She pressed her lips together. Then she nodded. “I see. Swat the hive enough times, and the queen will come out?”
“Exactly. We piss her off and force her into the open.”
“Are we prepared to take down this army?” Naomi asked. “Our numbers are reduced. Many of us have never seen live combat before.”
Embla’s brows furrowed. “It is in our nature, Naomi. Why would you question our willingness to fight?”
Naomi shook her head. “Not questioning. Trying to be prepared.” Her attention shifted to me. “Solina, you’ve fought these things before, yes?”
I glanced at Thorin and Skyla. “We all have.”
“Then tell us about these creatures and what we should expect.”
I glanced at Thorin again and inhaled deeply. “They move like skin and bone, more graceful than you’d expect. More flexible. But they are as tough as rocks, and my fire has little effect on them.” I explained how I’d beaten them before. “Their weakness is their inability to think for themselves. They’re single minded and don’t seem overly concerned with self-protection. Imagine zombies made of flexible stone, and that’s what you’ve got.”
“But have you destroyed one?” Embla asked.
I shook my head. “No. Just outsmarted them. But Skyla shot one, blew apart his head, and Thorin took down a small army of them with his hammer.”
The Valkyries swung their attention to Skyla.
“You shot one?” Embla asked.
Skyla nodded. “It was a big-caliber bullet. The bigger the better, I expect. Sort of like Thorin’s hammer.”
“They aren’t invincible,” I said. “Only a little more durable than the average monster.”
Embla turned and addressed the assembly behind her. “Any more questions, ladies?”
A petite redhead named Siobhan piped up from the back. “Yeah... When can we start?”
After our meeting, the Valkyries dispersed, retreating to their rooms to assess their weapon situation and sharpen their knives and clean their guns, or so I imagined. I sat at the kitchen counter and studied the room service menu. My earlier flare-up had raided my energy reserves and stoked my appetite. Thorin eyed me from across the living room, wearing a thin-lipped frown. I turned my back to him and tried not to care what had made him look dour.
Skyla clapped her hands and bounced on her toes when the food service cart arrived. I lifted the covers, revealing stacks of French toast, pancakes, bacon, and sausage. She beamed at me as though I had revealed the last golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Thorin wandered over to where and Skyla and I sat, stuffing our faces. Hands in his pockets, posture relaxed, he feigned nonchalance. It was as convincing as a hungry tiger wandering through a butcher shop hoping nobody noticed him.
I jabbed my fork at him. “I know what you’re going to say.”
His eyebrows arched. “Oh? Do tell.”
I held up a finger and sipped my coffee. Then I swallowed and lowered my voice to mock his deep timbre. “Miss Mundy.” Skyla choked and covered her mouth to keep from spraying masticated French toast across the table. “No one endangers my perpetuity. If you’re thinking of putting yourself in the middle of this business with the Valkyries and Helen’s golems, then you’ve got another think coming.”
Thorin folded his arms over his chest. “I would never say, ‘you’ve got another think coming.’”
I shrugged. “However you put it, the meaning would be the same.” I looked at Skyla. “Am I wrong?” She snickered and shook her head. “And then you would say...” I lowered my voice again. “‘Are you going to be stubborn about this, Sunshine? I will chain you if necessary.’”
Skyla’s snickers gave way to a boisterous coughing fit.
“You’re no help,” Thorin said to Skyla. He shoved out a hip and readjusted his posture to something... feminine? He batted his lashes. “I’ll tell you where you can stuff your perpetuity,” he said in a high, wispy voice tainted by a bad Southern accent.
I glanced at Skyla. “Is that supposed to be me?”
Skyla jammed more French toast in her mouth and looked away.
“Well?” Thorin asked in his regular voice.
“You’ve got a point,” I said. “I’m not a Valkyrie. I don’t have warrior blood flowing through my veins. But I’ll tell you why I’m not too excited about staying here and sitting on my hands.”
He huffed and rolled his eyes. “You mean, other than the fact that you insist on inserting yourself into the middle of every dangerous situation.”
I slapped my fork down, pushed away from the table, and stood. “I won’t sit back and let others fight my battles for me, Thorin. You know that.”
“Why do the golems have to be your battle?” Lightning flashed in his eyes. “The Valkyries can do this on their own.”
I stalked toward him, heat rippling across my skin. “What if Skoll’s there, and this is our chance to end him?” I raised my hand, and flames engulfed my fingers. “I can defend myself.”
“You can.” He nodded. “But it doesn’t mean you have to take unnecessary risks. Did you not make me swear I would be the wall that everyone has to get through on their way to you? Let me do my job.”
“How about you give me some credit? I’ve done pretty well at keeping myself alive when there was no one else to depend on. I’ve saved your butt a few times, too.”
Thorin smirked and shook his head. He probably had a smarmy retort all packaged up and ready to go, but he was smart enough, for once, to keep it to himself.
“This is my fight as much as it’s yours, Baldur’s, and the Valkyries’. The whole world’s... You can’t ask me to sit by and watch. You know me better than that. If you try to leave me behind, you know what’ll happen. Didn’t you learn that lesson when you went to fight Rolf?”
He growled and spun on his heel. He threw a fist into the wall, and it caved. Drywall dust scattered, and plaster crumbs dropped at his feet.
I raised my chin, put my hands on my hips, and arched an eyebrow. “Feel better now?”
He said nothing. My ears popped, and he disappeared.
