you need me.” Thunder exited his own office, closing the door behind him and saying a silent
prayer to the Goddess for Danielle’s wellbeing.
This type of event had never happened before. The binding chain was only received and
worn by those who became truly bonded mates and only broken and removable by death. It was
a ceremony blessed by Freya, the Goddess of love, war and fertility herself, equivalent to a
mortal’s marriage but binding for the remainder of their immortal lives together. It was a sacred
symbol of that commitment and psychically bonded the lovers allowing the bonded mates to hear
the thoughts and feel the emotions of their counterpart. A true connection of mind, body and
soul.
The chain in Zahara’s vision belonged to Alarr, Danielle’s lost love, who died in The
Great Battle for the Eye of Odin. It was assumed that he died, although his body was never
recovered, because Danielle lost her connection with him. Freya and Odin were correct in that
Danielle should be the one to retrieve it. It would call to her and obtaining it should help close
any remaining old wounds she may harbor. She had never been the same since that day of loss.
No one who lived through it had. Such a day of tremendous loss of friends and fellow warriors
and such a waste of life, as the Eye of Odin was never retrieved.
*****
The Windjammer was the hottest club within a hundred and fifty miles of their secluded
mountain home, supplying alcoholic libations, loud music, local drug dealers and all the sex you
could handle by gyrating out on the dance floor to whatever top forty, rap or R & B artist was at
the top of charts at the moment. And one night a week they offered karaoke to the faithful
patrons who liked that sort of thing.
Makayla, Justice and Vex had the night off from assignment and made their way through
the smoke filled atmosphere to their usual table nearest the exit, in case they had to make a hasty
departure. No VIP seating in this joint. This was Oregon after all, not New York or California.
Still, this place was doable. It offered a great sound system, lighted dance floors on two levels,
the drinks weren’t watered down and if you ordered that drink at the second level bar, you could
ride the twisted slide all the way back down to the first floor. Of course, if you weren’t very
careful, you’d also be wearing that recently purchased pomegranate martini and would be going
back for a replacement.
Makayla swept her auburn hair up into a pony tail high on her head. She took in the club
with her almond shaped brown eyes flashed fiery green specks when caught by the club lighting
that swirled rhythmically around the club’s surfaces. She was short for a warrior at a curvy five
foot three inches, but made up for being height challenged with her fiery bow and arrow – a gift
of Freya, of course, that only performed its extraordinary feats when used by Makayla herself.
That was the catch with the females’ weapons. The weapon only reacted to its owner, capable of
extraordinary feats, otherwise it was just a normal bow and arrow, spear, etc. Of course she had
her warrior training and superior strength, which certainly didn’t hurt either. But tonight
Makayla wanted to unwind and have some fun. Sing a little, dance a little, drink a lot, which
was afforded her because it took a lot of alcohol to even get a buzz when you had the metabolism
of an immortal.
She was accompanied by two of her fellow Freyodin Warriors, her World War Buddies,
she liked to call them. First there was Justice, an eccentric, explosives expert and avid Elvis fan
from Memphis, who was ‘brought over’ from World War II. His career choice would have been
to be an Elvis impersonator and he claimed to have personally met The King, but not during his
mortal life. That life ended before Elvis’ career began. He even sported sideburns with hair just
a hint of the early Elvis style and aqua blue eyes, but the huge muscles and fangs brought the
similarities all to a crashing halt. Plus, although he had a wonderful voice, he didn’t sound
enough like Elvis to pull it off successfully.
Completing the WW buds was Vex, who was brought over from World War I. Vex’s
specialty was knives and daggers. He bore an underlying sadness he refused to talk about, and
was sometimes very bitter, but all in all, he acted as the protector of the Shieldmaidens and was a
most reliable warrior in battle. The kind you always wanted by your side. He drank way too
much, was a master at poker and enjoyed loud music. Mostly current and 80’s rock. But the boy
could croon like an angel and, because it was karaoke night, the patrons of the Windjammer were
in for a real treat.
