Son of Thunder (10 page)

It slammed into the barrier so hard the reverberation sounded like a bomb had gone off. The porch beneath him shook with it. The strength of the hit illuminated the wall of the power—a light-blue glow with spider-webbed white streaks all through it, like a windshield that had been hit by several rocks. A faint wave of ice-and-fire pain rushed through his fist and up his arm in response.

Ignoring it, he slammed his fist into the barrier again, before the power could rise anew from inside the house. The shield shattered like shards of glass that disappeared before they hit the ground.

Kicking the door in, the wood splintering, he entered the cabin, rolling and straightening his shoulders as he came to a stop a few feet in. Erik stood about six feet away, meeting his gaze head on. What Rune saw in his eyes reflected an anger and bloodlust that matched Reign’s so exactly it felt as if his brother were in the room.

Are you proud of what you created, brother?

Erik was a few inches shorter and not quite as broad-shouldered as his father, but for all intents and purposes, he was probably the closest match to Reign of any of his brother’s children with regard to looks and personality. It didn’t take a seer to know that if Erik had been a full god, he’d have been terminated long ago for the chaos he would certainly have caused in Asgard…and the other realms.

“You should not have taken her.”

Erik scoffed. “You both gave me no choice,
uncle
.”

“You know who I am to you?”

“Oh, yes. My lineage was explained to me as a teenager.” His eyes narrowed. “And that’s all you need to know of that.”

At the moment, Erik was correct—there were more important matters, namely getting control of Erik himself and getting to Liv.

“Shall we get on with this, uncle? The lady is waiting, after all. I think I’ll have a good time with her once you’re…subdued.”

Raising an eyebrow, Rune repeated, “Subdued?”

Erik’s lips spread into a crooked smile—another trait he shared with his father. “That’s what I said, uncle.”

Rune tilted his head slightly, considering his nephew. “You think you can best me,” he said. “You honestly think you can best a full-blooded god.”

Erik shook his head, his power snaking out and winding around him. Rune said nothing about it, waiting for his nephew to speak. If a fight was going to break out, Erik would be the one to start it.

And there
would
be a fight. There was no doubt of that. But as long as Erik started it, it would be easier for him to keep his temper in check, which was a miracle. Liv was in the basement, most likely unconscious.

“I can’t best you, Son of Thunder. But I can render you useless…for a short time.”

“And what makes you think that Odin won’t come down here and get you himself now that I’ve found you?” he asked.

Erik frowned, looking away for a moment.

That
made Rune smirk. “Hadn’t thought of that, godkin?”

Erik met his gaze again, and when he did, his power shimmered into the air—Rune prepared himself for the coming attack. That power, as he’d told Liv, could har—

A wall of energy rammed into him, sending him flying toward the kitchen. He crashed into the table, breaking the wood to pieces with the impact. As another jolt barreled at him, he began to stand. Twisting around, he punched the wall of power head on with his fist. It shattered as it had before, and the broken shards flew back toward Erik, who had to turn and crouch down from the speed of the shards. The same icy-hot pain ran through Rune’s arm.

Rune moved quickly, getting to his feet and rushing toward his nephew just as Erik began to stand.

Erik turned with a ball of power in his hand—Rune rammed his fist into the left side of the godkin’s face, which sent Erik flying into the living room wall, making a dent where his shoulder hit. Rune hopped over the couch, grabbing the back of Erik’s shirt and hauling him to his feet.

“If I were you, I’d give up now,” he growled and then threw his nephew across the room and into the kitchen.

By the time he reached him, Erik was on his knees, laughing. Rune picked him up by the throat and shoved him against the fridge, his hold tight enough that Erik couldn’t budge, yet could still speak.

Why are you not here yet, Odin?
The All-Father should have appeared the moment Rune’s power met Erik’s.

Erik chuckled, and a smile struggled to stay on his lips.

“What is it you find so funny?”

“I’m…going to tear your heart out…before Odin can…get here.”

Rune raised an eyebrow, applying more pressure to his nephew’s throat. “And what makes you think I won’t break your neck before you can do that?”

A strangled laugh answered the question. Erik’s hand moved from his arm to Rune’s neck…and a jolt of electricity stiffened him enough to loosen his grip on Erik. The next bolt dropped him to his knees. He gathered his strength as the next charge powered up within Erik—he punched Erik in the gut, causing the godkin to double over. He grabbed his nephew’s head and yanked him down to the floor onto his back.

