Valhalla Beckons Read online

  "What the hell did this?" Swift asked, in horrified awe.

  "Whatever did it, managed to kill a valkyrie," I said quietly. "I saw her before the magisters showed up. Another valkyrie came and took her away. I’m keeping that to myself for now though."

  Mage’s Guild employees were standing near the crack talking amongst themselves. Director Harland and Bradley stood off to the side with another of them, and the Director appeared to be demanding answers.

  “Are you sure she was dead?”

  I nodded. “One hundred percent.”

  “Shit.”

  Eight

  Bradley stood at the front of the room next to the two other IMIB Chiefs that headed up the other two divisions. He stepped forward and cleared his throat. All the chatter died down.

  "Four hundred and ninety-two innocent people were killed on the Rune Rail and in the immediate area outside of it. And right now, we cannot assure the people that travel to and from Moira that another attack will not happen. We know nothing, and that has to change." He paced the length of the stage with his hands clasped behind his back, looking more somber than I'd ever seen him. “Security is being added to the Rune Rail system, as well as all high traffic areas in Moira. A team of agents selected from the IMIB and the Mage’s Guild will work together to solve this case. Anyone that discovers any information concerning what happened should bring it forward immediately. No going rogue and trying to solve it yourself." His eyes strayed toward me for a split second as he stepped to the side.

  A video began playing on the wall screen behind him. Viktor and a Mage’s Guild employee, their own coroner from the looks of it, stood in front of an autopsy table. A man lay on the table, his body covered by a sheet from the waist down.

  Holding his hands out over the remains, Viktor began to chant. His eyes turned black, and darkness creeped through the veins on his face. The man rose from the table, his arms twitching from all the magic.

  “What is your name?” Viktor asked, his Russian accent slipping through.

  “Martin...Newman,” the corpse said hesitantly. His eyes flicked between the two men standing next to him. “Where am I?”

  “You are dead, and I need to ask you questions about the circumstances of your death,” Viktor said calmly, his dark eyes holding Newman’s attention.

  The corpse’s body began to shake slightly, as though he were afraid. “It killed me.”

  “What killed you?” The Mage’s Guild employee demanded, stepping closer and edging around Viktor.

  Newman shook his head rapidly from side to side. “No! Nooooo!”

  Viktor flexed his hands and Newman abruptly stopped, his body relaxing slightly. “What killed you?” he asked, repeating the question. The black veins on his face pulsed as if he were putting the force of his magic behind his question.

  Newman’s jaw opened and shut, his lips trembling as he tried to answer. “They’re trying to fight it, but they’re losing! They can’t lose! It’s going to kill us!” His voice became more and more frantic with every word.

  “What is attacking them?” the Mage’s Guild employee demanded.

  Newman tilted his head back and screamed. It was piercing, and full of terror. His eyes rolled back in his head and he began to shake violently, as though he were having a seizure.

  “What is wrong with him?” the Mage’s Guild employee asked.

  “His mind has been damaged,” Viktor said thoughtfully. “Not physically, but psychologically. He will be unable to answer any more questions.”

  The video stopped and Bradley turned back around. “Despite the coroner’s assessment, they continued to attempt to question the victim for fifteen more minutes. Martin Newman was unable to describe what attacked him, or give any coherent answers to their questions.” Bradley put his hands behind his back and shook his head. “The coroner was able to reanimate ten other victims yesterday, and every single one of them resulted in the same thing. They can tell us nothing about what killed them.”

  “What bothers me is that no one fought back,” Lopez said tapping her pen against the table. We’d all gathered in her and Danner’s office after the big meeting. Everyone was a little shell-shocked, but we couldn't stop discussing what we’d seen. We all wanted answers.

  “Everyone has gotten soft since the war. People don’t know how to fight anymore,” Danner said dismissively.

  Lopez gave him an exasperated look and shook her head. “I don’t buy that. We had parents dead on the ground next to their children. They may not be able to fight very well, but they would have done something, even if it failed. Unless they were all killed instantly, which the coroner’s report negates, there should be signs that other types of magic were used.”

  “She’s right,” I said, leaning forward. “And if you look at the pictures, some of the victims look like they’d just sat down and given up. What could cause someone to act like that?”

  “Fear,” Swift suggested. “We all saw the way the victims babbled when Viktor reanimated them. They were terrified when they died.”

  “Some people might freeze when they’re afraid, but just as many would fight back,” I said.

  Danner shook his head. “No one under two hundred knows the real fear of a fight. It’s not something you can understand until you’ve sat in a hole knowing you are going to die.”

  I tapped my fingers against the table, thinking. “If something like this appeared in the middle of Moira right now, I still think enough people would choose to fight back before giving up. That paralyzing fear you’re talking about comes after someone has given up and really thinks they’re going to die. What made these people think that? Also, the necromancers have raised the dead before after violent, horrible deaths. The zombies have never been unable to speak about it before.”

  “There has to be magic involved. Perhaps a spell that can induce paralyzing fear instantaneously,” Swift said.

  Lopez shook her head with a sigh. “Whatever this thing is, I hope the valkyrie killed it, and everyone can forget about this in a year.”

