Arctic Dawn (The Norse Chronicles Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

into locating Skyla, but she deserved better treatment than that. She had saved my life. Searching for her was the least I could do in return.
    An hour later, my time ran out on the computer, and the system logged me out. I leaned back from the screen, rubbed my eyes, and stretched. Then I slipped on my hood and sunglasses and went outside to catch the bus back across town.
    Another day of fruitless searching had confirmed what I’d already accepted in the depths of my heart. I wasn’t going to find Skyla by hiding out in San Diego any longer. I had recovered the majority of my fire, and I would have to hit the road again soon. Helen was probably the most direct resource for information on Skyla, but I wasn’t brave enough, or dumb enough, to face her alone. I needed backup for that kind of confrontation. So, back to Alaska and the Nordic deities who contest my every move? Or return to the Aerie and take my chances among the potentially compromised Valkyries?
    I had gone to San Diego because Skyla’s family had established its foundations there, and it seemed like a good place to search for new leads. It was far away from my home in North Carolina, no one had reason to look for me there, and I had needed a place to hide while recovering my strength. If I admitted I had done all I could on my own, and my search required my making a more… public nuisance of myself, then the time had come. But if I reached out and reconnected, I’d have to decide whom I most trusted to support my goals. Thorin’s image appeared in my thoughts—the look in his eyes when I’d last seen him, when he had told me he was not like Val and would not make his mistakes. At the time, I thought Thorin meant he wouldn’t force his affections on me, but in the weeks that had passed, I wondered if Thorin meant he wouldn’t make the mistake of getting close to me or letting me get close to him.
    Good thing I didn’t need his intimacy. I only needed results. Of all the supernatural beings in my life who could help me find Skyla, Thorin was the one I most believed in, a man not much on words but big on action. Guess I just made up my mind.

    Back in my apartment, I spent my remaining free time washing dishes and packing my paltry laundry in tote bags so my things would be ready to go at a moment’s notice. In the late afternoon, I tossed aside my cleaning rag and donned my bartending armor, a psychological shield constructed of layers of patience, humility, and a healthy sense of humor. I also put on a bowling shirt printed with the “Stefanakis Spirits and Suds” logo and a dark pair of jeans that hid spills and stains. I tied my hair up in a messy knot and headed for the door. Successful bartending relied on a careful balance of being attractive but not too attractive. After too many beers or bourbons, customers sometimes developed possessive inclinations toward me. I did my best to discourage them in advance.
    The commute from my apartment to my office took all of thirty seconds, the time required to lock my door, jog down a short flight of stairs, and step through the bar’s back door into the storage room.
    “Sabrina,” Nikka said in greeting.
    “Nikka,” I said in return. She had brought racks of clean glassware from the dishwasher to the bar, and I helped her stock the shelves.
    “You ready for tonight?” she asked.
    “You think it will be as bad as last Friday?”
    Nikka nodded. “The band I scheduled for tonight has a pretty dedicated fan base.”
    “Rock?” I asked, trying to predict the crowd.
    “Nah, more like folk.”
    “So, more PBR and less Bud?”
    “Yes,” Nikka said and rolled her eyes. “I can’t stand assholes who drink beer ironically” —she rubbed her fingers together— “but I have to love them because they drink so damned much of it.”
    Nikka and I hustled to restock well liquors and inventory the premium brands. She filled ice wells and opened several beer taps to release air from the lines while I