Walking up to the door and knocking occurred to me. If I’d had my father’s ability with illusions and shapeshifting, I would have.

As it was, I wasn’t convinced my ‘nobody important’ trick would work on people who counted me a personal enemy.

So?

I let Thruor do it while I stayed with the bikes, my helmet still on. They might not recognize her. Maybe. I could hope, in any case, for that outcome while being ready for us to be attacked, magically or otherwise.

The fyrhund, still looking like a mundane dog, stayed with me, but he was on point, nose directly aimed at the front door. I had a vision of him breathing fire on them if they caused trouble.

Probably not a good idea.

I did recognize the young woman who opened the door. “We don’t want any,” she said in a clear voice.

“What makes you think I’m selling anything?”

I lifted one hand to my sword as Thruor put her foot in the door. I couldn’t see her face from here, but I could imagine it. She had the sweetest smile when she was about to kick somebody’s butt.

I saw a blue spark. And that was when I moved, tossing the helmet to one side as I ran up the path.

“You!”

Thruor, unaffected by the spell, pushed her against the wall.

“You’ve got two choices,” I said grimly. “Hand over whoever cursed my girlfriend or help me find out who really did it.”

There was always that off chance it wasn’t them, after all.

She spat in my direction, almost hitting Thruor instead. The valkyrie just knocked her out, dropping her limp body to the ground.

I was almost disappointed she hadn’t killed her, and I knew I could, then I pulled myself together. That wasn’t going to resolve the problem. The only thing that would or could do was get me into trouble with the law.

“Let’s be careful.”

Thruor grinned. “You really think the cops will arrest us for shaking them down?”

“Maybe. Not all cops are Mike,” I pointed out as I stepped into the house.

The rest of them were in the living room, clustered around the television. They were watching a romantic comedy, of all things.

“Which one of you losers thought it would be fun to throw hexes at my girlfriend?” I asked, grimly.

I was going to find out which one it was and then I was going to remind them why they didn’t mess with me. For now, though, the only response was silence.