When I was sure we hadn’t attracted any unwanted attention, I shone my flashlight on the ground underneath Finn’s boot. To my surprise, Finn had stepped on what looked like a long, brittle femur bone, snapping it in half. Definitely a human bone, probably belonging to a giant, from the length of it. Looked like Fletcher Lane had been right about the mountain being a dumping ground for the bodies of Elliot Slater and Mab Monroe’s enemies.
Finn raised his eyebrows. He knew a bone when he saw it too. I shrugged. Nothing we could do for whomever it had been attached to, so we moved on.
The air grew colder, sharper, the higher we climbed, burning my lungs like liquid fire. I kept my mouth closed and breathed in only through my nose, trying to minimize the sensation. The metallic scent of snow gusted on the night breeze, and heavy clouds clung low to the ground, partially obscuring the moon and stars, before being pushed on by the wind. I wanted all the cover I could get, and for once, luck, that cruel, capricious bitch, seemed to be smiling on me. I knew it wouldn’t last.
A few birds rustled in the thick branches of the maple, elm, and pine trees over our heads, but our footsteps and movements were small and quiet enough for them to keep a silent watch on us, instead of fluttering up into the darkness and alerting whoever might be watching. Besides, they were safe and warm for the night and didn’t want to give up their roosts if they didn’t have to. The birds sensed they weren’t our prey for the evening and were content enough in their trees and nests to let Finn and me pass without comment or criticism.
I wasn’t sure how long we’d been walking before the creek bed veered west, away from the mansion. I climbed up out of the shallow rut and slithered forward into the black shadow provided by a large walnut tree. Finn followed me.
According to Finn’s maps, Valhalla lay due east another mile up the mountain. We were still far enough away that I pulled out my flashlight and shone it over the maps, getting my bearings for the final time. Finn peered over my shoulder, doing the same. He nodded, and I turned off the flashlight and stuffed the maps back into my duffel bag. We climbed on.
I took the lead once more, moving more slowly and cautiously than before. Elliot Slater was secure enough in his mountain retreat not to have any exterior security measures, like lasers or dogs. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy of him, but I wasn’t going to complain, as it made things easier for Finn and me. Besides, I’d never liked killing dogs, even if their owner was a cold-blooded bastard who needed to be put down.
Still, the lack of obvious security didn’t mean that Slater hadn’t come up with some other clever, deadly way to booby-trap the perimeter. I would have. So I kept an eye out for trip wires, small holes, and flashes of light that would alert me to the fact that we were approaching a trap — or worse, had just set off some sort of defensive, protective rune. I had no desire to take a fireball to the chest because I’d put my feet or hands somewhere they shouldn’t be. Finn followed my path exactly to further minimize the risk.
But we didn’t stumble across anything, and several minutes later, we crested a ridge that overlooked the mansion.
As its name implied, Valhalla was a massive, six-story structure that took up a good portion of this particular mountain. The building was constructed of thick, heavy wood, inlaid with gray granite and river rock. Several balconies and patios wrapped around the structure, offering sweeping views of the surrounding mountains and hillsides below. It would be a gorgeous spot to take in the blaze of fall color as the leaves changed. But with winter approaching, the leaves had already fallen, revealing the bony, fingerlike fragments of the trees, interspersed with the thick, green boughs of the pines and firs that stood up like rows of jagged, mossy green teeth among the bare maples and poplars.
There was enough light up here for me to pull off the night-vision goggles and look toward the mansion with my own eyes. Beside me, Finn took off his goggles as well. Lights blazed in several windows on the first, second, and third floors, and I spotted a tall shadow moving back and forth in one of the windows. Someone was definitely home tonight.
As if I wouldn’t have guessed by the two giants standing vigil outside the main, first-floor entrance. I’d been right when I’d thought that they’d be able to see any car headlights climbing up the mountain. Several hundred feet of road was visible from the giants’ line of sight, and the area around them had been cleared of all trees and underbrush. It would take me about fifteen seconds to rush from the edge of the forest and reach the giants by the front door — plenty of time for them to alert whoever else was inside the house. We weren’t getting in through the front door, so I turned my attention to the second story.
That story was more or less level with the cleared backyard of the house. An Olympic-size pool stretched out almost to the woods there, probably heated, since it hadn’t been covered up for the season yet. Finn and I crouched behind one of the many pine trees on the hillside overlooking the pool. The tangy scent of sap tickled my nose, but I ignored the sensation, focusing on the scene before me, blocking out everything else but the things I needed to hear and see.
Two giants stood on the stone deck next to the pool, smoking cigarettes and talking softly. They didn’t seem to be carrying any obvious weapons, but that didn’t mean there weren’t a couple of guns on them somewhere. Problematic, but still doable.
Finn tapped my shoulder and pointed at the house itself. I scanned past the two giants and spotted another man sitting in a chair just inside the back door. That giant wet his thumb and flipped another page in whatever book or magazine he was reading.
I frowned. The inside man was worrisome. We could creep forward and drop the first two giants easily enough, but the third man would be sure to spot us — and probably be able to raise the alarm before we could silence him too. I’d much rather backstab Elliot Slater than have the giant lying in wait for me — with Roslyn Phillips already dead.
Finn tapped me on the shoulder again and jerked his thumb backward, telling me to follow him. We slithered back away from the ridge, well out of sight and earshot of the two guards by the pool.
“Why does there always have to be a third man?” I muttered.
“Because Elliot Slater’s no fool,” Finn replied in a soft voice. “You need a distraction, Gin, something to draw at least one or two of the men away from the patio and maybe make the guard inside come out as well. We don’t know how many more giants might be in there, and you need to drop as many as you can out here.”
Finn stared at me, his mouth set into a determined line.
“No, Finn,” I snapped in a fierce whisper. “Forget about it. I’m not using you as bait so I can kill a couple of Slater’s men before I slip inside the house. You know what Slater will do to you.”
“And I know what he’s doing to Roslyn right now,” Finn countered. “Every second we’re out here arguing is another second that he could be hurting her. Face it. This is the easiest way you can get inside and see if Roslyn is still alive.”
He was right. Damn. I hated it when he was right.
Finn’s mouth crooked into a smile. “Besides, you’re always saying that I need to have some sense beaten into me. I’m sure that Elliot Slater would be happy to oblige you.”
I stared at him. “You don’t have to do this, Finn. We can find another way inside.”
“I know,” he replied. “But how long will that take? Every second counts now. Besides, I got us into this mess. Let me do what I can to end it. You’re the better fighter. I’m the better distraction. You know it’s true.”