“No one really knows.” She watches him for a moment, then adds to herself, “Someone fit for a chieftain, I guess.”
“A chieftain?”
Her attention snaps back to me. “Never mind. It’s just speculation.”
“You said leader? What kind of leader?”
“I—” She glances back at him, then at me, uncertainty straining her features as if she’s not sure whether she was supposed to say that. “Just forget I said anything. It doesn’t matter.”
Before I can ask more questions, she slides off the stool and goes to join the people on the couches close to the bar.
I frown and turn my attention to my soda, taking a few sips and fiddling with my lip balm as I try to comprehend Lea’s strange behavior.
“What did Lea say?” Asbjörn leans his elbows on the bar top before me.
“What?”
He points to my face. “That frown on your brow. It came when she disappeared.”
“She just said something about...” I point at Ulf, not quite daring to say his name for some reason.
“Ah, Ulf. What did she say about him?”
“Something about him being a leader, or... chieftain. I don’t know; it was weird.”
“Ulf is the best Dom in this place. Everyone holds him in high regard.”
“Oh. Is there some kind of hierarchy in the lifestyle?”
“There is here,” he says, just as vague as Lea.He must read my uncertainty. “Don’t worry. Just don’t sit on that sofa when Ulf is here”—he nods to where Ulf is sitting—“and don’t try to insert yourself into his group.” He puts his hand on my arm in a reassuring gesture. “Don’t worry. There are no other hidden rules like that. It’s just with Ulf. And he doesn’t even come here that often. This is the first time in months.”
I’m a bit unnerved by the way he seems to be reading my mind but relieved nonetheless. This Ulf guy unsettles me. But as the night carries on and I chat with Asbjörn and a few other members, the strange sensation fades, and I enjoy myself.
Intimidating as this place and the people here are, it’s also friendly and surprisingly open. Besides my inquiries about Ulf and the strange Viking vibes, people answer all my curious questions about the lifestyle and the power dynamics.
Still, the more I listen and small details keep catching my attention, the more curious—and mesmerized—I become. Manyof the members wear the same armbands: woven black leather with one or more silver beads etched with runes. I’m both fascinated and somewhat unsettled as a quiet, uneasy thought settles in the back of my mind.
Something hidden. A cult? A brotherhood? A secret society?
I remember what Asbjörn said about rituals, and my mind runs wild with images that scare me as much as they enthrall me.
2
Elina
“What is that music?” I ask Asbjörn, wanting to know more about the music that has been playing all night, enhancing the Viking-like undertones.
“Wardruna. ‘Himndottir,’ the song is called.”
“It’s very intense.” It has these almost primal vocals, breaths marking the rhythms, and lots of hypnotic drums. A dark, ominous sort of folk music. “Very… Vikingish.” I look off to the side as I listen. The music shifts from a sparse heartbeat-like interlude—just vocalizing and drums—into a wilder part that evokes images of tribal dancing and chanting. Chills chase down my arms, and I shudder as the intensity washes over me. I smile at Asbjörn. “I think I like it.”
“Yeah? The music or the Viking vibes?” Amusement lights up his brown eyes, and he crosses his arms over his chest, putting his Viking tattoos on full display.
I bite my lips at the sight of Thor and the lightning that strikes from his eye. It’s a little creepy. In a way that draws me in. Like the music. Like him.
I nod and lift my gaze to him again, my cheeks suddenly heating. He’s too old for me—at least ten years my senior—but I can’t deny the attraction.
He’s about to lean in and say something, but a motion from across the room stops him. I’m a little disappointed. I draw a quiet sigh before following his line of sight to the back of the room, where Ulf is holding up his hand and waving his fingers at Asbjörn in a summoning motion.
