CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
Muni stood in the elevator with Eirik, Brin, and Vidar, watching at the numbers clicked higher and higher. Dinner with Theo St. James would be in the penthouse of a neighboring hotel. Of course it would be. The High Wizard was wealthy beyond compare. He could likely purchase the hotel if he wanted to.
She’s thought to wear a dress in the beginning, but after putting one on, she realized Theo would know exactly who she was no matter what she wore. In the end, she’d dressed herself in leather pants and a loose shirt that would allow her wings free if she needed. The ankle boots she wore were the only feminine aspect she allowed, the small heel still suitable for running should she need to. Brin had braided strands of her hair until she’d looked like a Viking herself. It took everything in her to hold still while his fingers threaded along her scalp, teasing. Though she’d been deep in the Norse culture all her life, not once had anyone offered to braid her hair. Not once had she been so intimate with another. In return, she had braided his until he looked like the Viking he was. Even in jeans and a button-down shirt, there was no mistaking him or Vidar. Even had their tattoos not peeked above their collars or along their forearms. They were warriors through and through.
Eirik’s heritage was softer, harder to see but still there. He’d chosen dress slacks rather than jeans, his hair styled to hang over his forehead. Of the three, he was the only one with shorter hair, though the sides were still shaved in a way that spoke of where he was descended from. His own tattoos were modern, beautiful works of art that traced down his forearms. She’d been startled to realize he had a tattoo of her and her brother in raven form on his back, both represented as they soared over a scene of a Viking ship in the ocean. It was a beautiful realization, to know they were connected long before they’d met.
“Ready?” Muni breathed.
“We’re right behind you,” Brin promised, his hand gently touching her hip in reassurance.
The number hit seventy-one and the elevator dinged. The doors slid open right into the penthouse, revealing the High Wizard standing at the window before them. He was dressed in a fuchsia suit, the color bright in the modern black and white hotel room. His back was to them as he drank from a crystal glass and stared out at the lights of the city.
“Good evening, Munin,” he said as they stepped over the threshold, something tingling in the air. Magic traced over their skin, and for a moment, Muni panicked that they’d been trapped. Before she could react, his voice washed over her again. “it’s only a privacy spell. You have no need to worry you’re trapped. You’re welcome to freely leave.”
“Privacy spell?”
“You of all people know how many spies there are in our world,” he mused. Still, he didn’t turn, preferring to keep his back to them. “So, I hear you’ve decided to enter the Race Games.”
Muni stopped far enough away from him to be respectful. She did so to protect her men. While she was harder to kill, she still wasn’t sure if her men were as human as they’d been before they’d died.
“You likely knew long before I entered the games that I had plans for such,” she commented. There was no accusation in her voice. It was only a statement of fact. Theo was known to keep tabs on the Race Games, though for what reason, she didn’t know. Perhaps, he was simply a fan.
Theo looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. The flamboyant wizard always unnerved others with the power that sizzled along the skin while near him. It was hard to ignore, and his appearance only added to it. Attractive in a way many could never come close to and brightly colored, it was easy to be on edge around the wizard. Despite all that, Muni wasn’t afraid of him. He was powerful, certainly. He could kill her as easily as a fly if he wanted. But Muni had long since spent time with Gods. She was used to the cold touch of power as it traced her skin.
Finally, he turned to face her, that smile still on his face. Like this, Theo wasn’t threatening, not with his body language. It was his power that was the threat to most, the way he could steal your life before you’d blinked. Many didn’t like the thought of being so weak compared to another creature, not when strength was weighed so heavily in their world.
“It’s refreshing to stand with someone who doesn’t fear my presence,” he commented. His eyes traced along the three men standing just behind her, all three holding themselves upright and cordially. “Curiously enough, your three escorts don’t seem to fear me either.”
“Whatever business you have with me, you leave them out of it,” she growled.
Theo held up his hands. It wasn’t a surrender, only an appeasement. “I mean the four of you no harm, Munin. You have my word.”
Muni relaxed. Theo’s word was as strong as the magic he carried in his veins. “Then why are we here?”
He lowered his hands and gestured toward the decanter. “Whiskey?”
“Well—” Brin began, but Muni interrupted him with, “No”. Brin pouted out his lip.
“It’s not laced with magic. It’s only good old Tennessee whiskey.” When Muni only stared at him, he sighed. “Very well. I called you here to discuss a possible. . .alliance if you will.”
