Chapter 3 of The Paramedic’s Hunter is the chapter where the book’s central quest finally gets named. Dean learns that Ashley’s twin sister, Ingrid — a Valkyrie tasked with collecting fallen heroes for Valhalla — has returned to Elk City with information, but not the help Dean was hoping for. Readers who love urban fantasy series that draw on Norse mythology alongside other traditions will appreciate how naturally Ingrid’s warrior-maiden personality is layered against her sister’s gentler Eldara nature.

The “I can’t help you, but here’s a cryptic quest” trope readers love

Ingrid delivers genuinely frustrating news with comic timing: she has been forbidden by her divine superiors from directly intervening in Ashley’s rescue. The Gods, she explains, are bound by their own rules — Ashley’s situation falls into human jurisdiction, so humans, not angels, must solve it. For readers who enjoy mythological bureaucracy played for laughs — divine beings frustrated by their own celestial red tape — Ingrid’s rant about “the worst micromanagers of the Universe” is one of the funniest passages in the book so far, and it lands without undercutting the real stakes of Ashley’s disappearance.

The rule of three and the found-family quest structure

Ingrid tells Dean he needs to assemble a team of three to find and free Ashley: a magical human, an anti-magical human, and a mundane — and that he is, inevitably, the mundane. Readers who love urban fantasy series that consciously play with classic quest archetypes (and the genre’s mythological “rule of three”) will recognize this as the series leaning into its own structure self-aware fashion, helped along by Barry’s in-story observation that “the party of heroes just sort of find each other” in every story he’s ever read.

Why this matters for where the series is going

The introduction of an anti-magical human requirement is the chapter’s most pointed piece of foreshadowing for readers who have just met Jaz, the demon hunter, in chapter 2. Readers who enjoy connecting puzzle pieces across a series — recognizing a new character’s narrative function before the protagonist does — will find this chapter rewards close attention. The invocation phrase Ingrid leaves Dean with, “Ingrid, I need you,” used only once, is exactly the kind of Chekhov’s gun urban fantasy readers love to watch get fired later in the book.

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CHAPTER TEXT

The Paramedic’s Hunter — Chapter 3

Dean kept his thoughts to himself as he and Barry restocked the ambulance supplies at the hospital. They drove back to their station, tucked into the back of a run-down industrial park outside of the city. There was so much on his mind. Not the least of which was the woman with the sword he had seen in his mirrors at the scene of the earlier ambulance call. There was also the ongoing enigma of his missing girlfriend, Ashley. He felt guilty that he hadn’t been thinking about her more often, but work had him busier than normal with the flood of patient calls coming in to the Station U paramedics.

Ashley was an Eldara Sister, an angelic healer. The Eldara were the messengers of the Gods serving many tasks for the divine beings on earth. She and Dean had been together for several months now. At least they had been until about five weeks earlier, when she had left town suddenly on what she would only call an important errand. Then, early last week, Ashley’s twin sister, Ingrid, had shown up to announce to Dean that Ashley had been abducted. Ingrid said she needed his help to free her. Ashley’s twin was a force to be reckoned with. She was an Eldara too, of course, but not one of the healing sisters. Ingrid was a warrior maiden, a Valkyrie, intent on collecting the heroes from the world’s battlefields and escorting them to the afterlife where they would feast together and wait to return for the battle at the end of days.

Ingrid had left as quickly as she had arrived, giving her sister’s boyfriend instructions to await her return. Great! Tell a guy he needed to rescue his girlfriend, then tell him to wait for an indeterminate time frame. That had been a little over a week ago. Since then, Dean had gone on autopilot, working extra shifts along with his regular rotations to keep himself busy while he waited. It was agony. He realized that tonight’s call with the demon attack was the first time he had not been thinking about Ashley at all. He felt both guilty and relieved. He knew that he couldn’t stay in that constant state of worry forever, which explained his relief. The fact that he had been able to forget her at all explained his guilt. Well that, and his distraction by the blonde girl’s face in his rearview mirror.

All of this was on his mind as Dean returned to the station with his probationary partner. Barry was an experienced paramedic, but was new to the world of Unusual patients. Dean was his preceptor and was supposed to help break him in and oversee his adjustment to caring for their particular group of patients at Station U. Overall, the new guy was getting acclimated to their patients pretty well. He was doing his research in the station’s extensive library of mythology and legend, and he was open-minded. Those were the keys to being a good Station U paramedic.

Paramedics normally had the mantra of Sempre Gumby – meaning always stay flexible. Every paramedic was forced to adapt and overcome challenges with every patient they encountered, even the humans. With Station U and their unique patients, that mantra became multiplied exponentially as they were forced to adapt to both the medical problems faced by their patients, and adapting to the individual mythical nature of each of them.

Dean pulled into the parking lot at Station U and waited while Barry got out to help him safely back up into their garage bay attached to the station. Once inside, he went about his normal post-call tasks of getting everything ready to go for the next 911 call. There was always a next call. Barry went into the station’s squad room to complete his patient paperwork on the computer there, and prep it for sending off to the hospital and headquarters after Dean had a final look at it. Dean was heading over to the squad room door to check on Barry’s progress when he got the text from Ingrid.

