Page 22 of Daddy's Justice

“Strength and wisdom,” Forseti answered. “To start with. I have a feeling that Morrigan has a depth to her. Let us go out back and spar. It will loosen you all up and it will give me an idea as to where Morrigan is skill-wise.”

I liked the idea. I loved sparring. I loved fighting. I knew I should be intimidated by the two valkyries in the room with me, but honestly, I knew they wouldn’t do any irreversible harm to my person.

As soon as I thought about it, I had to stop and ponder why I felt safe with them. Just a couple hours ago, they had kidnapped me. When and how did I get comfortable enough with them not to worry about sparring? How did I start to trust them? Whenever it was, I did feel safe enough to spar. Looking down, I realized that I couldn’t possibly spar, not in this darn dress!

“That is easy enough to fix,” Edda said, once again reading my mind. She touched my arm and suddenly, my business casual work outfit was replaced by shieldmaiden garb. I now wore a black leather battlesuit equipped with chainmail bracer and thigh belts. I felt like I was dressed in a cosplay costume as a valkyrie from a movie. “You look good,” Edda said approvingly.

“On Asgard, we are dressed much more comfortably. Often, when lounging, most of the valkyries don long white robes. It is only when we prepare for battle or are training that we wear our gear. Back in the day, when we were choosing the outcome of battles and escorting warriors over the bridge, we had an entirely different wardrobe. Life has changed significantly. Since there are so few humans left who worship Odin and we’ve essentially stopped interfering in the battles here; there isn’t anyone left to escort home to Valhalla, essentially terminating that job from our duties,” Kara said.

“Someday, we will return and reveal ourselves once again to man,” Forseti added. “Until then, they can’t see those of our world; Odin has seen to that.”

“Wait, you’re saying humans can’t see you? You’ve told me that I’m not human, that I am a valkyrie. If that is true, how can they see me?”

“Humans can only see gods in their human forms. They can’t see our battles and our DNA is so evolved from theirs that they can’t recognize it. They won’t see the dark forces, either. Every now and again, one manages to get to Earth and cause some mayhem before one of our teams takes care of it, but often, humans think the damage is a natural disaster or blame one of their own. Some of the evilest men in Earth’s history haven’t been men at all. There is a reason their bodies have never been found,” Kara answered.

“They can see you as a human. They wouldn’t understand nor see your powers,” Edda added, explaining further.

“I see.”

I didn’t. Not really.

“It will all make sense eventually.” Forseti wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled into his side, walking me down the hall with him as we continued our conversation.

I was getting so sick and tired of being told that. I wanted to understand now.

“I will help you make heads and tails of it once we have battled this force and you are out of danger. We will drink in my uncle’s great hall and I will take time to explain everything. I’m sure your mother and sisters will help.”

“My mother?” It was hard to think of anyone but the woman who had raised me as my mother. Sisters? I had siblings besides my human ones? He wanted to take me to Asgard. I would have to leave Earth? My job? My family and friends? They wanted me to leave everything I knew and start a new life.

I loved my old life. No, my current life. My life. Why would I want to give it up?

“Because that isn’t who you are. You’ve been living a lie your entire life,” Edda interjected, reading my mind again. “You belong with us. You will have a new job, new friends and a new family.”

“Besides, it isn’t like you can’t pop down here and see them whenever you want,” Kara said.

“Stop reading my fucking mind!” I growled at Edda. She didn’t deserve my anger, I realized it the second the words came out of my mouth. She had already explained that she couldn’t turn it off and it wasn’t her fault. I felt Forseti’s arm tighten around my waist. “I’m sorry!” I threw up my arms in pure frustration. “I’m sorry. All of this is overwhelming.”

“I know,” Forseti comforted, kissing my forehead, giving me grace for the swearing. “I wish we had time to allow you to acclimate to it all, but we simply don’t.” We were outside now, behind the house. A few more feet and we were in a large, open field. “Nothing crazy,” he directed, with a nod toward Kara.

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