Dead Embers(17)

I hoped.

At the bottom of the staircase, a pair of large, metal double doors greeted us, held open by matching, rickety wooden chairs pretending to be doorstops.

Light poured through the opening.

Bright fluorescent light.

Fen strode straight in; he seemed so in control. Unlike the rest of us. I followed the team inside and stopped as we reached the middle of the room. A scattering of fluorescent lamps lit the underground room, which buzzed with energy, computers, maps and whiteboards. It took my breath away, literally. Seemed the others around me were equally surprised.

"I'd never have imagined they'd be this organized," Joshua whispered from behind me.

A dozen or so Warriors and unglamored Valkyries milled around, tapping computer keys and marking maps, speaking into cell phones and satellite phones. It looked like the center of operations for the CIA or MI6 or some other spy-type group. Amazing to think that many of these operatives were from a realm most people thought didn't exist. Equally fascinating was how temporary everything looked. As if it would take mere minutes to grab laptops and phones, maps and foldaway tables, and make a quick getaway.

Fen paused at a nearby computer, studying the monitor, before turning his attention to a large map on the far wall. His movements drew a few curious glances from around the room, but none of the Warriors approached him. Everyone remained at a respectful distance, although an Ulfr or two did give him a respectful bow when he looked at them.

No one stopped their work. Computer keys clicked. Somewhere, a printer whirred. Very efficient. As I studied the frenetic room, I found myself nodding.

"So you like what you see?" a sharp voice asked.

My wings shivered beneath the glamor. I turned to the speaker and met a pair of icy blue eyes. She stood straight-backed, her head tilted to look at me. Her blonde hair glinted in the white light. A pair of dove-grey wings framed her head, still and silent. I had to force my own wings to stop their little flutters. Something about this Valkyrie made me nervous.

The twist to her lips resembled a smile, but her eyes were cool. Not an Astrid glare, but hardly a warm welcome. And when those eyes shifted away from me and settled on Fen, her entire face transformed. Wow. A nice big smile for the general. So, her wintry welcome had been solely blasted at me. Great. Another blue-eyed blonde who wasn't all that fond of me.

Fen grasped her hand with his, a greeting I hadn't seen before. But then again, I'd barely had much interaction with the Warriors and Valkyries, what with running around after Freya's bling. "Valkyrie Ingrid." Fen nodded at the blonde woman.

"My lord Fenrir." She bowed her head slightly, and I blinked. First time I'd ever heard anyone call him "my lord." She hesitated a moment before continuing, "I assume it's still all clear outside?"

"Do not fear, Ingrid. Neither my team nor I have given away the location of your headquarters."

In everything he'd done so far, Fen had protected the location of the Cairo HQ. Now it all made sense. The whole secret spy routine, the glamors and the fake identities for our two Warriors. And yet this Valkyrie had the audacity to question her superior?

I glanced at Fen, waiting for some kind of admonition, but he merely nodded, as if he approved of her interrogating him on his methods. "We have very little time, could you give us the intel we need?"

Intel? Fen, you did not just go FBI on us. What next?

"Very well, Fenrir, if you will follow me." She stalked to the far corner of the room, her back still ramrod straight despite her obvious wilting to Fen's charms. I flicked a glance over at Sigrun. Satisfied she wasn't being consumed by little green jealousy monsters, I turned my attention back to the blond Valkyrie.

I drew a little pleasure from the knowledge that despite having the whole blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Scandinavian thing going for her, she certainly hadn't received the beauty part of that agreement. Then I chided myself for being mean. She may have been plain, but that didn't justify my unkind thoughts.

Ingrid paused before the large map taped to a wall, covered in dozens of little black pins. A single green pin gleamed among the forest of black. Ingrid poked a finger at it.

"We have the location of one more einherjar."

Fenrir scowled. "Just one?"

"There were more." She threw a quick glance at the map, and my heart twinged at the flicker of sadness in her eyes. Apparently she was capable of emotion. "This one is all that we have left."

Fen's eyes darkened beneath his thick eyebrows. "So it is true?"

She nodded, then reached for the laptop on the nearest desk and tapped away. When she spun the computer around to face Fen, we craned our necks to see the photograph displayed on one half of the screen. The other half of the screen contained data, most likely information on this Warrior we were about to retrieve. I leaned closer to study the warrior-woman's picture.

