Page 31 of Thor

Next, she called Catena. As a fellow archaeologist, Catena had worked on a few different sites, like Sibyl, but her godmother Maria was a legend in the archaeology community who'd worked all over the world. If anyone had come across gargoyles or foundation sacrifices on a dig, it was Maria.

Of course, she didn't have Catena's number in her phone. It should be in her email somewhere, though...

Her email inbox was overflowing. Even after Sibyl had deleted all the spam, there were still heaps to skim through. A search for Catena's name brought up an email from Callie, so Sibyl clicked on it. And nearly lost it laughing.

A Moth Man? Seriously? It wasn't as hot as digging up a Norse god, or near enough, but...

Sibyl clicked on the video link. It kind of looked like a guy in a Batman suit with wings, but if she squinted, he also looked a little like Thor. Not that she'd ever seen Thor dance. Did Vikings dance?

Then again, what were the chances of one of her friends finding a gargoyle at the same time that she had? She had to call Catena.

On the third email, she hit paydirt – Catena's number, at the bottom of her email signature.

Unlike Callie, Catena answered on the first ring.

"Hello?" she ventured.

"Cat! It's so good to hear your voice!"

A long pause. "Is that Sibyl?"

"That's me! Fresh from the frozen wastes of the Arctic, back in civilisation for a little while before they send me back to site with the next load of supplies."

Sibyl found herself babbling about life in camp, and how much of a dick Saint Nik was, though everyone else was wonderful. The problem was, she wasn't sure how to shift the subject around to Thor, or the Moth Man.

Finally, she paused to take a breath.

"It sounds amazing," Catena admitted.

Well, now or never. "I haven't even told you the best part! I've..."

Found a thousand-year-old Viking god and he's amazing in bed.

Nope.

Somehow unearthed a cursed Viking warrior and I want to know what you know about curses.

Hell no.

Heard you got captured by a paranormal creature and I want to compare notes.

Definitely not.

Sibyl chickened out. "I've...met someone...and I'll probably be staying for another season, to see what else we can find. I'm learning so much."

Silence. Catena never had been much of a gossip. Not like the others. Callie would be asking how big Thor's dick was by now.

Enormous and so, so addictive.

Sibyl swallowed. "How about you? Have you decided on a PhD project yet, or did Alethea talk you into joining her company as a consultant instead?"

Catena blew out a breath that sounded awfully frustrated. "I'm finalising my project proposal this week. I definitely want to do my PhD next year, and no, Alethea hadn't managed to talk me into digging up dead bodies with her. Did you know their latest project was digging up an old colonial cemetery?" Sibyl imagined Catena shuddering. She was a great archaeologist, but she didn't want anything to do with dead bodies.

Sibyl smothered a laugh. Good thing Catena wasn't here in Norway. "Well, you know that's the holy grail up here. Dead bodies. Frozen ones. They're hoping to find another ice mummy like Otzi. My friend says we have a good chance of finding one, too, because it was an ancient trading and raiding route. Thor knows so much about Viking history..."

Oops. She probably shouldn't have mentioned Thor. Well, too late now. She should change the subject quickly.

"Anyway, what about you? Have you met anyone yet? And what's this I hear about you having a major moth problem? I tried to watch the video, but I only saw a few seconds of his moves before the video froze. The internet connection here keeps dropping out. It might feel like civilisation after the dig site, but it's really just a few storage rooms and a lab, on the outskirts of a tiny town. So, are you going to tell me about him?"

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