Heroes (Eirik Book 2) (40 page)

“A sudden appearance of a fire-breathing dragon should do the trick.”

“Then they’d know we’re back and not licking our wounds,” Rhys said.

“Not if the dragon pretends he’s on their side,” Karle added.

“Men,” Nara said. She pulled out her artavus, opened a portal, and disappeared through it. Seconds later, she reappeared with a man. She held a dagger to his neck and another to his groin. “Never ask a man to do something a woman can do better,” she threw over her shoulder. “I’m going to remove my hand. The other one,” she added when the man tried to look down. “You answer my questions correctly, and I’ll let you go. You lie to me, and you’ll never have a family. Are you an Immortal?”

He nodded, his eyes round with terror.

“So am I, and I’ve been fighting men bigger than you for over a millennium. That means I’m faster than you’ll ever be. One false move and the second dagger does its job.”

“I like your style,” Niorun said.

Nara grinned. “Thanks. I like your fighting moves. Next time you’re in Hel’s Hall, find me.” Her focus shifted to her prisoner, who looked so young he couldn’t have been much older than Olea. “Do you know where the orphans are being kept?”

He nodded.

“Use words.”

“Drathyn the Swordsmith.”

The Dwarf at the ball. “That hustling—”

“No-good, bottom-dwelling
vifill
,” Niorun finished. “I should have known his family would be involved in this. He might be rich, but he’s never satisfied. Every seedy deal in Nidavellir always has his name on it. Let’s go.”

Nara snapped her captive’s neck and lowered him to the ground. “Cute kid. Too bad he’s so lost.”

“Angrboda collects them all. The runaways. The homeless. The ostracized. She clothes, feeds, trains, and shelters them, and all she asks for in return is their loyalty. What she gets are fanatics willing to die for her.” She opened a portal and led the way into another underground tunnel. “No one knows where they live, but she has loyal friends in all the realms. After all, she’s been doing this for centuries and some of her children are now high ranking members of society.”

She kept up the monologue as we continued deeper underground. Along the way, we passed entrances to the main roads and streets of Nidavellir, but she continued using the dark tunnels, sometimes going up and at times, down. The tunnel grew narrower, forcing us to go in single file. I took the rear end. If we had company, my scales would come in handy. She stopped, and we nearly bumped into each other.

“The ceiling gets low from here on, so be prepared. I’ll take you to the secret trapdoor my friends and I use to sneak in and out of their home. It actually leads to Lavion’s bedroom. He and I had a thing for a while. You can’t mention my name or he’ll know I showed you his secret passage.”

“You’re not finishing this with us?” I asked.

“Not this time. I helped you out there in public because you were going against your grandmother’s crazy army, but this is different. Part of the agreement between Dwarves and our people is we don’t turn on each other, except in self-defense. Drathyn might be a money-grabbing low-life, but he’s still a prominent member of his society. My father would lock me in the dungeons if I broke one of our laws. Come on. It’s not far.”

The passageway was obviously made for Dwarves. We lowered our heads and walked hunched over, runes blazing to light the way and make the trek bearable. At least it was wide. Soon we were crawling, which was uncomfortable with swords. Tempers became frayed.

“Get your ass off my face, man,” Syn snarled.

“Want to trade places?” Ranger shot up.

“Sure. At least Nara would be in front of me.”

“If that sexist comment is supposed to impress me, you are slipping, Dreadlocks.”

“Just wanted to hear your voice, sweetheart.” A grunt followed, then, “What in Hel’s Mist was that for?”

Ranger laughed. “She asked me to plant my boot on your face.”

Niorun turned, touched her lips, and indicated we wait. We sat, everyone sweaty and on edge. She crawled on ahead, then stopped and pointed at the floor of the tunnel. Since I was in the rear, I couldn’t see what she was pointing at. Nara was in the lead and crept forward. She waited until Niorun moved to the end of the tunnel, then engaged her strength runes, lifted her feet, and pushed open the trapdoor. She disappeared inside the room.

“By the gods, Nio,” a voice yelled. “What are you doing…? You are not Nio.”

“Very perceptive of you,” Nara said. “Come down, boys.”

