val turned to her, needing to deflect the questions. "Why? Are you worried about me? Or are you checking to see where I'll be so you can sneak off and see Thor?"
Elle crossed her arms. "I don't need to sneak. I can see Thor if I want to."
Val nodded. "True. And I can go take care of my business if I want to. Just make sure you're in when I get back."
"When will that be?"
"I don't know, Grandma."
“Then how will I know when to be in by, Grandpa?”
Val stared at Elle, and then both of them broke into a smile. Val hadn't realized how much she'd missed Elle over the last few days. Elle rushed forward and hugged her. Val wrapped her arms around her friend and hugged her back. Neither moved for a second, and then Elle laughed.
"Wow."
"What?" asked Val.
"Whatever you are doing, or whomever you are doing it with, they must be pretty special."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because in the last two minutes you smiled and you hugged me. Like, really hugged me. Not one of those one-armed pats on the back you've always given me. You actually wrapped your arms around me and made full contact." Elle's eyes lit up.
"Shut up. I've hugged you before."
Elle shook her head. "You haven't. Not like you meant it. Maybe we should fight more often."
Val snorted. "Uh, how about we don't?"
"Do you promise to hug me again?"
Val couldn't help but laugh. Elle had always been able to lighten her spirits.
"I promise I will hug you again."
Elle nodded. "In the next month?"
"Don't push your luck."
Elle giggled and hugged Val again. "It is good to see you happy, Val. I worried so much that you would never be happy. I’m just wondering who is making you so happy."
Elle worried about her happiness? The concept was almost foreign to Val. She'd always been the one who took care of and worried about Elle. She'd never thought about Elle worrying about her.
"Ok. Ok. Let's not go mushy. I'm gonna be late." She patted Elle on the back.
Elle let go. "You... go do whatever it is you are doing. With whoever you are doing it with. And just know I will be here tonight. I'm gonna work on some of my jewelry. Maybe even make you something."
"I don't wear jewelry."
Elle shrugged. "You're changing. Maybe you'll finally wear some if I make it."
"Maybe. But don't get your hopes up."
Elle nodded. "Certainly not."
Val wished she didn't have to go. For the first time, she wanted to sit with Elle, talk to her, and hang out.
They'd done so little of it since they'd been in Midgard.
All the working and worrying had made Val beyond tense.
And she'd not been able to relax enough to do anything... normal women might do. Not that there was anything normal about her. And not that she’d ever done any normal woman things… or even knew what they were.
"Go." Elle pushed her. "You don't want to keep Marek waiting."
Val headed for the portal. "It's not Marek."
"Okay, then... a hot demon."
Val waved, and her expression grew serious as she turned from Elle. Oh, it was a demon all right. But not a hot one- a dead one.
It surprised Val how easily she remembered the way to Valhalla’s Throne, considering the fact that she hadn't paid attention when she and Loki had been walking there.
But her feet carried her like they'd been there a million times.
She stopped under the bright lights, tempted to go inside and buy a drink before the fight.
She didn't have time, though. She had a job to do, and she needed to get it done. For Elle's sake, and her own.
She walked to the small darkened stairwell that led down to the fight ring and knocked on the door. The window opened, and Gadius peeked out.
"Hey," she said. "How are you? Do you remember me? I was here with Loki."
The cyclops nodded. "Yup. You beat Odin bad. That wasn't nice."
She nodded. "Right. Well, I have a match I'm supposed to fight in, so can you let me in?"
"Password?"
She scratched her head. "Uh... Hjaldr.”
“Sorry. Old word.”
She thought they only changed it once a week. “I don't think Loki told me there was a new password, but he's the one who told me to come, so..."
"No password. No entrance. Sorry."
Val scratched her head. "Okay, well, can you tell me if Loki is in there?"
"I can't tell you that."
She nodded. "How about this? You go ask Loki if I can come in. I'll wait here."
"What if he isn't in here?"
"He told me to meet him here, so I guess I'll wait for him to show up and let me in himself."
Gadius’ eyebrow creased like he was thinking hard. Then he nodded once and closed the window.
Val looked around and leaned against the wall. Loki hadn't specified an actual time, so it was possible he hadn't arrived. Either way, she'd find him and his client and take care of what needed to be done to ensure Elle's freedom and safety.
