words.
“I speak English.” There was a trace of pride in the words. The boy pointed in the direction of the road out of town. “I go to the mission.”
Another grenade hit close by and Adam decided waiting around in a ditch wasn’t the best idea for either of them. Scooping up both the boy and his dog, he stayed low as he broke into a run. He had gone only a few hundred yards when the bullet hit him. Even though there was surprisingly little pain, he recognized what had happened instantly. It felt like someone had punched him hard in the back of his left shoulder.
I’ve really been shot this time. There should be more pain.
Blood, hot and sticky, began to pour down his back. The pain did hit then. Like a demon digging its claws gleefully into his muscles and sawing on his flesh with razor-edged teeth. As his vision blurred, Adam staggered and veered wildly across the road. Determinedly, he kept going. Getting the boy to safety was all that mattered.
“Let me help you.” The voice was cool, feminine and vaguely familiar. It sounded like the speaker was used to giving orders. As an arm slipped around his waist, he gazed into the clear blue eyes of the woman who had burst in on him as he sheltered in the ruined office building.
Her name came into his head through the mist of unconsciousness that was trying to claim him. Maja. Since leaving the house, she had disposed of the horse, helmet, cloak and weapons. Even without those items she was still the same unmistakable warrior princess.
Great. Just when I think I’m being rescued, it turns out to be a figment of my pain-filled imagination.
“Lean on me.” For an apparition, she was surprisingly strong, and Adam was grateful for her support. With her arm around his waist, he could drag his feet along with her in something that resembled a walk. Somehow, he was still able to carry the child and the dog.
“This way.” From within Adam’s protective hold, the boy gestured to a large, run-down building, half-hidden behind a drystone wall lined with dusty olive trees. “The lady will help us.”
The next few minutes passed in a blur. As Adam staggered into a tiled courtyard, Maja vanished. At the same time, a tall, gray-haired woman came out of the building and issued a few commands in English. Three men in local dress emerged and followed her instructions. One of them took the boy from his arms, then Adam was carried inside and strong hands lifted him onto a portable examining table.
Exquisite pain followed as the woman probed the wound in his shoulder. After that, he dipped in and out of consciousness. He was aware of her clipped English tones telling him how lucky he was. He tried to laugh, to make a joke about the sort of luck that had brought him to Warda on this day. He wasn’t sure his voice had worked, but it didn’t matter because sweet, blessed darkness swept over him once more.
When he regained consciousness, he was in a small room. He took a moment to assimilate his surroundings. He was lying on a narrow bed with a broken ceiling fan above his head and a window with cracked shutters painted a faded shade of green. Oh...and his shoulder hurt like a demon.
“Where am I?” Since he was alone, he had no expectation of a response when he tried out his voice. Sure enough, it sounded like he had gargled with broken glass.
“Tarek called it ‘the mission.’”
Startled, Adam began to turn his head in the direction of the voice. The movement caused darts of sheer agony to shoot through his shoulder. He guessed the woman who had removed the bullet had done so without the benefit of anesthetic. He continued the movement of his head, slowly this time, and carefully.
Maja was seated on a chair near the window, her blue eyes fixed on his face. Her expression was one of mild curiosity. As if he was an interesting specimen she was studying and about which she was making mental notes.
“Who is Tarek, and who the hell are you?”
“Tarek is the child you rescued. And I have already told you I am Maja, Valkyrie shield maiden.”
“Of course you are.” Adam closed his eyes, too weary to pursue this strange alternate reality his mind appeared determined to force him into.
“Are you going to die?” The question had the effect of opening his eyes again. Fast.
“What sort of question is that?”
She got to her feet and he took a moment to appreciate the way the red corset fitted her curves. Who needed painkillers with that sort of distraction around? “What you did with the boy was brave. If you die, I can take your soul back to Valhalla and my journey will not have been wasted.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m planning on sticking around.” That was his ambition. Whether the government forces and the rebel opposition who were unleashing mayhem on the local area allowed him to fulfill it? That was another matter. Although sound was muted by distance, he could still hear the battle raging.
She bit her lip. “I was afraid you might say that.”
With those words, the ultraefficient, ice maiden facade slipped slightly and he saw another side to her. Briefly, he caught a glimpse of a frightened expression flitting across her perfect features. The swift change intrigued him, and he made an attempt at getting himself into a sitting position. It wasn’t successful.
“Can you lend a hand?” She might be something his mind had conjured up, but he seemed to be able to put her to use to get his body working. Sure enough, Maja slid an arm around his waist and, with some effort on both their parts, Adam managed to maneuver himself upright. “And some water would be good.”
She reached for the glass at the side of his bed and held it to his mouth. “None of this is helping.”
Adam took a long gulp of the lukewarm liquid. His shoulder was more painful than anything he could ever have imagined, but his head was clear. He still needed to know where Danny was, and Maja was a distraction he could do without. But she was looking at him with such wretchedness in her eyes that he found it impossible to ignore. “Helping what?”
“My defense.” She placed the glass back on the table next to the bed. “By interacting with you, I have broken the Valkyrie Code.” Her lower lip wobbled slightly. “By saving you instead of letting you die and securing your soul for Odin’s army, I may have signed my own death warrant.”
Maja knew she was putting off the inevitable. Sooner or later, she would have to return to Asgard, the home of the gods. Once there she would have to confess all to Brynhild. Not only had she failed to find the American Lion, she had interacted with a mortal. Worse than that, she had committed one of the worst possible sins known to a Valkyrie. She had saved a man from death. A man who had likely been about to die in the performance of an act of great bravery.
This man had been a prime candidate for Valhalla. While he didn’t seem to be a warrior, the courage he had demonstrated when he rescued Tarek had been remarkable. Maja was sure many of the so-called heroes of Valhalla would have abandoned the boy to his fate. Her heart had lifted with an emotion she didn’t recognize as she watched him cradle the child in his arms and break into a run.
She didn’t know what had prompted her to go to this stranger’s aid when he was shot. Maybe it was the wild streak in her nature that Brynhild had always deplored. Maybe it was those intriguing dark eyes of his. Whatever it was, she had acted without thinking. Thoughtlessness was not a trait that was encouraged in the Valkyrie.
The consequence of that action was that she was sitting in this box-like room, with its cracked plaster and concrete floor. The only pleasant thing to look at within its four walls was the man himself. Maja had never seen a man as handsome as this one. From his dark, wavy hair to his chiseled features and muscular body, everything about him was perfection. But it was those eyes that drew her attention over and over. Darker than the storm clouds that surrounded Asgard, they could appear soulful one second, then lighten with