“No one’s saying I don’t need the Hammer. I know you’re trying to help, but we should get the shield first.” Now it was his turn to meet her eyes. “I understand if you don’t want to help with that, but it would be great if you could.”
Did he imagine it, or did sheblush now?
“Of course I’ll help, Matt.”
The others had gathered in the kitchen. Matt walked in, Astrid trailing after him.
“Fen? You know where the Raider camp is, right?” Matt asked.
“Uh, I did. If your dad and his posse haven’t rousted them,” Fen said.
Matt turned to Laurie. “If Fen knows where it is, can you open a door?”
“I can try, but I’m not entirely sure how I did it the first time.” She paused and smiled. “You’re going after the shield. We’ll have one of the weapons then.”
“ Ifwe get it.”
“You want Laurie to open a door into the Raider camp?” Fen said. His voice wasn’t a full-out growl, but it was pretty close. “Seriously?”
“Not into the actual camp,” Matt said. “We’ll touch down a little ways from it and walk.”
“All of us?” Fen paused, and then he shook his head. “I’ll handle this, Thorsen. Laurie opens the door, and I’ll go through and get your shield.”
Even Laurie looked over sharply, as if shocked. Matt was a bit surprised, but it was nice to see Fen finally becoming a team player.
“I appreciate the offer,” Matt said. “But I’ve fought them with you. You’ll need backup. Lots of it. We’re all going in.”
“All?” Reyna repeated.
“Yes.” Matt fixed her with a look. “All of us.”
Fen locked gazes with Matt. “Not Laurie. She was justhurt. She’s not going in there, and she doesn’t have fighting skills like everyone else.” He glanced at his cousin and snapped, “Don’t argue.”
Laurie folded her arms over her chest and glared at him, but Matt was just glad she was mad at Fen, not him.
After a few failed attempts, Laurie opened one of her portals. She was shaking by the time she did it, and Fen looked ready to bite someone. Matt didn’t want to step between them, and he wasn’t sure who he’d side with anyway. Laurie was right that they needed her help, but Fen was right that she looked like she was going to be sick.
They stepped through a door that brought them out in a forest. After a quick look around, Fen declared the Raiders camp was about a quarter mile away. Blackwell was nearby, too. Matt thought about that—how close he was to home. He could be there in a half hour. But he couldn’t. Not now. Maybe not ever again.
At this moment, all that was important was that they were far enough from both Blackwell and the Raider camp that no one would stumble on them as they plotted. As evening fell, the forest shadows lengthening, Matt explained his idea.
“I don’t get it,” Baldwin said. “You said you needed us for a fight.”
Matt shook his head. “I said we needed everyone for backup. That’s in caseof a fight. This is more than a couple of dumb trolls. These guys outnumber us, and they’re allgood fighters. Plus, some can change into wolves. Big wolves.”
“So… there’s no fight?” Baldwin said.
“Thorsen’s right,” Fen said, probably because he was still angling to keep Laurie out of danger. “We don’t want a battle if we don’t need one. Better to sneak in and grab it while the rest of us watch for trouble.”
“Actually, I was going to ask you to come along,” Matt said. “You know the camp.”
“Just what I’ve told you already. I have no idea where they’re keeping the shield.”
Fen looked at Matt with a strange expression, half challenge and half pleading, and Matt realized that Fen must have been reallyshaken up by Laurie getting hurt. It made sense, considering how close they were.
“I think it’s better for everyone if I stay here,” Fen continued. “I’ll change to a wolf so I can listen for trouble, and I’ll run in if I hear anything.”
“I guess that’s okay.” Matt looked at the others, ignoring Laurie, who was staring suspiciously at Fen as he studied his feet. “So who wants to come with me?”
Baldwin and Matt peered out from behind a bush, having left the others back in the forest grove. Matt started sneaking around it when Baldwin motioned for him to wait.
“Before we go, I just want to say thanks for picking me.”
Matt shrugged. “No problem.”
He didn’t want to add that no one else had exactly jumped at the chance. Laurie had offered, but Fen gave Matt a look to say he’d better not pick her… or else. Ray volunteered, which earned Matt the same kind of look from Reyna. Astrid offered, but Matt didn’t know enough about her skills—her powers or her ability to defend herself. He probably would have picked Baldwin anyway. He couldn’t get hurt, and he’d promised not to try to cause a fight.
“I just wanted to say thanks,” Balwin said. “I’m usually not the guy anyone picks.”
Matt peered at him. “Why not? Everyone likes you.”
“Oh, I’m never left until the end or anything. But I’m never the first. If it’s math teams or spelling bees, I do okay, but lots of kids do better. Same with sports. Art. Music. Whatever. I’m never first.” Baldwin gave a small laugh, a little sad.
“I know what that’s like.”
“But we were definitely someone’s first pick now, huh?” Baldwin grinned over at him. “Those Norns or Valkyries or whoever. Someone picked us first.”
Matt smiled. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“They did. Anyway, we should get going. I just wanted to say thanks and that I won’t make you regret it. Not you. Not the gods. Whatever I need to do, I’ll do it, and I’ll do it well.”
Fen had warned Matt to sneak in downwind so none of the wulfenkindsmelled them. There wasn’t much of a wind that evening, so Matt had to keep stopping and checking. When they were close enough to see the camp, he motioned that they’d stop behind another bush.
While Baldwin waited patiently, Matt pushed aside branches and peered out. He always thought of Raiders as Boy Scouts gone bad. Now, seeing their camp, he realized that wasn’t far off. He’d spent a year in Scouts himself, and part of the reason he’d taken up boxing and wrestling was to have an excuse to quit. His leader used to be in the army and ran his troop like they were cadets. Especially when they went camping. Everything had to be just right. A pile of logs beside the fire pit at all times, with the logs just the right size, piled just the right way. No garbage anywhere, which made sense, but the rule applied to anything you weren’t using at the time. Put down a mug and leave on a hike and you’d get fifty push-ups. Even though they stayed at the same campsite all week, they had to roll their sleeping bags and pack their gear every morning. In case, you know, the enemy swooped in and they had to evacuate. Crazy.
Now Matt was wondering if his Scout leader had been a Raider, too. The camp looked the same, with only the tents left up. Even those tents were arranged in a perfect circle around the fire pit.
“Looks like nobody’s here,” Baldwin whispered. “They must all be off on a raid.” He paused. “Was Fen serious about that? They really raid towns? Like the Vikings?”
“More like vultures. They break into empty homes and steal anything that’s not nailed down. I’m sure they’ve left a guard here, though. We need to find him before we go in.”
Baldwin didn’t ask how Matt planned to go in. He just seemed to accept that Matt knew what he was doing. He was wrong. Matt looked at the camp and felt a weird sinking sensation in his stomach. There were at least a dozen tents that all faced the campfire in the middle, so how would he sneak into one without being spotted? And which was the right tent? Fen said it would probably be in Skull’s or Hattie’s—they were the leaders. But Fen also said that their tents looked just like all the rest. Supremely unhelpful.