CHAPTERFIVE
Various emotions passed between the men, their faces scrunching up to show whatever they were trying their hardest to hide. Muni watched between the three of them, focusing her powers on their aura. Though she’d felt their souls in Valhalla, that information didn’t come with names or their story, but she didn’t need them to tell her. It wasn’t an invasion of privacy. Secrets always came easy to her, and names were by far the easiest. It was as if they were written on their aura.
The youngest soul, the one who had been in Valhalla hardly any time at all, met her eyes. In them, there was confusion, but also the knowledge she searched for.
“Eirik,” Muni offered. “Don’t be alarmed.”
He straightened. “I’m not scared. I’m just. . .confused.” He looked around at the street he could see even though they were in the alleyway, hidden from view. “I remember dying,” he breathed.
“Yes,” Muni nodded. “All three of you should have those memories. I brought you from Valhalla.”
Eirik tilted his head. The other two remained quiet. “What year is it?” he finally asked.
Instead of speaking the year out loud, Muni reached into her pocket for the smartphone she often forgot at home when she wasn’t paying attention. She flicked on the screen and held it out toward him, making sure he could see the date clearly amongst the background of the ocean.
He stumbled under the realization. “I’ve been dead for five years. . .” He pressed his hand against his stomach. “And now I’m not. I don’t feel. . .sick.”
“That’s because you’re not,” Muni offered. “You died and went to Valhalla. When I brought you back, it came free of human ailments. Your life is tied to mine.”
A growl came from the familiar man and Muni turned toward him. Her powers reached out and stroked along his strong aura, searching for a name. ‘Vidar’ flashed across her mind, but she didn’t have time to use the name.
“What are you going on about, woman?” he spit, his shoulders tense. Animosity filled his aura and snapped out toward Muni. She didn’t flinch away from it, used to men with quick anger.
“I’m entering the Race Games and I needed a team. I couldn’t trust anyone in the land of the living, so I used my powers to bring the three of you back from Valhalla,” Muni clarified with a shrug of her shoulders.
The third stepped forward. “I’m Brin,” he offered without her needing to search. “I am honored to have been chosen, Lady Raven,” he said, his voice thick with. . .something. Muni frowned but didn’t have time to dissect his tone further.
“Take me back,” Vidar snarled, moving forward in threat. His step was shaky, as if he couldn’t quite remember how it felt to have solid legs again. “Take me back. Right now.”
Eirik and Brin watched Vidar carefully, as if expecting him to attack. He had no weapons to use but Muni didn’t mistake that as meaning he was harmless. All three earned their way into Valhalla. It only made sense they were strong warriors with or without weaponry.
“I cannot,” Muni replied. “You can only be released once I’ve accomplished what I intend to. It’s part of the spell.”
He stormed forward in a rapid succession of steps. Vidar slammed his fist against the old brick wall, putting a dent in the stone. His knuckles split, leaving behind a smear of blood, as whole as if he’d never died. “Take me back!” The words were angry, but underneath that, there lay a desperation Muni wasn’t prepared for as he got right in her face.
The familiarity stroked through her again, and she knew without a doubt that before Vidar had died and gone to Valhalla, she knew him. As if acknowledging the thought, the memory resurfaced again in her mind the same moment his bright blue eyes met hers. Now, they were full of fury. Before, they were calm as he fed her bread in her Raven form, talking to her about his troubles, expecting the silly bird to tell no one. He hadn’t realized who she was, hadn’t understood he was feeding secrets to a spy. Muni blinked again and looked up into his gaze.
“I cannot,” she whispered, an apology in those words that she meant.
He slammed his fist into the wall again, leaving a crater in the brick. Words spit from his mouth, harsh words in a language so old, it made Muni’s bones ache with memory.
“Help me, and I’ll send you back the first moment I’m able.” Muni tilted her chin, strong in the face of someone who probably thought he could harm her, but Muni was not human, not even close. Vidar could do nothing more than threaten if she didn’t want him to.
Vidar’s face twisted in a scowl. “I am not your warrior, raven.”
Realizing niceties would get her nowhere with the Viking, Muni narrowed her eyes. “As of now, until the spell is complete, you are.”
All three men grew quiet for a moment. Eirik seemed deep in thought, and she wasn’t even sure if he’d been paying attention. Jade green eyes focused on her, studying her features in a way she knew he was attempting to dissect her. Of the three, Eirik seemed the only one familiar with modern technology. That could come in handy for the races and she was glad she’d ended up choosing three rather than the first two.
“So, then, what do we have to do?” Brin asked. Where the other two were mixtures of anger and resignation, Brin held something darker in his gaze. Desire? That thought had Muni straightening just a little more and the Viking smiled as if he knew why. Dangerous. This one was more dangerous than Vidar with his rich brown eyes.
Muni nodded. “That’s a very good question. Let us get off the streets and I’ll explain.”