“But if—”

“I know. I know the risks. Just please.”

“You know the risks, but does she?”

“Please,” he asked again. “I’m doing this for a reason. You know that.”

Still shaking her head, Kat locked the door to her house and headed toward the stables. Vig followed, pulling a silent Kera along with him.

“Stay here,” his sister ordered. No one but the other Valkyries were allowed in the stables. Their horses were high-strung and mean. Sadly, more than one Raven had lost an important body part to a pissy winged stallion or mare.

A few minutes later, Kat walked out with her mount. A beautiful white and black stallion. Once away from the stable, the animal shook his mane of black hair out and pranced a bit, ready to take to the air. While Odin only shielded the Ravens at night from the prying eyes of the world, the Valkyries could ride whenever they felt it necessary and they were always shielded. It made sense; there were no time restrictions on when a warrior might lose his life. A warrior that Odin wanted for his ever-growing forces.

With a good jump, Kat launched herself onto the back of her saddle-less stallion. The only thing the horse allowed were the reins. Kat got herself comfortable and the horse shook out his wings.

“Vig, you hold Kera.”

He put his arm around Kera’s waist and pulled her in tight against him. “Hold on to me,” he told her. “Don’t let go until I tell you to.”

“What are we doing?” Kera finally asked.

“Grab Alfgeir’s tail, Vig. But watch his hooves. You know how he is.”

Vig did, so he moved over a bit to avoid being kicked.

“Vig?” Kera pushed.

“Do you trust me?”

“Not at the moment, no.”

He grinned. “You are so smart. I really adore that about you.”

Kera only had seconds to narrow her eyes at Vig’s lack of coherent response before Kat’s horse suddenly took off and they were flying.

It wasn’t like when Kera unleashed her wings and flew. She wished it was. Instead, it was . . . faster, stronger, more brutal. Everything sped up as they took to the air and shot off. All Kera could see was the horse, Kat, Vig, and bright, colored lights. The whole thing overwhelmed her, and she began to feel sick in the pit of her stomach. She clamped her lips shut, terrified she was about to start vomiting in midair. An experience she never wanted to go through.

She felt torn, like something was reaching deep inside her and pulling part of her out. She began to panic. Began to feel like she was losing her mind. Everything moving too fast for her. Too fast.

And then, like that, it stopped.

Shocked to see such beautiful lands surrounding her, Kera watched the sunrise over big snow-covered mountains and listened to birds sing their early morningsongs. Even stranger, when Kera tilted her head back, she saw above her the giant base of a tree. It had to be thousands of miles wide and high.

“Is that a tree?” Kera asked Vig.

“Uh-huh. The World Tree. Also called Yggdrasil.”

“All right then.”

Kera leaned against Vig, glad to feel his weight and power beside her.

Katja looked back at them from her horse. “Everyone okay?”

Vig nodded, releasing the horse’s tail and quickly stepping back, seconds before a hoof shot out at where they’d just been standing. “We’re fine.”

“Good. I have to go. There’s a minor skirmish in Zimbabwe I have to be at. Don’t forget, Vig. I’ll pick you up here before sunrise tomorrow. Don’t miss me. Understand? You always cut it too short.”

“I won’t forget.”

Kera shuddered a little when Vig finally released her. “It’s cold,” she said.

Kat nodded. “Yeah. It reminds many newcomers of the homeland. Of course, the cold doesn’t bother you much when you’re dead.” She smiled and waved. “See you guys later! Have fun!”

“Vig?” Kera asked, looking around. “Where are we exactly?”

“We’re in Asgard.”

“Asgard?”

He nodded. “Yeah. The home of the Aersir gods. Odin, Thor, Freyja. If you look over there . . . you can make out the spires of Valhalla. And that way is Freyja’s home.”

“Why did you bring me to Asgard?”

“You wanted me to teach you how to kill.”

“I thought we would just get some Ravens together and you’d put me through a gauntlet or something.”

“My Raven brothers taught me how to fight. But that’s not where I learned to kill. My mother knew I needed more than cold logic to teach me to kill. So . . . one day . . . she brought me here.”

“She brought you to Asgard? Why?”

He gestured to the mountains. “As the sun rises every day in Asgard . . . the battle begins. Training for when Ragnarok comes. All of Odin’s chosen warriors take the battlefield . . . and kill.”

Kera took a step back. “You . . . you brought me here to—”

A scream from behind Vig cut off Kera’s question and a man with an ax charged up behind him.

Vig stepped to the side, brought his arm out, hitting the man in the gut and sending him flipping over. The man landed on the ground and Vig yanked the ax from his hands and brought the weapon down on the man’s stomach, nearly cutting him in half. Then he raised it again, brought it down once more, and took the man’s head.

Blood splattered across Kera’s face, and she gasped in shock at the feel of it.