The dark headscarf concealing her hair did nothing to detract from the beauty of her face. Nor did the demure covering hide the strength of her chin and the fire in her eyes. I scanned the personal information detailed next to her photograph.

Medeia Karim. Twenty-eight years old. Leader of a small resistance movement.

Fen tapped the enter key, his movement so casual and confident that I froze. When had he learned how to use a computer? The more time I spent with Fen, the more I learned that surprised the hell out of me.

The next few screens displayed long-range photographs and surveillance pictures of the woman in and around the city and inside a building that looked like a museum or a library.

Sigrun moved up from the back of the group, slipping in beside me for a better view. The dazed yet curious expression on her face reminded me that my Valkyrie friend was having one of her first twentieth-century Midgard experiences, and I was ignoring her. Some host I turned out to be. But then I wasn't really a host. Asgard had proved more of a home to me than Midgard had ever been, so perhaps I wasn't the best person to show my friend around.

Sigrun tilted her head at the computer screen until she looked positively cross-eyed. I leaned over and whispered, "You all right?"

Her grey eyes crinkled as she grinned and nodded. "Yes, I am very all right. Midgard is a much more magical place than I thought."

I frowned. "Magical? What do you mean?"

Sigrun nodded at the laptop screen, "You must have powerful magic to place the einherjar inside those black boxes."

I smiled back at her, enjoying her childlike exuberance about a place in which all I could see was strife and poverty. But my smile soon faded. I had no choice but to spoil her pleasure. "It's not magic, Sigrun. That is a laptop."

"A lap top?" She frowned, staring at my face as if I'd grown wings out of my ears. "What do you mean? What is it that goes on top of my lap?" She bent her head and gave her lap a quick inspection, then turned her curious eyes on me.

"The computer. It's the computer that goes on your lap." I nodded at the laptop where Fen and ice queen Ingrid bent close to the screen, discussing the Karim woman.

Sigrun smiled. "Ah yes, I have heard of your Midgard com pewters."

I really wanted to giggle, but I squashed the urge, sure that any amusement would hurt Sigrun's feelings. "That black box Ingrid is using is a computer designed to carry around with you. You can use it anywhere, open it up and use it on your lap."

"I still do not understand. How do you get the einherjar inside it?"

Behind me, I could have sworn Joshua snorted, but he covered the sound with a choked cough.

"You don't put the einherjar inside the computer. It's meant to hold information. And that is just a photograph of her, not the actual person."

"Oh, I think I understand." Sigrun's eyes twinkled. "And I apologize if I have been a pain in the donkey."

I did a double take. "Huh? A pain in the donkey?" It took me a second to figure out what she meant. Joshua snorted again, this time loud enough for Sigrun to hear. Both Joshua and Aimee were red in the face and teary eyed, trying really hard not to burst out laughing. I truly understood their predicament. I glanced at Sigrun, whose expression of complete innocence made it so much harder for me to hold back the giggles. "Er . . . it's not pain in the donkey. It's pain in the ass."

Sigrun nodded. "Yes, a donkey and an ass. They are the same thing, are they not?"

I shook my head. "No, the ass in that phrase has nothing to do with a donkey."

"It doesn't?" Poor Sigrun was having a hard time understanding. And just maybe I wasn't doing a very good job of explaining either. "Then what does ass mean?"

I schooled the muscles in my face, willing them to behave and forcing the grin to stay off my lips. "It means behind or bottom."

"It also means rear end, butt and backside," Joshua piped up just before he and Aimee dissolved into a fit of giggles. I was horrified. I turned back to Sigrun, afraid I'd need serious damage control, but I needn’t have worried.

Sigrun herself was giggling, her hand in front of her mouth, cheeks pink at the hilarity.

I aimed a critical glare at Aimee and Joshua. "You guys better behave yourselves. I'm not getting into any more trouble because of you," I admonished, despite knowing I was just as guilty.

I turned my attention back to Fen and Ingrid, who were thankfully still busy ignoring us. They spoke in hushed, worried whispers. I stared at the computer screen and at the face of the next Warrior to join Odin's ranks. But before I could get more than a quick glance, Ingrid shot me a stiff glare and turned the laptop away.