“Shouldn’t have done that, nephew,” he seethed.

He raised his arm and began to bring it down for the final punch. Erik’s fist shot out just before his own connected to the runt’s jaw—electricity rocked through him with the punch. But the shock sped up his own arm—his fist hit the floor, Erik’s head turning just in time, as the shock rocked through him.

The hatch to the basement shook from the power of the hit. A second later, before either of them could react, the door splintered and they fell through. Erik grunted as Rune landed on top of him. The bottom steps broke, tumbling them away from each other.

When he lifted his head to go after Erik again, he saw Liv in the cage, bruised and unconscious. Rage rippled through him. He rolled to his feet and turned to Erik, who was steadying himself as well.

Erik smirked. “I’m going to use her to tear your heart to pieces, uncle. You can even watch me defile her.”

Rune moved forward and stopped a few feet from the godkin. His nephew tried to twist away but Rune was faster and caught him by the arm. He swung his arm before Erik’s power could draw back up. Erik went soaring through the air like a rag doll, colliding with a chair—he grunted at the impact then fell to the floor.

Rune moved toward him in long, quick strides. But the second he stepped near the chair, he felt power erupt around him. Electricity pulsed within it and he stiffened, falling to his knees.

Erik had set a trap for a god.

And he’d stepped right into it because of his anger at seeing Liv hurt and confined.

I
should have seen this coming
.

Erik came to stand in front of him as the electricity ran through him again, as if on a loop. The godkin bent enough so that their gazes met.

“She’s your weakness—how ungodly of you.”

The punch shocked him. As his body fell the rest of the way to the ground, he couldn’t help but think of the one man who should have been in the room at that moment.

Why are you not stopping this, Odin?

Then, all went black.

Chapter Ten

When Liv came to, the world was blurry. She blinked several times, her body a mass of pain. It hurt to breathe, and she remembered Erik had broken some ribs. Her cheek throbbed, and she fought against passing out again.

Her eyes cleared after a moment, and the sound of shuffling boots touched her ears. Lifting her head, she saw Rune directly across the room from her—in a chair, hands and feet bound tightly. His shirt was off, and his broad chest was covered in dark, ugly bruises.

How the hell long have I been out?

Meeting his gaze, she could tell he couldn’t break free. Something in the bonds must have blocked his strength.

At least, that was her best guess.
Erik can’t kill him—focus on that. Erik can’t kill him
.

“Welcome back, Ms. Winter.”

Her gaze went from her lover to her captor, who was making his way toward Rune from the opposite side of the room. She recognized a Taser in his hand.

He smiled, wide and bright and eager. “Just in time to see the fun.”

Little bastard
. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she warned, protectiveness for Rune bursting through her.

He laughed, moving to Rune’s side. “Oh, she’s fiery, uncle. No wonder you bedded her—she must be a wild one in the sheets.”

“Well,” she said, “you’re not wrong.”

Her gaze flicked to Rune long enough to see him roll his eyes.

“I’ll be the judge of that, Ms. Winter. But for now…”

He fired the Taser right in the center of Rune’s chest, and her Viking jolted. Seeing the pain tighten his forehead and around his eyes boiled her blood.
You little shit. You’re going to regret that
.

He stopped the flow of electricity—Rune shook the pain off quickly, but the sweat on his brow told her it had taken a toll.

“Did your father teach you how to bind your uncle?” she asked, trying to keep his attention on her until Rune caught his breath.

Erik snorted, annoyance clear in his body language. “He came to visit a few times after my mother died,” he said. “I’d just turned fifteen, and he taught me how to control my growing gifts. Taught me how to protect myself against other godkin. He explained some of the powers I could come across from others like me—some of that included powers Rune has.” He shook his head. “I was an afterthought to him, and once he told me everything I was, everything in my blood, and how to use and counter other powers, he left. And he hasn’t bothered to check in since.”

So he’d taught himself from his father’s words. Rune was right—his brother had a heavy hand in what his son had become. He’d loaded a gun, and never clicked on the safety.

Reign’s absence had played a part in Erik becoming a sick and sadistic monster. The same could be said for Odin.
And where the hell is he, anyway?

