Viking Sensitivity (Night World Series Book 2) (2 page)

He wasn't about to add that he could easily find them by tracking. That wouldn't put them at ease at all.

Mia blinked at him a moment trying to decide if he was a threat. Then she backed up two steps. Almost running into her friend. She lowered her arms and finally looked away from him. She made eye contact with her friend before they both headed off in the direction of the cabins. Though the entire time they were in eyesight Mia seemed to make sure she could always keep one eye on him as she walked.

She just kept getting more and more interesting in Viking's opinion. It was too bad he didn't really have time for women.

Once the women disappeared Viking found himself wondering if Lucia had known something like this might happen. Or if she had some sort of inkling something might happen. Shaking his head Viking headed in the direction the men had taken. There was no use in assuming they left. He had all the time in the world, he might as well follow them.

Chapter 2

Sunup came too soon for Mia. She had barely gotten to sleep when she saw the first slivers of sunrise peering around the curtains in the window of the cabin she shared with her friends. She spent the time thinking about the man she and Melissa saw in the woods. The whole thing seemed very strange. She had every intention of asking Lucia about him. If Lucia hired him, so be it. But if not, Mia was going straight to the police station.

Although she debated going to the police station anyway to report the three crazy guys who it attacked Melissa as she went to the restroom.

It was a terrible end to a mediocre weekend. Now she was only going to be running on three hours of sleep. Good thing Lacey drove. Maybe Mia would be able to catch some sleep in the back seat on the ride home. She doubted it.

She still had breakfast to get through. Sighing, she looked about the small cabin and made eye contact with her two friends.

"You ladies ready to go?"

Lacey nodded, her curly hair bouncing around her face. "Yep. I'll be ready as soon as I run a brush through my hair and get it out in my face."

Melissa just looked up as she nodded.

Mia stifled a yawn as she watched Lacey aggressively tame her curls. Once she had it back in a ponytail the three of them left the cabin.

Breakfast today was much more relaxed than usual. There were no prepared speeches or agendas today. The only rule of thumb was breakfast would being put away or thrown away, as the case may be, at ten o'clock.

As they left the cabin it looked as if a good half the retreat had the same idea as Mia and her friends. It was about nine-thirty and a bunch of them were just now making their way to breakfast in the main hall.

When they entered the main room Mia, Lacey, and Melissa all went to stand in line behind the dozen or so other women getting food at the buffet style table. Mia could see the food from here and she was a wee bit disappointed.

From the looks of things, there were bagels and cream cheese both in multiple flavors. As well as yogurt and granola. There also seemed to be coffee, tea, and orange juice at the opposite end of the table.

Altogether it wasn't necessarily a bad spread, Mia had a more protein rich diet than this. She had hoped for something like sausage or bacon. Even though she realized that was a pipe dream. As she and her friends made their way forward, none of them said anything. It was as if all three of them were waiting to socialize until they had already gotten their coffee.

Most of the room was in the same state. The women at the tables were chatty and happy. Everyone in line getting food seemed groggy and a little frustrated. Mia didn't know what it was about the Seattle area and their coffee. She simply knew everyone seems to have the addiction.

As they got their food and made their way to the group of long tables, there was some debate over which table to sit at. Finally Lacey chose a half-empty table and they sat at one end. All three of them gave a basic greeting to the other five women sitting at the table. They sat down so Mia was on one side Lacey and Melissa on the other. So they would be evenly across from each other. It would be easier to hold a conversation.

After a few seconds of sitting there with her coffee Mia was able to zone in on the conversation the other women at the table were having.

A woman named Abigail, who was relatively new to the church was speaking. "No, I saw them. We were coming back late from the main cabin. It was Ruth, Sybil and I. These three guys came running through the woods. And this blonde guy is chasing after them. It was the weirdest thing. Don't get me wrong the last guy was incredibly hot. I mean really, really hot. He chased the three guys over the fence before stopping. Then he turned back around before he seemed to see us. He smiled and let us know that he was extra security. He then asked if we wanted him to walk us back to our cabin. Of course we said yes. I flirted my butt off and all he did was smile. No flirting back. No payoff at all. If that man is what passes for security now days. I would like to be detained any time."

