Viking Sensitivity (Night World Series Book 2) (7 page)

"No, that doesn't ring a bell. But then a lot of the beings I've seen could quite possibly have the ability to turn into some sort of black mist. And I by no means know the entire catalog of the Spirit World. But if you would like I can make some inquiries. You can come by the shop tomorrow and I can let you know what I find out. Although really it would be best if you and Mia came to the shop. If this thing, whatever it is, is chasing her down she should probably know about it to. Speaking of which, does she know what you do? Does she know anything about any of this?"

For the first time the MP looked nervous. "Yes and no. She knows bits and pieces here and there. I tried to only tell her the things that are pertinent. I know better than to go around telling people about our world." The last sounded a little bit hostile.

"So when you both come tomorrow should I tell her what I actually find or skirt around the Night World?"

Gwen was fishing. Viking knew it. She was doing it on his behalf. She was seeing what it was his mate knew of him. That was one of the reasons he loved Gwen. She was always looking out for the people she cared about.

He saw a little bit of hope in the fact that his mate had abilities of her own and might, just might, have a little bit of knowledge of the Night World. For the first time since the Maddening started he felt himself getting little bit of hope. He tried not to let it get out of hand. After all, he still only had two days left. But still he couldn't quash all of it.

Some already made comments about how Viking was getting a little bit snippy but he was still better off than Cesar had been when Cesar had been Maddening weeks earlier.

It seems a little ridiculous for the both of them to have gone through Maddening so close to one another after centuries of not. Viking shook his head to clear his train of thought. He needed to stay in the present.

"No, I think it's time she get all the information she needs. She needs to know exactly what she's up against if something's after her. I'd rather she be angry that I hid all this from her but well prepared than us tiptoe around the subject and her missing vital information she may need to protect herself."

Viking admired the older woman. She is going against convention by telling more about their world. He can actually see Gwen doing the same thing if roles were reversed.

Just then Mia stood up in front of the podium and all the people in the seating area went silent. The MP got up and moved to sit next to a blonde woman who seemed to be around the same age.

As Mia started talking Viking felt himself smile. She was beautiful, intelligent, everything he wanted in a woman. She was hot as hell. And she had a voice as calming as water lapping at a beach. There was no doubt part of him wanted to drag her off and claim her right then. The part of him raised by his mother and his sisters though wanted to cherish this woman. Forcing himself to pay attention Viking concentrated on her words. If he was going to get through the next two days he needed to focus and right now that meant trying to keep his attention on the speaker and not on his mate.

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"I'd like to try something, Storbor." Gwen said by way of breaking the silence in the car.

"And what would that be Little One."

He hoped it wasn't going to be about the talk they just attended. Despite the fact he told himself he was going to concentrate on the speaker he found himself drawn to watching Mia. Even if that meant he was just watching the back of her head. He couldn't seem to concentrate. He knew that was a sign of the Maddening but he couldn't help. All he kept thinking about was her.

"I've been working on something. And I think it would be a good idea to try tonight on you. More precisely on your bed. When you fall asleep instead of dreaming you go into Mia's dream and maybe if that thing happens to slip through again you can see it. You can let me know what exactly you see."

Viking shook his head and turned around to look at her in the back seat of the SUV. "I think she might be just as frightened if I appear her dream as if this thing appeared again. And knowing that she has an MP looking out for her my guess is her wards will be tight."

Gwen exhaled heavily. She started playing with one of the necklaces under her shirt. "I'm trying to help. As soon you can identify this thing the better. I don't like the idea of someone going after her. Especially after she meets you. Seems like too big of a coincidence to be a coincidence."

Viking agreed. The timing seemed a bit weird. He couldn't exactly put his finger on it but it set off little warning bells in his head. Not just because she was his mate.

They needed more information that he wasn't entirely sure how to get. After the speaker Mia had all but ignored them. Whenever he went to talk to her she would find something to do or somewhere else to be. The most frustrating part was his Warrior nature demanded he grab her and take her back to where he could claim her. But he was sane enough to know that it was ridiculous. He only had two days left and he wasn't sure exactly how he was going to stop the Maddening. How can he bed a woman who avoids him like the plague?

