Perfekt Control (The Ære Saga Book 2) by S.T. Bende Read Free Book Online Page A

back.
    Henrik grabbed Tyr’s arm as he passed the
window. “Where do Brynn and I go?”
    Tyr narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know. Didn’t
you say you were working on a new device? Something that can freeze
time?”
    “We are. It’s in the weapons closet, but it’s
unfinished. If only we’d been faster with development…” Henrik
frowned, his arms again clenching his remarkable biceps. “We ran
out of älva dust and we can’t proceed to beta phase without
it.”
    “Then I suggest you start in Alfheim.” Tyr
raised one eyebrow. “They took Freya right out from under three
assassins, Henrik. Whoever they are, they’re good. But if we’d had
the advantage of stopping time…” Tyr shook his head. “I’ll transfer
the contents of the closet to the compound. Get the älva dust and report back to the safe house. We’ll need to weapon up
with every tool in our arsenal.”
    “Affirmative.” Henrik pulled his shoulders
back and stood with his fists at his sides while Tyr strode from
the room. On the outside, he was the picture of determination. But
I’d been obsessed with him for so long, I knew exactly what the
twitch in his eye meant.
    Henrik was nervous.
    “What’s the matter, Henrik? Not thrilled to
go on a jotun hunt with me?” I furrowed my brow. “Troll hunt? Fire
giant hunt?” My fingers framed my waist as I crossed to his side.
“Do you have any idea who did this?”
    “You were watching the monitors. Did you see who took her?”
    “No. I slowed the images to micro when I
tracked the vacuum disappearance, and those creatures are still
nothing more than a black blur. I don’t get it—we modified that
camera so it would catch a hundred frames a second. Nobody moves that fast.”
    “Somebody does.” Henrik scratched at the
day-old stubble on his chin. “Unless those blobs are just shapeless
energy.”
    “Gods, why couldn’t we have had the time
freezer ready for today?” I squeezed my stomach harder. “One of us
could have activated it and she’d still be here. Ugh. I guess we’re
going to Alfheim.”
    Henrik’s eye twitched again. Gotcha .
    “Have you spent much time there?” I asked,
innocently.
    Henrik’s knuckles turned white. “I haven’t
been there in a long time.”
    That so didn’t answer my question.
Unfortunately, my five prep minutes were closing in on four. “Well,
if you’ve been reading Tyr’s weekly state-of-the-realm
compilations, you’ll know it’s still in a friendly state; one of
the light elves or meadow elves or fairies will show us where the
newest coffee shops have popped up.” I nudged Henrik with my elbow,
and he gave a thin smile. Enough digging. Time to lighten his mood
or I’d have a seriously crabby traveling companion on my hands.
“Well, you heard the commandant. We’re down to four minutes to pack
whatever we might need for Odin knows how long of a trip. And I,
for one, have got a slew of hair products to wade through.”
    Henrik raised an eyebrow. “We’re on the brink
of war and you’re worried about your hair?”
    “ Hei . I’m kidding.” I darted into the
hallway. At the foot of the stairs, I turned and gave him a
brilliant smile. “I know exactly which products to
pack.”
    Henrik chuckled. Mission completed. I darted
into my room and threw on my black cargo pants and matching V-neck
t-shirt, then tossed a change of clothes, the bare minimum
toiletries, and my warm jacket into a backpack. My dagger fit
neatly into the side of one combat boot, and I sheathed my rapier
at my belt. It was a friendly realm; no need to go in with weapons
drawn.
    Though I did throw a second dagger in my
other boot, just in case the climate shifted.
    I was at the foot of the stairs in less than
two minutes. Tyr joined me sixty seconds later, followed by Henrik,
who passed me one of our extra vacuums. I shoved the little box
into my backpack as Forse flew through the front door carrying two
bags.
    “Elsa keeps emergency bags packed ever since…
you