We filed in.

Nara had her dagger pressed against the Dwarf’s throat. Gray eyes stared at us, not in the least bit scared. He wore his brown hair long with sections of it braided, and had a full beard. I’d say he was only mildly irritated. The room had a low ceiling and was tastefully decorated with lots of floor rugs and cushions on a giant bed, but it was high enough for us to stand comfortably upright. After crawling down that shaft, the last thing we needed was to stand hunched over.

“You are the people who escaped from the marketplace after littering it with dead bodies,” he said calmly, as though discussing the weather.

“Am I missing something here?” Echo moved closer and leaned in low so he was face-to-face with the Dwarf. “Why aren’t you scared?”

“Of Helheim reapers and Hel’s son? Nah. I know why you’re here, and I couldn’t care less. I hate that old Jötun, Angrboda. She messed up my cousin and turned him into a crazed fan. My aunt died of a broken heart.” He lifted his head and yelled, “You owe me a trap door, Nio. I know you can hear me.” He waited. “Change that to a kiss.”

Niorun’s head appeared in the opening. “In your dreams, Lavion. Later.” She hurried past.

“The orphans are in the hall, so get them and leave before my father returns with her. There are about twenty guards keeping an eye on them.” Lavion stepped back. “I wish you hadn’t involved Niorun. She’s going to be grounded for months for this.” He grinned. “Then again, if she doesn’t get in trouble once a week, we’ll know something is wrong with her.” He stood straighter, lifted his chin, and stared at Nara. “What are you going to do to me, sweetheart? Snap my neck so I can tell Father you overpowered me? Or do we pretend I didn’t see you and just fix my roof?”

“How about you visit Hel’s Hall and you come find me?” Nara said.

“Damn, no one around here behaves like they’re supposed to,” Echo mumbled. “You decide, Baldurson.”

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Lavion, son of Drathyn. Sorry I missed your party. My father raved about it. I can’t stand the cold.” He glanced at Nara. “But I’ll be there next time.”

I chuckled. “Okay, Lavion. We’ll leave you alone, but we still have to know you’re out in case you’re not as nice as you claim.”

“I don’t claim to be nice, Baldurson. I just don’t care. Are you the one doing the honors?” he said, eyeing Nara.

From her expression, Nara wasn’t going to hurt the Dwarf playboy. I gave Rhys the nod.

“One more thing,” the Dwarf said. “What do you plan to do with Angrboda when you catch up with her?”

“Kill her,” Echo said.

I ignored him. “Throw her in the dungeons on Corpse Strand,” I explained.

“Then you’ll need an iron chain forged with magic to hold her.” He opened a cupboard and pulled out a chain so thin it looked like a necklace. “After my aunt died, we forged this for the day we’d trap Angrboda. I thought about doing it when she came here with the orphans, but she left too soon. Throw it at her, and it will coil around her and lock. If she struggles, the chain tightens and cuts deep.”

“Thank you.” I took the chain, which filled both of my palms, and handed it to Karle. His tunic had a large pocket. I shook Lavion’s hand.

“Another thing,” the Dwarf added. The others groaned. “Do me a favor and try not to kill my father’s guards. Most of them are distant relatives. I’m ready now.”

Rhys went into hyper speed, runed him, and caught him before he hit the ground. We left him on his king-size bed, fast asleep.

“What a charismatic man,” Nara said, and Rhys groaned and shook his head.

“There’s no accounting for your taste in men,” he said.

Nara chuckled. “What are you talking about? Lavion is delicious.”

“Let’s not kill his relatives,” I said.

“But what if it’s a trap?” Echo asked.

“You have trust issues, man.” I slapped his back and received a glare. “No killing the guards. One, it will only make the orphans fear us. And two, I’ve met Drathyn. He’s a hustler, an opportunist. He’s not evil. Not like my grandmother.”

We followed the sounds of music and laughter. Half the guards were eating while the others stood in groups, chatting. Six of them managed to pull out their weapons, but the rest didn’t even notice us. We knocked them out and disarmed the last six.

“We just want to take the kids back home to their parents on Earth,” I said. “So don’t do anything stupid.”