All five women giggled. Mia wasn't going to say anything about what it happened to them the night before. But apparently Melissa had other plans.

"We saw them too!"

Everyone's attention pivoted to Melissa.

"No seriously. I was going to the bathroom. And on my way back these three guys came out of the woods at me. I started freaking out. I wasn't sure what to do. Then Mia comes running from of the direction of our cabin. I don't know how she knew but somehow she knew I was in trouble. And she started squaring off against these guys. I guess it's all those self-defense classes she takes. She challenged these guys. And when it didn't seem like they would leave, that same blonde guy popped out of the tree line and punched one of the guys in the face so hard you could hear the crunch that broke his nose. He gave us the same story. Only he said he was a friend of Lucia's and was doing it as a favor to her."

Lacey gaped. "Why is now the first I'm hearing of this?"

Mia knew she was looking directly at her, so she simply shrugged. Mia wasn't one to gossip or tell stories. Not to mention, she didn't want to go in to how she knew Melissa was in trouble.

Mia had an intuition about things. It was a gift that ran her family. Early this morning when she woke up in a cold sweat thinking about Melissa, she had known something was wrong. She put on her shoes and ran out of the cabin. Trusting her instincts to guide her to where ever Melissa was.

Both Lacey and Melissa knew she had a knack for that kind of thing. The three of them met roomed together their freshman year in college. So they had seen her in action. They also both knew she didn't want to talk about it in public.

Lucky for Mia they were saved from further discussion, or at least she was saved from further discussion about it by the arrival of Lucia.

Lucia didn't normally interact with either the ladies next to them nor Mia and her friends. So the fact that she came and sat right next to Mia seemed a bit odd.

Lucia ripped open her yogurt cup and poured in a bunch of granola she had on a napkin, before stirring it with a spoon. "Good morning Mia."

She then said good morning to everyone else at the table but her voice did not have the same inflection. Mia wasn't sure if anyone else noticed.

It didn't take long for Abigail to pounce on the other woman. "Lucia, what can you tell us about this mysterious man you hired as security? He's incredibly hot. And apparently went out of his way to save Melissa and Mia last night. As well as chase off some hoodlums."

Everyone at the table turned their attention to Lucia. She seemed to be simply looking at Mia before chopping her spoon through her yogurt. Lucia's expression was more curious than anything else.

Mia watched her out of the corner of her eye making it look like she was concentrating on spreading the cream cheese packets on her bagel.

"So you all met Viking?"

Abigail chimed in again. "That depends, if this Viking is a guy about six feet tall, medium muscular build and totally hot, then yes. But met is a strong word. He walked me, Ruth, and Sybil back to our cabin late at night. I don't know how much interaction Mia and Melissa had with him."

Mia couldn't help but wonder what type of name that was. She really hoped it was some kind of cheesy nickname. Because she couldn't think of any parent who would consciously give their child that name.

Lucia actually chuckled. "Yeah, I had him come. When we switched locations at the last minute I was concerned. When I read up on this place it didn't necessarily have the safest reviews. And since Viking does that kind of thing I figured he'd be kind of like a security blanket. He didn't bother you did he?" Her tone actually sounded more amused than curious.

Mia wasn't sure what to think or how to act.

Abigail snorted. "No, though I wish he had! He just chased off some thugs. If he is who you say he is. I am sure we would all like to thank him in person."

Mia knew that was a ploy. Which sucked because if his story checked out, she planned on asking Lucia if she could thank him in person.

He had been cute. Well, more than cute. But she had so much adrenaline running in her system at the time that it had been the driving force behind their interaction. He stood between her and Melissa and some thugs who very easily could've pummeled them. It was brave of him.

