Page 17 of Berserkr
I simply stared at him. It didn't make sense. I couldn't understand. Home? But her home was with me. She couldn't have left. It was impossible. She had to feel what I did. The bond was there. I smelled her arousal earlier while I'd carried her. She felt the same way. So how was she gone?
She'd left me.
Confusion turned into sorrow.
And then into unquenchable fury.
"... need some assistance," I heard Njal say from far away.
Njal. The traitor. He'd lured me here so his female could send my mate away. He'd planned this. It was his fault.
I stood, facing him. My muscles tensed. He'd pay for it. I didn't care that he was my Captain. He'd destroyed my life. So I would end his in return.
"Rune, you need to calm down, you're not thinking clearly-"
I attacked.
11
Laurel
Of course it was raining. The porting beam dropped me right where I'd been picked up. Had it only been yesterday? It was hard to believe. So much had happened.
24 hours ago, I'd believed I was about to uncover a human trafficking ring. Now, I knew aliens were real, and that all the women who'd disappeared were not only alive, but living with their alien mates in space.
One thing I didn't have was proper evidence. Not a single measly photo of a Vikingr or even of their spaceship. I'd planned to stay longer until I got the chance to find a phone or camera, but that was before I'd talked to Steff. Before I'd realised that I was out of time.
It had become too hot. I was developing feelings for Rune and that couldn't happen. I'd had to leave before my emotions got in the way of my work. The job came first.
I looked around me, trying to get my bearings. Steff hadn't exactly been happy to let me go, but I'd reassured her that I'd pay for all costs incurred. I supposed dropping me here, far away from the centre of Glasgow, was her way of showing her disapproval. At least she'd given me some shoes, fabricated within seconds by the spaceship. Maybe they could be used as evidence. I'd give them to a lab to see what they were made of. And I still had one trump card left. Steff had mentioned something in passing. It was how I'd get my evidence.
I searched the ground for my phone - and yes, there it was, but that's where Lady Fortune abandoned me. It didn't turn on. Either the battery was dead or the rain had killed it. Either way, I'd have to find another way to contact my boss.
I walked for half an hour until I finally got to a street busy enough that I could flag down a cab. That's when I realised I didn't have my handbag, which contained my wallet. Fuck. I was stranded in rainy Glasgow with no phone, no money and not even a hotel room booked. Great. I supposed this was my punishment for crushing Rune's hopes.
What was I going to do now? Life was so dependent on money and communication. I had neither.
I kept on walking, not quite sure where I was going, but it was better than just standing in the rain. When I passed a busy bus stop, with people huddling together to keep dry, I decided to try my luck. Drawing on my confident journalist persona, I asked whether anyone had a phone I could use. Silence. Then one lady in her fifties handed me hers. I had to look desperate enough in my soaked clothes, without a jacket or umbrella.
Luckily, Exposure Magazine's number was ingrained in my brain. I'd given it to so many people over the years that it was one of the few phone numbers I knew by heart. The receptionist connected me with Nicole right away. I could have jumped with joy when I heard my boss's voice. Not a reaction I usually had when it came to her.
" Nicole, I'm stranded in Glasgow, but I have the information we needed."
I kept it vague, not wanting the people next to me hear about the aliens yet.
"Laurel! I was worried about you. Stranded, you say?"
I explained the situation to her. The lady whose phone I was using shot me a sympathetic glance. I smiled and turned away.
"After I got your text yesterday, I sent Jenna up to Glasgow," Nicole continued. "She can pick you up. Where exactly are you?"
I read out the street name painted on the bus stop shelter.
"Alright, I'll tell her to get there as fast as possible. Call me again once you're at the hotel, I'm itching to know what you discovered."
She had no idea what she was going to learn.
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