“You killed our cousins,” one yelled.

“No, they’re asleep. We used runes.” I studied the children. There were about thirty-seven boys and girls in ages ranging from preteen to maybe early twenties. They stared at us with a mixture of fear and hope. I wondered which one of them was my sister. There were several blondes. If only I could collect hair samples or swab their cheeks for DNA testing, this would be so easy. The problem was their DNA markers might show they were alien and start a panic in the medical world.

“Did you say
Earth
?”

I found the person asking. It was an older woman, and seated beside her was a man in dungarees. Something about them was familiar.

“Yes, Earth. We’ve been searching for you for the last twenty-four hours. Hayden came with us from Windfall, Louisiana.” Excitement rippled through the kids, some standing and others hugging. “Where’s Tammy?”

“The goddess took her and one of the girls,” the woman said. They were the couple at the last home we’d visited while searching for Tammy. They’d lied about not knowing where Tammy or the children were.

Rage flashed through me. I wanted to accuse them of working with my grandmother, but from the woman’s expression, she’d long since regretted it. Her husband looked like he’d aged a decade. I guessed godly realms weren’t what they’d expected. If it weren’t for the boy seated beside them and hanging on the woman’s hand, I would have left them behind. I remembered their names now. Hayden had called them Mr. and Mrs. Webber. She must have realized I’d recognized her because she sat and hugged her boy, who didn’t look a day over ten.

“What’s the name of the girl she took?” I asked.

“Anne Marie Carpenter,” several kids called out, but a few confused ones yelled a different name.

Anne Marie. Sounded like a corrupted Einmyria.

“The goddess pulled me aside and asked me a lot of questions about my parents, how old I was when I was adopted, and if my hair was real,” one blonde said and made a face. She could be anywhere from seventeen to twenty-one and spoke with confidence. “It was weird and scary.”

“And your name is?” I asked.

“Miriam Sorenson.”

“She asked us the same questions,” another girl, who looked around seventeen, said and pointed at the one seated beside her. They were both blonde. “I’m Irina and she’s Marianna.”

Hel’s Mist! Who gave them these names? It was probably the Norns and their attempt to confuse anyone trying to find the real Einmyria. I was tempted to ask them how old they were, but the Norns had altered birthdays to hide their real identities too. And now they were looking at me expectantly when all I cared about was finding my sister. Locating a bunch of kids traveling with an army was a lot easier than locating one with a crazy old woman, especially when she had a head start. It had taken me nearly a week to find Celestia when she’d soul-napped her.

I turned to the nearest Dwarf. “Where did they go?”

“To join her army. They talked about leaving tonight.”

“Karle, you’re coming with me.”

“Please, don’t leave us,” the blonde who’d spoken first earlier said, and the other orphans echoed her words and scrambled to their feet. There was mass movement as they inched closer.

I raised my hand, and they stopped. “My friends will take you back to our realm, and from there, we’ll take you home. Like I said, we’ve been searching for you for days and barely missed you at Mr. and Mrs. Webber’s cabin.” I shot the couple a hard look. “And FYI, Angrboda is not a goddess no matter what she or her followers would like you to believe. Karle, let’s go.”

“Eirik…” Rhys started, but I shook my head.

“No, Rhys. Take them home. You guys have done enough. I’m finishing this.”

Rhys knocked out his captive, stepped over him, and blocked me. “I promised your father I’d watch your back.”

“Me, too,” Nara said.

“And I took an oath to serve your mother. We’re not returning home without Einmyria,” Echo shot back.

“You may have taken an oath, Echo, but I allowed you to help me with this. Now I’m asking you to escort these people home. They’ve gone through enough and need to be in a safe environment.” The untouched plates of meat and bread looked about as appetizing as prison food. “Maera will be more than happy to pamper them and tuck them into decent beds. I’m taking this fight to my grandmother, and all I need is another dragon.” Echo and Rhys looked ready to argue. “My decision is final, guys. I appreciate all you’ve done, but I cannot put your lives at risk anymore. Do not tell my mother about Einmyria, but you can explain the orphans. Let’s go, Karle.”