“Great, but we need the Hammer more,” Astrid said.

Fen growled loudly enough that Reyna and Ray exchanged a look, and Laurie hoped that she wasn’t going to have to step between them. His temper was never good, but today it was worse than usual because he was worried about her.

“Being Odin’s girlfriend doesn’t make you a part of this,” Fen said.

Astrid jumped up, glared at him, and ran out of the room.

Casually, Fen looked at Matt. “So how do we find the Hammer?”

No one said a word. Matt glared at Fen, and then he walked out. Laurie wasn’t sure what to do. The twins fled back upstairs, and Baldwin looked from the doorway to Fen to her. He didn’t say anything or follow Matt and Astrid.

“Fen…” Laurie started, but she wasn’t sure what to say.

Fen stood. “Tell me when there’s a plan,” he called as he left the room.

He was being a jerk, but Astrid was going to need to be less sensitive if she was going to be around them. If she was going to run away every time Fen said something rude, she might as well never sit down. Laurie liked her, and she liked the idea of having another girl around in addition to Reyna—who hadn’t warmed up to Laurie… or anyone else, either. However, Laurie was going to have to talk to her. No one had run away when Astrid pointed out that Laurie and Fen were descendants of the god who fought on the other side—or when trolls, Norns, Valkyries, or mara appeared.

TWENTY-ONE

MATT

“RAIDING THE RAIDERS”

Matt needed to make Astrid feel better. It was like being on the boxing or wrestling team. You might fight the other guys at practice, but at a tournament, you had to support each other. Help each other. Cheer each other on. Whenever there was a problem—like one guy razzing another—Coach Forde would send Matt in to cool them down. He supposed that meant he was good at it. Now it was up to him to make things right. Bring the team back together.

But what if Astrid took it the wrong way? What if she thought he liked her? He did like her, as a person. But the way she kept looking at him and talking about him… his cheeks heated just thinking about it. She probably didn’t mean it like that. She had a boyfriend. She was just being super-nice to him because he was being nice to her. Like at school sometimes, when he was nice to new kids and all of a sudden they were sitting beside him at lunch and walking home from school with him.

But what if, by chasing her, she thought he meant something else. He’d have to tell her it wasn’t like that. Or, worse, she’d tell himit wasn’t like that for her— You’re a great guy, Matt, but I have a boyfriend. He’d probably burn up with embarrassment.

So he followed her for a bit. Then he imagined her looking back and seeing him followingher and how much worse that would be.

“Hey, Astrid,” he called, as calmly as he could. “Wait up.”

She turned and when she saw him, her whole face lit up in this smile that made him stumble over his feet.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said, pointing to the house. “Fen didn’t mean to snap at you. Everyone’s just really tired and freaked out. You’re right about Mjolnir.”

She walked toward him. “Thank you. You’re the brains andthe brawn of this operation, aren’t you?”

“No, we all are. It’s a team effort. Fen has a point. We don’t know where Mjolnir is. But we do know where to find the shield.”

Her shoulders slumped, and she let out a deep sigh.

“Sure, I can’t wait to get Mjolnir,” he said. “But the Valkyries say the shield is just as important.”

“But if you know where it is, you can get it anytime.” Her fingers touched his arm. “You need Mjolnir.”

He brushed back his hair, “accidentally” dropping her fingers from his arm.

“There must be someone you can ask,” she continued. “The Norns. The Valkyries. I bet you could call them. Ask them for help finding Mjolnir.”

Matt shook his head. “I need to find it myself. It’s part of the test.”

“Test?” She gave a scornful laugh. “If they’re testing you, they don’t know you very well. Anyone can see that you’re ready. And who are they to test the mighty Thor? You’re the important one. You always have been. Even these days, everyone knows the name of Thor. Can they name a Norn? A Valkyrie? Most don’t even know what they are.”

Except he wasn’t Thor. He was only the god’s representative, which meant he had to prove himself worthy of the honor. He wasn’t ready to meet the serpent. It was nice that Astrid thought so, but she was wrong.

She moved closer again, lowering her voice as if they might be overheard. “I suppose you’ve heard that Odin was king of the gods.”

“He was.”

“True… but he wasn’t the most popular one. He wasn’t the most-worshipped one. Look it up. Odin was the god of the nobility. Thor was the god of the common man. He was the most popular. The most worshipped. The most beloved. It’s not Odin who got to be a comic-book hero, is it? There’s a reason for that. It’s all about Thor. It’s always been Thor.” She met his gaze again. “And that’s you. You are Thor and you need Mjolnir, and if your friends are saying you don’t, it’s because they’re jealous. You’re Thor. They’re… someone else.”

“If you’re upset about what Fen said, that you’re not really a part—”

“I don’t care about that. I care about getting that Hammer for you, Matt.”

That seemed a weird thing to be concerned about, and Matt suspected she really was hurt over what Fen had said, but he decided not to push it.

“No one’s saying I don’t need the Hammer. I know you’re trying to help, but we should get the shield first.” Now it was his turn to meet her eyes. “I understand if you don’t want to help with that, but it would be great if you could.”

Did he imagine it, or did sheblush now?

“Of course I’ll help, Matt.”

The others had gathered in the kitchen. Matt walked in, Astrid trailing after him.

“Fen? You know where the Raider camp is, right?” Matt asked.

“Uh, I did. If your dad and his posse haven’t rousted them,” Fen said.

Matt turned to Laurie. “If Fen knows where it is, can you open a door?”

“I can try, but I’m not entirely sure how I did it the first time.” She paused and smiled. “You’re going after the shield. We’ll have one of the weapons then.”

“ Ifwe get it.”

“You want Laurie to open a door into the Raider camp?” Fen said. His voice wasn’t a full-out growl, but it was pretty close. “Seriously?”

“Not into the actual camp,” Matt said. “We’ll touch down a little ways from it and walk.”

“All of us?” Fen paused, and then he shook his head. “I’ll handle this, Thorsen. Laurie opens the door, and I’ll go through and get your shield.”

Even Laurie looked over sharply, as if shocked. Matt was a bit surprised, but it was nice to see Fen finally becoming a team player.

“I appreciate the offer,” Matt said. “But I’ve fought them with you. You’ll need backup. Lots of it. We’re all going in.”

“All?” Reyna repeated.

“Yes.” Matt fixed her with a look. “All of us.”

Fen locked gazes with Matt. “Not Laurie. She was justhurt. She’s not going in there, and she doesn’t have fighting skills like everyone else.” He glanced at his cousin and snapped, “Don’t argue.”

Laurie folded her arms over her chest and glared at him, but Matt was just glad she was mad at Fen, not him.