The Mall of America was huge and sprawling. It was mid November and Christmas shopping was in full swing. The Mall was packed with people.
“Stay close.” Jord kept a firm grip on her arm as they made their way through the crowd of shoppers. “The only thing more vicious than a frost giant on the hunt, is a hockey mom doing her Christmas shopping.”
At the lowest shopping level of the mall, back in an out-of-the-way corner, sat a little shop called the Norski Cook. The display window showed lefse grills, krumkake irons and other specialized Scandinavian cooking implements. Meghan only recognized them because her Grandma Larson, bless her soul, let her help make every last scrumptious Norwegian concoction back when she’d been five years old. She still missed her grandmother, especially at Christmas time.
Meghan’s mouth watered at just the thought. “I haven’t had a sandbakkel in years.”
There were only a few customers in the store, all of them gray-haired women, except for the one old man who appeared to have been dragged in by his wife.
“You wanna eat it,” she heard the wife saying, “you can help me make it.”
“Hi Jord.” A bright voice came from their right. “Meghan.”
Meghan could almost feel the chill as the woman added her name. Behind the counter stood Valerie Halla, Jord’s friend from that morning. Had it only been that morning?
“Hi Valerie.” Meghan tried to sound friendly, but she only got a cold stare. She did note how Valerie’s eyes lit up when she looked back at Jord.
Oh yeah, there was a tinge of green in those eyes. The woman really liked Jord. Well, that wasn’t hard. If he hadn’t been so out of her reach, Meghan could have easily fallen for the hunky god herself. But did Valerie really believe Meghan was competition?
Jord frowned, waggling a finger at the woman. “Lighten up Val. There’s a shipment downstairs we need to examine.”
Val lifted one eyebrow and gave Meghan a hard stare. “Both of you?” She seemed a bit shocked.
Jord turned his head to the side. “Approved by Gramps himself. You want to call him and check?”
The woman sniffed. “I’ll just do that. Go on down, but don’t you dare touch anything until I get the okay from upstairs.”
Vallerie lifted the handset on the phone at the counter. Did they really have a phone line to Asgaard?
Jord was chuckling as he led Meghan through a door with a sign that read ‘Employees Only’. Behind the door was a set of concrete steps that Jord led Meghan down.
“So what is she,” Meghan asked, “the Goddess of Anger?”
Jord burst out laughing. “Val is kind of a present from my sister, Thrud. You see, Sis is in charge of the Valkyries. When I was a lot younger, I got into a bit of trouble and she assigned Val the job of looking after me. She takes the job very seriously. I haven’t been able to convince her I don’t need watching anymore.”
Meghan chuckled. “Valerie is a Valkyrie?”
It sounded so absurd when she said it.
“Yup.”
That brought up a whole new set of questions.
“So why does she see me as some kind of threat to you?”
Jord’s mood darkened. “Val sees all my mortal friends as potential threats and has driven quite a few of them away. She doesn’t like me cavorting with mortals — especially female mortals.”
Meghan chuckled. “You cavort with mortal females?”
Jord reddened a bit. “That was over a hundred years ago. You’d think she’d have forgotten about it by now. I mean, who does she think I am, Freyr?”
“Freyr?” Meghan ran her hand over her new jacket. It had been a gift from the god Freyr.
Jord sniffed. “Fertility god. Always on the make, trying to prove something I guess.”
Before they could get into the details, Val joined them. The woman was a bit red-faced.
“I still can’t believe you are taking a mortal to Svartalheim.” She did seem to be looking more kindly on Meghan. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you? I
“Stay close.” Jord kept a firm grip on her arm as they made their way through the crowd of shoppers. “The only thing more vicious than a frost giant on the hunt, is a hockey mom doing her Christmas shopping.”
At the lowest shopping level of the mall, back in an out-of-the-way corner, sat a little shop called the Norski Cook. The display window showed lefse grills, krumkake irons and other specialized Scandinavian cooking implements. Meghan only recognized them because her Grandma Larson, bless her soul, let her help make every last scrumptious Norwegian concoction back when she’d been five years old. She still missed her grandmother, especially at Christmas time.
Meghan’s mouth watered at just the thought. “I haven’t had a sandbakkel in years.”
There were only a few customers in the store, all of them gray-haired women, except for the one old man who appeared to have been dragged in by his wife.
“You wanna eat it,” she heard the wife saying, “you can help me make it.”
“Hi Jord.” A bright voice came from their right. “Meghan.”
Meghan could almost feel the chill as the woman added her name. Behind the counter stood Valerie Halla, Jord’s friend from that morning. Had it only been that morning?
“Hi Valerie.” Meghan tried to sound friendly, but she only got a cold stare. She did note how Valerie’s eyes lit up when she looked back at Jord.
Oh yeah, there was a tinge of green in those eyes. The woman really liked Jord. Well, that wasn’t hard. If he hadn’t been so out of her reach, Meghan could have easily fallen for the hunky god herself. But did Valerie really believe Meghan was competition?
Jord frowned, waggling a finger at the woman. “Lighten up Val. There’s a shipment downstairs we need to examine.”
Val lifted one eyebrow and gave Meghan a hard stare. “Both of you?” She seemed a bit shocked.
Jord turned his head to the side. “Approved by Gramps himself. You want to call him and check?”
The woman sniffed. “I’ll just do that. Go on down, but don’t you dare touch anything until I get the okay from upstairs.”
Vallerie lifted the handset on the phone at the counter. Did they really have a phone line to Asgaard?
Jord was chuckling as he led Meghan through a door with a sign that read ‘Employees Only’. Behind the door was a set of concrete steps that Jord led Meghan down.
“So what is she,” Meghan asked, “the Goddess of Anger?”
Jord burst out laughing. “Val is kind of a present from my sister, Thrud. You see, Sis is in charge of the Valkyries. When I was a lot younger, I got into a bit of trouble and she assigned Val the job of looking after me. She takes the job very seriously. I haven’t been able to convince her I don’t need watching anymore.”
Meghan chuckled. “Valerie is a Valkyrie?”
It sounded so absurd when she said it.
“Yup.”
That brought up a whole new set of questions.
“So why does she see me as some kind of threat to you?”
Jord’s mood darkened. “Val sees all my mortal friends as potential threats and has driven quite a few of them away. She doesn’t like me cavorting with mortals — especially female mortals.”
Meghan chuckled. “You cavort with mortal females?”
Jord reddened a bit. “That was over a hundred years ago. You’d think she’d have forgotten about it by now. I mean, who does she think I am, Freyr?”
“Freyr?” Meghan ran her hand over her new jacket. It had been a gift from the god Freyr.
Jord sniffed. “Fertility god. Always on the make, trying to prove something I guess.”
Before they could get into the details, Val joined them. The woman was a bit red-faced.
“I still can’t believe you are taking a mortal to Svartalheim.” She did seem to be looking more kindly on Meghan. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you? I
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