Lucia actually looked amused. She stood up, yogurt in hand. "Yeah, sure, he's a manager at a bookstore outside Bellevue." As she turned away she whispered so only Mia and her friends could hear. "It's called Warrior Books and Coffee. He is usually working the floor making sure people are not stealing or causing problems." Then she walked away.

"Well that certainly wasn't very helpful." Abigail scoffed before the five women turned in and started discussing something quietly amongst themselves.

Mia looked to her friends as she took a bite out of her bagel. "That was weird, right?"

Both women nodded.

"Yeah, that was pretty strange. I am not entirely sure why she said that so only we could hear. Or why she said it all." Lacey narrowed her eyes. "Or why no one told me what happened last night." The last was said in a much sterner voice.

Mia shrugged. She hadn't wanted to worry the other woman or stress Melissa out more. Plus she figured they were going to discuss it in the car.

"Sorry. I think we assumed we would talk about it in the car." Melissa sputtered.

"Oh we're going to." Lacey answered.

The rest of breakfast was fairly light after that. They deliberately kept the conversation trivial. But on the ride home the three of them rehashed the events from the early morning. Lacey wanted to hear every detail. Melissa was more than happy to provide most of them. Which was fine with Mia.

Eventually she dozed off after a good ten minutes of speculating why Lucia had come over to talk to them, and why she felt the need to tell only them where this Viking worked.

Mia had already resigned herself to the idea that she would to visit the shop. She did want to thank him in person. It seemed like the right thing to do. But she knew it wouldn't be until later tonight. She had to check in on her own bookstore and she promised Lacey, Melissa, and two of their friends, who couldn't make it to the retreat, that they would have lunch together.

She wasn't sure what about the whole situation was doing it, but her intuition warning bells were chiming a little. Mia hoped that would end once she saw this Viking. But something told her it would not be that easy to shake.

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Mia's lunch with Lacey, Melissa and their other friends ran long. So at eight o'clock at night she was closing her own store with the employee, Rachel, who worked weekends. No bookstore she knew anywhere would be open at eight o'clock on a Sunday. Unless it was a chain store. Which, since she'd never heard of Warrior Books and Coffee, was probably not likely. So instead of heading up to Bellevue she stayed in her Renton townhouse. Telling herself that she would visit the bookstore first thing Monday morning. Or at least first thing Monday evening.

She thought it was kind of ironic actually. Seeing as how she owned an independent bookstore herself. Although she very much doubted this Warrior Books was like hers. There was only one other store in the Puget Sound similar to hers that she knew of. And that was That Occult in Bothell. They were not all that similar except there was some overlap in stock.

Mia's bookstore, Thoughtful Philosophy, specialized in all things spiritual, philosophical and religious. She made sure the store didn't cater to just one group but instead covered everyone. Anyone could come into her store and get information on most world religions.

She received her doctorate in Comparative Religions at the tender age of twenty-five. In her classes all she found were people who were using a study of religion to make sure their own seem to trump the others in their mind.

Mia hated that. So instead of taking a teaching job like she always thought she would, she looked into opening her own store.

There were several classes a week on different philosophies and practices. People could come to her store to learn about other religious experiences. She had an open door policy available for anyone. And that philosophy suited her well. A Thoughtful Philosophy was earning quite the pretty penny since she'd opened it four years ago.

She'd been written up in multiple local and national magazines. Granted most of the national magazines were spiritual in nature but Mia would take any publicity she could get.

She couldn't help but wonder what were the odds the guy who saved her and Melissa worked in a bookstore as well? For that matter what position at a bookstore would give him experience in security?

Mia shook her head to clear her train of thought. This wasn't getting her anywhere and she had bookkeeping to do. While her shop was doing well, she did only have four employees. Which meant she was had to do a little bit of everything. But she didn't mind so much. She enjoyed getting her hands dirty as it were. She couldn't help herself though.

She also still had to catalog new books that came in on Saturday on clean eating and spirituality while she was at the retreat. She powered on the office computer.