Page 120 of Dead Heat

“I don’t have any blood,” Max said. “Is that a problem?”

“No, just stay close to me and we should both be transported.”

Next, I slipped a packet of poppy seeds from my pocket and sprinkled them on top of my blood. In ancient times, poppy fields were also known as Odainsackr, or Odin’s ground, a site where the god performed healing wonders. I crossed my fingers that he’d perform one of his wonders right now.

The ground trembled and opened beneath us, swallowing us whole. Unlike my trip to the underworld, there was no sensation of falling. It simply felt like I’d blinked and ended up elsewhere.

Hopefully that ‘elsewhere’ was the land of the dead.

“Gods really love to have their asses kissed, don’t they?” Max mused.

“It never hurts to pucker up.”

I looked around to get my bearings. Ahead of us stood a wall of mist.

“Does your map say anything about fog?” Max asked.

“No, but that doesn’t surprise me.” If anything, it gave me confidence that we were on the right path and that Helheim awaited us on the other side of the wall.

“Is it supposed to be a deterrent?”

“Or to signal a boundary line between realms.”

“More atmospheric than a brick wall, I guess,” Max said. “Ready?”

“Yes, but stay close to me. It’ll be very easy to lose each other in there.”

Max counted to three and we stepped forward. The mist embraced us like a long-lost lover, gathering us in its gossamer arms and offering featherlight kisses. My skin tingled. It would’ve been all too easy to turn back or remain lost in the mist indefinitely. Unable to see him, I reached for Max and maintained a grip on his rugged arm as we ventured forward.

“It’s getting thinner,” I said, now able to glimpse the cherufe’s bulky silhouette through the haze.

“The road to Helheim is paved with good intentions,” Max quipped.

“You’re telling me.” I sucked in a breath as the mist finally cleared, and we were granted our first glimpse of our destination.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Helheim was cold,dark, damp, and dreary.

In other words, the Norse afterlife was Blackpool.

Max didn’t share my view. He spent the first few minutes pointing every which way and raving over the layers of silt; such was my reward for allowing a magma monster to tag along.

“Do you think it would be okay if I soak up the ambience?” he asked.

“You mean that literally, don’t you?”

He crouched down to touch a jagged icy rock. “The topography is so different from the inside of a volcano. I’d love to incorporate a souvenir.”

“Oskar is our only souvenir. We’d be pushing our luck to leave with anything else.” Although Helheim wasn’t like the underworld where a few pomegranate seeds would bind you there, there could still be a minor, long-forgotten rule I wasn’t aware of. I wouldn’t want Max to be stuck here forever because he added a pretty pebble to his collection.

Max saluted me. “Understood, boss.”

I consulted the map on my phone. “Let’s walk a bit and look for landmarks.”

Max pointed to the ground. “Does that count?”

A large skull stared back at me. “I don’t recognize the shape.” Whatever it was, it wasn’t human.

---