Leif snarled and swiped at her, but he was still too far away.
She moved back and forth from one foot to the other, staying light and ready. As she did, she danced to the right just a little every few steps. Slowly, she put the seer in her peripheral vision. In her current position, she could also see the spot where Pandora was hiding.
Tessa, Hank, and Titus were above and behind her now.
This was a stronger position than having Sola behind her. At any moment, Sola would attempt her second spell, the one that would freeze Jenna in place and allow Leif to land a killing blow.
She had to work fast, because as soon as Sola realized Jenna wasn’t frozen, she’d know the game was finished. Jenna said a little prayer that Birdie and Bridget had been successful in their quest, because things were about to blow up.
Jenna smiled a smile she didn’t really feel as she leveled Helgrind at Leif. “All right, wraith. Playtime is over.”
Leif charged, but he still didn’t have the speed of a living berserker. Jenna dodged him without too much effort. He kept moving forward, nearly going headfirst into a large oak.
He caught it with one hand and used it to pull himself back around, ember eyes crackling with anger. He came at her again, hands grasping for the thing he wanted most.
Helgrind.
Again, she danced out of reach.
“Blythe,” he growled. “You cannot escape me. I grow stronger with each passing moment.”
“Stronger, but also easier to kill.” Easier probably wasn’t the right word. More possible to be killed was a truer statement.
He swiped at her again, and again she evaded him.
Her time was ticking down. At any moment, Sola would cast the spell that was supposed to freeze Leif in place so Jenna could deliver the killing blow. Of course, Sola would once again attempt to freeze Jenna instead.
But it wouldn’t work this time. Once Sola realized her magic no longer had any potency, that would be the end of it. The house of cards that Sola had built would come tumbling down. Sola with it.
Until then, however, Jenna had to do her best to end Leif. It wasn’t impossible to kill a wraith who’d not yet achieved a solid state. But it was very, very hard.
Valkyries knew all about hard, though.
She was going to have to get his sword if she was going to transport his soul once and for all to the underworld.
He came at her. She ducked his swinging arm and sliced her blade across his ribs as deeply as she could.
He yowled at the cut, most likely at the indignity. Neither wraiths nor berserkers felt pain in a tangible way.
A dark, oily, sooty fog escaped from the wound before it closed. Not much change since yesterday, then. Odin’s eye. Was he still so insubstantial? What was taking him so long to become fully corporeal?
But maybe the wound had healed slower this time? And had there been a hint of actual blood? Possibly. He had to be closer to being completely solid. If so, the time for the death blow was coming. But he clearly wasn’t solid enough. Not yet. How much longer was it going to take?
She’d hoped not much longer, or her chance was going to pass. The thought occurred to her that Sola might have done something to keep him from becoming fully corporeal in order to protect him from Jenna.
Sola stepped forward. Jenna frowned, knowing what was about to happen. She had to act now. One final attempt to remove the wraith from this plane of existence.
In that moment, time sped up, but it also stood still.
With both hands on the hilt of Helgrind, Jenna whipped around with the blade at chest level and drove toward Leif with every ounce of force she had.
Sola began to speak as Helgrind pierced Leif’s chest. The blade slid through him, and the momentum carried Jenna and the sword forward, pinning Leif to the first solid thing behind him. A pine.
A low, angry rumble vibrated out of him. “You think you can end me?”
She honestly wasn’t sure anymore, but he couldn’t know that. “I know I can. And once I do, I’m going to carry your soul straight to the underworld where you belong. There will be no Valhalla for you, Leif.”
Growling, he swiped at her.
She couldn’t let go of Helgrind, so she couldn’t escape. The best she could do was rear back. His ragged nails caught her cheek and caused a brief moment of searing pain before it subsided.
The wounds stung, but she’d suffered worse. And it was nothing compared to what she was going to do to him.
But if Helgrind piercing his heart wasn’t enough to finish him, she was in trouble.
He sneered at Jenna as he wrapped his hands around the sword sticking out of his chest and pulled, seemingly oblivious to the blood spilling from his hands as they were cut by the blade.
His hands were bleeding.
Encouraged by that realization, Jenna kept her grip firmly on the hilt. She dared not let Helgrind go, or Leif would take control of it. His eyes were already fixed on the resurrection stone.
If his hands could bleed, that meant he was becoming corporeal. Just not fast enough. And with every wraith, the heart was the last thing to solidify. She was just going to have to be patient.
Not the easiest thing to do.
Behind her, Sola chanted louder now. Almost angrily. But any second, she would realize her spell wasn’t working. Jenna had to move faster. Still holding on to Helgrind, she kicked her feet up and planted them on Leif’s chest on either side of the blade, then yanked the sword free and backflipped away from him.
At least he’d been solid enough for her to do that.
The hole in Leif’s
