Page 19 of Heart of Mischief

“Seriously.” Sophie’s fingers brushed the hilt of the sword at her hip. “It is a creature known as Rattatosk.”

“Wait,” said Abigail, holding up a hand. “Rattatosk as in… the gods’ messenger squirrel? The one that runs messages up and down the world tree?ThatRattatosk?”

The blond Valkyrie, who had remained mostly stone-faced since landing, other than her brief moment of surprise at Sophie’s laughter, smiled. The sight was like a lightbulb switching on; her whole face brightened, turning from terrifying to sunshine in an instant.

“You know who Rattatosk is?” the Valkyrie asked eagerly.

Abigail frowned, clearly offended. “Of course I do. You think I would discover that Norse mythology was real andnotresearch everything I could find on the subject? To date, I’ve read all ofThe Prose EddaandAn Introduction to Old Norseby E. V. Gordon, and I’ve just checked out this big, dusty old book from the library calledThe Ancient Tales of Icelandthat I’m planning to start tonight.”

“Interesting.” The Valkyrie tilted her head to one side, pursing her lips and giving Abigail a long, luxurious once-over, from the soles of her chunky boots to the mermaid braids on top of her head. “Whoareyou? I know which one Charlie is, obviously, since she looks just like Sophie. And the male who’s about to wet his pants must be the brother—”

Charlie glanced at Mason. He hadn’t moved an inch since the Valkyries had arrived, though his face had gone even paler. Charlie wasn’t sure if he’d heard the Valkyrie’s words; he looked as if he might, at any moment, teeter backward and pass out.

“—but the captaincertainlydidn’t brief me on any astoundingly brilliant, ethereally beautiful females we’d face on this mission,” the Valkyrie said, pale blue eyes flashing playfully.

Abigail’s mouth dropped open into a little o of surprise. Her eyes widened, cheeks coloring. Were this any other situation, Charlie would have taken this moment to catch Lou’s eye and double over with laughter; it wasn’t often that they saw their best friend become totally speechless. But the shock of having Sophiehere, in the girls’ bathroom at the high school that, in another life, they would have been attending together, had stalled Charlie’s brain. She was having trouble just remembering to breathe.

“Linnea,” Sophie said, letting out a long-suffering sigh. “A relentless flirt, as always. I should have known not to bring you here on official business.” She shook her head. “Even a double homicide isn’t enough to keep you from trying to get every female you meet to fall in love with you.”

Linnea shrugged, pale blue eyes glittering. “What can I say? I’m cursed with an excess of charisma.”

“Outrageous,” Sophie muttered before turning to Charlie. “Back to the subject at hand: Rattatosk is the culprit of last night’s murders. The missing fingers are his signature.”

“I’m sorry.” Lou scratched her auburn hair. “Can we go back to the fact that amessenger squirrelate Maddie’s and Milo’s fingers?”

“Believe me,” said Sophie, “Rattatosk is far more than a squirrel. He’s a shape-shifter. One that can turn into a beast of great horror. For eons, he served Odin, running messages up and down Yggdrasil and harming no one. Odin forbade him to shift. But once he was no longer bound to the Allfather…” She looked away. “They say he becomes a monster like none the realms have ever seen.”

“Who isthey?” Lou asked.

“Hard to say,” said Sophie. “None who have seen him lived to tell the tale.”

A shiver raced down Charlie’s spine.

“I don’t know…” Lou said. “Shape-shifter or not, it’s hard to believe that asquirrelis capable of taking down two full-grown teenagers.”

“You may choose not to believe me, Louise.” She leveled the group with a hard stare. “But it will be at your own peril.”

“But if Rattatosk is a creature of Asgard,” Abigail asked, “how could he get through the Seal to attack those kids?”

“Another excellent point, gorgeous,” said Linnea, causing Abigail to flush once more. “And our question exactly.”

“We’re hearing about more and more of these incidents every day,” said Sophie. “We Valkyrie are working overtime to patch up leaks in the Seal, but none of that will matter if we can’t find Gungnir, the Allfather’s spear to which the Seal was originally bound. We need to rehabilitate the original magic placed on it, or the barrier between our worlds will break down entirely.”

“You’re looking into the riddle, then?” Charlie asked. “The one I gave you.”

“We are.” Sophie nodded. “Our best scholars are working around-the-clock.”

Charlie exhaled with relief, even as another knot formed in her back. Her time with Sophie was running out. This was her second visit to Charlie since her “death,” and just like the first, they had spent it talking about the end of the world. There was so much more that Charlie wanted to say. She wanted to ask about her life as a Valkyrie. To tell Sophie how much she missed her, how much she had grieved her loss, how much she loved her still.

She could say those things now, she supposed, but it didn’t feel right. Like trying to force a square brick into a round hole.

“And us?” Charlie asked. “What does Odin want with us?”

“Rattatosk is a powerful creature, but he’s also cursed,” Sophie said. “Bound to serve whoever holds his leash.”

“His leash?” Lou asked. “Like on a dog?”

“Not quite. I’ve never seen Rattatosk’s leash, but they say it’s like a ribbon of shimmering gold. A magical length of rope that Rattatosk’s master keeps always wrapped around his wrist.”