Page 66 of Viking

I drop the pedo to the floor and yank my blade from his back with a wet sloshing sound.

“How many more you think are in there?”

I shake my head. “Don’t know. Arie never said how many of these motherfuckers were walking this commune. She never spoke of it at all.”

“Can’t say I fucking blame her. This shit’s gonna haunt me for the rest of my days.” He steps over the body and assesses my redecorating skills, wrinkling his nose. “On three, then?”

“Yep.”

We both lean a shoulder against the wood and silently count to three. We shove our bodies against the doors and they burst open, revealing a communal rectory where a bunch of dirty old fuckers huddle in the corner. No guards, no guns, just vulnerable flesh and bone ready for the taking.Dumb fucks.

“Do not be afraid, Brothers.” A decrepit old dude with stained robes and a beard down to his belly leans heavily on his cane as he stands. “Though the devil walks among us, the Mother will keep us safe in her light.”

“That pasty old junkie bitch my woman put her knife through earlier? That mother?” I step toward him, blades in hand and ready to crucify. “You dirty old kiddie fiddlers die tonight. Every last motherfucking one of you. And no one is coming to save you from my blade.”

“It is not wrong to share in the pairings with The Mother’s chosen disciples.”

“It’s illegal in all fifty states, you sick fuck,” Wolf says.

“We do not fear you.” The elderly man wobbles on his feet.

“You should.” I walk closer until I’m standing in front of the old man. I point to each of the assholes with the blade of my knife. “And since I didn’t get to tear apart your fat Prophet fuck, I’m gonna make you pay for ever touching a hair on my old lady’s head. Starting with you.”

I lash out with my knife, slicing the old fuck’s throat. Blood erupts from the wound like a geyser. His cane falls to the floor, both hands trying to cover the deep slash. His face turns ghostly white, and he drops to the ground with a wide-eyed expression. Several of the remaining men gag.

“Naw, shit,” Wolf says, leaning against a wooden dresser. “This is gonna take a while, isn’t it?”

“Yep.”

A robed figure gets to his feet and makes a run for the door. Wolf empties a clip into his back and he falls to the ground.

I glare at Wolf.

“What,” he says. “I can’t kill any of the pedos?”

“Sacrifices to Odin typically aren’t riddled with bullets.”

Wolf shrugs. “There’s a first time for everything.”

***

AFTER WE’RE DONE KILLINGthe scum of the earth and burning their rectory, Wolf and I head back to the bikes. Before I can check on Arie, Blue pulls me over to the second van.

“There’s something you need to see, Prez.” He yanks open the door and the women and children inside all shriek. All but one, with ice-blue eyes and features that are my own. She looks just like our mother and sits calmly with a baby in her arms and a little boy clinging to her waist.

“Gypsy?” I whisper.

Her hair is full of ash and has come loose from her bun. Blood stains her pale blue dress and apron. But I can’t see any wounds. She hands the baby off to another woman, who clings to her forearms like the little boy, begging her not to leave.

I hold my hand out to help her from the van. She doesn’t cry as she meets my gaze. She’s every bit the Viking warrior my mother raised her to be. Gypsy pulls the child’s hands from their vise grip on her thigh, and climbs over the other women and toddlers, jumping out of the vehicle. The little boy screams, reaching for her. I glare at him, and he shrinks back, weeping quietly in the other woman’s arms.

My sister’s body is frail, too skinny, beaten, scarred, and bruised. After so many years of searching, I can hardly believe she’s standing in front of me.

“You got old,” she whispers.

“You too. Gods, it’s good to see you.” I pull her into my arms, but she stiffens. “Fuck. Sorry.”

I let go and study her face as if she’s going to disappear again. Twenty-one long years she’s been gone, on this fucking island with these pedo freaks.