Page 24 of Loki

Val nodded.

Gadius put the clipboard back on the wall. “You’re next. You know the rules?”

“I’ll tell her.”

Gadius nodded. “Remember, break the rules, and you lose. Break them twice, and you are banned.”

Val arched an eyebrow at Loki. What was he getting her into?

Loki walked her down a short hallway, and the further they walked, a buzz of a noisy crowd grew louder. She hesitated a moment.

But the idea of pummeling the man she’d hated for centuries was too much for them to turn back. She didn’t know if she could beat him. No idea if she would have her ass handed to her, but either way, she had to try.

They walked through a velvet curtain into an arena of chaos. In the center of the stadium stood a cage with walls about ten feet high. In the cage, two men, a demon of some sort and a human-looking man, wailed on each other. On tiered stadium seating, dozens of beings sat or stood watching. Yelling and cheering, they watched with enthusiasm. The seating was made of natural thick logs polished to a high dark gloss, and deep colored carpeting covered the floors, possibly to hide the blood.

As she scanned the crowd, her eyes stopped. Halfway across the room on an imposing throne sat an older, white-haired man in a leather biker jacket. His long white hair had been cropped shorter, and his beard manicured into a distinguished goatee. He appeared a thousand years younger than the last time she’d seen him.

His piercing blue eyes stayed on the fight as he sipped from a giant flagon. Though his appearance had changed, Val would remember that aura anywhere. The aura of superiority. Of disdain. Of... the king of the Norse Gods— murderer of Valkyrie.

The chair slash throne he sat on couldn’t be missed. Carved of wood and gilded in gold, it sat over eight feet tall, and even from where she stood, she made out the intricate carvings all over it depicting battle scenes from Norse mythology and various members of the Norse God family. How typical of Odin. Even when his family had gotten out from under him and gone their separate ways, he still sat atop them like the God he still thought himself to be— such hubris. A thrill shot through Val at the thought of being able to bring him down a peg.

Loki pulled her toward the box which surrounded Odin. Her fingers twitched for her to pull her knives. But attacking him would most definitely earn her a death strike.

As they neared the box, a sizable wolf stood from where he’d been laying at Odin’s feet and growled once. Three pitch-black ravens screeched above the noise of the spectators as she stopped a few feet from the box. Odin smiled.

“Loki. How are you, my boy? Fighting?”

Funny, Odin called Loki boy though Loki was said to be older. Then again, Odin didn’t like to admit anyone was older than he was. It might challenge his status.

“Not me. I’d like to introduce you to or reintroduce you to my friend, Val.” Loki wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her forward.

Odin smiled at her, but then his expression changed. “I know you.”

He remembered her? That was unexpected. They’d only been introduced a handful of times.

He studied her for several seconds. “You’re a Valkyrie,” he finally said. “But how is that possible? All my Valkyrie were killed during Ragnarök.”

“Not all,” she replied through gritted teeth, refusing to say more.

Odin bowed his head for a moment. “It is fantastic to see you, daughter. You truly are a sight to behold and bring ease to my heart. Are there more of you? More of your sisters who survived?”

All she managed was, “No.”

He nodded. “I’m so sorry.”

Val bit her tongue and squeezed Loki’s hand. He glanced at her sideways and then turned his smile back to Odin.

“Are you up for a challenge?”

Odin chuckled. “I thought you said you weren’t fighting.”

“I’m not.” Loki looked at her, and Odin followed his gaze.

“You, daughter? You want to challenge me?”

Every time he called her daughter, it made her that much surer, she wanted to kick his ass. She wanted to rip his tongue from his mouth and shove it down his throat. She had a father, though she hadn’t known him. And a mother she loved and had been ripped from to serve Odin.

“Yes.”

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