Page 30 of The Viking in the Vault (Galactic Librarians #2)

RAGNAR

W e return to the place that breathed life into this love.

The sun is low in the sky as Elena, Fenrik, and I arrive at the entrance to the Eiskammer, light bouncing off the ice-encrusted, massive double doors in shades of soft pink and gold.

The cold does not bother me, but I feel the way Elena hunches into her coat, the way she tucks her chin against the wind.

It is different from the last time we stood here.

Then, she was a stranger. A small alien female who spoke in words I could not understand…yet somehow I knew, instinctively, that she was mine.

Now, she is so much more.

Brilliant, bold Elena, who has lived her life on shifting sand.

I want to be solid for her, unwavering.

“Is it weird that I don’t really want to go in?” Elena asks.

I peer down at her. “Why?”

“Everything changed last time I walked in here,” she says, hooking her thumbs through the straps of her backpack. “I just um…I don’t want thinks to change again.”

I reach for her, lifting her chin so she meets my eyes. “Elena,” I murmur. “Some things may change, but I am here. I am steady. I will keep you safe.”

She bites her lip, breath hitching. It reminds me of last night, when I buried my face between her thighs and tasted her sweetness, better than chocolate?—

“Ahem,” someone coughs from the door.

Ves is standing in the open entryway, brows raised. They avert their eyes when ours snap toward them, clearing their throat again.

“Just came out to see if you two were here yet,” they say. “We’re all ready to go if you are.”

Elena lets out a breath and a small laugh. “Thanks, Ves,” she says, stepping past me and toward the entrance. “Come on, let’s not keep everyone waiting.”

Fenrik pads ahead after her, as if he belongs to her and not to me…and I follow, casting one last glance at the sky before stepping into the frozen vault of the Eiskammer.

The entry hall is pristine, the ice cores encased in glass that make them appear as crystalline pillars in a vast temple.

To our left is a corridor with warm light spilling out, which appears to be a row of offices.

Our group is standing outside, talking amongst themselves and checking over their gear.

Cosmia and Rishik, who I have come to know after much interrogation.

Ves, the young Skoll who has spent much of our relationship protecting Elena from me.

And the leaders: Ren Kallisto, who I’m fairly certain distrusts me, and Davina Ferhalda.

“About time,” Cosmia teases, adjusting the settings on her datapad. She lowers her voice, a blush painting her cheeks. “Figured you two might still be tangled up in bed.”

Elena’s entire face turns red. “Cosmia?—”

Ves smirks. “They were having a moment.”

I frown. “Yes…we had many moments, but we were called back to work,” I say. “I would have liked to spend more time between Elena’s?—”

“Bookshelves!” Elena interrupts. “He was really interested in learning more about Earth’s science?—”

“Yeah, okay,” Ves snorts.

Ren Kallisto clears her throat from up ahead. “Please remember this is a professional expedition,” she says, the Merati’s green eyes looking at me as if I’m a stain she would like to scrub out. “If we’re finished discussing people’s personal lives, I’d like to move on to the briefing?”

Elena shoots me a look, mortified. I do not understand why this is such a delicate topic. She is my fenvarra. I pleasured her last night. I am proud and have nothing to hide.

Still, for her sake, I nod. “Yes, let us proceed.”

Kallisto narrows her eyes at me, clearly not convinced, but Davina steps between us. She’s wearing a long coat that flares at the bottom, a thick fur stole around her neck, towering over the others—save for me, of course.

“Before we begin, I wanted to pass on regards from Page and Thorne,” Davina says under her breath as the others gather around Kallisto. “They had to return to the Obscuary, but Thorne would like to catch up more when we’re done here in Snowveil.”

“Of course,” I say. “I’ll see it done for a steadfast ally.”

“And…he wanted me to give you something,” Davina says, smirking.

She reaches into her satchel and pulls out—unsurprisingly—a book. What is surprising is the cover, which features a blue alien male and female human entangled in an erotic pose, with the title Ice Planet Barbarians .

I frown. “What is this?”

Davina presses her lips together, clearly struggling not to laugh. “Thorne said it might help you understand how humans should be wooed.”

Elena groans and drags a hand down her face. “Oh my gosh.”

I flip the book over, scanning the description on the back as my translator works to make sense of the words. It speaks of a human woman, lost on an alien planet, taken in by a warrior who wishes to claim her as his mate. I frown. “This is…accurate.”

Elena chokes out a strangled noise. “Jiminy Christmas.”

“Who is Jiminy?” I ask.

Ves wheezes, appearing over Davina’s shoulder. “Please tell me you’re going to read it,” they say.

“Or Elena could read it to him ,” Cosmia chimes in, biting back a laugh.

I ignore them, turning the book over again. “This is a guide to human courtship?”

Davina coughs. “Loosely.”

