He shook his head. When Fen started to lunge at the dazed kid, Matt grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. Fen snarled and snapped, then snorted, yanked free from Matt’s grip, and ran into the fog. Matt followed.
They’d barely gone three steps before the kid shouted, “They’re here! By Skull’s tent! They have the shield!”
Fen growled back at Matt, as if to say That’s what I was afraid of, but didn’t slow down. It was okay anyway. They were deep in the fog, and as long as they kept running awayfrom the camp…
Matt caught a glimpse of a dark shape to his right. He turned to hit his attacker, only to realize the guy was about twenty feet away, running in the other direction. There were more shapes around him, some in human form, some in wolf. The fog was lifting.
Of course it was. It wasn’t smart to split up any more than they had already, so Ray and Reyna would have gone back through the doorway with Laurie. There wasn’t anyone casting the spell.
At least the Raiders were running in the opposite—
“There!” a girl shouted.
Matt and Fen sped up. As they did, Matt mentally calculated how many he’d seen. Four Raiders and two wolves, he thought. None were bigger than him. Maybe they could fight before others joined—
He glanced back to see at least nine shapes, two more appearing from the left. Okay, notstopping to fight, then.
“Fen!” It was Laurie’s voice from somewhere ahead. “Matt! I’ve got it. The door is open!”
“Go through!” Matt shouted back. “We’re coming!”
“I’ll get the others through and hold it open!” Laurie called.
“No! We’ve got Raiders!” Matt glanced back at the growing mob behind him. Two wolves were leading the pack, closing the gap. “And wolves! Get through!”
Silence. Was she going to listen? Or would she think he was exaggerating? Wanting her out of harm’s way because she was a girl? A week ago, he’d have done that, but he’d come to realize Laurie was pretty good at taking care of herself. She might not be big, and she might not be able to turn into a wolf or launch Thor’s Hammer, but she was smart.
The problem was that he’d given her the You’re a girl—we must protect youline so many times that when there was real danger, like now, she might not believe him. It was like the little boy who cried wolf—he glanced back to see the two big canines almost at his heels now—or wolves.
Go through the door, Laurie. Please just go through the door.
Ahead he could see the clearing. And in the middle of it, a shimmering circle of color—the door. There was someone standing outside of it. A figure barely distinguishable through the last veil of fog.
“Laurie!” Matt shouted. “Jump through—”
“It’s me!” Baldwin called. “I stayed to help fight in case this thing closes—” He looked behind them, and his eyes rounded. “Whoa!”
Matt couldn’t help chuckling as he ran. “Go through. We’re right behind you.”
Baldwin waited until they were there. Then, with Fen, they dove through together. They hit the other side, tumbling together, Matt catching a claw scrape across his arm, Fen letting out a grunt as Baldwin’s foot connected with his stomach. They lay there for a second, catching their breath, until Matt heard Laurie say, “Um, guys…” He looked up to see the door gone. And in its place? Two very confused wolves were sitting in Baldwin’s backyard.
“How do you like thattrick?” Laurie said to the wolves. “Maybe I can’t change into a big, hairy monster, but you have to admit, that is cool. And useful.”
The wolves started, as if just realizing they weren’t alone. They looked from face to face. One bolted, racing across the yard and vaulting the back fence. The other growled, fur rising, head down. But after another sweep of the seven faces in front of him, he turned tail, too.
“Grab him!” Matt shouted as he launched himself onto the wolf’s back.
Baldwin let out a whoop and grabbed the wolf by the tail. The wolf spun and dislodged Matt, but he grabbed a handful of fur with one hand. Then Matt twisted and clocked the wolf on the top of the muzzle. It was a trick his dad taught him for dealing with strays or coyotes. The wolf let out a yelp of pain. With both hands holding on now, Matt dropped over the wolf’s side and yanked the beast down. It didn’t stay down, but after some wrestling—with help from Baldwin—Matt got the wolf pinned. Then Baldwin sat on it, grinning like a big-game hunter. Astrid laughed. Even Ray and Reyna smiled at the sight.
Fen walked from behind the shed. He was in human form and shaking his head.
“Yes, I know,” Matt said. “I keep attacking things that can kill me. It is kinda fun, though.”
Baldwin grinned. “See, I’m not crazy.”
“Yeah, you are,” Fen said. “Thorsen’s just the same kind of crazy. I guess we should be happy you two didn’t try taking on the whole Raider camp yourselves.”
“We were working on it,” Baldwin said. “But you totally ruined our fun. Spoilsport.”
Fen rolled his eyes. Then he pointed at the wolf. “What’s with the captive?”
Matt looked at the captive Raider, and when he did, he felt like letting out a whoop of his own. He didn’t, of course. That wasn’t very leaderlike. But he still felt that whoop deep in his gut. The sweet thrill of success.
We did it. We got the shield. We got the descendants. We’re close to getting Odin, and he’ll help us with the rest. We did it, and I led the charge, and I didn’t screw things up. I made mistakes, but I learned from them.
I can do this. I really can do this.
“Hey, Thorsen,” Fen said. “I asked you a question. What’s with the captive?”
Matt smiled. “I want to question him.”
“Question him? What are you? A cop? Oh, wait…” He gave a disgusted snort and walked over to the wolf. “What do you expect him to tell you?”
“Everything he can. What the Raiders’ plans are. Why they wanted the shield. Why they wanted me. Why they want Ragnarök to happen.” Matt paused and stared at Fen. “Most of all, who they’re taking orders from.”
“Orders?” Fen said. “The Raiders don’t take orders from anyone.”
“I think they are. Skull said something about taking me to meet someone.”
Fen shrugged. “Other Raiders, I guess. There are more of them. Packs.”
Astrid stepped forward. “I think Fen’s right. From what Odin told me, the Raiders are on their own here. They’re representing Loki in the final battle. Loki was in charge of the monsters. No one madehim do anything.”
“On second thought,” Fen said, “Thorsen might have a point. Skull’s a good Raider leader. But leader of all the monsters going into Ragnarök? No way.”
Astrid turned on him. “You can’t give it up, can you? I say something, and you disagree. I agree with you, and you change your mind. I could say the sky was blue, and you’d insist it was purple.”
“No, it’s not.” Fen pointed up at the night. “It’s black.”
Astrid went to stalk away, and Matt started leaping off the wolf to go after her, but Laurie motioned for him to stop.
She grabbed Astrid’s arm. “We need to work together. I agree that we should question the Raider. I have no idea if there’s some big, bad puppet master pulling the strings, but even if there isn’t, this guy can tell us something useful. I’m sure he can.”
Baldwin nodded. “I agree. So how are we going to do this?”
TWENTY-THREE
FEN