He felt the bottom fall out of his stomach and he looked at Tom, desperate.
“What? She from Europe or something? I barely know English, so if that was supposed to be impressive, it ain’t working. Five minutes, then I want you and your mail order bride out. And you,” he pointed to Derek, “back to work the second he’s gone.”
Derek came around in front of Erik and looked at his face. “Holy shit, man, you’re serious. Where’d she come from?”
Erik’s eyes moved slowly from Derek to Göll and back. “I don’t know.”
“Work!” Tom was shouting from the far end of the aisle.
“Look,” Derek said, his voice steady and sober, “Take her home. I’m off at seven, okay? She hasn’t done anything weird, right?”
“Weird like fucking following me around all day? Shouting me awake? Watching me shower?”
“Look, she hasn’t tried to hurt you, right?”
“Yeah, I mean…”
“It’s fine. If she was going to stab you, she’d have done it while you were asleep.”
Erik spun, throwing his arms up. “Fuck me, that’s your way of comforting me?”
“Well? I’m not wrong. It’s not like you can just attack her. And what would you even tell the cops? She says you forced her to dress up like that and you’re done.”
Erik shook his head. “Fucking… fine. Fine. But don’t fuck around after you’re off shift, alright?”
Derek nodded and went back to work. There was nothing Erik could do but grudgingly leave the warehouse and walk back to the apartment.
There were no pictures this time, at least not posed ones. Just shots of Erik walking as fast as he could manage with Göll following behind him. The apartment complex was a welcome sight. He nearly sprinted upstairs to the door, unlocking it. He was half tempted to leave Göll outside, but thought better of it, considering the bathroom door.
He locked the doors once she was in and dragged himself to the couch. She stood oppressively close, silently looking down at him.
“Do you have to do that?”
“I do.”
He looked up sharply. “So you can do more than tell me that you’re here to guide me to Valhalla?”
She nodded.
“Then why are you really here?”
“I have come to guide you to Valhalla. You are one of—”
“Odin’s chosen, I get it.” He gritted his teeth. “That’s not…” He took a calming breath, letting it out slowly. “That’s not funny anymore.”
“It was never said in jest.”
His heart sank and fear crept over him. “Then how will I—”
Göll’s head whipped toward the window. A half second later, the building shuddered and the sound of metal being crushed reached his ears. Göll adjusted her grip on the spear she’d been carrying and it began to glow with an intense heat.
“They’ve come.”
chapter|2
The sound of rapid footfalls in the hallway came only a few seconds after Erik had managed to drag himself up from the couch. Göll watched the windows intently, not moving from her place near him. The steps stopped at the door and the doorjamb buckled and splintered as the first kick landed.
“We cannot stay here.”
Erik turned, alarmed. “Who is it?”
Before Göll could manage an answer, the second kick pushed the door into the far wall revealing a girl with light brown hair standing in the hall. She was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, nothing like what Göll had on. In her hand was a short sword that was glowing white hot.
The floor cracked where the new valkyrie kicked off. There was a sharp hissing noise as she flew toward him. It was fast, too fast. The sword was aimed dead at his chest and all he could do was close his eyes and wait for it to hit.
He felt a wave of heat and pressure push against his chest just after a dull metal clang rang in his ears. The edge of the sword that had been aimed at his chest ran across the front of his arm, effortlessly digging a wound and burning it shut in the same instant. At the far side of the room, something impacted the wall, crumbling it.
He felt a hand on his arm and his eyes opened. It was Göll.
“This is not how you are meant to die.”
The spear she’d held was now a warhammer, glowing with a dull intensity that was markedly different from the blade’s.
“The other will be here soon.”
“Other?”
She didn’t dignify the question, dragging him toward the door to his room. She pushed it shut. It seemed like a useless thing to put between them, but Erik was in no place to complain. He stared at the door while Göll moved to the window and inspected it. She raised her foot and struck the frame of the window. It swung out, taking chunks of the wall as it went, hanging for a moment before it fell to the ground below.
“Haki.”
“Erik.”
She gave an annoyed look. “Erik, we are leaving.”
He walked over to the window and looked out of it, hesitant to jump. The door to his room splintered. As he turned to look, he felt an arm around his waist. Göll had grabbed him and was pulling him off the ground.
“Hey, hey, whoa. Don’t you jump.”
She jumped. He was tucked under her arm like a half-drowned cat, and not securely at that. They landed heavy and he slipped from her arms, bouncing off the grass on the far side of the sidewalk with a thud and a wheeze. She moved to him quickly, dragging him up as Erik tried to catch his breath.
“I am sorry. I had thought that… you are heavier than your form suggests.”
“Let’s just…”
Göll turned her eyes up to the window. The valkyries looked out of the hole in the wall. Without wasting a breath, Göll spun her hammer and slammed it to the ground. The earth rippled away from the strike, shifting the building. Stucco and glass broke away as it swayed. There were terrified screams from all three floors.
“Run. Now.”
There was no room in his mind for an argument. He wasn’t
