He rolled his shoulder—the one not covered in blood. “I haven’t heard anything from the other room. That headless golem stumbled over here a few minutes ago.” He pointed into the courtyard. Another stone body, crumbled to gravel, lay several yards away. “I finished him off.”
I caught my lip between my teeth and bit down, hard, using the pain to chase away my tears. I rose to my feet. “I’ll be right back.”
Thorin said nothing but closed his eyes again and nodded.
I stepped over another corpse into the living room, into a showcase of horrors. Rubble, demolished furniture, bodies, blood. Everywhere, blood. Detachment, I told myself. Compartmentalize. Focus on Amala.
I found the Valkyrie lying behind the sofa in a dark, sticky puddle. Black holes—bullet wounds, I supposed—riddled her chest. Another shot had gouged a hole in her cheek. Empty eyed and motionless, Amala stared up at the ceiling. I touched her neck in a hopeful gesture, but her skin was as cold as the marble floor. Bile rose up in my throat. I turned aside and vomited. Why try to fight it? What did it matter if I added to the gore?
When my legs allowed for it, I rose and stepped away from Amala, rubbing my mouth and urging my stomach to settle. Setting my gaze on the doorway of my bedroom, I stumbled to Thorin’s side. “We’ve got to get moving. Please tell me you have one magical mystery tour left in you.”
He peeled his eyes open. “What?”
“Can you blip us to the 4Runner?”
“Amala?”
I shook my head and looked away.
“Okay, get an arm around me.” He struggled to get to his feet. “We’ll see how much gas is left in my tank.”
Turned out his gas tank was on E. He shifted us only as far as the edge of the courtyard. I tugged on him and shoved my shoulder into his armpit. He grunted and lumbered forward. “C’mon, Holy Thunder,” I urged. “You can move faster than that.”
He grimaced. “Holy Thunder? That’s the best you can do?”
Half jogging, half limping, we rounded the corner of our private yard and stumbled into the alleyway. I turned us, and we staggered toward the parking deck. “Please tell me you have the keys in your pocket.”
He grunted again and tried to stand up straighter. He pulled me close, and we blipped again and arrived at the parking deck entrance.
“I thought you were empty.”
“Second wind.” His eyes rolled up into his head. He nearly fell face first onto the asphalt, taking me down with him.
“Thorin.” I wheezed and braced my legs against the pull of his weight. “No time for this. You’re a freaking giant. I can’t carry you.”
He shook off his dizziness and wobbled onto his feet. Blood coated his shirt and covered me in warm, gummy red. “You love it,” he muttered. “Finally, an excuse to get your hands all over me.”
“You’re right. I can do better. Move your ass, Your Royal Norseness. Boy Thunder. Lord of the Rain Dance...” By employing a steady stream of sarcasm and a weary shoulder, I managed to guide him through the parking deck gate and into the elevator. We collapsed into a bloody pile on the floor. “Where’s the SUV?”
“The valet parked it.”
“How are we going to find it?”
He pulled the key fob from his pocket. “Open the door again.”
“What?”
“Just do it.”
I pressed the arrow button, and the elevator’s sliding doors parted. Thorin thumbed a button on the key ring, and we listened for car alarms. Nothing. “Second floor,” he said.
We repeated the routine until we found the racket of honking horn and electronic bells and whistles on the fourth floor. I helped him to his feet, and we struggled across the concrete parking deck, following our ears until we located the SUV. He handed me the keychain. I stared at him, mouth agape. “You deign to let me drive?”
“Only on my deathbed.”
“That better not be true.” After settling Thorin in his seat, I slammed the door, jogged around to the driver’s side, and slid into place behind the wheel. Even though I doubted it offered much protection, I pressed the door lock, and the ka-chunk of the mechanisms engaging was a sweet, sweet sound.
“Back to New Breidablick?” I reversed from the parking space.
He nodded. “It’s the only safe place I can think of right now.”
“What about the Valkyries?”
“They can fend for themselves.”
“How do I get to New Breidablick from here?” I had only made the trek via Thorin’s magical means, and while I knew Lake Tahoe’s general direction, getting there required a more specific knowledge of highway navigation.
He fiddled with the GPS system. A pleasant English lady’s voice instructed me to travel north on Las Vegas boulevard. He slumped against his window and closed his eyes.
“Promise me you’re not about to die over there.”
“You worried about me, Sunshine? Takes more than a couple bullets to put me out of my misery.”
I wheeled us out of the parking lot and followed the hotel drive to the main drag. The lady in the GPS reminded me which way to turn. I checked my rearview for signs of pursuit but saw nothing beyond the ordinary.
“You lost a lot of blood,” I said. He needed rest, maybe sleep, if not total oblivion. I also desperately wanted to clean him up and feed him something. Whether he usually ate or not, losing that much blood, even for an immortal, had to be rough on the system.
“Didn’t say I felt particularly chipper,” he said, “but I promise not to die.”