Vex raked his slender fingers through his shoulder length wavy brown hair, something
that he did frequently when he was preoccupied or nervous, and perused the song list. He had an
almost baby face with an irresistible smile that topped a sinewy warrior’s body. His eyes could
be either blue or green depending on what he wore that set the color in motion. Tonight they
were deep green.
Being ‘brought over’ was the politically correct term for male warriors who died bravely
in battle, were delivered to Valhalla and transformed into an immortal vampire via a blood ritual
performed by the God Odin. Not all who died were worthy to become warriors and their
numbers were not as strong as in the past due to the losses of The Great Battle, but they were
rebuilding, slowly and steadily. Along with this transformation, they received powers that
assisted them in their fight to protect the mortal realm against the demon Huldrekall. They were
not the vampires spoken of in movies and legends. They only partook of bottled or donated
blood about once a month unless they were severely injured, but they also required a physic
charge taken from a woman during sex to replenish them. And acquiring sex for this bunch of
fellows was not a problem. Sunlight could not hurt them and they loved to eat, a lot. They were
big muscular warriors, after all. Their transition saw to that.
Makayla took a sip of her lime flavored kamikaze and reached across the table brushing
Vex’s shoulder tenderly. They were not lovers, but they shared a special bond, nonetheless.
“Ve-ex, please sing some Journey for me tonight,” she begged shamelessly in a sing-song
voice, comically batting her eyelashes at him. She loved to hear him sing and hoped she could
con him into it tonight.
“You just want to indulge in your Steve Perry fantasies. Don’t you get enough of that
messing around with Savage? The resemblance between the two hasn’t gotten by me, you
know,” he jested back at her. Although he knew he’d do it for her, he really enjoyed making her
beg.
Justice beckoned a nearby waitress and turned toward his friends. He loved to tease and
saw a golden opportunity, so he couldn’t help but jump in the fray. “Yea, you should have come
back as a groupie, not a warrior.”
They all shared a big laugh picturing Makayla as an 80’s groupie, then placed their orders
for more drinks when the waitress approached. Makayla couldn’t help secretly agreeing with
Justice’s assessment. A girl could dream after all.
Turning slightly serious, Vex leaned into her and inquired about her dual relationship
with Vengeance. There was no use whispering as Justice’s hearing was as good as his own and
would hear it anyway. “If you’re living your fantasy with Savage, why Venge?”
Picturing both of her fierce warrior lovers with a dreamy look in her eyes, she replied,
“Because he’s a long, tall drink of sexy Viking. Why not? The boys are cool with it, so am I.
And they both have such gorgeous hair.” She suddenly sobered. Her smile not as bright and the
playfulness gone from her voice. “Besides, I’ve done the chain bonding thing. I won’t do it
again.” Adamancy shown in her eyes and stature as she threw back the shot of Patrón sitting on
the table in front of her. It went down a little too smoothly and she needed something stronger,
something with more heat to it. She longed to feel the burn scorching the back of her throat.
Vex felt a similar stabbing in his chest as a near fresh wound, but hid any physical
reaction. “Yea, I’ll never chain bond. That ship passed me by,” Vex mumbled solemnly, turning
away from his friends to check out the club goers and effectually hiding the remorseful look on
his somber face that had silently crept up on him.
Makayla recognized the pain of loss that etched across his now stern face, how his jaw
had tensed and he resumed running his long fingers over the top of his head and through his
chestnut hair. She also wondered when/if Vex would open up to her and tell her what his pain
was all about. Now was not the time to press the issue.
The ribbing had died down along with the laughter, but this subject brought Danielle to
mind. “Did you guys hear about Danielle’s new mission?” Makayla inquired attempting another
sip of her drink and remembering she’d drained it already. The others nodded.
“It’s so strange finding Alarr’s binding chain after eight hundred years. I really can’t
imagine what she’s going through right now,” she said sympathetically, running her fingers
along her own binding chain that was hidden beneath her top.
“Yea, but it’s a simple search and retrieval. She ought to be in and out easily enough,”
offered Justice while sucking on his usual drink of choice, a cold-as-ice long necked beer,
wrapped in his personal beer koozie that boldly read ‘I deliver justice. Want some?’
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