  I hoped for the same thing, but my inner pessimist was telling me we wouldn’t get that lucky.

  Nine

  My eyes were watering from staring at the wall, which was one giant screen that displayed all the information for our current investigation. The two cups of coffee I’d downed had worn off but I refused to get a third. It tasted like someone had scraped mud into the coffee pot and poured hot water over it.

  Lopez and Danner had headed back to their office after the meeting with Bradley to wrap up some paperwork. We were supposed to talk to Viktor tomorrow to see if there was anything new out of the victims, but until then, all we could do was review evidence we’d already looked at ten times.

  We weren’t even on this case officially, but everyone in the department was working on it today.

  “Has anyone ever successfully contacted a valkyrie?” I asked, swiping on my tablet to bring up the crime scene pictures from inside the Rune Rail car. Whatever had done this must have grown in size. The damage had to have been done by something huge, but it had fit inside the rail car, unnoticed, until it got to Moira.

  “Not that I know of. They tend to show up, kill you, then leave without hanging around for a chat.” Swift got up and walked over to the screen. “Even while I worked for the Mage’s Guild it was a big mystery. The people that worked in Moira were sworn to secrecy about their jobs, but people got drunk and talked about stuff they shouldn’t have. They would talk about the valkyrie sometimes too. They didn’t ask them to protect the Rune Rail, and they can’t get them to leave.”

  “They tried to get them to leave?” I asked, raising a brow.

  “Once, the year Moira was discovered. They killed the magister who went and tried to oust them, then no one was ever that stupid again. The official decision was that the valkyrie provide safety, so why look a gift horse in the mouth? The unofficial decision was just that they couldn’t do a damn thing about it.”

&nb
sp; “The valkyrie I spoke with didn’t kill me. She wasn’t the least bit interested in having a conversation, but other than kicking me across the platform, she didn’t make any move to hurt me,” I said, stretching out in the chair. We had to get out of this office or I was going to go crazy. I did my best work out in the field, not sitting in an office theorizing.

  “Why do I feel like you’re about to suggest something stupid?”

  “We should go try to talk to the valkyrie,” I said with a grin.

  Swift groaned. “I’m not in the mood to die today.”

  “We’re not going to die. All we want is to talk, we aren’t going to be violent and we aren’t going to demand anything. The valkyrie have never killed anyone without proper justification,” I said, rising from my chair and grabbing my jacket.

  Swift looked unimpressed by my reassurance.

  “If I’m wrong, I’ll buy you lunch,” I said, spreading my arms magnanimously.

  “If you’re wrong, we’ll be dead.”

  “In hell,” I added with a smirk.

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m going to ask for a transfer. Maybe Patrice needs a partner.”

  I snorted. “She’d never be able to put up with you all day.”

  The Rune Rail was still running, but there were hardly any passengers. They’d repaired the damage within twelve hours, but that couldn’t erase the fear that every resident of Moira now felt. The Rune Rail was supposed to be safe. It was supposed to be impossible to attack. But the impossible had happened.

  Overhead, the magically-generated sky was relentlessly sunny, as if the bright light could make people feel safer.

  The platform that had been attacked was still shut down, supposedly out of respect for the dead. The real reason was that the Mage’s Guild had a team of investigators down there working around the clock.

  That didn’t leave us many options for a place to try and talk to a valkyrie. My gut was telling me the same valkyrie who came back for her sister might still be hanging around, but it could be a different one. I had no idea how many valkyrie there were in existence, much less at the Rune Rail at any given time.

  “Where are we going?” Swift asked quietly as we headed to the Rune Rail.

  I waited until we passed a group of magisters leaving the Rune Rail to answer. “There is a closed level. They started construction to add a new connection, then never finished it. It’s been abandoned for two years.”

  “Won’t it have security?”

  I grinned at her. “The secret entrance doesn’t.”

  “How exactly did you stumble across a ‘secret entrance’ to an abandoned section of the Rune Rail?” Swift asked, glancing at me suspiciously.

  “I was trailing a suspect, actually. Once we got in here, I couldn’t touch him – for fear of becoming a wall decoration courtesy a valkyrie– so I just followed him around for a while. He managed to slip away in the crowd and seemingly vanish. A few hours later, I found out how. The door is almost hidden.”

  “Did you ever arrest the guy?”

  I snorted. “My old partner caught him in Transylvania.” The sudden memory of my partner was jarring.

  "Ah." She went silent for a moment, then finally asked the question I could tell was weighing on her mind. "How did he die?"

  “An assassination. No clue who was behind it, but from what I was able to piece together, he was working on something alone.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” she said quietly.

  "Through here," I said, slipping past the low barrier and heading toward the seemingly solid wall. There was one opening, hardly more than a narrow crack, that led to the lower level. With a quick glance to make sure no one was paying attention to us, I tested the wall with my hand. The concrete gave under my fingers like it was made of memory foam.

  "Take a deep breath," I warned Swift with a grin before dragging her after me.

