Page 22 of Odin

She tapped out a vague email, agreeing to see Ingrid and whoever else was coming next week. What more could she say? She was stuck here, awaiting her fate, at least until the snow melted.

What she needed was a miracle.

What she had was Olaf, a massive lab facility, and a whole lot of snow. And a week left of life as she knew it.

Well, if she only had a week left...she might as well make a bucket list.

She pulled up a blank page on her laptop screen and began to type.

1. Find the ice mummy and put it back in the fridge.

Well, it was her priority, even if it was a long shot.

Then again, how had they lured the mummy back into his tomb, in that old movie? Freyja had a bad feeling a girl had sacrificed herself to be bait or something, and Freyja would take prison over seducing some long-dead Viking any day. No matter what the news or the rumours said, she was NOT into necrophilia.

All she'd heard about Viking culture was that they loved their food – and their idea of heaven was a feasting hall in the sky. So...maybe a trail of fish would be better bait. They definitely had enough sardines and herring here to lure anyone from the road all the way to the necropsy lab, if need be. Fuck knew she wasn't going to be eating them, especially now the power was back on. Even if they ran out of normal food, or if the power went out again, she could take one of the portable gas burners the expeditioners used and some of their dehydrated meals out into the courtyard and have a cookout.

Last year, even Lara had admitted those meals weren't bad, though they couldn't beat fresh food. Fish, however...

Freyja buried her head in her hands. She must be going mad, if she was actually considering this. Ice mummies, like any other mummified remains, didn't move, wouldn't respond to any kind of bait, virginal, piscine or otherwise, and, most importantly, couldn't get up and walk out of a fridge without someone carrying them out.

So it wasn't the mummy she was trying to bribe, but the thief, which still left her with the problem that even a year's worth of smoked herring still wouldn't work.

Freyja blew out a breath. Well, if she couldn't achieve the first item on her list, she needed more things she could actually tick off.

2. Pancakes for breakfast every morning

3. Hawaiian pizza every day

4. Another orgasm with Olaf

Freyja stretched for the delete key. She shouldn't even be thinking about him. Then again, if she was going to lose her job anyway because she failed to achieve the first item on the list, then she may as well do some bad things that weren't likely to land her in prison.

She put her pinky back where it belonged on the keyboard, so she could add more to the list.

5. Another night with Olaf

6. Destroy the sundial

7. Drink the bottle of champagne Karl had had delivered with the ice mummy

He'd had a whole case of it sent to the expedition site, but he'd insisted on her having a bottle, too. She'd planned on drinking it with the team or at least Karl when he got back, but now...she might as well guzzle the lot on her own.

8. Eat the last pack of Tim Tams

She'd brought a bunch in her suitcase with her, and she'd been saving the last packet for a special occasion. Better to eat them now than let them go bad while she was in prison. Maybe she should try to seduce Olaf with them...

Maybe if she was really lucky, she wouldn't go to prison, and they'd just cancel her visa and deport her back to Australia. Then she could eat all the Tim Tams she wanted, while looking for another job. Though who would employ her after this, she had no idea.

In the meantime, she intended to check if there were enough pineapple pizzas to achieve goal number three.

TWENTY-SIX

Odin closed the last book, and slipped through the walls to return it to its shelf. He'd taken to travelling this way in order to avoid Freyja, and the temptation that came with being too close to her. Oh, he watched over her, and if she called for help, he could be almost instantly by her side, but the more he read, the more certain he became of two things.

Firstly, that so much had changed in the world while he'd been asleep, that it would take him a lifetime to learn enough to live in the world as it was now.

Secondly, that he had no hope of defending Freyja from all the things he barely understood in this world, so he definitely didn't deserve the title of being her protector at all.

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