Valhalla Virus by Nick Harrow (best management books of all time TXT) 📕

shared with the völva before sunrise, and he’d come looking for her not long after. “No note?” he asked.

She blushed and tried to hide her embarrassment by pushing her long hair back over her ears. She’d given up on the high ponytail after the battle and now preferred to leave her mane loose and wild. “I didn’t—I wasn’t running away.”

“I know.” The jarl rubbed her back. “Want to tell me why you left us yesterday?”

Chill wind blew around them, kicking up dead leaves that had fallen from the tree that grew up through the lodge’s roof. Her dot poured purple light on the ground between her feet. Bridget took a deep breath and stared out at the sky above them. “I saw the path ahead of me,” she said with a shrug. “We’d never be able to find the ring. Arthur had his own völva, and she’d hidden it. I knew you and the girls would find me. And that would let you find Draupnir.”

Gunnar’s hand froze on Bridget’s back. “You should have told me. We’d have gone with you.”

“You couldn’t,” Bridget explained with an exasperated sigh. “If the jötnar had seen you with me, they’d have just killed us all. Or tried. And then we’d never have found the ring. It had to be this way.”

“I really don’t like hearing that you thought I’d mess this up,” Gunnar said with a sigh. “But I see your point.”

A wan smile tugged at one corner of Bridget’s mouth. “I don’t like this either. But it was destiny. If I hadn’t gone alone, Bogie wouldn’t have captured me. You wouldn’t have found Draupnir. I wouldn’t have been on that platform. We’d—”

Gunnar frowned. “We’d all be dead.”

They sat in silence for a long time after that.

Gunnar considered what Bridget was telling him. That there were secrets she knew that she couldn’t share without endangering them all. As much as the jarl hated knowing his völva hid things from him, he imagined she hated it even more. It would be a terribly lonely way to live. There was nothing he could say that would make that easier for her, so he didn’t try. Instead, he pulled her close, rubbed her back, and held her as the sun turned the sky pink.

“HEY,” ERIN CALLED OUT to Gunnar as he stood up from lunch. “Gotta second?”

Gunnar nodded and motioned for her to follow him. He headed for the stairs. The cave was cozy, but he didn’t want everyone watching his business. Because he really wasn’t sure what to say to Erin.

It had been a week since they’d claimed Draupnir and stopped Hyrrokkin. During that time, Erin spent a lot of effort trying to get some alone time with Gunnar. But there’d always been something to interrupt their discussion. Things had finally settled down enough that Gunnar felt confident they could talk without someone needing his input.

They reached the surface and headed through the gate, Gunnar’s spear in his hand, Erin’s sword at her side. “So what’s up?” the jarl asked.

The Valkyrie’s wings rustled the air behind them. She blushed a little, then cleared her throat and looked over her shoulder as the gate rumbled closed behind them. “I just...where do I fit in here?”

Gunnar considered that question. The Valkyrie transformation had made her eternally young and buff, but an unearthly wisdom shown in her eyes. Despite all that, she still seemed unsure and skittish. He wasn’t sure what to tell her.

“What do you want it to be?” he asked.

“I—” She frowned and rested her hand on her sword’s hilt. “Odin told me to watch out for you.”

“So do that, I guess,” Gunnar said with a grin. “Is that a problem?”

Erin shook her head. Her dark hair had turned to spun gold since she’d become a Valkyrie, and sparks danced among its strands. Finally, she stopped and grabbed Gunnar’s hand. “There’s something else,” she said softly.

The jarl turned back to face her, only to find Erin hovering right in front of him, her wings sending swirls of cold air around them both. Before he could say or do anything, she kissed him, softly.

And then, without a word, Erin flew into the sky, twirled once, and sailed back toward the lodge.

Gunnar watched her go. “Deke’s gonna love that,” he muttered.

HOURS TURNED TO DAYS, which grew into weeks. Jötunn howls still echoed over the ruins of Vegas, but none of those blue-skinned freaks came anywhere near the lodge. Gunnar’s warriors patrolled the streets for blocks in every direction, and they’d put enough heads on spikes to make a nice fence around the land they’d claimed.

More refugees found their way to the lodge, and they built homes on the surface, expanding the palisade to protect them all. What had once been a cozy little bunker had become a village. In time, Gunnar hoped, it would be much more than that. He envisioned a new city where Vegas had once stood, a beacon of hope for the rest of the world.

Because the völva told him the virus was spreading. The idea of more jötnar moving across the globe kept him awake some nights.

“Hey there, grumpy puss,” Ray teased as she joined him on the bench. “Penny for your thoughts.”

“They’re worth a lot more than that,” Gunnar said. “I am the jarl.”

Ray sat down next to him and draped her hand over his thigh. “One handjob, final offer.”

“I can get a handjob from anybody,” he said. “Shit, Deke offered me one this morning.”

“Slut,” Ray whispered, her tongue flicking his earlobe. “I guess I could move in with his son if you’re sweet on the old man. He’s a few years younger than you. I could train him up right.”

Gunnar gave her ass a quick pinch and leaned back on the bench. “Did you come out here to bust my balls or what?”

Her fingers grazed the bulge in his pants. “I’ll do something to those balls. Later, though. I have some news I thought you’d want to hear.”

She pulled