Release Me When the Sun Goes Down (31 page)

“You’d probably be wary of strangers if you lived in a hidden village too,” I pointed out.  “Let’s just do our best to be polite and hope she’s more curious than hostile.”

A minute later the door cracked open again and Nelleke stepped through, the basket gone, but not the dagger.  “Maeja is knowing this feud, she will see you.”  She opened the door wider.  “Leave your weapons outside.”

“Do it, guys,” I said when it looked like they might object.  “I’m sure we can trust that they’ll still be there when we come out.”  Besides, it wasn’t like a gun would slow an
Ellri
down much if she turned on us.

The inside of the hall was largely bare,
with several large oil lamps and fat yellow candles providing the light.  A massive wooden throne sat in the rear of the building, ornately carved with runes and knot work.  Perched primly on the edge of the throne sat a woman, apple cheeked and rosy with dark eyes that shone with excitement at our arrival.  Long flaxen hair hung to her waist, the front braided back from her brow and held in place with a circlet of hammered gold.  The perfect picture of eternally youthful beauty. 

Her dress struck a familiar chord with me. 
The underdress was the color of marigolds, the outer layer was a heavier, blue wool that matched Nelleke’s dress, held up below the shoulders by two round metal broaches adorned with three running horses, their legs intertwined.  Just like the outfit I’d been found in at the morgue when Jakob turned me.  I was still reeling from the similarities when Nelleke spoke.

“
I will translate,” she said, coming to stand by Maeja’s side. 

“
Snakke da, datter
,” the
Ellri
said in a musical voice.

“You may speak now,” Nelleke translated.

Cool beans.  “Your excellence, I’m Anja Evans, daughter of Jakob.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t own up to that, all things considered,” Rob cautioned a
tad too late, but I shook him off.

“I’m not going to lie to her, not when we’re here to beg for her help.”

The two women spoke at length before Nelleke asked, “What proof do you offer of your lineage?”

“Proof?”  I was willing to bet they didn’t have a reader for the chip in my wrist, but my eyes fell to the amber ring on my hand.  “I have his ring.”

There was a rapid exchange between the two ending with Maeja staring at me, her hand opening and closing reflexively.  “She want you to give it to her.” 

My hand closed into a fist of its own accord.  “I can’t.  I’m sorry, but Jakob compelled me never to remove it.  Ask anything else of me, but I can’t give you the ring.” 

“
Men at ringen er rettmessig mitt!
” Maeja pouted as soon as the words left my mouth and I started to get a sneaking suspicion. 

“Wait… you speak English, don’t you?”

“Of course, I speak English very well.  I am ancient, not ignorant,” the
Ellri
replied, her accent heavier than Jakob’s but I could see the shared root of it. 

“I meant no insult, your… What should I call you?”

“Maeja will do fine.” 

“Thank you, Maeja.  And I’m sorry to bother you out of the blue like this, but I’ve been put in a very awkward position thanks to Lodinn and Jakob.”

“What is this to do with me?”

Here goes nothing...
  “I’m told you have the spear of Odin.”  I’d expected it to be on display or something, but there was no sight of it in the empty hall. 

“And you wish the spear for your Sire, Jakob?” she sniffed, turning up her nose at the idea.

Uh oh…
I was losing her already.  “Not exactly.   I mean I guess I’m more on his side than Lodinn’s, but I’m not here to retrieve the spear for Jakob.  That would end up almost as bad.”

“You are not here at Jakob’s behest?”

“No, I’m here because Lodinn demanded I retrieve the spear in exchange for my sister’s life.”

“Or he compelled you to come and tell me this sad story so as to stir my sympathies.”  She fixed me with a penetrating stare and I scrambled to prove my point, digging out my phone.  Nelleke tensed, her hand going to the hilt of the dagger until she saw what I withdrew.

“No, Lodinn absolutely has her.  Look… see, this is my sister, Hanna.” 

