Dead Wrath (A Valkyrie Novel - Book 4)(18)

Erik's response was interrupted by the receptionist, who knocked twice and then entered pushing a low table covered in tablecloths and piled with cups, mugs, plates, an urn, and a multitude of crockery and cutlery. The dark warrior followed her, pushing a second low table, this one filled with finger food: mini hamburgers, small pastries, scones, and tiny little cinnamon buns.

The arrival of the food put pause to my decision to leave as the team rose and headed for the tables.

As I watched them make their selections, pour their drinks, and enjoy the meal, I paused beside Erik. "Thank you for thinking about food for us. We all missed lunch in the rush to leave."

He inclined his head with a small smile. "I've done field work before. I am well aware how often team members forget about eating. Sustenance is important, and I think it would be good that you and your team get some before you head out. You can never tell how long it will be before you get the chance to eat properly again." He pointed at the food like a bossy father, and I grinned then gave him a small salute before stepping into the fray.

After we'd sated our hunger, I went to Erik's office next door to let him know we were leaving.

"Very well, Bryn. But before you leave, I am sending one operative with you."

"Oh? I'm not so sure about that, Erik. I think I already have a pretty full house," I said. It was obvious to me that my team was about the largest we had, but I couldn't see any of them happily moving elsewhere.

"Oh, don't get me wrong." Erik lifted a hand. "You probably have enough manpower, but I'm giving you brainpower. This particular warrior is a total geek and a world-class hacker. Combine your observation skills, your Asgardian powers, and Derek's supreme PC skills and you should be undefeatable."

"So he won't be with the team on the actual mission?"

Erik shook his head, then looked up to peer through the glass wall of his office. The dark head popped up again, then hurried forward, only to hesitate and turn back around, pause, then spin on a heel and head for Erik's office. I wanted to roll my eyes.

He was what the cool kids called a dork, borderline inept, hesitant, and bumbling. It helped Derek's case that he had good looks on his side. His wire-rimmed glasses only made him appear sexier.

But I hesitated a moment. Cute was nice, but what was Erik really giving us? Didn't we have enough of our geek on with Aidan? I glanced at Erik to decline, but the look on his face, the intense pride in the einherjar, told me this particular geek's skills might put Aidan to shame. Would be interesting to see how Aidan handles the infringement on his domain.

When Derek entered the room, Erik introduced us briefly, and as I shook the young man's hand, I noticed the nervous flutter of his dark eyelashes and the rapid pumping of the vein in his neck. He couldn't have been any older than I was. So here was another one I never would have guessed would have a destiny as an einherjar. Seemed it took all kinds of warriors to fight for Odin.

"So when do we leave?" Derek asked Erik, his unusual hazel eyes flitting back and forth between my face and his superior's.

Erik deferred to me, waving a hand for me to answer the question. "We're leaving now," I answered, amused at the stricken look on his face.

"Oh, I have to--I mean, I need a few minutes." He spoke fast and seemed a little scatterbrained. "Er--if you don't mind. I--There's a few things I need to bring with me." He hesitated in the doorway, then moved a step forward and a step back. He looked like a nervous chipmunk, eyes wide, watching to see if it's okay. I nodded at him, my expression pleasant. The moment I agreed, he turned and fled the room, his dark head bobbing up and down between cubicles and filing cabinets. I said my good-byes to Erik and headed next door to the meeting room where the team was already looking impatient, tucking their files into their bags, eyes searching for me through the glass window.

As soon as I entered, Aimee looked up. "Are we leaving yet?" she asked, her brows knitted.

"Yeah, we can leave in a few minutes. Just have to wait for one of Erik's agents to join us," I said, grabbing my own file and slipping it into my bag. There was hardly any space left for anything more, but I managed to slide it along the back of the satchel.

"Why do we need one of their agents to tag along?" asked Edrik, coming alongside me. He was already taking the expected protective stance of most Ulfr partners, and although I dearly wanted to tell him to take a chill pill, I had to word it a little better.

"Don't worry, Ed. Erik is a friend and I trust him. He wouldn't burden us with someone we didn't need. Besides, I suspect we might find we will be needing the services of this type of agent soon enough."

