Caelum's look said, What the h.e.l.l is a Bifrost? But he didn't bother asking the question aloud. Instead, he focused his attention on Gwynn.

"Geez, man, we need to stop doing this dance every time you try to save the world."

A white glow emanated between Caelum's fingers as he glided them up Gwynn's injured arm, onto his chest, and then finishing at his temples.

He fell back on his haunches and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"That's all I can do for now unless you want to carry both of us. There are all sorts of things wrong in there beyond just the arm, but I think I've done enough to make it safe to move him."

"I'll take him," Pridament said.

He lifted Gwynn up into his arms. Sophia stayed glued to his side.

"Brandt, take a position behind Pridament and cover our rear," Jason ordered. "Caelum, you be in front of Pridament, in case Gwynn needs any further patches on the way."

The two boys fell into line without question.

Both Marie and Jackson looked like dolls played with to the point of breaking.

"Marie, Jackson," Jason used a softer tone than he had with Brandt and Caelum, "what are the two of you feeling capable of?"

Marie could barely meet his eyes.

"I'm fine just staying here."

"Don't talk that way, Marie," Jason said. He knelt down closer to her. "I don't know what you've been through, but I can tell by looking at all of you it must've been h.e.l.l. And I can see we've lost friends."

Marie sucked back a sob.

"But we lost them trying to survive. They wouldn't want us to throw away the gift they had stolen. It's our obligation to them to live...and to make the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds responsible, pay."

Marie looked him square in the eye, searching for sincerity. When she saw it, she nodded and took a position by Caelum.

"Jackson?"

"I'm good," he replied, though with little conviction. "Give me a minute to clear my head, and I'll take a position near point-see if I can keep us clear of any unfriendlies."

Jason slapped him on the shoulder.

"That's what I need. But if you need anything..."

Jackson nodded. "Yeah, I'll ask."

"Are we ready?" Katsuro asked. "Because I'd hate to deprive the Einherjar of the pleasure of trapping us in an enclosed s.p.a.ce with only one exit."

"He's more of a douche bag than our Katsuro was," Jackson whispered to Jason.

Jason gave a stifled chuckle in reply. There was no way he'd disagree.

"Jackson's an empath," Jason said to Katsuro. "Listen to what he says, he'll keep us clear of the worst."

Katsuro gave Jackson an appraising look.

"Hey," Jackson said with a little wave.

Katsuro sighed and waved him toward the doors.

Jackson pressed his palm against the door and closed his eyes.

Katsuro became almost immediately impatient.

"Well?"

"The battle is still going on outside. We're clear through this door, but I sense a fair amount of anxiousness directed this way. I'd say they know we're here, but they've been told not to engage us-and they're not too happy about that."

"Impressive," Katsuro said. "You're sure you're not a mind reader?"

"No," Jackson shook his head, "no mind reader. I've just had enough experience with people and their feelings. I can make some pretty accurate guesses as to why they feel the way they do."

"But why would Woten just let us walk out of here?" Jason asked.

"Woten? You mean our Woten?"

Jason nodded grimly.

"We have a lot to discuss when we're somewhere safer. But what do you think? Is it safe? Are we walking into a trap?"

"Don't know," Jackson shrugged. "I can only tell you they know we're here, and their emotions make it clear they feel conflicted about this room. Since they're not approaching, I'm guessing it's because they have been ordered not to, and they disagree with their orders. But if it is Woten, then I can guess why they wouldn't disobey."

"Good enough," Katsuro said.

He pulled the door open and took a few hesitant steps into the hall. He looked front and back and then motioned for the others to join him.

They proceeded down the hall, took a turn, and came to a stop.

"I think we know why they wouldn't attack," Katsuro said.

They were in the bowels of Valhalla, surrounded by walls and floors carved from stone-far below the opulence of gold, statuary, and open column balconies of the upper levels. Given their location, the sudden appearance of gra.s.s and trees growing from the floor, smashing through the roof above, and the sound of birds singing in the distance, was unnerving.

"Another bleed through." Jackson surmised.

Jason took several steps closer, reaching a hesitant hand toward the boundaries of the foreign world.

"I don't know," he said. "It feels...different. That building on the farm and the city in Florida, they felt like a square peg hammered into a circular hole-something that didn't belong. But this...it feels more like a-"

"Door," Katsuro finished.

"I was going to say Tear, but sure, door works as well."

Katsuro stood beside him. He shoved his hand into the s.p.a.ce. It vanished from sight.

"Holy!" Jackson shouted.