Maeja reached out to touch the picture, her face lit with enchantment.  Her fingers stroked the picture reverently as if the image came from magic and she frowned when the picture changed.  “Bring her back, I wasn’t done seeing her.” she demanded.  I swiped it back to the original pic, breathing easier when the delighted smile came back to her face. 

“And here’s a picture of them together,” I said, letting her keep hold of the phone until she looked her fill.  I’d received it right before setting down in Iceland, Hanna’s smile almost obscured by Lodinn’s arm around her neck, pointing to the watch on his wrist as if to say time was ticking. 

“You seek to endanger countless lives to save one?”

I wasn’t about to quote
Star Trek
about the needs of the one.  “What can I say?  She’s my sister,” I said with a helpless shrug.  “But I don’t intend on handing the spear over to him, I need it to kill Lodinn.  That’s the only way she’ll ever be free.” 

“Then you plan on striking at Lodinn yourself.”

“That’s the part I’m still trying to work out,” I admitted.  “At first I thought I’d give the spear to Jakob and he’d use it to kill Lodinn, but I’m starting to think it should be me that does it.”

“That’s not what we talked about,” Rob balked.  “You were to let Jakob clean up his own mess.”

“And where will we be when Jakob emerges the victor?  Do you honestly think he’s going to hand that kind of power back over again?  Or do you not remember those pretty words he gave at my inauguration about building a new nation?  Not that the lot of vampiredom isn’t willing and ready to slit their own throats to make him happy already, but I’m thinking we don’t want to make him even
more
powerful.  I want to take the West back, I’m tired of letting him step all over my reign.  If we had this spear, we stand a chance of making that happen.”

“Lodinn is a canny fighter,” Maeja considered aloud.  “What if you are unable to defeat him?”

“If I fail, I’m confident someone else will step up and finish the job.”  I looked to Rob and he gave me a slow nod.  “But honestly, Lodinn’s biggest failing is his ego.  I don’t think he’ll perceive of me as a real threat until it’s too late.  All I have to do is cut him with it once, right?  That’ll slow him down enough for me to end him.”

Maeja appeared to mull that over for a few seconds, her smile returning, but too cautious to ease my mind.  “It pleases me to hear you say this, however
you seem to be under an important misconception. 
Gungnir
can only be wielded by a shieldmaiden.” 

I didn’t know what that was exactly, but I was willing to bet I didn’t have one on my crew.  Why the hell had Lodinn sent me on this wild goose chase then?  Was it possible he didn’t know? 

“That’s it then, we’re screwed.  Unless you’re willing to spare a shieldmaiden?” I gave Nelleke a hopeful look, surprised by the thoughtfulness that came over her expression.

“Fear not, all is not lost, Anja Evans, daughter of Jakob, son of Thor, son of Odin,” Maeja’s smile dazzled.  “I will give you the spear if you agree to strike down Lodinn with your own hand.”

“What?” I gaped, still reeling over the confirmation of my lineage.  Was she absolutely sure of that?  “Wait, I’m no shieldmaiden.” 

“But you are,” she beamed.  “
You carry the blood of Odin, that is why Lodinn chose you for this task.  But you will need more of an edge than the spear can provide.”  Her hand dipped beneath her dress and she drew out a small vial of cobalt blue glass topped in silver filigree.  “This will make you invincible in battle.”

The vial winked in the candlelight, swinging back and forth on a leather thong, almost mesmerizing.  “W
hat is it?” I asked. 

“M
y blood.  With it you will instantly heal any wound, should Lodinn strike first.  Take it before you go into battle and he will surely fall.”

My hand closed around the thong,
feeling the heat of her body soaked into the leather.  “Thank you, I’m sure this will be a big help.”  Talk about an understatement.  A potion of invincibility, how shiny was that?

“Nelleke will accompany you to deliver the spear and ensure its safe return,” Maeja added and an argument broke out between the women faster than I could hope to follow. 

Finally Nelleke bowed her head submissively.  “I will accompany you on your quest.”

