Читать книгу One Night With The Valkyrie - Jane Godman - Страница 13

Chapter 6

“Larnaca.”

Adam followed the direction of Ali’s pointing finger and saw a line of lights on the horizon. It was the sweetest sight he had ever seen. Ali’s next words jolted him out of his happiness.

“Patrol boat. British.”

Some distance away, but between them and the welcoming lights of Larnaca, a searchlight was scanning the dark water.

“What can we do?” If Ali said they would have to turn back, Adam might just pull out his gun and use it on him. That was how close to the outer limits of his endurance he was right now.

“There is only one thing we can do.” Ali swung the wheel to the right. “I know these waters well. We get in close to the shore and keep out of sight. Play a game like the cat and the mouse.” He shook his head. “It could take many hours.”

Frustration was a slow-burning fuse inside Adam’s head. It bristled outward, brushing over his skin until his whole body was screaming with tension. Relaxation? Neutrality? Going with the flow? Not Adam. He created the flow. He controlled his environment.

Upon leaving college, Adam had taken over a small niche magazine, working day and night to turn it into a thriving business. From there, he had developed his media conglomerate, using the internet to expand until the Lyon logo became instantly recognizable. Now, at age thirty-three, he headed up an empire that comprised over a hundred companies. The name Lyon was an everyday part of the music, media, lifestyle and entertainment industries across the globe. He had always been in charge.

Coming away to Syria had been easy in one sense, because he’d hired the best people and trusted them to take over in his absence. It was difficult in another sense because he had never been out of touch with the deputies of his various companies for such a prolonged period.

He didn’t know how to do this. To hand over control to someone else. To wait it out. To be helpless.

“My sister is the Valkyrie leader.” Maja’s voice intruded on his thoughts and his initial reaction was to shut her out. His nerves were too taut for him to listen to stories about her family tree. But her voice was soothing. A bit like the lulling motion of the boat as Ali weaved in and out along the rocky coastline. “Her name is Brynhild. It is her job to find the bravest warriors and to take them to Valhalla to be part of Odin’s great army. But finding those fighters isn’t an easy task. She has to rely on the Norns, the Norse goddesses of fate. And sometimes they are not kind.”