A Viking's Lost Soul Page 5

  A few people try to approach me, but when their eyes land on Etienne, they pause mid-step. Etienne is known as a badass around these parts, but what most people don’t know is that Etienne owns most of the bars and strip clubs in town. He is incredibly wealthy, but never flaunts it. He donates a good portion of his money to charity and even started a foundation for kids with special needs, kidney disease, and mental health.

  I helped him organize the foundation and get everything running. In a sense, I am his PR person, while he handles all the money. He tried to offer me a job permanently, but I love what I do too much to leave. So, when he needs anything, he calls, and I get it done. Not to mention, my current job works around my schedule so I could take trips around the world with my father whenever I needed to. They happened every three months or so for a week at a time. Since they found out about my father, they did everything they could to make it easier for me.

  We weave through large groups of people and walk up the stairs to the VIP section. See, Etienne may look like a berserker or someone who could rip your head off just looking at you, but on the inside, he is a giant teddy bear. He has been with most of the women in the city, but whoever captures his heart will be the wealthiest woman in Denver. And I don’t just mean money.

  “I’m going to go get us some drinks. What do you want?” Etienne asks as we both sit down in the booth. Our section overlooks the dance floor, which has four cages hanging over the dancers. The women inside the cages are breathtakingly gorgeous and have bodies I would kill for. They are dressed in tight leather outfits, which leave nothing to the imagination.

  “Water, please.”

  “Tequila sunrise it is!”

  “Etienne!”

  Etienne bolts down the stairs before I can stop him. This man is trying to get me drunk. I shake my head and roll my eyes at his antics.

  As he goes to get our drinks, I watch as the floor starts to get crowded, noticing couples grinding on each other, and a few drunks trying to get some action. Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone over six feet tall make his way to Etienne, and my heart rate soars. He is wearing a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and faded jeans that show off an ass that causes my mouth to water.

  I watch Etienne and this man search for each other until he turns to face me. Damn it; it isn’t Finn. But damn, this man is gorgeous too. My breath hitches in my mouth and the palms of my hand’s start to sweat as he maneuvers through the crowds and makes his way to Etienne. They both talk for a few moments until I see him point up in my general direction, and my heart stops.

  “Oh, crap.”

  They both laugh at something and slowly make their way to me with drinks in their hands.

  “Steph, I want you to meet Liam. He is an old friend of the family.” Etienne sets the drinks down and plops on the sofa. “Liam, this is my little sister, Stephanie.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you, Sis, I know your lady girl is itching for some action. But maybe next time,” he whispers to me.

  Liam walks towards me and shakes my hand. His skin is rough to the touch, but there is a touch of softness to his grasp. Interesting. As I look closer at Liam, he has brown eyes, a bald head, and sports a killer beard.

  “It’s an honor to finally meet you. Etienne talks about you all the time.” Liam releases my hand and sits down next to me on the bench.

  “Knowing Etienne, that can’t be good.” Etienne places my drink in my hand and leans against the sofa, so his back is to the wall and he can watch everything before him.

  “You do a good job of that on your own, Sis. I just set the stage and watch the master go to work.” Etienne winks at me, silently communicating what happened last time. Damn mongrel, no one needs a recap of that night. Ever again.

  Keeping my promise, I set my glass down on the table in front of me and look at Etienne. Liam is a nice guy, and I will apologize when this is all said and done, but sometimes, Etienne needs to be put in his place.

  “Liam, I want to apologize for what is about to happen. Just know, this has been a long time coming.” Liam raises an eyebrow at me; then a loud oomph comes from Etienne as my fist connects with his stomach.

  A few drops of beer spill out of his bottle, causing him to bolt off the sofa to avoid getting hit. “What the fuck, Steph? What the hell did I do? How many times have I told you, never waste the good shit?!”

  “And I told you never to bring up that night again. So, case in point, you deserved to be punched. Besides, I’m sure every woman here would kill to have a show from the famous Etienne Latsch.”

