BERSERKER

Chapter 14

Niklaus

I stood with Kristian in the kitchen lifting a cup of black coffee to my lips. The front door opened and closed and Floki's scent swept in.

The giant man that he was filled the frame of the doorway as he walked into the kitchen looking down at his cell phone. It drew my attention to the tattoo on his fingers. H. I. V. E.

I looked back up to the man that I used to think of as an uncle. Still do. Same as Kristian. He made us strong and skilled fighters. We wouldn't be here without him. After the battle against Hvitserk, he just left.

"Where have you been all this time, Floki?" Kristian asked leaning against the counter. He must have been wondering the same thing.

Floki put his phone back in his pocket with a slow smile. "Trying to prevent a second Ragnarok."

I nodded and took a sip. "So the first was not just folklore."

"The shit you read in books is just like I said, shit. Loki's kin, killed Oden. That's fact." Floki explained as he made his way over to the fridge and pulling out a beer.

"Is he still alive? Loki's kin?" Kristian asked. Floki lifted the beer and took a few long swigs before speaking.

"She is dead." His fingers drummed against the bottle with slight irritation. "Suicide."

He smiled but it did not reach his dark eyes. "You loved her."

"She was my mate. Hel.. was a Berserker as well. Loki wanted to use her like a soldier against Oden. Not only did Hel kill Oden, she killed her father. She couldn't control her bloodlust like me. She killed and went mad over time."

"And the Hive?" I asked referring to his tattoo. All his other tattoos were symbols and designs. Why just this one? This one word.

Floki's sly smile crept onto his lips. "Niklaus. Always so perceptive."

He held up his hand in question. "You have Equalizers. We have Hive."

"Who's we?" Kristian crossed his arms as he listened.

"Berserkers. Hel had two mates, me...and Silas. Silas was the second vampire created by Loki." He said glancing at Kristian.

"He was made to be Hel's mate but then I showed up and put a wrench in his plans." Floki smiled getting lost in the memory.

"So Hel's and Silas kin, they have the same bloodlust?" I asked trying to get to the important part of this conversation. We have an unknown number of Berserkers around the world.

Floki nodded. "Yeah but we have a pretty good outlet for them. We keep them busy ruling the underworld while you and Kristian manage the small fry."

"Roman was not small fry." Kristian growled.

Floki belted out a laugh. It was strange. I had not seen him laugh like this in a long time. "If he wasn't he would have been taken care of already."

"Why have we not seen this Hive of yours?" Ava was the first Berserker I had ever seen in my entire lifetime. How does something so dangerous, so incontrollable, walk around without being seen?

"You can't always sense Ava's power. She walks around and everyone thinks she is human until she snaps. All Berserkers can do this. You could have sat next to one on a flight and never known what they were." He explained.

"I would have taken Ava to the Hive if she wasn't mated to your sons. She will be happier here then a den of cold blooded killers." Floki downed his beer. "Now that she is taken care of, I can go home."

I stepped away from the counter and towards Floki with all seriousness. "Do we need to worry about the Hive?"

Floki stopped and tilted his head in thought. I didn't like that. "We take care of our own."