Read Day of the Vikings. A Thriller. (ARKANE) for Free Online

invasion. But I seem to remember that there’s a page of notes added at the end. It’s worth checking out when we get out of here.”
    An alarm bell rang out suddenly, and both covered their ears to shield them from the high-pitched shriek. When it stopped, an announcement came over the loudspeaker system in the voice of the Valkyrie.  
    “Bring the staff to the Great Court in the next ten minutes, or I’ll start killing hostages.”

Chapter 6

    THERE WAS NO HESITATION in the woman’s voice, no room for negotiation, and Morgan knew that their only choice was to go down to the Great Court. She couldn’t contact ARKANE – even if she did, a team of agents wouldn’t make it here in time to save anyone. She couldn’t be sure that the iron staff would even do anything, and besides, once the Valkyrie had it, there was no way for the Neo-Vikings to get out of the museum.  
    Morgan wished she could go back to this morning, when she had left the ARKANE base under Trafalgar Square ready for a purely civilian research trip. She would have put better procedures in place, brought some kind of weapon with her, and she definitely would have brought backup. Her partner Jake was out on the firing range in the woods of Kent, finally recovered from his injuries, but she should have brought someone else. There was no point in regrets now, though. She could only go forward and take action. Morgan stood.  
    “We need to go,” she said. “I’m not risking lives, and these Neo-Vikings are deadly serious.”  
    Blake stood up, a little unsteady on his feet after the visions. His chiseled features looked pained and his caramel skin was still a shade lighter. Morgan wondered how he coped with the things he saw, how he reconciled it with the physical world of the here and now. She thought back to the demon creature in the bone crypt of Sedlec, how her own worlds had collided then, how her beliefs in what was truly real had been warped and twisted. They had something in common, for sure.  
    Blake put his gloves back on, covering the ugly scars on his hands. Part of Morgan wanted to touch them, to stroke the lines of years of pain. But if she touched him, could he read her past? Could he see part of her shot to pieces with her husband Elian on the Golan Heights, or blown apart on the streets of Beersheba with her father? She wasn’t ready to let anyone come that close.
    “We can go through the Mesopotamian Gallery and out by the restaurant,” he said, brushing the dust from his jeans. “The stairs lead directly down into the Great Court, but we’ll be easily spotted soon enough.”  
    Morgan nodded. “Good, I want them to see us coming. We can’t let them harm hostages. Are you OK now?”
    Blake rubbed his eyes, blinking. “Yes, sorry. It’s a bit of an adjustment coming back.” His eyes fell to the staff she held. “Are you sure we should give it to them?”
    The staff was cold iron in Morgan’s hand, chill metal that only spoke of the dead.  
    “From what you’ve said, the real prize is the Eye of Odin, and this staff needs some kind of activation to work its particular magic. Plus, I don’t think we have a choice at this stage.”
    They walked together back through the hall of galleries, emerging through the columns of the classical temple facade that flanked the upper entrance to the Mesopotamian and Egyptian displays. The museum restaurant was empty, nestled in the shadow of the huge round exhibition hall that dominated the central space of the Great Court. White marble steps led down to the ground level entrance. At the top stood one of the Neo-Vikings, his hand on a modern Glock 26 pistol that looked out of place with his authentic clothing. The man gestured with his gun for them to walk down ahead of him.  
    Morgan had only been here when the Great Court was packed with tourists, their chatter a hubbub of life in the wide marble space. Now, it was silent except for the sobbing of those below. Their footsteps