  Etienne rubs his midsection and pretends like I mortally wounded the bastard. “The war is on. Just you wait, Nils.”

  “Bring it, Latsch.”

  As Etienne and I are going back and forth, Liam is on the verge of tears. “Etienne was right about you. You haven’t changed a bit.”

  Has this man gone off his rocker? I have never met him before. “Uh, come again?”

  Liam is grasping his stomach with one hand and wiping his eyes with the other. After a few breaths, he seems to have regained his composure and takes a sip of his drink. “You don’t remember me, do you? Not surprised. Your father wanted to keep you in the dark about our family. But you are the spitting image of your mother. You may not remember me, but I remember this small brunette little girl with sapphire eyes, who was hell on wheels. She was the light of my life. I have missed her spitfire personality, and I am glad to see it hasn’t gone away.”

  “You knew my mother?” I scoot closer to Liam, as my heart speeds up, waiting to hear anything about her. She passed away when I was six years old, and to this day, I barely remember what she looked like. I have pictures and family movies to help, but that isn’t the same.

  “Why wouldn’t I? She was my sister, after all.” A massive grin spreads on Liam’s lips as reality starts to sink in. Liam was my mother’s brother, which means… “It’s good to see you again, Stephanie Nils. It’s been too long.”

  Chapter 8

  ~ Finn ~

  To say I am a nervous wreck is an understatement. I am a killer. Someone who has no hesitation when it comes to getting the job done. But when it comes to Stephanie Nils, and finally having her within my grasps, scares the living shit out of me.

  Blackhawk got the job done, and now she is packing for a trip she will never forget. She will be on a plane to Norway in two days, and she will be back home where she belongs. Blackhawk fills me in on what he did, and he is a pure genius. Reuniting Liam and Stephanie was the best thing that could have ever happened.

  Liam joined Hrothgier over eighteen years ago when Cameron took Stephanie to the states. He refused to look his family in the eye and needed to protect his niece, whatever the costs. Even if it meant she would never know he existed. Stephanie tried for years to reunite with her family, only to have them turn their backs and shun her.

  But what many don’t know, is that it was Liam’s choice to stay in the background and out of sight. Cameron always kept him in the loop and respected Liam’s wishes, but still tried to get him to change his mind. No one knows why Liam chose this life. He had everything anyone would dream of. A family, money, a place to call his own, but the night Anna was killed, everything changed.

  Picking up my phone, I make one last call before I call it a night.

  “What?” Liam snaps as he answers the call.

  “Love you too, asshole. Any updates?”

  “Everything went dark. Iyrik and Ian are staying put until you get here. I arranged for your flight to leave in four hours. We have a few things to discuss before she gets here.” I can hear the tension in his voice as he speaks. “Athena has already made arrangements and will be in Gudvangen the day before your arrival.”

  “Good. If Blackhawk can’t get through to her, Athena will.”

  Liam sighs on the other end, telling me something is up. “Yeah.”

  Taking a page out of a leader’s book, I make a promise I sure as hell hope
I can keep. “Liam, the past will not repeat itself. We will find him.”

  “See you in twenty-nine hours.” And the line goes dead. A few moments later, an email shows up on my phone, giving me the information on my flight out. Blackhawk will keep an eye on Stephanie, with Dimitri, Karl, and Daniel in the shadows, while I tie up a few loose ends and prepare for Stephanie’s arrival. The problem is, I am worried about Liam.

  What happened so long ago is still fresh in his mind. The world was told that Anna died in a horrific car accident and only a small child survived. It was a tragic time in our society because she was loved by all. Those that knew Anna wept for months, doing everything they could to help the family.

  For those of us that knew the truth, our hatred was brewing. I was thirteen at the time and barely knew Anna. She was a woman blessed by the goddess, Freya, and beloved by everyone who met her. She would give you the shirt off her back and walk through hell for anyone who asked.

  Anna was a Viking Queen at heart and would have ruled a vast kingdom back in the old days. My blood boils every time I think about what was done to her. I had been on my first mission with the Brotherhood, and will never forget that day.