“Back in town. We need to meet up. Where are you?”

“I’m working,” Dean replied back.

“Stay there. I’m on my way.”

Ingrid was nothing like her sister, though they looked identical, except for a few extra piercings and tattoos. The differences didn’t stop with the superficial items. The Valkyrie was much more direct in her approach to everything, Dean had learned. Ashley had once told Dean that she didn’t want Ingrid coming to town to help them solve any problems because she usually left a certain amount of carnage in her wake on the way to getting the job done. He didn’t want carnage, but action of any type would be preferable to just waiting as he had been doing.

Dean slid his smartphone back in his pants pocket and went into the squad room. Barry was still working on the computer, writing his patient care report for the injured Hakutaku woman. Since most Unusuals had pretty much normal human anatomy and physiology, the write-ups looked surprisingly mundane to the casual eye. The report system had a separate tab on the software’s screen where the Station U medics could enter any additional care or details that pertained to their specific inhuman nature. A gravelly voice to Dean’s left drew his attention away from his partner.

“I made a midnight snack for you guys when I heard over the radio you were on your way back. I have some cheeseburger sliders with sweet potato fries,” Freddy said. Freddy was the station’s resident chef. He was also a zombie. The paramedics had sort of adopted him after his run-down house trailer was firebombed by terrorists a few months before. He could never work in a restaurant again after his voodoo priestess girlfriend had turned him into a zombie for cheating on her. He was just about the best chef Dean had ever met, as long as you made sure all his parts were intact after he was done cooking.

“Thank you, Freddie,” Dean said. “That will certainly hit the spot.” Dean looked over at this partner. “Barry, how’s that report coming?”

“I’m finishing up with it right now,” the other paramedic replied. “I just need you to look it over and then we can send it in to the system.”

Dean walked over to the other computer workstation and logged in to his own account. Because he was the preceptor, Barry’s reports automatically came through his system for his approval before being sent in to headquarters and the hospital, to become part of the patient’s records. Barry had been a paramedic for a while, longer than Dean, in fact. He was only getting the probationary treatment because of his lack of experience with the particular types of patients the Station U paramedics dealt with. Dean gave the report a quick review, found nothing that needed changing or adjustment, clicked the checkbox that added his electronic signature, and sent it off.

He was just getting up to go grab one of the mini-burgers Freddie had made when the locked parking lot door opened and a tall brown-haired woman dressed in a head-to-toe black leather ensemble stepped into the squad room. Dean didn’t know how Ingrid was able to get past the lock. He knew she didn’t have a key. Locked doors never seemed to bother her somehow. She just sort of ignored them. Maybe it was a hidden power of all of the Eldara, or maybe it was a Valkyrie thing. Either way, she always made her entrances unannounced.

“Hello, Ingrid,” Dean said as he picked up a burger from the plate. “I’m glad you could make the time to come back. Now maybe you can help me find your missing sister. It’s not like I was going crazy waiting for you or anything.”

“Dean, you have no idea what I’ve been going through trying to get some assistance to find Ashley, so don’t give me any sass. I’m not in the mood.” While Ashley sounded as American as the typical girl next door, Ingrid’s British accent gave her a certain aloofness that she used to her advantage. She crossed the room to the table where Freddy had laid out the food for them. She picked up a slider, took a bite and chewed with an eye-roll of pleasure, adding a nod and grunt of approval to Freddy before she sat down in one of the station’s recliners.

“I’m simply famished,” Ingrid said after she swallowed the first bite. She took another bite, finishing the first mini-sandwich off and leaning over from the chair to grab another off the plate. “I’ve been working hard to get my regular chores done and seek out information on where my sister is being held. It has been non-stop action since I’ve been away. Do you know how many small wars and battles there are around the world at any given time?”

Dean started to answer that he didn’t know, but she waved him off and kept going.

“The problem is, Dean, I’ve been told, in no uncertain terms, that I can’t go looking for my sister anymore. Partly because I haven’t been keeping up with my quota of heroic souls for Valhalla.” Ingrid paused to finish off another sandwich and looked up at Dean and Barry who just stood there watching. “You guys think you have a bureaucracy to deal with? You know nothing about bureaucracy compared to my superiors. They are the worst micromanagers of the Universe!” The last sentence was shouted at the ceiling.

Dean suspected that it might have more to do with wrangling an angel, who had what amounted to a divine case of ADHD, than pure micromanagement. He tried to get her back on track with what he wanted to know. What was she doing to find her sister?

“All I know is that she is somewhere in or around the Elk City region. That could mean anything within a few hour’s drive,” Ingrid said, grabbing a handful of sweet potato fries and dumping them on the paper plate she pulled over to her lap. She continued eating as she talked. “I also know that you are going to have to pretty much find her on your own. I’ve already done too much to meddle in what I’ve been told is none of my business.”