I'd barely finished my sentence when the door slammed open and Derek came stumbling through. He was carrying four computer bags, all full and bulky with laptops and other gadgets. In addition, he carried two large bags in his hands that looked overstuffed too.

"Do you really need all that shit?" asked Joshua with a laugh.

Derek bobbed his head nervously, looking Joshua up and down. Then his eyes scanned the room as he saw for the first time all the members of the team he would be joining. His eyes widened as he glanced at the Ulfr. Being a warrior, he should be used to Ulfrs and Valkyries by now, but I guess this particular geek had been plucked from Valhalla as soon as he'd transformed.

"Have you even had any einherjar training?" Aimee asked, a slightly critical edge to her voice.

He nodded vigorously. "Erik makes sure I go back home regularly for training. It's his one rule. I have to remember I'm einherjar first, then hacking geek. That's--er... those are his words." He grinned in response to the round of coughs and choked laughter.

Aidan was the first to step forward to relieve the slim warrior of two of his bags. Edrik took another, after which Derek looked like he could handle the remaining luggage. It seemed his mention of "home" had gotten to everyone else as much as it had struck a sensitive note with me. The moment he'd said the word, I felt tears prick at my eyes. I blinked them away, aware and accepting that I was here in Midgard to try to save my home.

Then, before I knew it, Derek had turned around and was leading the troupe out of the room. He went first to Betty and spoke a few words to her, grabbing a small bunch of keys from the top drawer of the reception desk. Then he waved a hand for everyone to follow him. When the elevator arrived, he entered and remained near the panel of buttons. It was a bit of a squeeze, what with all the luggage and weapons bags everyone carried, but we managed to make it to our floor without anyone being stabbed in the gut.

But when the doors opened into a well-lit parking garage, we were all a little taken aback.

"This is our stop," said Derek, raising his eyebrows, then tipping his head to the doors to encourage us to leave the elevator. We did as he asked, although I could almost taste the tension simmering within the group. This was the unexpected we needed to watch for.

But Derek just held the doors open for us, then left the elevator, hurrying forward, passing dozens of cars until he came upon a black Jeep. He pointed his key at the vehicle and pressed the button on the alarm pad. Locks clicked and Derek went around to the back of the vehicle to open the rear door. He slid his stuff inside, then called out, "Hey, come and put your stuff here."

Everyone followed him, a little hesitant, a few raised eyebrows here and there. I certainly hadn't been aware that HQ provided vehicles to and from the Bifrost. Had I known that, we would have requested their use on many occasions.

Aimee beat me to the punch. "Hey, Derek, since when do you guys have cars to take teams to the Bifrost? We usually walk."

"Oh yeah," he said, jumping into the driver's seat. He put the car into drive, then made his way out of the parking spot and up the three levels of the parking garage. "We do have cars for teams that come and go, but not for the ones arriving from another realm. A little hard to send a text from Asgard saying, 'Arriving one a.m. at blue dumpster. Please pick us up.'"

Everyone laughed at that. Then Derek continued. "But Erik just told me before we left that the blue dumpster alley entrance has been compromised. Burst water pipe or something. Got the fire department right in front of the alley. Any activity on our part will not go unnoticed."

Before anyone could answer, he pulled up to the exit where a red and white-striped bar stopped us from leaving. Derek jumped out of the car and waved the key at the guards. One leaned out of the window. "Where you guys going?"

"Brooklyn. It's a one-way trip."

The guard nodded, then left the small hut to come around to the driver's side. He took the key from Derek and said, "Key back to Betty?"

Derek said, "Yeah." He slid the back door open, jumping inside to head to the back where he found a tiny space to sit. The guard gave his partner the thumbs-up sign and the bar lifted, allowing the vehicle to pass through. The ride through New York was silent and slow, traffic seeming to be backed up for miles, a million yellow cabs clogging the streets. Nobody was particularly talkative, especially with a human driving the vehicle. Although he asked no questions, paid little attention to the occupants of the car, and didn't even take a peek into the rearview mirror at all the girls, nobody was in the mood to take any chances.

Stuck in the car, I was beginning to wish I could just stamp my way out of here with Gungnir.