  The image of her body when Liam and I found her will forever be etched into my memory. No one should ever be subjected to what she went through. I cursed the gods that day, asking why they allowed this to happen. But when I heard a small girl crying in the cabin, my heart stilled, and everything stopped. Stephanie was hiding in an old wine cellar, which was hidden from the untrained eye.

  Covered in dirt, Stephanie looked petrified. At six years old, she had to witness her mother being tortured, and her bones snapped to perform the Blood Eagle. Stephanie’s eyes were empty, and her body shook with fear. Her face was stained with hours of tears from when she wept for her mother. Liam bombarded her with questions, but she never spoke. For two years she was silent, never uttering a word to anyone who approached her.

  When Cameron asked what happened, she wrote it all down on a piece of paper and held her kitten close as she wept, remembering that day. It was at that moment, I made a vow to the gods, I would avenge Anna and put an end to Stephanie’s suffering. I was already trained to be a part of the Brotherhood, but it was not enough.

  I had to become a warrior the world had forgotten. Someone who was trained like the Vikings, Spartans, Celts, and Saxons. A man who is willing to do the unthinkable to avenge the Nils family and set things right.

  Asbjørn murdered my family for sport when they refused to fight with him, and sent me to join the Brotherhood to protect our way of life. Bjarne just killed for pleasure. The Vikings used to be pagans, but we have morphed into something else. Each brother can worship any god they wish, but we all have one purpose. Hunt down our enemies, protect the innocent and erase the evil bastards that plague this world. Many of us served in the armed forces, traveling the world to perfect our craft and gain allies all over the world, while others, like myself, trained with the elite.

  Our bodies have been molded to take any punishment and laugh at the sight of danger. We welcome death like it is a call to arms. We fight to earn our place with the gods and sit beside our brothers and sisters in Valhalla.

  Since that day, I have done everything I could to become a worthy warrior in Stephanie’s eyes. She is a woman who has captured my warrior’s heart. As a child, she became like a sister to me, someone who needed a guardian to look out for her. But when she became a woman, everything changed.

  “If you plan on jumping, I am not cleaning up the mess. I’ll let the stray dogs handle that.”

  Sitting on the edge of the balcony, I watch the city below me come to life. People walk amongst the streets as musicians play their favorite tune to earn a few bucks. If someone were to look up, they would have a stroke. My legs are dangling over the edge of my balcony as I think about what is to come. Heights never phased me, and with my room being on the eleventh floor, this is nothing compared to the mountain and rock walls back home.

  Blackhawk rests his arms on the railing, looking down at the world below us.

  “Nice to see you too. How is she?”

  “As to be expected. Freaking out over the letter from her father, excited she finally met her uncle she never knew she had. Scared to death about this trip and she won’t shut the hell up about you.”

  Keeping my head down, I can’t keep the grin off my face.

  “But I will tell you this. She isn’t like us, Finn. She sees herself as nothing more than a plain girl who everyone abandons. But I see a fighter who overcomes all obstacles that are thrown at her. Bjarne has no idea what he is up against. We thought Cameron was bad; Stephanie has the heart of a queen and the mind of a warrior.”

  “Not helping Etienne,” I mutter under my breath. My hands tighten their grip on the railing as I swing my legs over the rail and stand next to Etienne. He has been a brother and a longtime friend since before I can remember.

  “Your point?” Etienne throws back.

  Ignoring his ploy to get me to talk, I wait a few moments before I ask the one question that has been on all our minds of late. “When are we going to tell her?”

  Etienne sighs and drops his head into his hands. Balling his hair in a fist, he starts going off in our native tongue.

  “Etienne?”

  “How the fuck should I know? I am about to ruin the best relationship I have ever had in my life because the fucking Brotherhood thought it was a brilliant idea to keep this from her. She is stronger than they fucking think. But do they listen to us? No. They are a bunch of old ass pieces of shit that sit on their throne and play with their cock all day while we are out in the world, trying to stop Bjarne.”