It was less than five minutes before the door to the fight club swung inward, and Loki stepped out.
He shook his head. "Have you been waiting long? Lunkhead just told me you were out here."
"A few minutes."
He kissed her cheek. "Good thing you told him to look for me, or you could have been out here all night."
"Hopefully not all night. I’d like to think you would have come looking for me at some point."
"Of course. So, are you going to do this?"
She nodded. "I need to talk to the guy first, though."
"That shouldn't be a problem."
"Then let's get this over with."
Loki led her down the hallway to the ring. The crowd was much larger than it had been before.
"Tonight's a full roster," Loki said.
She wondered how many people would bet on her again and how many would lose. Even though she didn't know what the outcome was going to be, one thing was for sure- she refused to let the demon take Elle back to Surtr. No matter what she had to do.
"Let's sit over there." Loki pointed to a high section in a darker area of the arena.
They pushed past the cheering crowd and headed to the empty bench on the other side of the room. She could only figure that Loki had walked them all the way around, so whoever they were supposed to meet saw them and decided if they were going to talk to her.
They sat on the wooden bench, and Loki leaned in. "Do you want a drink?"
She nodded and held up two fingers. He squeezed her knee, walked down the bench, and out of a curtain between rows. She watched the fight for a minute, analyzing the fighters and their moves.
One of the fighters had close to a hundred pounds on the other, but he was slow and sloppy.
The smaller fighter used the first's weight to his advantage.
He moved around the ring, making the larger fighter expend all of his energy chasing him.
Val grew bored and looked away. It was obvious the way the fight would play out.
The big guy would tire, and then the little one would go in for the knockout.
Not a bad strategy. Probably what she would have done.
"I take it you're the Valkyrie," said a smooth, low voice from the darkness.
Val swung around and looked at what appeared to be a blank wall.
A form emerged from the shadows and sat next to her.
She stared at him for a moment. He was nothing like what she'd expected.
She'd expected a big, burly, menacing type of demon, maybe wearing leather and bondage gear, maybe wearing very little.
He wasn't, though. He was a soft-skinned, well-tailored young man who looked like he'd stepped out of a fashion shoot.
Not a hair on his head stood out of place.
His age was indeterminable, but if she saw him on Midgard, she would have guessed he was no more than a late teen or early twenties.
"I take it from your silence I’m correct." The demon turned his orange eyes on her.
"And your name?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Is that really necessary?"
"You know me, but I don't know you. I'm not going to make a deal with someone who won't even tell me who he is."
He chuckled. "I was told you had spirit."
She wondered who had told him that. Loki? Or Surtr?
He looked at the fight. "My name is Alamax."
"Why do all you demons have names that end in -ax?"
He smiled, revealing sharp, long canines. "I don't know, honestly. I guess it's kind of like humans who name all their kids’ names that start with the same letter."
"What did Surtr promise you?" she asked.
His gaze slid sideways toward her. "Are you going to offer me more?"
"No. I just wondered what I was worth."
"Technically, you are only half the pay day that your friend is."
"She's off the table."
"That's not what I agreed to-"
"I don't care what you agreed to. You either make a deal for me and me alone, or we don't make a deal."
He looked at her again, and a grin slid across his face. "I don't have to make a deal at all. I can just take you now."
Val pulled out a knife and held it to his throat faster than he could blink. "I think not."
His gaze never broke contact with hers. "To be honest, I love a good street fight, but this is my favorite suit, and I would hate to ruin it. So, what are you proposing?"
"We fight. In the cage. You win, you take me and only me, back to Surtr and collect whatever he will give you for me."
"And if you win?"
"You tell Surtr we aren't here. That you've looked everywhere and checked all your contacts on Midgard as well as in the Underworld, and no one has seen us."
He chewed his lip for a minute, and for a second she thought a twinkle sparkled in his eyes. "I can live with that," he finally said.
She nodded. "Then let's do this."
He unbuttoned his jacket, and everyone broke into cheers in the audience as the large man in the cage fell backward on the mat, unconscious.
"Just one more fight and then we're up," said Alamax.
Val nodded. "I'd say good luck, but to be honest, I don't want you to have any."
Alamax's smile widened. "You know, if you weren't a contract, I'd ask you to dinner."