Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

O bsidian eyes that were nothing but black, shiny orbs stared into hers. The screeching came from the creature, dragging Freddy Krueger-like claws across the window.

“What the fuck is that?” Cassie was proud of how strong her voice came across because, on the inside, she was shaking from fear. Maybe this wasn’t a stroke or a brain bleed. Maybe he’d drugged her, and she was very, very high right now. She preferred that explanation to a biological short-circuit in her brain. Or worse, that this was her reality right now.

Sten cursed in what most have been Swedish.

Cassie didn’t recognize the words.

He pulled her behind him. “I’ll take care of it.” He bent down and unsnapped a hunting knife from an ankle holster. That, too, was new. As far as she knew, he hadn’t been wearing that when she ripped his clothes off. And that’s when she noticed he now wore all of those clothes while she lay on the bed naked.

Striding to the door, Sten half turned toward Cassie. “Stay in the house.” His grey eyes were dark and forbidding. He disappeared out the door before Cassie could protest.

The creature on the other side of the window grinned at her and tapped his claws on the window. She forced herself not to look away and flipped him her middle finger, but the freak was already gone. Probably attacking Sten as the fool walked straight into danger on his own.

Stay in the house? Who did he think he was talking to? Some damsel in distress?

She quickly found her clothes, pulled them on, and then shoved her feet into the trainers she kept by the door.

Cassie glanced briefly at the dagger she’d somehow acquired in a dream, but then shook her head and opened the closet next to her front door. She retrieved her pump-action shotgun and checked that it was loaded. Being a Montana girl and a single woman living out in the country, she knew how to defend herself.

Cassie herself was not as ready to go as the gun. That freak outside was scary, but Sten was out there by himself. He’d pissed her off with all the talk about betrayal and shit, but she still couldn’t let him fight monsters on his own.

Monsters.

How had this become her life?

She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and opened the door.

The motion detection flood lights illuminated her front yard, where Sten stood surrounded by three of the freaky creatures. It had turned dark already. She had been passed out for a while.

The monsters looked like clones of each other, and there was something off about their movements. She thought the thing in the window wore a mask, but now realized these creatures weren’t human. They looked like they could be, but every hair on her body stood straight up and she just knew their DNA differed from hers. The insight made her shocked brain seize up.

One creature charged Sten with its claws raised. He side-stepped, and the monster’s down swipe hit nothing but air. Cassie remembered seeing gouges on Sten’s chest when she ripped off his t-shirt. She now knew how he’d gotten those wounds along. She bet the pattern perfectly matched the distance between these creatures’ talons.

Cassie forced herself to take a step forward. Her shoes scuffed the wooden boards of the wraparound porch. One monster turned around, those black orbs of eyes filled with malice. It moved toward her, and she instinctually pumped the bolt handle of the gun and chambered a slug. She placed the stock against her shoulder and stared down the sight at the creature. “Get the hell off my property.”

“Pretty woman,” the freak hissed, and kept coming. “Did I sow some discord between you and your sj?lsfr?nde when I made him think you’d betrayed him?” It moved quicker than anything Cassie had ever seen.

She didn’t think. On instinct, she pressed the bolt lock button and then fired.

The shot propelled the creature several feet away from the house and left an enormous gaping hole in its chest. She’d gone for center mass, just like her grandmother had taught her.

Her grandmother, the Valkyrie , apparently. She shook her head. She’d have to think about that insanity later.

The other two creatures and Sten stared at her. She pumped the gun again. “Anyone else want to play?”

Sten shook himself out of whatever stupor he’d entered and buried his knife in the creature's neck closest to him. The other freak screamed in high-pitched rage and shredded the back of Sten’s shirt with its claws. It wrapped an arm around Sten’s neck and lifted the other to skewer the Swede.

Cassie couldn’t get a clean shot, so she ran down the stairs and rammed the butt of the gun into the temple of the creature. It loosened its grip and instead turned on her.

Shit, it was too close to her. There wasn’t any room to maneuver the gun.

Sten pulled his knife out of the neck of the creature he’d killed.

The wet sucking noise made Cassie want to retch.

Before she’d even started the first gag reflex, Sten had buried the knife in the other freak’s neck. It sunk to the ground, and Sten bent over its body and sawed a vast gap in the front of its neck.

He turned and did the same to the one he’d first stabbed and then walked over and repeated the action on the creature Cassie had shot. He stood, holding the knife by his side as blood dripped from its blade. “We need to talk,” he said, his eyes flat.

“No shit.” Cassie turned and walked back into the house.

She kept the gun with her as she poured herself a tall glass of her grandmother’s medicinal brandy. She knocked back a large mouthful and then coughed as the amber liquid burned its way down her throat.

