Page 8 of Viking Unchained

Stubbornness . . . a genetic

Viking trait . . .

“Put the friggin’ uniform on before I friggin’ bop you over your friggin’ head with your own friggin’

sword.”

Torolf was trying to argue some sense into his hard-headed cousin, to no avail.

Finn just arched his brows at the threat. Apparently, friggin’ was a word he could understand, in context.

Really, all Torolf wanted Finn to do was put on a helmet and jumpsuit so they could help the moron get out of this very dangerous place. The other four Arabs had been dispatched to their Maker. The perimeter would soon be swarming with tangos, he would guarantee it. How was Torolf going to be able to explain who Finn was when he was wearing an outfit that screamed, “I am Viking. Hear me roar”?

Not to mention his carrying a big-ass sword that would do Genghis Khan proud. Jeesh! Those gold armbands in themselves were enough to raise questions.

Oh, yes, General, sir, he mimicked in his head, I just came from eleventh-century Baghdad. The sultan gives his regards. And this yahoo is Finn the Dark, a head-lopping Viking warrior.

“Do you dare try to bop me, whatever in bloody hell bopping is, and I will have to hurt you.” Finn was casually swabbing at the blood from his wounds and splatters from his victims with a T-shirt one of the SEALs had tossed his way, as if he had all the time in the world.

“What? Ya gonna lop off my head, too?”

“Mayhap. By the by, last time I saw you, you were drooling over that shrew Hilda Berdottir.”

“Be careful what you say about Hilda. She’s my wife now.”

Finn’s lips twitched with humor. “Better you than me.”

“You never had a chance with Hilda.”

“Since when do women have a say in who they wed? That choice is best left to men and their superior intellects. If I had wanted her, believe you me, Hilda would have been my wife. ’Tis the trouble with this world, women are getting too uppity.”

“Oh, God! The women of America are going to love you.” Merrill “Geek” Good, another SEAL, made that remark as he passed. It pretty much reflected all their sentiments. Finn was a chauvinist just waiting

to be cut off at the snout by some raging feminist.

“Look, much as I would like to continue this tea party, we don’t have much time,” Torolf said. “Put this jumpsuit on and let’s get out of here. There’s a chopper coming in for us any minute. Yep. There it is.”

“What is a ch . . .” Finn’s words trailed off at the thwack-thwack-thwack ing noise in the distance. His eyes widened. “That is the biggest bloody damn bird I have e’er seen.”

“You idiot! It’s the chopper. It’ll take us out of here.”

Finn laughed as he stood and put his sword back in his side scabbard. “That bird is going to land, let you climb on its back, then fly you away? Who is the idiot here, cousin?”

The rest of the guys had been searching the tangos’ bodies for documents while he’d made sure his cousin was okay, then stood here arguing with him. He understood Finn’s confusion, but, dammit, their mission was over, and they needed to get out of Dodge. The team had radioed CentCom first thing, and special forces in the city were already on the way to a certain warehouse in Baghdad where the arms were being stored. Omar Jones, one of his teammates who was half-Arab and could read the language, had found an address in one of the tango’s pockets, as well as the names of some contacts who would soon be rounded up.

“Fare thee well, Torolf. Thank you for your help, but I must needs get back to my longship. Steven and my shiphird await me there. He will be worried at my delay. And give Hilda my regards . . . or not. Ha, ha, ha.”

Torolf rolled his eyes. Oh, Hilda is gonna love having Finn around again. “I got news for you, buddy.

Steven is definitely going to be worried because it’s possible you might not ever see him again.”

“What? Do you threaten me?”

Torolf saw Cage creeping up behind Finn and read his silent signal to keep Finn talking to divert his attention. “It’s not a threat. It’s a fact of life.”

“You make no sense.”

“I probably don’t, but there’s no time to explain now.”