  "What––"

  Her voice, along with all other sounds, was cut off as I pushed into the soft section, turning sidewise so I'd fit. There was no air so I had to resist the urge to take a breath. I wasn't proud of it, but I had panicked a little the first time I'd walked through it. The strange magic squished around me for the three shuffling steps it took to get through it.

  I stepped out and Swift's hand tightened around mine as she hurried through it. I tugged a bit to help her along. She stumbled out, taking a gasp of air.

  I cast a quick rune to light up the area and sent it bobbing above us.

  "What the hell was that?"

  "No clue, but it hasn't hurt me yet." I shook out my jacket, which was completely wrinkled now.

  Swift's hair was standing on end like she'd been electrocuted. She patted it down, which helped...sort of. Once she'd gotten her bearings, she finally looked around. There wasn't much around us; just concrete walls and the beginnings of an escalator.

  "It's pretty empty down there," I said pointing at the escalator. "But I don't think we need to go that far. This is out of sight of the cameras and security."

  She nodded. "Ok, what now? Do you have a plan?"

  I wavered my hand. "I wouldn't call it a plan..."

  "Great. I don't know why I thought you'd have a plan. You seem to be allergic to them," she said with a sigh.

  I ignored her insult and moved to the center of the space. "To the valkyrie I saw after the first attack, I would like to speak to you. Please."

  Silence.

  Swift raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

  I tried again, shouting this time, but there was still no response.

  "Maybe none of the valkyrie are in here?" Swift suggested.

  "I really thought––" All the hair on my arms stood on end and the scent of ozone filled the air. I lifted my hands in a gesture of peace. I couldn’t see the valkyrie, but all my instincts were telling me that she –– or one of them at least –– was here. “We just have a few questions.”

  I didn’t see her, but I sure as hell felt the impact of a boot on my chest. The kick lifted me off my feet and tossed me back like a rag doll. I hit the ground with a roll and jumped back to my feet.

  “Do not summon your mace, Swift,” I shouted, keeping my hands outstretched so it was clear I wasn’t drawing my katana.

  “I thought you said they weren’t going to kill us if it wasn’t justified,” Swift growled. She was barely holding back her magic. The berserker rage swirled behind her eyes.

  “She didn’t kill me, she just kicked me,” I said, my eyes darting around. “Which is rude, but I’m not going to complain. Much.”

  The valkyrie stepped out of thin air. Armored boots encased her feet, extending up to her knees. No wonder the kick had hurt so much.

  I hadn’t paid attention to what she was wearing the day of the attack, but now that I had a chance to take it all in, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Her armor shone, but not from reflecting any outside source of light. The glow came from within it.

  Her breastplate was one solid piece molded from some silvery metal. Gold accents adorned the armor and made her helm gleam. A long bow was strapped to her back but she held a shield and short sword in her hands. Her white-blonde hair was tied back in a long braid that was draped over her shoulder.

  I wrenched my eyes back up to her face and kept my hands up in the air. “We come in peace.”

  The valkyrie glanced at Swift, then nodded. “You would be dead already if I thought otherwise.”

  “Do you know who attacked––”

  “I did not come to answer your questions.” The valkyrie strode toward us and I had to force myself to hold my ground. Her magic felt like a physical thing pushing against my skin. The hairs on my arms stood on end like I’d just stuck my finger in a light socket. “The attack is not your concern. What could you do? Fight a creature that managed to kill one of my sisters? You are babies. Weak and ignorant. Go home and do not worry about things that do not concern you.”

  “This thing slaughtered hundreds of people. How can you
say it doesn’t concern us?” Swift demanded.

  The valkyrie turned to face her. “Because there is nothing you can do to stop it.”

  “We need answers,” I said carefully. The last thing I wanted to do was try her patience, but they couldn’t just sweep this under the rug.

  “You do not. The valkyrie have protected this place since long before you were born, and shall continue to do so after you are dead. This enemy struck at us, but it did not defeat us.”

  “Can you at least tell us if it’s going to attack again?” Swift asked.

  The valkyrie turned away, her fingers tightening around her sword for a moment. “If you come here again demanding an audience, I won’t be so kind.”

  There was a sharp crack and a flash of light, and then she was gone.

  Ten

  “The cameras stopped before the attack, dude,” Bootstrap said, rocking the chair back onto two legs. “It was intentional, not some kind of static. They all went down at once.”

  Neither of us had wanted to go back to the IMIB after that conversation with the valkyrie, so we’d come to the Manor hoping to dig up some more information.

  “Who could do that?” Maybe a self-proclaimed god could turn off a bunch of cameras, but something told me that wasn’t who did this. It didn’t seem like Fate’s style.

  Bootstrap gnawed on the cap of his pen, then let the chair drop back down. His fingers flew over his keyboard. That and his computer were the only clean things in the entire room. “Ok, so, there are over two hundred hackers that could pull it off. But over half of those guys are white hat, or working strictly for one company. That still leaves a ton of options though. It could be anyone really.”

  Swift leaned back against the side of the desk and crossed her arms. “Could you find out if any of these two hundred hackers have had a large payment recently?”

  Bootstrap shook his head. “No way any of them would be dumb enough to leave a trail if they did.”