She threw him a frown before turning back to the stream of magical energy. “What’s gelatin?”
“In all the times you’ve gone to Midgard.” Each word was pronounced with a heavy exhalation. “You’ve missed out. After we get this thing down, I’ll treat you. Have you tried ice cream?”
“No. Let your power flow free and give this thing all you have.”
“I’ll try. I guess not trying new things is understandable…” He hesitated, pulling in a deep breath, and then ramped up his energy, the dull stream once more glowing white. “We were in a war.”
“What is ice cream?”
He hesitated a moment. “It’s made from milk and flavorings chilled in salted ice. Sometimes with chunks of fruit or bits of chocolate in it.”
“That doesn’t sound very good.”
“Believe me, you’ll love it. It’s delicious on cakes, brownies, or pies.”
“You must be hungry. You only talk about food when you’re starving.”
Stop. We can’t keep this up and from what I’m getting from the Night Witches, they’re exhausted.Freyja spoke at last, her own voice sounding a bit winded. We’re heading toward you to figure out our next step.
All right.Alva faced Bernard with a smile on her face and gently laid her hand on his forearm. “You did good. And guess what?” She waited for him to respond, but the only reaction she got was the raising of one brow as he gave her a droll glare. He leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees as he sucked in long breaths, then slowly exhaled. “Fine. Your enthusiasm is overwhelming. Bernard, you do have magic. Aren’t you excited?”
“I would be, if I wasn’t drained of every last atom of energy in my body.”
She chuckled as the others arrived in pairs. Gathering in a tight circle, Freyja waved her hand once more, just as she had done before when securing them in a soundproof bubble.
“Well, that was a bust.” Charles’s low mutter turned into a cough when Lilyann elbowed his side. “Well, it was. I couldn’t detect any weakness in that thing. It never wavered in strength either. It was as if we were throwing marshmallows at it for all the good we did.”
“I agree,” Jakob said. “The force holding the barrier remained constant, and the draugar weren’t even phased. Does anyone have any ideas?” His gaze moved around the circle, his countenance growing darker with each passing blank expression.
“We’re doomed,” Charles added, only to be elbowed again.
“Shush,” Lilyann said, the word sounding more like a hiss. “We’ll think of something.” She turned to her brother-in-law. “Mikhail, you have the sight. Can you see anything?”
He glanced up at the draugr behind them, his gray eyes glinting silver as the day’s sunlight faded. Alva had always thought he was handsome with his longish, wavy, light-brown hair and solid physique, although his six-foot height was a bit intimidating. From his serious expression, though, she knew he hadn’t seen anything in their future regarding the barrier. Not a good thing. Her deduction was verified when he shook his head and wrapped one arm around Natalya’s drooped shoulders.
“I propose we return to my quarters and discuss things over a rest and a hot meal. I’m starving,” Freyja said. “Although, I believe this time we will have Heimdall send the Bifröst bridge. I’m too tired to transport myself, much less anyone else. I haven’t used that much magic in centuries. Idunn will never let me hear the end of it.” She chuckled. “She’s always trying to get me to practice and work out the rusty kinks.”
Alva turned around and faced the draugar leader, or so she assumed. He had a regal-sort of presence about him. She glanced up. “Well, that didn’t turn out like we planned.” The draugr’s silvery-blue gaze dropped to hers, and he shook his head. “We aren’t giving up. We’ll return with a better plan.” She paused a minute, trying to figure out how to tell the undead creature they were also going to try to help him and his friends but couldn’t think of anything.
Instead, she smiled at him. “I believe you when you said you regretted the actions that condemned you to this cursed life. Do you think the person who promised you life will keep his or her end of the bargain?”
For a moment, she thought she caught a sad flicker in the depth of his eyes, but if it was there, it quickly vanished. “Nooo,” he said, his voice loud in the quietness of the evening.
“What is your name?”
“Ghaldath.”
“Well, Ghaldath, there are many people throughout the Nine Worlds, including gods and goddesses, who keep their promises and do the right thing. I will come back and set things right. That’s my promise to you.”
His eerie gaze sparkled and, without expression, he gave her a single nod before raising his face back to the barrier. Suddenly, all the draugar reached over their shoulders, drawing some kind of short stick that had evidently been strapped to their backs. With a hard up-and-down movement, the sticks turned into long staffs, which they slammed against the ground in unison, the single sound echoing like the firing of a cannon.
She winced as a sudden pain lanced through her ears. The draugar wrapped both hands around the tops and straightened their arms, pushing out the staffs. Her ears popped, and she turned back to her friends as the rainbow bridge shot to the ground, bathing them all in an opalescent kaleidoscope of lights.
She frowned, glancing over at the barrier, as she stepped onto the colored sheets of ice, with Bernard right behind her. She couldn’t help but notice the similarity between the Bifröst and the draugar’s barrier as the rainbow bridge pulled them into the heavens.