In the Company of Vampires Read Online Free PDF Page B

Asgard.”
    “But I thought—” I stopped, confused.
    “Valhalla is part of Asgard. Some years ago, Odin moved it to the Bahamas because Frigga wished to swim with the dolphins.”
    “Your Nordic heaven place is in the Bahamas?” I asked, incredulous.
    “I just said so. Loki scares the dolphins away. Frigga is most angry with him, and tried to have him banished from Asgard, but Odin refused. He said that Loki lost much standing with the other members of the Aesir when you defeated him, and it would be cruel to take Asgard from him.”
    “I didn’t defeat him. It was a deadlock.”
    Eirik shrugged, cracking the chicken bones and sucking on the ends. “That is not what the gods think. Loki has been stomping around Asgard muttering about revenge for the last few years. Frigga demanded Freya’s help, and she turned to us, charging us with aiding you to do the job. That is why she gave us solid forms—to help you.”
    I sank bonelessly onto my bed. Eirik sat next to me, still sucking on the chicken bone. “I wish I could help, but I don’t know what I can do. I don’t have the Vikingahärta, and even if I did, Loki probably wouldn’t let himself be banished with it.”
    “We will come up with a plan,” Isleif said, frowning as Finnvid sucked down a container of yogurt in one slurp. “We will need equipment, however. The weasel gold will get us that.”
    “I will need a laptop,” Finnvid said, wiping his mouth. “I left mine in Valhalla.”
    “We will all need new spears and shields. And the goddess will need a ladies’ beheading ax, since she did not get one the last time we went shopping for her,” Eirik said, nodding toward me.
    “Oh, no, not again,” I moaned, wanting to curl up into a little ball.
    “I will need a new bow, since Birta, my wife, broke mine over my head when I tried to shoot her cats.”
    I stared at him in abject horror.
    “I thought they were sick and needed to be put out of their misery,” he said quickly, looking offended. “I was trying to help them, but Birta didn’t see it that way. And in the end, it turned out to be balls of hair that were distressing them.”
    “I think I like your wife,” I said, giving him a long, hard look. “A lot.”
    He grinned suddenly. “She would approve of you, too, goddess.”
    “That’s nice, but in truth, neither here nor there.” I got off the bed and folded my hands as I faced the three Vikings. “There’s no way I’m going to get out of this, is there?”
    “No,” Eirik said. “Why would you want to?”
    I sighed. “Right. Since Loki brought this fight to me by nabbing Geoff, then I guess I don’t have any choice but to take care of him. I will do what I can to help you guys—or rather, let you help me—but I need a couple of weeks first to wrap up a big work project. Once that is done, then I can get the Vikingahärta from Imogen and we’ll go from there, okay? In the meantime, it was wonderful to see you again, and if you check back with me two weeks from now, I’ll be able to tell you when we leave.”
    They looked confused. “Check back with you?” Finnvid asked.
    “We must stay with you,” Eirik said, shaking his head. “We have given our oath to Freya to aid you.”
    Panic hit me hard and hot. “You can’t stay with me! I only have this little apartment, and I share it with another woman! There’s no room for you here, not to mention the distraction you’d be!”
    “We are not leaving you until we have banished Loki,” Eirik said with a firmness that made my stomach clench up. The other two Vikings nodded.
    “But what am I going to tell Geoff—”
    As if her name was an invocation, the door opened and Geoff walked in, freezing when she took in the sight of three large men in Viking wear. “Uh . . .”
    “Oh, bullfrogs!” I swore, plopping down onto my bed as I dropped my head onto my hands.

Chapter 3

    “Your bondage group really gets into their personas,” Geoff marveled as I wondered what I