Page 38 of Odin

Yet they were the same people. Thor tossed his hammer from one hand to the other, with a vague smile on his face. Loki licked his lips, intent on some idea that he would surely tell them when he was ready. And Odin...

His eyes darted from his men, to the women. Sibyl looked like a girl in her padded jacket, with little more than her eyes showing. Jorunn flicked switches on the wall, while Freyja was still reluctantly tugging on her jacket, after taking forever to pull on her boots. While the others looked like they wanted to be here, she was putting on a brave face, her eyes darting back down the corridor, deeper inside the building.

Odin moved to her side. "You don't need to do this, you know. You can stay inside, where you'll be safe."

Freyja just gave him a funny look. "I'm not going to run and hide. I was thinking of going back for the first aid kit. In case someone hurts themselves, it'll save time if we already have it here."

"You're not afraid?"

"I'm afraid someone will get hurt. Magic and monsters might be more than I can understand, but I'm still a doctor, and I know that if someone can get injured, they will, and that I should be prepared." She wet her lips. "I'm going to get the first aid kit. I'll be right back, okay?" She hurried off.

Jorunn pressed the button to open the roller door, then looked around. "Where'd Freyja go?"

"She went to get something. She said she'd be right back."

"Well, I hope so, because it looks like we have visitors," Sibyl said grimly.

FORTY-THREE

Odin might have mistaken the pair for people of this time, for they wore modern garments, though styled more like those of his time. Her tunic glowed a dark blood red in the bright lights beaming across the courtyard, above polished leather boots. Over it all, she wore a dark woollen cloak that seemed to glitter like the night sky above. She looked like just a girl, younger than Freyja and her friends, until her gaze met his and recognition sparked.

She inclined her head. "Well met, Jarl Odin."

Odin was at a loss – he did not remember the witch's name.

Thor, like a good brother in arms, came to his rescue. "You are an abomination, and you do not deserve to live! I, Thor, Hymir's son, so vow and I will not rest until you are dead!" He flew across the courtyard and slammed into the witch's companion, knocking him into the snow.

The fight was fast and furious, for though Thor wielded his hammer and more than once Odin heard the sound of the hammer head cracking what could only be bone, the wolfman sprouted fur, fangs and claws, all of which he used liberally on Thor.

Snow flew up in clouds, obscuring the fight for minutes at a time, until the combatants appeared, roaring and snarling at one another, before tumbling to the ground out of sight once more.

"You have to stop this!" Sibyl insisted, grabbing the witch's shoulders, for the girl had come to stand beside the lab door like the rest of them, to get out of the way of the fight.

The witch shrugged. "They are men, and men will always fight. Especially when there is honour at stake. There is no sense in trying to stop them, until they are finished with this foolishness, or one of them has won."

"I can do this all day!" the wolf man snarled.

"And I can do this all night!" Thor growled back.

An almighty crack sounded somewhere in the snow, and both men roared in response.

Sibyl sniffed. "So much for being a powerful witch. If you won't stop this, I will." She charged into the snow before anyone could stop her.

Another deafening crack, a ringing clang, and then a man's scream: "Sibyl!"

FORTY-FOUR

When Freyja reached the loading dock, the door was wide open and everyone was gone. "I said I'd only be a second," she grumbled as she left the gurney on the dock, with the first aid boxes stacked on top of it. Why had no one thought to put a trolley in the first aid room? The moment she got back to her laptop, she was going to order one.

She trudged down the steps to the snow dusted veranda. "What have I..."

A loud gonging drowned out her words. A sound that could only have come from something hitting that fucking sundial. Hard.

Then a man's scream: "Sibyl!"

Freyja didn't think. She broke into a run.

The first thing that came into view was the plinth that had once held the sundial. One piece was still stuck to it, but the rest of it had broken into smaller pieces, the largest of which was sitting on Sibyl's chest, where she lay on the snow.

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