Sten closed the door behind him but remained in the entryway as he watched her. “Will your neighbors have called the cops when they heard the gunshot?”

“The closest house is far enough away that they probably didn’t hear it. And if they did, they’d assume I was shooting raccoons or coyotes.” She held up the brandy glass. “Want some.”

“I’m good.” He walked closer and reached out his hand as if to touch her, but let it drop back down again. “I brought danger to your door. For that, I am very sorry.”

Cassie stared at him. “Those creatures followed you here?”

He nodded, grimaced, and rolled a shoulder, making him wince.

She put down her glass. “I need to clean your wounds.” She retrieved her first aid kit from the kitchen. She insisted he’d sit down and bullied Sten into taking his shirt off. He had three long furrows down his back. She slathered them in antibacterial gel and leaned in for a closer look. They were already on their way to healing. What the fuck was going on? Cassie took a step back and grabbed her gun.

Sten turned around, a puzzled look on his face, and then his gaze landed on the gun. “I would never hurt you.” He sounded disappointed in her.

She snorted. “You came barreling in here not so long ago, shouting about betrayal and selling you out. Sounded like you wanted to hurt me plenty.”

“I would never have physically hurt you,” he insisted. “I’m here to protect all mortals in Midgard.”

More gobbledygook. She shook her head. “You’re not human either.”

He sighed. “Not completely, but I still have my humanity.”

What the fuck? “You’re going to have to explain that one.” Cassie sunk down on the coach. Sten sat down next to her, and she scooted away from him.

Hurt briefly flashed in his eyes. “I died almost a thousand years ago, and the gods sent me to Valhalla—a kind of heaven.”

“I know what Valhalla is.” Grandmother had loved Norse mythology. “But that’s a myth. You can’t possibly mean….” But then again, she’d just visited with the Goddess Freya in her dream. Or had that been a hallucination? But what about the dagger? Her brain hurt.

Sten interrupted her ruminations. “It’s probably better if I just tell you in one go, and you hold off on asking questions until later.”

Cassie nodded and started tallying up all the questions she’d throw his way later, but when Sten finished telling his story, she just stared at him. He’d spun a tale about immortal Vikings and Valkyries being sent back down to earth to protect humanity from Loki’s evil creatures. It was too fantastic to be true, but Sten was so earnest in his telling she didn’t think he was lying. He believed all of this was true.

She wasn’t sure what to think, but she’d seen the wolverines, and those fuckers were definitely not human. And then there was the dream. And the dagger.

Plus, Sten’s accelerated healing abilities were just as freaky. “I don’t know how to process this,” she croaked.

Sten moved closer and grabbed her hand. “I understand. It’s a lot to take in. Just know that I will make this right. I will make sure the wolverines will never hurt you.”

Cassie drew back. “You think they’ll target me?”

A tick pulsed along his jawline. “They saw us together and will think you belong to me. You need to come with me so I can keep you safe.”

“Belong to you? Keep me safe?” She stood, pulling her hand out of his. “I’m the one who saved your ass. Without me, you’d be shish kabob by now.”

“I expressed that poorly. What I meant was that you should leave in case they come back. You’ll put everyone in town in danger if you stay. And I have to get back to my… boss.”

Cassie studied him for a beat. There was something he wasn’t telling her. And then she realized. “You live with a bunch of immortal Vikings, don’t you?”

He nodded. “Not just Vikings. We have Valkyrie warriors in our unit, too.” He stood and pulled her hand into his again. “Cassie, I have put you in danger, so it is my duty to ensure you’re safe.” She sputtered, but Sten put his index finger over her lips. “The truth is. I’ve come to care for you.” He cradled her chin.

“That’s a bunch of hogwash, and you know it.” She pulled her face out of his grip. “Ten minutes ago, okay, a little longer than that, you thought I’d betrayed you.”

“Freya’s dagger proves my mistake about that,” he said. “I apologize.” He bowed to her.

She shook her head. “Your emotions are all over the place. I think you need to sort that out before you decide to be in a relationship. Or declare yourself responsible for someone else’s wellbeing.”

He stared at her. “You're rejecting me? But the gods have blessed us as each other’s sj?lsfr?nde .” The incredulity in his voice would have made him laugh if this whole thing wasn’t so bonkers, but also so sad. Granted, she hadn’t expected a relationship from him. She’d mostly been looking for some fun for a few days, maybe. So why did this feel so rotten?

“I don’t even know how to pronounce that word,” she said, not looking at him. “You need to go.”

He stood there for a while, but then she heard him walk outside. The sound of the closing door pinched her heart, and a tear slowly ran down her cheek.

She furiously wiped it off.