Her Viking Wolves(37)

Okay… I move across the room and take a seat on the tufted brown couch.

“This is an old friend of mine from my UAJ days, Matt Kreuk. He’s flown up here from Juneau after helping me research FJ’s story about the great battle that took place in his village. And, well… it would seem I owe you an apology for that argument we got into over Christmas dinner. It looks like you were right and I was wrong.”

Now I raise my eyebrows, my eyes going wide with disbelief. Not just because I’ve never in my life heard Alisha says the words, “you were right, and I was wrong,” and I’m a little afraid the earth is about to spin off its axis. But also because the argument we’d gotten into involved Iggle and me putting dragons in Viking Shifters, which, according to Alisha, was an “irresponsible representation of Viking shifter history.”

“Apparently I’ll be issuing a lot of apologies when I return to my classes next week.”

“Hold up,” I say, glancing at FJ. “Are you trying to tell me…?”

Yes, that’s exactly what she is trying to say. I listen in true wonderment as Alisha and Matt explain how they sent a blood sample from FJ’s sword down to the UAJ lab for testing. Apparently, the lab results came back with a significant number of markers for reptile DNA. That, along with FJ’s description of the fight and an obscure reference to “a great battle between the North Wolves and fearsome serpents” that Matt discovered in a copy of their University’s Norwegian Viking files, has led Alisha to conclude—with a seriously begrudging look toward me—that the great enemy FJ and his people fought were in fact dragon shifters

By the time they get done, I’m all the way out of my seat.

“Tell me I’m not hearing this right,” I say to FJ. “You do not have dragons waiting for you when you get back to Old Norway.”#p#分页标题#e#

FJ stands up himself, his face weary. “I’m afraid we do, Varra.”

“Oh, my God!” I say. Then I burst out laughing.

Only to stop when I’m met with stony silence.

Alisha and Matt stare at me, and FJ looks like he’s chewing on glass as he asks, “You find humor in the fact that my land—our land—has been beset by these monstrous serpents?”

Even Olafr is crooking his shaggy head at me like I’ve lost my mind.

“No, no. I don’t think it’s at all funny,” I quickly assure them both. “Laughing at the worst times—it’s a nervous tic of mine. That is truly some horrific shit. But…”

I raise my hands and confess, “As a hardcore gamer geek, I have to admit I’m kind of freaking out that you’ve not only met, but actually fought real life dragon shifters. And I’m also wondering if it’s too soon to ask for details. Like, should I put a Dragon Shifters game on the five-year slate, now that I know they actually exist? It’d probably sell. I mean, I used to love dragons when I was in high school. I even collected dragon figurines. I still have a few of them on the mantelpiece back in my bedroom in Detroit. One’s got these two real emeralds for eyes and…”

I trail off when I see my audience looking at me like I’m speaking Mandarin.

“Uh, sorry,” I say again. “Some people stick their feet in their mouths and shut up. I keep going. But I really am sorry about your dragon shifter situation. Seriously.”

Another awkward pause, followed by a lot of uncomfortable silence. Then a, “We should go…” from Alisha.

“No, don’t go,” I say. “I’m sorry. I’m just making this whole situation worse. I’m the one who should leave.”

“No, you will stay, Varra. I have much to say to you now that I have true knowledge of the enemy we face.”

Then before I can protest, Alisha says to FJ, “I’ll put in a call to the Norway pack as soon as it’s not after business hours over there. Of course, it would be better for me to fly over to Norway to meet with them. That way I could speak with their pack’s historian and read over the original text myself. But unfortunately, classes are starting up in Colorado next week and I can’t get out there until spring break. However, if the passage Matt found is even partially true, that makes your mission to return and defeat this enemy even more critical than we originally thought. In fact, your past might be the key to the future of our species. And FJ…”

Alisha comes out of professor mode and leans across the desk to cover his large hand with hers. “We’ve got your back. Rafe wants to protect your mother and the rest of your family as much as we do. He’s in talks with the Lupine Council now, trying to figure out what kind of resources we can throw at this situation.”