Katsuro's expression didn't register any pain. His brow raised and his gaze focused on where his hand should be.

"I can still feel it," he said. "I'm flexing my fingers and I feel them just fine. I don't even feel the sensation of tearing into the Veil. It's like my hand is just there in front of me."

Pridament moved closer, turning his body to avoid any chance of Gwynn's unconscious form from coming into contact with the disturbance.

"We initially thought the Bifrost was a bridge, allowing free travel between worlds without the hazards of crossing the Veil. Could it be whatever Gwynn did caused it to become just that?"

"So what you're saying," Jason said, "is we're looking at a bridge point to another world. That, unlike the bleed throughs, we could just walk through this into another world without being harmed?"

Pridament shrugged.

"I don't know. But every myth has some truth, right?"

A rush of wind blasted past from behind them.

"What the...?"

Jason turned to look at the others behind him.

"Dammit, Marie. Caelum, she was right next to you. Couldn't you stop her?"

"Seriously? She ramped up and launched while I blinked."

Less than a minute later, Marie materialized in front of the group.

"That was stupid and reckless," Jason chastised her. "You could've died."

"Well, there's no way around it, we can't fold because of the wards, and I promise you, no one wants to go into the Veil. It seemed like a recon mission. That's my specialty."

"Fine," Jason sighed. "Did you find anything?"

"It's like Pridament said, a direct link to some other world. You go in and come out on another world on the other side. It's beautiful. In that world, the anomaly looks like a piece of this hall sitting in the middle of a field."

"So how do we use that to get to the other side of the hall?" Katsuro asked.

"Hold on," Marie said.

She disappeared again and reappeared seconds later on the other side of the hall. She then disappeared again and rejoined the others.

"It's all about how you enter," she explained. "If I go in from this side in this world, I come out on the opposite side in the other world."

"So if we go to the other world, then enter from this side, we come out on that side of the hallway?" Jason clarified.

Marie nodded.

"Ok, Marie, go to the other side and help direct everyone," Katsuro instructed. "Jason, you and I should go first, so there's some muscle on the other side in case those guards decide to attack."

"Right."

"Uh, I hate to interrupt," Jackson said, hand raised as though he was the kid in the cla.s.s who knew the answer. "But has anyone considered the fact we have three non-Anunnaki with us? I mean, do I need to remind you what happened the last time we pulled a normal from a bleed through?"

"He became a Curse," Jason explained to Katsuro.

"I'll go," Sophia said.

Jason raised his hands, ready to hold her back.

"Oh, no. I promised Gwynn I would watch out for you. I'm not about to take the chance something happens to you."

Sophia eyed the bridge beyond Jason. He shifted directly in front of her, sensing she might try to bolt past.

"Look," she said, "either we go through this bridge and come out the other side, or we stay here and starve, or wait until the guards get their courage up and come for us. Besides, I know it's possible for a normal human to go from one world to another. After all, my dad brought me here."

"But we don't know if this is the same thing," Jason said.

Sophia shrugged.

"One way or another, we're going to have to try. It's either me or one of those two men. They have families waiting for them. My mom is gone," her voice softened, "and my father betrayed me. I'm the best choice for this. There's fewer people who will miss me."

"Brandt, you can control rock and earth," Jason said. "Maybe you could tunnel around the anomaly?"

In reply, Brandt walked over to the wall and placed his hands against its surface. After a moment, he leaned his forehead against it, and then reared back and smashed his fist into the wall.

"It's no good," he finally answered. "My little nudges are coming up against something solid...probably steel plating. I could push harder, but it's more likely I'd bring the ceiling down. I'm...I'm sorry, Jay. There's nothing I can do without killing all of us in the process."

"Dammit," Jason muttered.

Jason looked at Pridament for support. They both knew Gwynn and what a different Sophia meant to him. They'd also both watched him dive into a pit without a second thought to protect this Sophia. Maybe she didn't have a family who would mourn her, but her pa.s.sing wouldn't go unnoticed.

"Let her try," Pridament said.

Jason felt betrayed. Seriously? his expression said.

"She's right-either this works or they're as good as dead anyway. A quick death, because they start turning into a Curse, might be more merciful than leaving them," Pridament said, his face grim.

How can you be so cold? Especially holding Gwynn in your arms and knowing what this could do to him.

Jason found himself thankful Gwynn was still unconscious.

"Fine, we let her try."

Jason turned to Brandt.

"If this lovely young lady starts to turn into a Curse, do you think you could put her down?"