She narrowed her eyes. “An alliance?”
Nodding, Theo took another sip of his whiskey and Muni’s eyes were drawn to column of his throat where small silver tattoos seemed to appear on the skin before slithering away like a snake. “You see,” he said when he lowered the glass. “I believe our goals align in this race. You search for those responsible for the corruption in the games to get revenge for your bother. I seek those corrupt for. . .other reasons. Therefore, we have similar interests.”
Muni didn’t question how he knew her plans. Again, it wasn’t something that could be hidden from the High Wizard of the North if he wanted to know. He always seemed to know everything, either because he was a seer, or he had connections everywhere. It could have been both. Either way, it didn’t seem to be a bad thing for him to know.
“And do I have a choice in this alliance?” Muni asked, looking for holes. He said he’d meant them no harm, but the high wizard was powerful enough to force them into whatever he wanted. He didn’t need her permission, not really. Not unless he had a conscience.
Theo smiled. “You insult my honor, Munin. There is always a choice. If you choose to decline, then I have no problems with you. You will not find me betting against you in the Games.”
“And if I accept?”
“Then we can share information.” His eyes twinkled in the room, as if excitement danced just in his gaze. “I know the location of the Opening Ceremony. I also know which Councilmen already have hits out on Odin’s Spy.”
She tilted up her chin. “All information I’ll get myself eventually.”
This time, the smile that pulled at Theo’s lips was sinister, and she suddenly saw the High Wizard everyone feared. Still, she didn’t back down. She barely blinked.
“Did you also know then that the man responsible for killing your brother, not his puppeteer but the sword, is racing in this Game?”
Muni tensed. “You know which one placed the bomb?”
“I do.”
Muni tilted her head and looked back at her men. When had they become her men and not just warriors? She looked into their eyes, searching for their confirmation of her answer. She knew what she wanted to choose, knew what she would do, but perhaps if they thought it a bad idea, she’d reconsider.
Eirik stepped forward, his face hard. “Can you promise you’ll cause no harm to Muni or us?”
Theo’s eyes crinkled in amusement. “I have to say, your choice in a team is rather interesting, Munin. You’re the talk of the races with the first team of four.” He placed his hand on his chest. “Even if I wanted to cause the four of you harm, Danica would flay me alive if I did so. Not to mention Cricket would happily do the same. And she’d look fabulous while doing it.”
Muni tilted her head. “You’re afraid of a human and a fae?” She knew exactly who Theo spoke of. Danica Dyers and Cricket Snapdragon had earned their fame on the track.
He shook his head. “Afraid of them hurting me? No. Afraid of losing their friendship? Absolutely.”
Muni blinked. “Interesting. I didn’t know the High Wizard of the North has friends.”
“I used to only have connections,” he shrugged. “I’ve learned what a lonely life that is. Perhaps, you should try the same.” His eyes traced over the men around her. “But perhaps, you’ve already started to change that.”
For long seconds, Muni studied the wizard, searching for a reason not to accept. In the end, she tilted up her chin and said, “We accept your alliance.”
He clapped his hands together. “Brilliant!” He turned toward the open balcony doors but before he exited them, he turned back around. “Oh! The man you want is Phillip James, the driver for the necromancer team.”
And then the High Wizard of the North took three steps right off the side of the skyrise.
Eirik jerked forward but Muni stopped him before he could call for Theo. “Don’t worry. He’s safe.”
“He just leapt off a building,” Brin pointed out.
“No one ever said the High Wizard isn’t dramatic,” Muni sighed. “We have bigger problems.”
Vidar frowned. “Such as?”
“The necromancers are powerful. Not only do I need to kill Phillip James, but I must also extract the information I need from him before I do so. And the necromancers are great at taking secrets to the grave. Literally.”
Brin took her hand. “So we deal in death just the same,” he growled. “We find who pulled his strings in the Council—”
“And then we find who pulled those strings,” Muni nodded. “And now, we have the High Wizard on our side, searching for the same thing as we are.”
“You think he knows who it is already?” Eirik asked, staring out over the balcony as if waiting for him to reappear.
“No. He wouldn’t have bothered with an alliance if he knew. Something is blocking him from the information, which means it’ll be a fight to drag out the culprits to the very end.” Taking the hand Eirik offered, she breathed deep. “And we’re going to drag them out kicking and screaming.”
Brin grinned and rubbed his hands together. “I think it’s time we find ourselves some battle axes.”