When Claude’s nostrils flared, I stopped in my tracks.
“Ivar?” the Chitah asked. The next words he spoke were sharp and in what I guessed was Old Norse or similar.
Claude shot across the room like a bullet in her direction. Without looking, I flashed to the panel and hit the switch to lower the shutters.
One of the guards bolted toward me. I bent over and charged at him like a bull, lifting one of his legs and throwing him off-balance. His blade sliced across my shoulder on his way down. Before he could stab me in the leg, I flashed at the other man, who was going for the switch that raised the shutters. I gripped his arm and blasted him with energy.
Ivar’s goon smiled at me, something only a Mage would do after getting hit with that much power.
Since regular energy differed from Mage energy, I reached for the Taser and zapped him in the neck. “Suck on that!”
When the shutter reached the floor, I rammed the first guy into the wall. The glass door on the display shattered, and pricey Lladrós smashed against the floor when I slammed his hand repeatedly against the shelf until he dropped the dagger.
Christian appeared out of nowhere. “Need a hand?” He seized the man and flung him across the store. “I’ll take care of the two stooges.”
While Christian shoved the other goon to the ground and began drinking his blood, I scanned the room. Gem blocked the door that led to the back while Claude played cat and mouse with our special guest. They were too fast for Christian, which was why trading places made sense.
Ivar grabbed a heavy vase and hurled it at Claude. Then he threw something else that smashed on the floor. I retrieved the dagger from beneath my pant leg. Keeping an eye on everyone, I limped up the center of the room. When Ivar blurred by me, I reached out and felt my blade slice through fabric and flesh, but he kept running. He was too fast for me to blast with energy, too fast to stab. The three shelves offered him protection as he kept weaving around them and throwing more objects at Claude. I tried in vain to push one of the heavy shelves down.
Instead, I threw a jade vase when he ran by again. It cracked against his skull as he blurred out of sight. I grabbed another item and then another, throwing them each time he passed by.
Claude briefly stopped and snarled at me. “That wasmyhead.”
“Sorry.”
When Ivar charged toward the back, Gem’s eyes rounded. She held her ground, still blocking the door. It happened too fast for her to charge up her light, and he tackled her to the ground with a crunching thud.
I sprinted toward them and punched his back. “Get off her, meathead!” I put him in a choke hold, anchoring my feet on the ground so I could pry him away from her neck. I didn’t have time to think about blasting him with energy since I was using all my strength to keep his fangs off her.
Gem crawled out from beneath him, but her feet got stuck.
When he pulled my hair, I let go and slammed his forehead against the floor.
Gem sprang to her feet like a cat and ran off.
Ivar quickly rolled to the side, knocking me over. I struck the back of my head against the counter, and before I could move, Claude dragged him away from me by his feet.
Ivar clutched my leg. I kicked him in the face, and blood poured from his nose.
Claude let go, then lifted my dagger off the ground.
“Not yet!” I said, crawling after him. “We have to make sure it’s him. Hold him down!”
Ivar must have understood enough English that he knew what was going on. He suddenly catapulted to his feet and slammed Claude into one of the shelves. The force caused the shelf to tip, and it remained suspended for a breathless second before crashing into the one behind it.
I grabbed Ivar’s arm, and he jolted when I blasted him with energy. Claude jumped back to avoid getting shocked.
“Just fall already!” I growled, frustrated by his resistance. “We don’t have all day.” I channeled a safe amount of energy into him. Before going on a killing spree, we needed to knock this guy out and confirm his identity.
Ivar’s knees buckled, and he dropped to the ground, chin up with a defiant look. He rocked like a cat about to vomit as he kept tugging his arm, trying to wrench it free while all his muscles were failing.
Gem walked up, arms raised, and smashed a priceless crystal egg over his head. Ivar’s eyes rolled back as he fell onto his stomach.
I smiled at her. “Nice job.”
She adjusted her hat. “I have zero regrets. There was no energy in that egg. No life. It wasn’t natural anyhow.”
I tugged at the Chitah’s black glove and peeled it off. When I turned his wrist, I showed everyone the Valknut tattoo. “It’s him. He’s one of the thirteen.”
