“I see,” she said. “The weather is slated to remain warm, unseasonably so, for some time yet. Damn global warming, yes?”
She smiled as she rose. “I will return soon.”
The dark girl walked out of the room, leaving the two SEALs alone with their civilian consultant.
“So that’s an Asatru?” Masters asked, eyebrow raised. “I was expecting something more like the big guy with the ax, to be honest.”
“She’s not Asatru.” Norton shook his head. “She’s Rokkatru. I can practically taste the Loki-touch on that one.”
“Okay, you finally said something I understood,” Rankin said, looking over at him. “Loki? Like the bad guy from The Avengers?”
Norton closed his eyes and just barely restrained himself from either ranting at the SEAL or whimpering in frustration. Since his eyes were closed, he missed the grin Rankin shot over to Masters, who just rolled his eyes.
“Yes,” he said finally, through gritted teeth. “Like the bad guy from The Avengers.”
“You sure you didn’t walk us out of the frying pan and into the fire?”
Norton sighed, then shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. The old gods have a lot of different faces. Loki was a troublemaker, but he had other aspects as well. Some people believe that he’s just another incarnation of Odin, and his mythological actions were just as often good as they were evil.”
“As fascinating as this is,” Masters said, waving a hand to cut off the mythology lecture, “why are we here?”
“If nothing else, I expected you might like a warm place to form a plan.” Alex shrugged.
“Fair point.” Masters nodded, gesturing to the duffel he was carrying. “You think they’ll mind if I reload?”
Alex chuckled. “I’m sure that they’d insist upon it.”
That sounded a tad odd to Masters, but he wasn’t curious enough to ask. He drew out the AA-12 and the drum magazines, then broke open the first box of shells and started loading.
“The lodge here was paid for by some of the wealthier members of an Asatru organization,” Alex explained, his voice pitched a little lower. “Mostly it’s used as a holiday spot of sorts.”
“Who holidays up in the butt end of nowhere, north of the Arctic Circle?” Rankin asked sarcastically.
“An Asatru.”
They looked up to see that Hannah had reappeared, along with several men of varying stature and dress. They walked in and took seats where they could easily converse with the trio.
“The lodge provides a place for the Asatru to explore a similar environment and lifestyle as their forebears, without any pressure or stress,” Hannah said with a hint of a smile. “Unless, of course, they wish for the stress.”
One of the men, a slimly built fellow wearing casual outdoorsman clothing, smiled more freely. “It’s really more of a kick than anything,” he said. “We’ve got authentic Viking longboats and a large bay to sail them in. It makes for an enjoyable holiday.”
“Man, I’m a SEAL. If I want to be sailing a crappy boat over freezing water, I get enough of that on duty,” Rankin replied with a roll of his eyes.
The men eyed him closely upon this declaration, then shifted their gazes to where Masters was quietly loading his Auto Assault–12 shotgun.
“Are you a SEAL too?” one of the older men asked quietly.
Masters nodded, but didn’t stop loading the drums. “Lieutenant Commander Harold Masters, sir.”
The Asatru exchanged confused looks, some of them seemingly troubled by his statement. Only Hannah seemed unaffected as she sat there, her face blank and unexpressive.
Finally, they looked back at Alex. “And these men…know?”
“Yes,” he said and nodded. “They crossed ten years ago. The Kraken took their ship and comrades, and they were among the few survivors.”
The winces and grimaces of the men were enough to put to rest any doubts Masters had about them. They were aware of the world on the wrong side of the veil, no question.
“I understand,” the older man finally said. “I must ask what business The Black has here, however.”
“We need sanctuary for a time, elder,” Alex answered. “Nothing more.”
Two of the men Masters noticed looked uncomfortable after this pronouncement. Almost disappointed.
“And what do you intend to do about the undead in Barrow, then?”
“We’re considering our options.”
Masters barely managed to keep from snorting at that. Considering the situation they were in, options were something they were desperately seeking, not “considering.” Even with a fresh reload, there was no way they were ready to take on hundreds of those things, let alone the potential four thousand that could be out there.
“In other words,” Hannah drawled from where she was sitting, “they don’t have the slightest idea.”
“Hannah!” the elder growled, exasperated. “Some respect, please.”
“No,” Alex said with a smile, “it’s nothing but the unvarnished truth. I’m afraid that I’ve never dealt with an infestation before. I’ve spent very little time in Eastern Europe, and at the time, I had no reason to do more than a cursory investigation of vampires. We can eliminate dozens, hundreds maybe, but short of destroying the entire town…”
“I see,” the elder said, and nodded before looking back at him. “You do know how they come about, yes?”
“Vampires?” Norton nodded. “The origin is, without failure, a person of a distinct foulness. Death refuses them — or so the old tales go.”
“Yes, and there is your key.”
Norton frowned. “The originator?”
“Precisely. The others are inconsequential,” the elder said. “End the originator, and the rest will tend to themselves.”
Norton let out a breath. “That makes things…well, I won’t say easier, because I have no idea how we’re going to find the pack leader, but at least it give us a chance.”
“We can hit these bastards back?” Masters asked, still loading his drums.
“If we can find the originator, the pack leader,” Norton said, “then yeah. We just might be able to do that.”
“Can you find it?”
“I don’t know, but I can damn well try.”
“Good enough.” Masters nodded. “We’ll head back once I’m done here.”
One of the two larger men cleared his throat and nudged the elder, shooting him a glare. The older man sighed, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
“These two are fell warriors,” he said, “and they wish to join in the fight.”
Masters froze, eyeing the two for a moment, then glanced at Norton. The man in black just shrugged and nodded after a moment.
“All right,” Masters said, sounding unconvinced. “Welcome aboard.”
Hannah sighed deeply. “I’ll join them as well.”
Even the elder looked at her askance, though the surprise in his eyes held none of the consternation and incredulity of the SEALs’ expressions. “Are you certain, Hannah?”
“Only fools walk where Valkyr fear to tread,” she said. “I am neither fool nor Valkyr. However, the fools do need company.”
This time Masters started to object, only to have Norton stop him with a hand on his shoulder. He looked back, and the man known as The Black just shook his head. That left him in a bit of an odd spot, not knowing what the hell was going on and not being in a position to do anything about it if he did.
“All right. Pack your kit and grab your arms,” he said. “We move out in thirty.”
CHAPTER 13
Judith found herself fighting the shakes as she sat in the comm center of the Coast Guard cutter, the door sealed behind her.
“N-navy SOCOM,” she said, fighting to keep a stutter out of her voice. “This is Captain Judith Andrews.”
“Captain Andrews…stand by for Admiral Karson.”