The Vittra Attacks (pdf)
The Vittra Attacks
(A Trylle Story)
Amanda Hocking
ONE
Loki leaned back in the seat, his head against the headrest. It was too damn early for this kind of thing, but the
only way he’d convinced Jen and Kyra to let him wait in the SUV was because he’d sold himself as the getaway
driver.
If they came back, hauling that girl along as a prisoner, and Loki wasn’t alert enough to speed off, he’d be in
serious trouble.
Not with Jen and Kyra, since he outclassed the, but Jen wouldn’t hesitate to tell the King about any of Loki’s
shortcomings.
So he waited in the car, listening to the Hugo album on his iPod. He’d been lucky he thought to bring it along.
The SUV they’d stolen only had rap in it, and Loki had tossed the entire CD collection out the window as soon as
he’d gotten in.
A few miles from the Vittra palace, the car the King had given him had died. That was just par for the course
lately. Loki had been forced to steal the SUV to keep them on track, because the King wouldn’t allow for a missed
deadline. He wanted the girl, and he wanted her now .
Loki had busted out the passenger’s-side window, and Kyra had tacked up his black jacket to keep the wind
out. It didn’t do much to keep in the sound, though, so Loki kept the music low enough so as not to wake the
neighborhood.
The clock on the dashboard said it was after five in the morning, and Loki glanced over his shoulder, back
toward the girl’s house. He’d parked almost a block away and across the street, so he was actually at a horrible angle
to observe her.
But that was just as well, since he didn’t want to watch her. He wanted no part of this stakeout.
The sky was beginning to lighten, looking more blue than black now. Loki couldn’t see where Jen and Kyra
were hiding. He didn’t know how they did it. He wouldn’t have been able to stand sitting out there all night, crouched
down in the cold grass, waiting to kidnap some stupid girl.
Jen lived for that sort of thing. It was the thrill of the hunt that got him going. But Loki had never been into it.
The one thing in his life he’d always been grateful for was that he’d never been a tracker.
It seemed solitary and tedious, but more than that, he hated the idea of tricking people into coming back to the
Vittra palace, to being forced to live a life like his. They would be so much better off in the human world, away from
the King’s iron fist and the totalitarian troll society.
Loki had fought as hard as he could to get out of participating in this abduction. The King was always looking
for a reason to kill him, and if Loki refused an order like this, that would be reason enough.
Sitting in the SUV, it occurred to Loki that he could escape. He’d thought of escape almost incessantly since
the day he was born. But it had never felt so possible. He was alone in the car. He could just drive off, leaving Jen and
Kyra behind to deal with the mess.
But the same problems always stopped him. Where would he go? What would he do?
The King might track him down and kill him, just because he could. And even if he didn’t, Loki didn’t have
anybody on the outside. He’d always believed in fighting for the things he loved, but he’d never found anything he
loved enough to escape for.
For now, he didn’t see any other options. He’d have to wait and do what the King said.
From outside the car came a noise that sounded like shouting, but he didn’t think Jen and Kyra would be stupid
enough to draw attention to themselves. They knew how important this was to the King—to the Vittra as a whole—
and they wouldn’t mess it up.
He leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes and hummed along with “Hurt Makes It Beautiful.”
The Vittra Attacks (pdf)
“Go!” Kyra shouted as she yanked open the passenger door.
“What?” Loki sat up and turned to the backseat to see Jen hopping in. Alone. “Where’s the girl?”
“Just go!”