“Hey, Nelleke doesn’t have to come with if she doesn’t want to.”  It’d make our lives a lot easier if she stayed put at any rate.  “I promise I’ll return the spear to you once I’m done with it.  I have no interest in amassing any more power than I already have.”

“Such a promise is easily given,” Maeja replied, unconvinced.  “How else am I to know you intend to return the spear to its home?”  Her face took on a speculative gleam as she considered other options.  “Very well, I will accept your man as tribute instead.”

“
Shénme
?” I blinked.

She looked at me curiously over the burst of Chinese, but didn’t pause.  “We are an isolated village.  It is not uncommon to offer a man as tribute to warm the beds of the local women, and your man looks very, very warm.”

For a split second my heart froze as I thought she was staring behind me with lust at Rob, but it was Lee she was doing her best to devour with her eyes.  He’d be warm alright, but I wasn’t about to leave him behind.  “I can’t do that. I can’t bargain with another man’s life.  I don’t own him.”

“
Who does then?”

“
Nobody, he owns himself.”  Did she really not get that?

“
How modern of you,” she murmured, and I tried to figure out if I’d made a tactical mistake. 

Maybe I should’ve asked Lee if he minded first?  Maybe he’d be happy to provide stud service to the womenfolk? 
Eewh
.  Nope, I think I had it right the first time.  “Plus, he’s a shifter.  Are you sure that’s what you want to introduce into your gene pool?  No offense,” I added, turning back to look at Lee, who gave me a quick wink.

“None taken, darlin’.”

“Then Nelleke will accompany you, it is as simple as that,” Maeja insisted. 

“Look, I swear – cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye – I will
absolutely
make sure the spear gets back to you.”  I crossed my heart and put my hand up in what probably looked more like the salute from
Hunger Games
than an actual pledge.  “And if you don’t believe me, you can just compel me to tell the truth, right?  I don’t mind, compel away, I’m an open book.”

Maeja shifted uncomfortably on the throne.  Something I never thought I’d see from someone so possessed with poise and power.  And that’s when I took a deeper look with all of my senses.  She was powerful yes, but different – not like Jakob and Lodinn at all once I delved deeper. 

“You’re not an
Ellri
, are you?” I gasped.  “You’re something else.” 

“I am not an
Ellri
by your definition of the term, though I am by my people’s language.”

“Which means… what exactly?”

Her hands clasped primly on her lap.  “I have never polluted my body with human blood.  As such I never became the slave to it as my remaining brethren have.  Some might think me weak by comparison, but I am not without my resources.  Powerful magics shield this valley from all that intend me harm, and my father entrusted me with his spear the better to defend myself should I choose to leave the village.”

A pure blooded demi-goddess… no wonder her blood could cure anything.  I was surprised Lodinn hadn’t asked me to steal some of it for him as well.  Suddenly, the pieces of the puzzle became that much more clear. 

“You’re pretty much a prisoner here for as long as Lodinn is out there, aren’t you?  You’re afraid of him and what he might do to you if you leave this protected valley.  You said it before, he’s a canny fighter, and he’s a lot stronger and faster than you or Nelleke, isn’t he?” 

“I’m strong enough to best any of you.”  Her chin came up in a challenge, but I saw the tinge of fear behind her eyes
, leaving me to think maybe I could take her in a straight up fight.  Well, as long as she didn’t have the spear handy and Nelleke wasn’t playing bodyguard. 

“And you can’t compel me either.”  The look on her face was enough to confirm my suspicions.  “Then you need me just as much as I need you.”  No wonder she’d looked so excited when we first entered the hall. 

Maeja seemed unlikely to acknowledge the point, instead she cleared her throat, her back ramrod straight.  “Do we have an accord?  You will take the spear and strike Lodinn down.  Nelleke will accompany you to see the task completed and bring the spear back to me once it is done.”   

“We do,” I agreed, even though I had absolutely no idea how I was going to pull it off.