“We…Jane…need you.”

“Where?” I asked, already springing up and finishing the last bit of my ice cream.

“Rosslyn. By the stone spheres.”

That was… “Did you call Thruor?”

“Yes!”

Alright. I glanced at Monica. “You have a vehicle?”

“Where are we going?” she asked, abandoning her ice cream.

“Rosslyn. The stone spheres.”

I was pretty sure we were too far away to stop whatever was going on. Thankfully, Kanesha was pretty self-rescuing and had had the sense to call the valkyries first. They could get there faster – cheating if necessary.

“Got it.”

Yeah. They’d definitely get there faster. We ran to Monica’s car – a Volkswagen Beetle – and hit the road. “Do you know what the problem is?”

“No. I’d imagine a fight, though.”

“I’m…”

“You just need to get me there.”

She wasn’t a fighter. She wouldn’t be…I shook my head. I couldn’t worry about it. Kanesha was in trouble.

Kanesha could look after herself to a point, but only to a point. Past that point she needed me, and she wouldn’t have called if she didn’t.

I’d know if she died. So, she was still alive, and Monica was driving as if she’d been taught by a New York cabbie.

And then I sensed more energy. “Uh oh.”

“Uh oh what?”

“Fire giants.”

Monica gripped the wheel, her knuckles white. “Drop me off here. Unless you…”

“I don’t think I’d be useful.”

I jumped from the vehicle before it stopped, rolled and came up in a stance. I had my gun, but not my sword.

My sword would probably be more useful, but I charged toward the fight anyway. It wasn’t the first time I’d wished for a valkyrie’s steed.