“I… My name is Nika. Nika Graves.”

  He looked at her with confusion on his handsome face.

  “But… Surely you remember me, my love?”

  She met his eyes frankly. “I have never met you before today, sir.”

  He sighed and released his hold on her hand. He looked down. “Oh. You don’t remember, of course. My apologies…” He cleared his throat and went back to his side of the desk.

  “No harm done.” She smiled. “May I… may I go in?”

  Johan nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She walked past him, feeling the portion of her heart that was Ithunn sag in relief and disappointment. She knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” the Consul beckoned.

  She opened the door, and the scent of the dreyri made her pupils constrict. Her fangs tickled her bottom lip, begging for permission to come down. The power in that decanter very nearly glowed, and as a Draugr, she was still so young and still needed to feed so often. Usually, she drank from Erik, but the magic in the dreyri drew her in.

  Erik rose to face her, though he said nothing. Instead, he picked up the still-untouched glass that Lindstrom had poured, and he handed it to her. She accepted it eagerly, her thirst making her abrupt.

  “To your health,” Lindstrom told her.

  She drank it all in one gulp. She never drank anything that quickly. It only occurred to her to be embarrassed by her greediness after it was over.

  The Consul smiled at her. “Welcome, Miss Graves.”

  “Th…” She cleared her throat. Erik took the glass out of her tingling fingers. “Thank you.”

  Lindstrom chuckled. “Still new to the dreyri, I see.”

  “That’s only my second taste of it.” She sat in the chair beside Erik’s. He did not look at her, and she felt a stab of shame for the way she had acted in the stairwell. She looked at the Consul. “Thank you for seeing us on such short notice.”

  The gray-haired man smiled. “It is my pleasure.” He gestured toward the decanter. “Would you like another glass?”

  “Yes, very much.” She sounded over-eager, even to her own ears, and she glanced at Erik in embarrassment. He showed no reaction.

  There was a knock on the door, and Lindstrom called out. “Yes?”

  The receptionist’s voice spoke on the other side. “I have the list you requested, sir.”

  “Put it under the door, please, Miss Andersson.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  A manila folder slid beneath the door, and Erik bent to pick it up. Lindstrom finished pouring another glass for Nika and handed it to her with a smile.

  “It’s so gratifying to see another Valtaeigr coming into her power.”

  “Thank you. Everything is still so new to me.”

  “It takes some time to adjust to your new experience, especially if you’ve not died yet.”

  Nika’s brow puckered. “Pardon me?”

  Erik picked up the folder and leafed through the documents inside, not standing on ceremony and eager to change the subject. “There is nobody named Sigurd associated with the Rune Sword exhibit in any way. Whoever he is, he is here without official papers.”

  Nika put the glass aside, feeling slightly drunk, as if she’d been drinking hard liquor on an empty stomach. “Do you know this Sigurd?”

  “Not at all,” Lindstrom said.

  He put the stopper back into the decanter, then stowed the glasses and the blood back into his desk. Nika was sorry to see it go. She turned to Erik. He was taut as a bowstring, and she felt anxious just looking at him.

  “Was there anything else you needed?” the Consul asked. “Perhaps a bit of an explanation to Nika of what she can expect when…”

  He shook his head. “No. We should get ready for the trip to Stockholm.”

  The consul smiled at her. “I trust that you’ve had no trouble with your visa or documentation for your relocation?”

  “Not a bit. Thank you.”

  He looked at her, studying her intently for a moment. He began to speak, but Erik shook his head sharply. He nodded. “Well… I wish you well in your trip to Sweden. I think you will enjoy Stockholm immensely. It will be like coming home.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Lindstrom,” she said. “I’m sure that it will be.”’

  ***

  He let himself into the apartment, flashing a smile and a spell. The movers accepted the unspoken suggestion that he was a resident and continued their work, ignoring him as he came inside. Unlike the Draugr, he did not need to be properly invited.

  Sigurd walked through the rooms, letting his senses tell him everything they could about the couple who lived there. Her scent was stronger, the imprint of her energy on the walls more complex. She had not been a Draugr for long.

  The other scent, the one that was a newcomer to this place… He knew him. He and Thorvald had met before, centuries in the past. He could recall his face, his battle yell and especially his sword arm. Sigurd never forgot an enemy.

  He picked up the pillows from the bed and brought them to his face, inhaling deeply. Yes, both Draugr, and both melded with lesser members of the Aesir. He could taste those gods on the outer edges of their energy traces. Ithunn, the goddess of spring and immortality, and Vidar, the god of forests and silence and revenge.

  He had once attempted to make a pact with Vidar, back when the world was young. The Great Huntsman had rejected him then. He would not be given the opportunity to make the same mistake now.

  Sigurd reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a playing card. It was the Jack of Spades. With a smile, he bent and tucked it, corner first, into the space between two floorboards. He was still smiling when he left the apartment behind.

  Chapter Four

  The drive back to the apartment was tense. Erik gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles were white. Nika watched his face for a long moment, then finally spoke.

  “I’m sorry about how I acted at the consulate. I don’t really understand why I started getting argumentative.”