"I could do it."

He was not sure what surprised him more. Poet's volunteering to help or the serious tone he used.

"What would make you the best candidate?" Raider asked from the driver's seat.

A sigh came from the backseat. "Honestly Raider, after all the centuries you have known me one would think you would become less suspicious."

Raider snorted. "It is the centuries of experience that make me suspicious."

"Fair enough. I believe I am the best candidate for several reasons. One, I am the oldest and least fazed by the things that go bump in the night. Two, and more importantly Mia has seen me several times before but we have never interacted enough for us to have more than a vague recollection of each other. That means I am probably less likely to set off warning bells. Three, I am a better actor than the three of you combined. I will adapt better to whatever her dreamscape is. Also, even if this MP friend of hers is strong enough to ward Mia's dreams I am creative enough to find a way around them. That is why I am not just the best choice but the only one."

It always threw Viking off a step when Poet was serious or voluntarily helpful. It made him wonder if he was missing a hidden agenda.

"Those are good points." Gwen added thoughtfully.

Viking couldn't stop his cringe. The idea of Poet poking around anyone's head, let alone his mate's was totally unappealing. "Fine, do it."

"Yay! Did you hear that Gwen? We got permission from the grownups to screw with someone's mind! Isn't that exciting?"

He could hear Gwen struggling to repress her chuckle. Normally he would have found Poet's baiting to be a little amusing but with the Maddening flowing through his veins he had to put effort into not snapping at the older Warrior.

"So are you going to offer to take her to coffee tomorrow when Mia and that MP come by the shop? By the way did anyone get the MP's name? I feel like a horrible person for not asking."

No one answered. Viking wracked his brain but he couldn't remember anyone asking the MP's name.

"I have missed you Gwen. It would not have occurred to anyone else to feel bad about not getting her name." Raider answered.

"Now that is just sad! But I missed you guys too. Warriors at the capitol take things way too seriously. The only two that dare to have any sense of humor are Roman and Apollo. I cannot imagine living there. Anyway, I think I will to do some digging."

              Before Viking could turn and ask what Gwen meant, he heard her hit her speaker phone so the whole car could hear her calling someone.

              "Hey, you need a jail break? We were taking bets on if you could spend the whole eight weeks with his highness before going stir-crazy."

              Viking had not thought of calling Lucia to get information on the mysterious MP. It was a decent idea. He couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he was affected more by the Maddening than he thought.

"While I appreciate the offer Lucia, I am already home. I broke myself out. I am calling because I have a question for you."

There was silence a moment.

"You do or King does?" Lucia did not even try to hide her suspicion.

"I do." Gwen responded. She sounded unfazed by Lucia's question.

"Okay shoot."

Viking frowned. He would never understand why some Night Worlders would go out of their way to not help Warriors.

"We need to know about an MP you might know. She is somewhere between forty and fifty. Short dark brown hair, maybe five-five, about a size fourteen. We have seen here in Renton. So I am guessing she is from the south end. She is close to Mia, the woman you introduced Viking to. She claims to be as close as family."

There was silence again, longer this time. When Lucia finally spoke her voice sounded wary.

"I was not aware Mia knew any MPs. As for that specific MP, I could think of a dozen off the top of my head who are possible candidates. Plus, I do not know every MP and if she is spending time with Sensitives she might be without a Strata, so I would be even less likely to know her. Why are you asking? Has something happened?"

Viking turned and looked at Gwen. He did not want the entire Night World to know he had begun the Maddening.

"It turns out Mia was attacked last night by a being. We think is was from the Spirit World. The MP seemed to think that she could ward Mia well enough to keep the thing at bay. We were just wondering whether this MP is that strong or if we should interfere."

Viking made sure his expression showed his gratitude to Gwen. He then turned back around in his seat to face forward.