“I was planning on leaving you alone, to let you get your rest and leave in the morning. Grabbing you would’ve been a mistake because the clerk at the store would have seen me talking to you in the parking lot and noticed you following me out.”

The large, wide windows at the front of the store would have allowed the clerk to do just that.

“But then, when I got home, I realized you looked familiar. It took a little bit for me to realize who you were, but once I did I knew I had to grab you.”

“How do you know who I am?”

“Oh, it took me an hour or so before I finally figured it out. But when I looked through my articles, it clicked. There was one from around the time of Soosie’s death that had a picture of you—on the wall over there.”

She gazed momentarily at the back of a door, and saw newspaper clippings covering it like wallpaper.
All of his kills in the paper
. Not surprisingly, he’d kept up with the cases, as a reminder of what he’d done, to relish in the hurt he’d caused the victims’ loved ones.

“You are an amazing hunter, Ms. Winter, but you couldn’t have found me on your own. I knew a god, or another godkin, was helping you, so I’ve been preparing for this. I have an alarm that triggers when someone’s standing on it.”

He moved closer to Rune again—she wished she could break the cuffs that bound her so she could tear Erik’s face off for what he’d done, what he was doing. Rune was a warrior, and Erik had bound him because he couldn’t beat him any other way. He was a coward in every sense of the word.

She didn’t bend to anyone,
especially
a coward.

Her anger pulsed through her, but she couldn’t let it rule her. The strength of it could cause her to lose control, to make a mistake that would get herself killed. That couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t allow her one chance at catching the bastard who’d butchered Soosie to get away because
she
couldn’t control her emotions.

I won’t fail you, Soosie, or you, Rune. I
won’t.

Taking several deep breaths, she pushed the anger down enough to calmly ask, “Do you think you know me, Erik?”

“Oh, I know your type. And this”—his hand hovered over the trigger of the Taser—“is killing you. His suffering. You can’t stop it, no more than you could’ve stopped me from torturing and killing Soosie. I can’t kill my uncle; he’s a full god. But I can hurt him. A lot. And I plan to.”

Well, he was right about one thing—Rune’s suffering was like a knife twisting in her heart. But she refused to play his game. She’d told the bastard she would bring him to justice for Soosie and all the rest he’d killed, and nothing he could do would stop her. Torturing the man she was stupidly starting to fall for was Erik’s way of trying to prove her wrong.

Amateur. Doesn’t know me at all
.

She stood, carefully maneuvering her arms around the back of the chair, the cuffs pinching the skin of her wrists as she did so. She rolled her neck, loosening her muscles, then stepped close to the barrier, stopping when she could feel the rhythm and strength from behind it and the bars.

“Who do you think you’re dealing with, Erik?” He turned, his sharp eyes on her. “I am Special Agent Liv Winter, FBI. I hunt assholes like you for a living. You’re nothing special to me. Do you know what you are, godkin?”

He walked to the bars, hatred swelling through him so visibly she was certain she’d feel it if the barrier wasn’t up. But she didn’t care. She’d played this game before.

“Shut up, or I’ll make you shut up. Bitch.” He smiled, predatory, and it honestly did nothing but fortify the steel in her blood. “Just like I did to Soosie. She screamed, you know, and begged.” He laughed. “Poor, little, scared rabbit. That’s what she was.”

Ice ran through her, straightening her back. The anger stirred beneath the cold as he opened the cage door.

“She begged for you, Winter. Pleaded to the gods for you to find her, to free her from her torment.”

She swallowed. Soosie’s melodic voice whispered in her mind at his words, causing her forehead to crease.

Erik’s smile grew as he stepped as close as he could to the barrier, until the front of him kissed it. “When I was hurting her, she screamed for you. Screamed your name over and over and over.”

Her gut clenched as those screams echoed in her mind, as if Soosie were in the room right at that moment. Images flooded her, but not of how she’d found her friend. No… She was seeing what his words implied—the torture Soosie suffered in the very room they were in. The vision
ate
at her,
tore
at her heart.

“You hear her now, Liv Winter?” Erik asked softly as he stepped further into the barrier. “Do you hear her calling for you as she’s being brutalized? Oh, how I relished in her pain, her fear. So very tasty, it was.”