Elena groans. “It is not a guide to human courtship.”

“It is about an alien male wooing a human woman,” I point out, flipping through the first few pages. “With pleasure, protection, and…” I trail off, cocking my head at a word that doesn’t translate. “What is this word?”

Rishik is looking over my shoulder. “It’s pronounced cunni–”

Elena yanks the book out of my hands and shoves it in her bag. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“Yes, please do,” Dr. Kallisto says from up ahead. She rubs her temples. “Can we please focus?”

Elena clears her throat. “Yes. Sorry. Work now, embarrass me later.”

Ves grins. “You’re not getting out of this, Draycott. We’ll have plenty of time at camp tonight.”

Dr. Kallisto exhales sharply, shaking her head as she adjusts her gloves. “If we’re quite done discussing literature ,” she says dryly, giving the entire group a look that could freeze the walls of the Eiskammer further, “we need to review the plan.”

The teasing dies down as everyone straightens. Even Ves looks a little chastised.

“As you all know,” Kallisto continues, folding her arms, “we’ll be retracing the path of Elena’s initial descent into the lower chambers.

Given the recent seismic activity, we’ll need to be especially careful with load distribution on the ice.

Any wrong step could trigger another collapse.

” She glances at Elena. “We can’t count on anyone else being rescued by an ancient viking. ”

Elena swallows and nods. I don’t like the reminder of how she nearly perished in this frozen place. She looked so frail when I first saw her…

Kallisto continues, pulling up a holographic projection of the Eiskammer’s sublevels.

The shimmering map flickers in the cold air, highlighting the layers of ancient ice beneath our feet.

“Our primary objective is to locate the site where Ragnar’s pod was discovered and assess the surrounding core samples.

There’s a high probability that additional cryopods, or even a ship , could be encased in the ice beneath the collapse zone. ”

A heavy silence settles over the group.

A ship.

My heart pounds at the possibility.

I am the first Skoll to wake from the ice. But if there are others—if a ship is buried here—then I am not the last.

Elena glances at me, her expression unreadable. “Fenrik will track from where we found Ragnar’s pod,” she says, filling the space of the silence. “We’ll work our way deeper and see where it leads.”

Kallisto nods. “The rappel will take us to the chamber where Elena fell. From there, we’ll follow the seismic fractures. Cosmia, Rishik—I want you both collecting core samples along the way.”

Rishik adjusts his glasses. “Are we anticipating more anomalies in the ice structure?”

Kallisto sighs. “That’s the problem. We don’t know what we’re walking into. The Eiskammer’s foundations are ancient. We’ve already discovered organic material that predates most recorded histories, and I suspect this might actually take us under the ocean, into the glaciers.”

Cosmia hums, flicking through her datapad. “And what about conditions in the sublevels? Oxygen? Temperature?”

Kallisto gestures at the projection. “Oxygen levels are stable in the first few chambers, but the deeper we go, the less reliable that will be. Everyone has their respirators, yes?” A murmur of agreement ripples through the team.

“Good. And temperature—well, you already know what to expect. If anything happens to your thermal gear, get to shelter immediately. For what it’s worth, there should be shelters all along the way, thanks to careful planning by our predecessors. ”

Davina nods. “And if we do find more cryopods?” she asks, tilting her head at Kallisto. “What then?”

Kallisto exhales, casting a glance at me before answering. “We assess. Carefully. I don’t need to remind you that waking long-term cryosleep subjects is risky.”

“I woke just fine,” I frown.

She stares at me. “Not all cases are the same.”

I grit my teeth. “They will not be left in the ice.”

“That is not your decision alone, Ragnar,” Kallisto says sharply.

“We are scientists. This is an expedition , not a rescue mission. If we find something, it has to be handled properly. Just because you weren’t infected with any ancient pathogens doesn’t mean they’re not… and we must exercise caution”

I feel the weight of the group's eyes on me, but I refuse to look away from Kallisto. “I will not abandon my people.”

Kallisto’s jaw tightens, but she doesn’t argue further. She only exhales through her nose and gives a curt nod. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

A tense silence lingers for a moment before Elena clears her throat. “Alright, so. First rappel, careful descent, Fenrik tracks, Cosmia and Rishik take samples, and we don’t wake any ancient aliens unless we have a clear plan.”

Ves smirks. “I vote we let Ragnar wake them if they look sexy.”

Elena groans. “Can we not ?”

“Too late,” Cosmia says. “I’m already invested in the sexy ice aliens. I mean…I want one too.”

Rishik rubs his temples. “This is exactly why I work in a lab.”

Kallisto claps her hands together, drawing everyone’s attention back to her. “Enough. Time to move out. Let’s get down there before the conditions shift again.”

Elena sighs. “Here we go.”

I take her hand as we step toward the edge of the descent.

And we begin our journey into the unknown.