Page 40 of Valhalla is Full of Hunks
Besides being on their payroll, I wasn’t sure I agreed with that sentiment, but I took my opening to snatch up the stew-seasoned feather and slide off my chair. Hustling toward the chest, I peered at the nondescript iron lock, wondering how afeatherwas supposed to unlock it.
Glancing over my shoulder, I noticed Sinmara had crept closer—the curiosity on her face telling me she was as invested in the outcome as me.
At least as much as her former side piece….
Refocusing on the chest, I wiped the feather on my makeshift sarong and stabbed it into the lock, quill-first.
Open sesame.
I’d half-expected it not to work, so when there was a loud click followed by a creaking groan as the rounded lid opened a crack, I couldn’t help taking a step back to join Sinmara.
“Are you not eager to see what’s inside?” she murmured in my ear with a note of smugness in her tone.
“I-I don’t know,” I replied, flustered.
You’d think I’d be racing to finish this vision quest and return to the hotties in my bed, butsomethingwas nudging at my awareness—like a ship on the horizon I couldn’t quite bring into focus.
“Go on,” Sinmara urged, suddenly an enthusiastic member of Team Laevateinn as she practically shoved me toward the chest again. “Claim your destiny.”
Until this moment, I hadn’t caredwhySurt wanted his rooster-killing sword. All I’d gathered was that making a rotisserie out of Heihei was related to the guys getting into Valhalla somehow.
Maybe I should be asking more questions…
I shook my head. Right now, my ‘job’ was to use my gifts to retrieve the sword, so I could then get back to monster fucking. Gingerly opening the lid, I groaned to find an identical chest waiting for me inside.
Locked up tight.
What the actual fuck?
Sinmara cackled, before reciting more poetry:
“Laevateinn is there, that Loki with runes
Once made by the doors of death;
In Loki's chest by Sinmara lies it,
And nine locks fasten it firm.”
NINE?!
With a sigh, I set to work unlocking nine freakin’ chests with the same stupid feather. Beyond annoyed by the time I got to the last one, as soon as I heard the telltale click of the lock, I ripped it open—ready for my prize based on principle alone.
Too bad there was nothing waiting for me.
I gaped for a moment at the empty space, blinking rapidly as if my eyesight was to blame. But, no—the only thing at the bottom of the chest was dust.
Laevateinn was gone.
“Interesting,” Sinmara murmured, as if she hadn’t just set me up.
“Where’s the sword?!” I barked, slamming the last chest shut and furiously turning on the giantess—as if she couldn’t crush my head between her palms.
She arched an eyebrow, seeming surprised by my reaction. “You tell me,Völvadís.”
Why does everyone speak in riddles around here?
The cave flickered in and out of focus, and I realized I was being pulled back to the island.