Clenching her jaw, she tried to keep the tears from falling but failed. She was frozen as her gaze locked to Erik’s, as if she were unable to force herself to move, to breathe, to
fight
.

“Liv,” Rune’s voice boomed. “Do not let hi…”

His words trailed off—everything in the room quieted, and the raging storm fell away. She couldn’t even hear the brook. All she heard was her own heartbeat and Soosie’s agonized, tear-filled voice. An invisible hand squeezed around her heart, painfully constricting her breathing with each loud, slow beat.

“Now hear Rune’s. I’m going to make him scream far worse than I did my other victims. I’m going to turn him into a weak, broken god.” Erik’s fingers caressed her tightened jaw. “Then, sweet Agent Winter, I’m going make you my masterpiece.”

No
, she told herself.
No
.

“Oh, yes, I am,” he hushed, as if he could read her mind as the tears fell harder. “I’m going to show the world that godkin can be just as strong and ruthless as the gods that gave them life.”

No one has this power over you, Liv. He
does not
own you
.

“Stop fighting, have a seat,” Erik soothed, stepping fully into the cage.

She moved backward, fear and anger mixing, the torturous images bombarding her so vividly that she cried out, whimpering as his hand touched her right hip.

“I. Am going. To destroy you,” he whispered through the wretched screams in her mind. “I’m going to take everything Rune and Soosie loved about you and rip it to shreds.”

Shreds…
Her body froze with the word as the salty taste of her tears grazed her lips.

The edges of her cage shook, and she realized what was happening—Erik was eating at her guilt because he couldn’t use her fear, because
she
didn’t fear
him
. She feared what he’d do to Rune if she failed to save the Viking hunter, but not what Erik would do to her. Not fearing Erik would break his fragile hold on her.

Her watery, blurry gaze still locked to his, she used the images in her mind to force the core of who she was back up. The strength that Soosie and Rune so admired in her. She pulled it up and up and up, until a gargled cry of pain tore from her throat, freeing her breath, her anger.

Erik grabbed her shoulders. “I’m going to kill you, Agent Winter.” His grip tightened to the point of bruising.

She snorted. “You and what army, godkin?”

His eyes widened, and he straightened, as if his own electric power had vibrated through him.

“You’re a
coward
, a runt of the litter looking for attention.” A smile crept to the edges of her lips, and she felt the bruises on her face as it did. “
You
are nothing but a brat with daddy issues who takes his anger out on those you deem weaker. But that’s not the case, is it, godkin?”

“Liv.” Rune’s voice seemed to echo around her. “Don’t.”

And chance losing you to your nephew?
she thought as Erik took one more step back
. I think not, Viking
.

Erik’s eyes narrowed, and she could actually see the hazy, diamond-white color of his aura—just as Rune told her it would look when his powers were at their strongest.

“They were
all
stronger than you. I know that for a fact.”

“You never met the others,” he shrieked.

The barrier behind him weakened with the outburst—she could feel the air in the cage lighten as it did so. She realized that because she didn’t believe in his power over
anyone
, that made him weak to
her
.

“How many others, Erik? How many women and men have you killed?”

He grinned, pride rising.

That’s dangerous stuff, runt.

“I killed my first when I was sixteen—a girl in my class. Now, at the age of forty-two, I’m up to fifty-three.” He laughed. “Fifty-three women”—he sneered at her—“and counting.”

Liv chuckled as he took a step toward her, his power buzzing around him like a live wire. “Good luck with that, runt. The only reason you’ve won up till now is because the others didn’t realize they were stronger than you. You kept their fear shoved down their throats with your power so they never had a chance to fight it off.” She made sure the smile on her face was wicked, and very pleased. “
You
are
nothing
.”

The barrier disappeared, and shock swam through his features, widening his eyes.

“Too late, godkin.”

He growled. “No.”

She kicked out her left leg as he raised his fist, aura vibrating. The hit sent him through the open cage door, and she followed. As he moved toward her, she jumped up and kicked him hard in the throat with her boot heel.

Thirteen years of martial arts training—worth every damn penny.

He fell back to the wall, then to the floor. She stepped up to him, foot on his throat as he tried to catch his breath, and leaned down at the waist. “You, godkin, can go to fucking Hel.” She smiled at his disdain. He knew damn well that she was referring to the goddess, not the place.Then, she slammed her boot into his face, and he blacked out immediately.