Bernard squinted at the muted light peeking through the heavy cloud cover and tried to remember what had transpired the first time he was here. Try as he might, though, he couldn’t recall any cloud cover, much less even looking at the sky. But he had been so consumed with saving his family that such a little detail could easily have slipped from his memory.
“No, I know I was here, but something is...different.” He shivered as a few tiny flakes of snow fell on his face. He swiped the wetness away and held out his hand. “I don’t remember the sky being overcast, and I’m positive there was no snow. It snowed the day Ambassador Nomura, Special Envoy Kurusu, and I went to visit Secretary of State Hull, but not today.”
The closer he got to the embassy, the less he could recall about that first day. He stopped and a few seconds later, the other two men stopped and turned to face him.
“Bernard, what’s wrong?” Mikhail asked.
“Why are we here?” Bernard glanced around him, more confused than ever.
Mikhail frowned, then shrugged. “I’m not sure. I was following you. I thought you knew where we were going.”
Ailuin glanced from Bernard to Mikhail, then back to Bernard, his blond brows lowering into an angry scowl. He muttered a few words in a language that Bernard almost understood, as if the meanings were right there on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t quite remember the translations.
Suddenly, the complete memory of everything, past and present, popped into his mind, followed by a throbbing headache behind his eyes. “What in the hell just happened?” He pinched the bridge of his nose.
Ailuin circled his arms in front of him, then clapped his hands together. Bernard caught sight of a shimmery shield surrounding them, much like the draugar’s magical enclosure. “Whoever is behind all this really doesn’t want you to get to that embassy. There was a forget spell cast around the area. Thankfully, it was a fairly weak one. Maybe when we destroyed the creatures’ barrier, it weakened whoever is behind all of this.”
Mikhail shook his head and, imitating Bernard, pressed his finger and thumb over the bridge of his nose. “My pounding head likes the forget spell better.”
“Mine too,” Bernard grumbled but dropped his hand and refused to acknowledge the pain. He had other, more important issues to deal with. A headache he could handle and even welcome because the pain seemed to clear his mind. “That day the sky was bright blue and cloudless. I remember comparing it to the weather in Paris, which tends to be colder and definitely wetter.”
“I believe whoever this is, is watching us. How, I’m not certain, but there are only a few ways to see from one world to another. Unless a third God’s Glass has been discovered, someone is in Asgard using Óðinn’s Glass. Freyja’s is protected with a spell to let her know when someone other than her operates it.” Ailuin met Bernard’s gaze. “That was how she figured out what you were up to. She knew you were spending an unhealthy amount of time in front of it.”
“I’m glad she did. I just wish she’d figured it out before I did all those stupid things.”
Ailuin grasped his shoulder. “Had you not, we wouldn’t have realized your connection to us. You’re Elfkind and, more importantly, a lord of the court. You are royalty, Bernard. When our mission is complete, Lamruil and I want to talk to you about returning with us as an adviser.” Bernard opened his mouth, but the elf regent held up one hand, and he snapped his jaws shut. Arguing would do no good. Ailuin rarely let go of an idea once he made a decision.
“This conversation is for another day, so let’s get this over with and return to the women,” Mikhail said, his steady gaze not on them, but on the nearby embassy. “We have company.”
“The barrier I erected is both soundproof and invisible. We cannot be seen or heard,” Ailuin assured them.
Bernard glanced over to the covered entryway, confused when he saw a small-statured man leave the embassy. “That’s Special Envoy Kurusu. He answered the door when I came to convince the ambassador his country was planning an attack on Pearl Harbor.”
With a slight nod toward the man now walking past them on the sidewalk, he exhaled. “He should still be inside. During our meeting, he brought in a traditional Japanese tea and discussed the situation with us.” His gaze turned back to the seemingly normal facade of the Neo-Georgian structure. “Things are different from what they were before. I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I,” Ailuin agreed. “How are the two of you on power reserves? Mine are fine. I think whatever Alva did shouldered the brunt of the magical backlash.”
“I’m good,” Mikhail said.
“Considering I have no idea what I can even do, other than transporting places, I’ll say I’m good too.” Bernard gave the two men a lopsided grin.
“Humor is good,” Ailuin laughed. “You’ll need it when dealing with my brother. I was given the humor gene in our family.” With a second wave, Ailuin dropped the barrier and resumed walking toward the embassy.
“Lamruil is the more serious one, isn’t he? Does he even know what a joke is?” Bernard asked.
“He does. Believe it or not, we used to be more alike—not exactly like me, just more so, when he was younger. Something happened to him, and he changed. Even as close as we are, I’ve never been able to get him to talk about it.”
When they reached the embassy’s front door, Mikhail stepped off to one side of the doorway. “You two go in. I’ll wait out here and keep watch. While I haven’t had a vision about any of this, something isn’t sitting well in my gut.” His gray gaze speared Bernard’s. “Be careful in there, my friend. We don’t yet know who we’re up against.”
“I have an idea...” Ailuin’s low voice trailed off when the embassy’s large entrance door swung open to reveal a smiling Ambassador Nomura.
Definitely something wrong. He would never greet a guest.
I agree. You seem to have adapted to speaking telepathically relatively easy.Ailuin’s voice swirled in Bernard’s mind.
Hiding his amusement, Bernard pasted a more serious expression on his face and greeted the ambassador, asking for a moment of the busy man’s time, before responding. I’m not quite sure how I feel about having other people inside my head. I have enough problems with just my own thoughts. He caught a flash of Ailuin’s grin.
Most living in the realm of the gods can speak mind-to-mind.
Seems more like an invasion.
You’ll get used to it. Now let’s focus on the moment and figure out what’s going on.
As was proper Japanese etiquette, as he’d done at his first visit, Bernard bowed low with his head tilting slightly upward, so he could rise only after the ambassador did.
Ignoring the longstanding custom, the other man turned, walked down the hallway to his office, and stepped behind his desk. Straightening, Bernard stared at the ambassador and tried to see him through his inner eye, like Alva had taught him.
The room remained the same, but when his gaze touched the ambassador’s face, Bernard thought he saw…something.