  He did not look at her. “Apology accepted.”

  She sighed. “And as for Johan… If you’re jealous, well, we’re Chosen, remember? That’s not something that I’d put aside so quickly. Besides, even if he was her husband, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m with you.”

  This time, he glanced at her. “So that reaction you had. Was that you, or was it Ithunn?”

  “I think it was her.” She propped her elbow on the car door and leaned her head in her hand. “I was just as sideswiped by it as you were… or maybe more.”

  They were stopped in traffic and sat in silence, both of them staring at the red light above the street.

  “You knew he was there, and who he was.” It was not a question.

  “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me? I should have known.”

  “And what was I supposed to say?”

  “You could have warned me.”

  The silence fell again, but at least the light changed and they could move forward. Neither of them spoke until they reached her apartment building and Erik parked in the underground garage. He turned off the car and took the keys out of the ignition, but he did not open his door. Instead, he twisted in the seat so that he could face her.

  “There are a hundred things that you probably need to know, but I don’t keep an exhaustive list in my head. I’m sorry I didn’t prepare you to meet Johan. I’m sorry I haven’t told you everything you think I should. I’m doing the best I can.”

  She studied his face, taking in the tension in his jaw and the conflicted emotions in his eyes.

  “I just have one question.” She faced him. “Do you love me, or do you love who I used to be? Am I just a vessel to you?”

  He looked hurt, and she instantly regretted her words. “I loved Berit. I don’t deny it. But now I love you. I was seeking you out, because I knew you had been reborn, and that we were meant to be together. My soul needs your soul to be complete.”

  He took her hand.

  “You are not a vessel to me. You are my Chosen. You. I never chose Berit, even though she wanted me to. In all of your soul’s other lifetimes, I never took this step. It needed to be you, this lifetime, this person. I chose Nika, not Berit. You.”

  Her eyes stung with tears, mystifying her. Her emotions were wildly out of control today, and she didn’t recognize herself at all. “Is that how it works? Are souls always destined to be together?”

  “Not all souls.” He offered a weak smile. “Only ours.”

  “What about Ithunn and Bragi?’

  “They’re destined, too, but they don’t have autonomy now. That was something they gave up so that they could live forever. Ithunn is not in control. You are. And Bragi is not living this life. Johan is.”

  He took a deep breath.

  “Nika, be cautious about Bragi. He and Ithunn had… a stormy relationship, to say the least.”

  She looked down at their hands, at the intertwined fingers. “Was he cruel to her?” she asked quietly.

  “In his own way, he loved her very much, but by modern standards, yes, you could say that he was cruel. They loved each other, but they hated each other just as much.”

  “What other gods are melded with the Draugr?”

  He shrugged. “All of them.”

  “Are there any others that I need to know about?”

  Erik released her hand, letting his fingers trail over her skin as he retreated. He slipped the car keys into a pocket and got out, moving around to open her door and offer her his hand. She accepted it.

  “In time, you will know them all, but there are a few to be wary of,” he told her as she rose to her feet. “Everyone wants to avoid Hel, but she’s been reborn recently and is still just a baby. The rest are more or less scattered. There is one, though, that I’m going to introduce you to.”

  They walked together to the stairs. He held out his hand to her, and she took it, moving in to walk close beside him.

  “Who?”

  “Ithunn’s big sister, the one who can teach you to use your Valtaeigr magic. Frigg.”

  They reached the correct floor and walked to her apartment. She had never given him a key, an oversight that seemed less in need of correction now. He waited while she unlocked the door, and then they walked inside together.

  The movers had done their jobs well. Everything had been boxed and carted away. There wasn’t even so much as a roll of toilet paper left in the bathroom. It had all been packed.

  She walked through the empty living room, looking around with bittersweet nostalgia. This had been the first home she’d rented on her own, the first place that saw her living by herself. This was where she had grown from college girl to professional adult, and where she had weathered several relationships and a few bad break-ups.

  She turned to face Erik, who was watching her quietly. “It’s so... empty,” she said.

  He went to her and folded her into his arms. “Don’t be sad, love. Think of all the wonderful things that are waiting for you.”

  She hugged him, her head on his shoulder. Her eyes caught a glimpse of something on the bedroom floor. “Looks like they missed something.”

  “What’s that?”

  Nika walked over to pick up a playing card, the Jack of Spades. “I’ve never seen this before. Is it yours?”

  Erik came to see. The card was hand-drawn, painstakingly outlined in deep black and colored with carefully applied ink. The back was covered in intricate Nordic interweave depicting a dragon with a sword in its claws.

  “No,” he said, deliberately tearing the card in half, and then in half again. “This is not mine.”

  “What are you doing?” she cried. “That was beautiful.”

  He dropped the pieces onto the floor. “It has to be from this Sigurd, whoever he is. This is literally the calling card of the Bluffmakare. The Tricksters. Devotees of Loki who hunt the Valtaeigr and the Veithimathr, like we hunt the wild Draugr.”

  Nika picked up the pieces and looked at them in horror. “He was in our home.”