"That is odd. But when you think about it, Sensitives are going to be easier for beings to bother than someone who is in the Night World because they won't know what hit them. I will do a little digging on my end but I think it is safe to assume that the MP is not very powerful. Otherwise I would have heard or had some recollection. It is distinctly possible that I am wrong but not likely. I will poke around about a being too but in order to do so it helps if you know what type of being it is.

"Odds are the best she should be able to do is probably a blanket protection spell. Which isn't necessarily going to work as well in the dream world as it does in the real world. I simply don't know what she's capable of. I'm sorry I am not more help."

"That's fine Lucia I knew it was going to be in longshot. I guess I'll talk to you later. Please let us know if find anything."

"You'll be the first one I call. Talk to you later"

Then there was silence. Viking assume Lucia and Gwen ended the call. Viking felt better about having plan. But the plan didn't necessarily help with his Maddening. Now all he could do was wait until Poet and Gwen finished with their section of the plan. He knew he should be able to take that time and use it to come up with some sort of idea for when he saw Mia tomorrow. But he continued to draw blank. The Maddening was to get worse as he moved into the second day. He had trouble thinking of the scenario where he would be able to bed Mia in the next two days. It just did not seem like a possibility. Part of him hoped there was, most of him was starting to be concerned and thought maybe it was time to come up with a backup plan just in case he ended up losing to the Maddening.

Chapter 7

Mia didn't know why she was surprised she was able to sleep. She knew Charlie had been able to do something on her bed as well as a charm to protect her dreams. Charlie mentioned that it was kind of a catchall. She didn't exactly know what creature was after Mia and wouldn't be able to tailor the spell to that particular being. Therefore if the being was particularly strong or particularly determined to go after Mia then the being might be able to get through anyway. It was not the most comforting of thoughts, however, she was so exhausted from the info dump earlier in the day she crashed as soon as she hit the pillow.

She was at
Gene Coulon
Park in the dream. She lived fairly close to it but she still didn't manage to get there as often as she would like. It made sense that her dream would take her somewhere she found relaxing because she was so stressed.

She sat on the bench watching the river when she suddenly felt somebody else in the dream with her. It wasn't just somebody part of the dreamscape. It was an actual person, she could feel it. The person didn't mean her harm. She could tell that right away and it was a person not being.

Mia straightened and turned to look behind her. There, standing about four yards away, was the man who had been behind the counter at Gwen's shop.

He didn't quite look as Mia remembered him. First, he was wearing a billowy garment that looked like something out of a Hollywood movie. It was a rich color that seems to move with the slight breeze coming from the water. The top was thin and could have been nothing but a jacket. The tails of which fell to his knees. The pants were loose and the fabric moved like water as he walked. His hair was unadorned and hung around his shoulders. He could've been something out of the Arabian nights.

Mia would've chalked it up to just her imagination if it wasn't for his sheer presence and the large snake wrapped around his shoulders and part of his torso. The snake wasn't really moving except for the eyes. Its eyes were watching her from where its head sat on his shoulder. It was a little disconcerting. Mia wasn't sure how to reconcile this person she met in real life with the man standing before her. Not to mention the surprise that he was able to get into her dream.

He seemed to have been waiting for her to adjust to his presence. He was sure to maintain eye contact and had a pleasant expression on his face.

She wasn't able to take her eyes off of him. For whatever reason her attention was glued to him. It wasn't just because he was attractive or because he somehow made his way into her dream. There was just something about him that grabbed and maintained her attention. She half expected to see him surrounded by some kind of power but she didn't see anything. She felt she should've been bothered or worried about this man's presence but survival instincts were not kicking in. She knew he wasn't there to cause her problems and that he wasn't any harm.

He gave her the briefest smile as he sat down on the bench next to her. He shifted himself so that his torso faced her. It made it so both he could see her as well as the snake, however it put the snake farther away from her. She in turn moved to the edge of the bench and turned into the middle.

"You are much less upset by my appearance than I would have thought you would be. I did not expect almost no reaction at all. That makes you very interesting." He smiled grew slightly.

Mia said the first thing that came to her mind. "What's with the snake?"