“Is it Artur?” Dean asked. “Are there more members of The Cause that we didn’t find when we broke up the group a few months ago?” Artur was an ancient vampire who tried to organize a hostile take-over of the rule of Elk City from the vampire James Lee. He attempted it by starting a terrorist organization of humans focused on getting rid of the Unusuals in their community. Dean and Ashley had helped shut down the conspiracy, and he thought they had rid the city of the problem. Artur fled the area as soon as his plans fell apart. Dean knew Ingrid and Ashley had a history with the meddling vampire. He also knew Ingrid still sought revenge against him.

“No, it’s not him,” Ingrid said with a snarl. “As much as I’d like to pin this on the little ferret, Artur is hiding out somewhere in East Asia and has nothing to do with this as far as I can tell. This is some sort of struggle between the powers that be. The divine and nefarious Gods are arguing about something, and Ashley got stuck in the middle. Frankly, it is just like her to get her nose into something with which she has no business getting involved. She was always the crusader for lost causes. Maybe that’s why she was so attracted to you, Dean.”

“Well, I don’t know about that…” Dean started to object.

“Don’t take it personally, lover boy,” Ingrid continued, shoving another sweet potato fry into her mouth. “You’re not the first stray pup she took under her wing. All things considered, you are one of the better ones and you might actually be useful since you are the one who is going to have to track her down and free her all on your own.”

“What do you mean, ‘on my own’? Aren’t you going to help your sister escape from whoever has her?” Dean asked.

“Like I said. I’ve been told that it is not my job,” Ingrid repeated. “I was not asked to stop. I was not requested to stop. I was told, in no uncertain terms, ‘stay out of it’.” She finished the last of her fries and got up to check the refrigerator. “What? No beer?” She grabbed a Mountain Dew, opened it and took a long swig from the bottle. “Look, Dean, I did some checking when no one was looking, and whatever Ashley is mixed up with falls into the realm of humans. That means some human or humans need to work to solve it. She found out that someone on the side of evil was making a direct assault on the area. That’s a violation of the rules the Gods set up a long time ago. Still, the forces of good are going to play by the rules and rely on humans and other free-willed creatures here to solve the problem on earth. So that means it is up to you to figure out.”

“Me?” Dean asked. “But I don’t even know where to begin. How am I supposed to find Ashley if I don’t know where to start looking?”

“Calm down. I was able to dig up a few items that might be of help to you.” She glanced at the watch on her wrist and walked over to one of the windows overlooking the parking lot. She glanced outside and turned back to Dean. “I don’t have a lot of time, so listen carefully to what I tell you. You can’t find her on your own. You will need the help of two others.” She rolled her eyes again. “This is so typical of how my bosses operate, by the way. They love to operate in threes. It has something to do with being a prime number or something. Anyway, back on track. You need three things to work in tandem to find Ashley and free her. You need a magical human, an anti-magical human, and a mundane to find her. You’re obviously the mundane. I mean, look at you. You are the perfect average guy, just the kind of person the Gods use in all the stories.”

Dean wasn’t sure he liked the way she blew him off as average. He was, after all, the one who helped defeat the recent takeover attempt in Elk City. He was an accomplished paramedic, and had become something of a hero to his Unusual community of patients. He didn’t think he was average or mundane at all.

Ingrid interpreted the look on his face correctly. “Don’t take my words personally, Dean. Heroes don’t look like some action guy in a film. They are ordinary men and women who choose to do extraordinary things. Don’t forget that. What makes a hero is that they are mundane until they are called to act.”

“So, if I’m the mundane in this equation,” Dean asked, “How do I determine who I’m supposed to choose to fill the other roles? I mean, knowing I have to find the right person among both magical and anti-magical beings doesn’t give me much to go with here.”

“Hey, it would not be a quest if there weren’t some work involved,” Ingrid said with a shrug. She started towards the parking lot door. Grabbing the knob and pulling the door open, she turned and looked at Dean. “I may be able to come and help you, but only once. If you need me – really need me, you have the power to invoke me by saying ‘Ingrid, I need you.’ Don’t use it frivolously. I’m counting on you to free my sister. If you don’t, I’ll be very cross with you.” The Valkyrie turned and walked out the door, letting it slam shut behind her.

Dean just stood where he had been rooted to the floor the whole time she had been in the squad room. Ashley had once called her sister a force of nature. It was a good description of her. He looked at his partner. Barry had been eating a plate of food and watching the whole exchange as if he were watching a movie. He had a slight grin on his face when he caught Dean looking his way.

“Dean, you Station U paramedics certainly have interesting lives,” Barry said with a laugh. “Where do I sign up for the supernatural girlfriend? I’m between ladies at the moment.”

“I’m beginning to think they’re more trouble than they’re worth sometimes, Barry,” Dean replied absently. His mind was distracted by the cryptic instructions from Ashley’s sister. He had to find two others, two individuals who seemed to be polar opposites at first glance. He didn’t even know where to begin. He told Barry as much.

“I have read a lot of the stories in our library since I got started with things here at Station U. Heck, I’ve read of stories like this my whole life. Maybe you’re making it too hard,” Barry suggested. “In all the stories, the party of heroes just sort of find each other. That is what makes it all so much fun.”

“Well, Barry, this isn’t a story. This is my real life and the life of my girlfriend.” Dean sat down and started eating some food while he thought about Ashley.

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