  “And he wanted us to know.” He took her hand. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be here if he decides to come back.”

  She went with him, leaving the door unlocked in their haste. It hardly mattered now. “They hunt us? What are they?”

  “Nøkken.”

  They raced down the steps and back to the car. He helped her into her seat while keeping a watchful eye on the parking garage. Once she was safely inside, he trotted around to the driver’s side and got in.

  Nika spoke as soon as he closed his door. “Help me understand. There are two groups of Draugr, the bad and the good, right? The good guys are the Valtaeigr and the Veithimathr. The bad guys are the Tricksters. Right?”

  “The Tricksters serve the bad guys,” he corrected mildly as he drove out of the parking garage. “The bad guys don’t really have a name, other than Draugr. They don’t need them. They’re the majority. It’s we who are small in numbers – smaller now that my men have died.”

  “But the Nøkken aren’t Draugr?”

  “No. They’re tricksters. Shapeshifters. They serve Loki and the Draugr.”

  “Are you really the last Veithimathr?”

  He nodded grimly. “Yes.”

  She was catching on. “Why do you hunt your own kind?”

  “The Draugr are by nature evil. It’s a consequence of who their chieftain was when they were made. Hakon and his people…” He stopped. “I never told you that part.”

  Nika clenched her fist, alarmed by his tone and prepared to hear something unpleasant. “Never told me what?”

  He kept driving as he spoke, weaving through traffic and headed toward the airport. “When Hakon was punished by Odin for his rapacious and murdering ways, all of his band were with him. They all… we all… shared in his punishment. That was when we were made Draugr.”

  She let his words sink in. “You used to serve with Hakon?”

  He nodded grimly. “I was in his raiding party. I was…” He took a deep breath. “I was his right hand.”

  “So you…”

  “I murdered. I raped. I stole from innocent people and I put helpless priests to the sword. I did all of those things that Odin punished us for.” He shook his head. “We all did. All of us.”

  Nika swallowed hard. “Those were different times,” she said, trying to excuse his past offenses. “You were a different man then.”

  He laughed hollowly. “Oh, yes. Very different.” He shook his head. “You would not have liked me very much if we had met back then.”

  “Didn’t we?” she asked. “Didn’t we meet back then? Wasn’t that when Berit lived?”

  “Not then. Berit was born later, after I had already become Veithimathr.”

  Nika put out a hand and touched his arm. “If the gods chose you to be their Huntsman, then they saw good in you. You said that the Veithimathr were purer of soul than the other Draugr. I believe that about you.”

  He looked at her and forced a smile. “Thank you, my love. You do me credit.”

  “I’ve never seen you do anything that would make me doubt you.”

  Abruptly, he pulled over into a parking lot and stopped the car. He turned to face her. “I was horrible when I was mortal,” he told her. “I thought at the time that what I did was justified – might makes right. The strong take what they want and the weak have to give it. It was the way of things. It was the Norse way.”

  “It was a different time,” she said again.

  He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “Hakon was our jarl, and he wanted to be king. Anyone who stood against him had to die – even if they were only children. We murdered whole families. We slaughtered innocent children, just to prove Hakon’s point that he was the strongest leader in all of Sweden.”

  He looked down and struggled with the words.

  “Nika, I – I deserved what happened to me. I did.”

  She took his hand. “But something changed. Didn’t it? I saw what happened with the Rune Sword. Odin favors you.”

  He nodded. “As time went on, I began to feel that I shouldn’t just take whatever I wanted, just because I could. I suppose you could say that I developed a conscience.

  “Hakon and our band went raiding one night, attacking a settlement in Denmark. It was defenseless. All of their men were out to sea, and it was only women and children and old people. Hakon was thrilled, because they had livestock, and there was gold there for him to take. And he took it. He took it all.

  “I was with Gunnar – all of the Veithimathr were once Hakon’s men - and we broke into a little house. Kicked the door down. Inside, there was just one maiden child and her siblings. She was barely a woman, just a tiny slip of a thing. She stood and faced us and told us she would do anything we wanted as long as we left her siblings alone.

  “I was going to take her. Gods forgive me, I was going to do it. But I saw the look in her eye. The bravery. The honor. It stopped me cold. In that moment, I saw myself through her eyes, and I was ashamed.”

  His eyes were brimming with tears, and he wiped them away with the heel of his hand.

  “We stayed in that house and we defended them from the rest of the band. We gave her the things we had stolen from her neighbors. We… we changed. When day came and Hakon called the retreat, we left her unharmed.

  “We never went raiding with Hakon again. Oh, he raged about it, accused us of cowardice, made us laughing stocks in his longhouse. I just… I didn’t have the heart for it anymore. That girl, she changed me. She changed me forever.”

  “Was that when Odin changed you and made you Veithimathr?”

  “Yes.”

  Nika stroked his face. He turned into the touch and kissed her palm.

  “I still see her face, how frightened she was, but how strong. I will never forget her.”

  She kissed him. “Only a good man can learn from his mistakes and start over. You’ve more than made up for what you’ve done in the past.”

  “I don’t know if I can ever make up for all the things I’ve done.”