She mentally chastised herself for being so rude but she couldn't help it.

His smile disappeared. "Suffice it to say he is a part of my psyche. Where I go he goes. Do not worry, he is not going to start talking or anything like that. In fact odds are you probably won't see him move at all. Just try to pretend he's not there and soon you'll barely notice it."

Mia found that a weird response. There was something about it that didn't ring true for her. Part of her wanted to question him. Call him on the lie. But more of her decided if he was going to concoct a story she didn't want to be rude. She didn't think the snake was there to harm her so she decided to move past it.

"Okay then, let's try, ‘what are you doing here’?"

The smile was back. "You see, now that is a much easier question to answer. Your older friend mentioned to us at the speaker's presentation this evening that something was bothering you last night and perhaps in nights before. Since that is kind of Gwen's forte we decided we would send a scout to visit your dreams and see if we could figure out what exactly it was and therefore help you get rid of it. I volunteered because in my mind at least, I seemed like the best choice." His smile tilted even higher on one side.

Mia narrowed her eyes. "Why? Don't get me wrong I appreciate that people would want to help me. Why would you all want to help? I barely know any of you. I can't even remember your name. No offense but this all seems just a little bit fishy. "

The man's smile grew wide. "Now that, my dear, is very interesting answer. I'm not sure people would agree with me telling you. So of course I will. When I say your older friend do you know who I'm talking about?"

She didn't really have to think. There had been only one she had seen talking to that group before the speaker started. "Yes, that would be Charlie."

He nodded as if that response was what he expected. "Has she ever mentioned the term MP to you?"

Adrenaline shot a few sparks through her system. All warning bells tinkled in the back of her head. She was willing to bet this meant the man in front of him was one of the Warriors Charlie told her about. Would he be upset Charlie told her about their existence? Would it get Charlie in trouble? Did he come to get some kind of revenge? She quickly dismissed that idea. She would've sensed if he had been here to hurt her. Deciding to go with the truth she took a deep breath.

"Yes, she's given me a brief description of MPs, Warriors, and the Lady of the Dead." She made sure her face remained calm, so she gave away as little as possible.

If she hadn't been sitting this close to him she wouldn't have notice his eyes widen just so slightly. That hadn't been the response he expect. He did not seem upset or discouraged.

"Well you know quite a bit. That will make my part easier. I take that to mean she told you about Gwen and her special abilities?"

Mia and nodded but didn't respond.

"There is your answer then. This is Gwen's business, so to speak, it is what she does. Not only is she trying to help you with this problem. But there isn't one creature in the Spirit World that is not aware of her. The more she knows about a particular being the more powerful she becomes against it and the more people she can help." His eyes took on a mischievous quality.

As if what he said next was probably the part that would get him in trouble if other people knew. "As for what makes you so special. There's this thing Warriors go through. It's called the Maddening. Warriors, as general rule, spend a lot of time alone or with other Warriors. There are no female Warriors. Don't ask me why. I don't know. That's just the way of it. So when a Warrior comes across the woman destined to be his mate for the rest of his existence, well, to be exact, when he comes in physical contact with her he gets this flash of sensation. I'm told it feels similarly to getting an electric shock from an outlet. That shock lets him know he started the Maddening and he has met his mate. Once he's had that shock he has three days to bed that woman and if he does not, the Maddening ends up driving him crazy. And eventually they usually have to be killed. They become a danger to themselves and others. But depending on the Warrior that level crazy can take anywhere from three days to a month.

"Since you are a smart woman I'm guessing you put two and two together and realized our dear Viking is in Maddening from shaking your hand. I figure it's best for all if you know upfront what exactly is going on. That means once you wake up in the morning our fearless leader has two days to bed you. I know it's the raw end of the deal and all that but you still have choices. You can choose to sleep with him or you can choose not to. It's up to you."

Mia just sat there staring unblinkingly in shock at the man in front of her.

"Oh and my name is Poet." He smiled revealing sharpened eye teeth.

