In the Company of Vampires Read Online Free PDF

with Freya. Why does she want Loki banned? And how on earth does she expect me to do anything about it?”
    “You are the goddess Fran, bearer of the Vikingahärta,” Eirik said, releasing my hand when I tugged firmly. “Freya knows you have the power to defeat Loki, since you have done so in the past.”
    “I didn’t defeat him, per se,” I said, mentally going over the events almost five years in the past. “We kind of hit a deadlock. And as for the Vikingahärta . . . I don’t have it.”
    The three Vikings goggled at me. Eirik dropped his piece of chicken. “You don’t?” he asked, absently wiping his fingers on his wool tunic.
    “No. It’s in Europe. I left it with Imogen.”
    “Imogen,” Finnvid drawled, a wicked smile coming to his face. “How I have missed her.”
    “Uh-huh.” I gave him a look that told him I wasn’t buying it. His smile grew broader. “She’s keeping it safe for me. I didn’t feel it was right to bring it with me when I went to college, and I haven’t seen Imogen since I left Europe.”
    “Then you must retrieve it from her,” Eirik said, picking up the chicken and blowing on it. He must have seen my face because he added, “Five-second rule.”
    I gawked at him. “You know about the five-second rule?”
    He shrugged. “Odin has many televisions. Sometimes he lets us watch MythBusters . There was a show about the five-second rule.”
    I held up my hands, having too many difficulties trying to picture a bunch of Viking ghosts sitting around watching TV. “Let’s get back to Loki, shall we? Freya sent you to me to help get rid of him?”
    “Aye. She was impressed with how bravely we fought against him before,” Isleif said. He suddenly brightened as he turned to the other two men. “We can pillage a McDonald’s again!”
    “McDonald’s!” Finnvid and Eirik exclaimed in unison, their faces filled with delight.
    “Oh, for the love of the birds in the trees . . . you guys know the rules! No pillaging!”
    Finnvid patted me on the shoulder. “You need not get yourself roused with anger, goddess Fran. Freya gave Eirik much gold to spend while we aid you.”
    Eirik pulled out a credit card. “We have weasel gold.”
    “That’s Visa Gold, not weasel . . . Oh, never mind. Just be sure you use that and don’t pillage anything.” I took a deep breath. “I don’t know why Freya thinks I can banish Loki, and frankly, the aborted kidnapping of Geoff notwithstanding, I’d rather be left in peace.”
    “Goddess Freya wishes you to banish Loki as soon as you can,” Isleif told me, struggling to get out of the beanbag chair. Eirik and Finnvid were rummaging around in the fridge, murmuring softly to themselves over my yogurts and Geoff’s leftover take-out chicken. I gave Isleif my hand, planted my feet firmly, and did my best not to topple over when he managed to get to his feet. “He is scaring away the dolphins.”
    I was getting a little tired of all the goggling and gawking, but there was nothing else I could do at such a bizarre statement. “Huh?”
    “He scares away the dolphins. Is that chicken I smell? Excellent. I am very hungry. I will eat a whole one myself.”
    “What dolphins?” I asked, tugging on the sleeve of the linen shirt he wore beneath his wool tunic.
    “The ones at Asgard.” He frowned as Finnvid handed him a lemon crème yogurt. “There is no more chicken?”
    “Eirik is eating it.”
    “The goddess will get us more,” Eirik answered around a mouthful of fried chicken breast, little crumbs flying from his mouth.
    “The goddess will do no such thing. You boys can feed yourselves.”
    “She is right. We have the weasel gold,” Finnvid said, sucking on a wing.
    “Low-fat? I do not want low-fat,” Isleif declared, examining the yogurt. “I need fat to maintain my strength.”
    “You have dolphins in Valhalla?” I asked Eirik.
    “No. We have fighting and blood and ale wenches in Valhalla,” he corrected. “The dolphins are in