  I pat Etienne on the shoulder before I go inside to grab a few beers. Etienne is a man that is feared by many in the world, for his trade in chemicals and execution. No one knows his true identity, but when they receive a small parchment of paper with a wolf’s paw print, they know he is coming for them.

  Popping the cap off the bottle, I hand him a bottle of Guinness and plop down on to the small recliner chair.

  “When do we leave?” Etienne asks as he starts to down his bottle.

  “Your plane will depart at six in the morning in two days’ time; then you will arrive in Newark around noon. You have an hour layover till your next flight, which will take you to Oslo. After that, you have a four-hour layover, after which you will arrive in Alta at two in the afternoon the next day. Preparations have already been made for your arrival. Christian and Dimitri have already flown back from Sandefjord and will be on the flight with you.” Setting my bottle down on the end table, I turn my attention to Etienne, who is already on his second bottle.

  “And where will you be? I highly doubt you will let her out of your sight.” A faint buzzing starts, causing Etienne to put down his bottle and reach for his phone. He grins like an idiot and starts to shake his head. Quickly typing something on his phone, he puts it back down and turns his attention to me. “It’s just Steph. She just got done with the vet and is ready to pull her hair out. She received the itinerary for flight and is having a coronary. I told her she needs to calm her tits and make sure she is packed and ready to go.”

  The thought of my hands running through her hair flits into my mind. Her voluptuous breasts pressed against me, causing my cock to stir just thinking about it. “I will be with Liam at the terminal, awaiting your arrival. We are taking the private jet and are leaving in just a few hours. We have a few things to take care of but made sure you are taking three connecting flights instead of two. Better chances of keeping her trail cold.

  Wait, hold up. Did you say, vet? “What, is she trying to get a tranquilizer to knock your ass out, so she doesn’t have to deal with you for twenty-three hours?” Imagining Steph with a large needle, chasing Etienne, was priceless.

  “Ha. Ha. Very funny, asshole. No, everything is fine; she is bringing the furball with her. She had to take her to the vet to see what she needed to do t
o make sure she was good to go. Steph insisted we take her and Liam was all for it. He said he knows the perfect babysitter for Luna.” Etienne chuckles maliciously as he tells me the news.

  Fuck. Cats and I do not mix. Never have and never will. The last girl I hooked up with had a male cat, and let’s just say, I was nursing my balls for the next week. After we had sex, I was curled up in bed naked as the day I was born, and the little shit thought my balls were a play toy. My balls looked like a shredded sack of meat for a few days.

  Flipping Etienne off, I pull out my phone to text my brothers about Stephanie bringing her pet, Luna, along. Within seconds, every single one of them responds with a cat attacking a cucumber, or a meme saying, ‘No it’s a booby trap,’ with several laughing emoji’s next to it. Yeah, these are my brothers for you. We are trained killers, who thirst for our next victim, but when it comes to shit like this, we act like three-year-olds.

  “Tell your brothers why you keep grabbing your crotch and can’t masturbate for a week, and they will never let you live it down.”

  “Just keep your balls away from this one. Luna likes to bite.” He slaps me on the shoulder and puts his bottle on the table. Pulling his coat off the bed, he slips it on and starts making his way to the door.

  “Finn.”

  “Yeah?”

  “She is a lot stronger than you think. We got this.” Etienne places his hand on the handle of the door but pauses mid-turn. “Oh, and I forgot to mention. When this is all over, you owe me big. She has been talking my ear off about you since she met you at the funeral. It’s rather nauseating, to be honest.”

  “Good to know.”

  “Oh, and before I forget.” Blackhawk’s facial features start to morph into the man all his enemy’s fear. “Stephanie is like a sister to me. If you so much as pull a hair out of place, or there is a single scratch on her skin, break her heart or turn her into one of your groupies, you will wish the gods of Valhalla have mercy on your soul. We understood?”