She almost couldn't process everything. Her heart hammered and her mind raced. It was already a lot that there were people in this world who had abilities she hadn't even known existed. Now this man told her that simply by touching a man she barely knew was suddenly on a time crunch to sleep with her or go crazy and have to be killed. The idea seemed preposterous. She did not want to believe it. But something in her knew he was telling her the truth. Some deeper wisdom that she used to navigate her life agreed with everything Poet said.

Mia had never been someone to sleep with strangers. Or near strangers. She usually waited a couple months into dating someone before that even came up. Not that she dated often. Men usually found her education and her owning her own business to be rather intimidating.

Finally she closed her eyes so she could force her train of thought to where she wanted it. Taking one deep breath after another she concentrated. Yes, she found Viking extremely attractive. He seemed like a decent guy as far she could tell. From what Charlie told her he was a man of some importance with a lot of responsibility. So, he wouldn't exactly flake out on her. But she certainly didn't know him well enough to promise the rest of her life. Opening her eyes again she looked at Poet. 

"Let's say I sleep with him. Then what happens?"

Poet tilted his head to the side. His smile softened and his eyes became more human, less teasing. "A Warrior enters the first stage of mating. Basically what happens during that time is his mate's lifespan adjusts to his and his Maddening becomes a low simmer. The more he beds his mate in that first year the less agitating that simmer will be. So could you get away with only sleeping with him the one time? Yes. Would it be Viking's best interest? No. Could you sleep with him on and off for a year and then part ways? Absolutely. But it rarely happens that way. I only know of four instances where a Warrior and his mate have that particular arrangement."

Mia's mind caught on one statement. "What do you mean the mate's lifespan adjusts to his?" She knew she had to ask even though part of her was dreading the answer.

Poet sighed. "This part is going to be a little difficult to swallow. Warriors as a general rule have a much extended lifespan. If we live past thirty we become almost impossible to kill. Sure behead us we die. Stab us enough times or with something big enough and we will bleed out. But we simply become harder to kill. Un-mated Warriors tend live longer than their mated counter parts, however, as a general rule eventually they end up committing suicide in one way or another. Mated Warriors end up sharing the remainder of their lifespan with their mate.

"For example let's say a Warrior has lived thousands of years and has for the sake of easy math a thousand years left. Those last thousand years are split between the two of them. So instead of having one thousand years left he and his mate have five hundred together.

"This is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because they have a very long time together. They get to see their family grow and change and can become strong points in the local Warrior community. However it is a curse because Warrior blood is only passed down to the eldest son in the family. This means the Warrior and his mate will end up outliving the rest of their children maybe most of their grandchildren. Their children and grandchildren will be very strong human psychics, for lack of a better term. And more often than not they do have stronger immune systems and live longer than the average person. But they rarely outlive the normal human lifespan. That is the main reason Warriors tend to have few children. Most do not wish to go through that."

Mia's brain almost couldn't process that information. That meant if she slept with Viking to prevent his madness, slept with him for a year and ended up pregnant. That child would be a Warrior like him. If any children happen after that they would die long before she did. That idea was so heartbreaking she almost decided right there not to have sex with Viking.

"On the plus side, Viking is while not necessarily old but not necessarily young either. Maybe you luck out and he only has like three hundred years left to split with you."

Mia simply blinked at the man in front of her. "Was that supposed to be comforting or a joke?"

Poet shrugged. "Take it however you like."

He did not seem phased by her staring at him. A part of her was appalled by his statement. And part of her felt slightly better. This was so much information she wasn't sure how to take it in. She almost felt sick but at the same time she found all of it rather interesting. Her brain felt like it was on overload. She really needed time to process all this.

"Unless you have any more questions I think now is the time for me to leave you be. Don't worry I'll still be around in case you get attacked. I'm better at fighting things like that being off than you are. However, I think alone time is probably what you would like right now. Well I can't give it to you completely, in good conscience, but I will do the best I can and stay as far away as I can in your dream world."

Appreciation bloomed in Mia's chest at his thoughtful words. She knew he was right. It was better he was there if he knew how to fight off whatever had visited her last night.