Athena knew where he was taking her. Asgard. This thing worked for Loki, no doubt. Athena stilled her fighting and waited. She may be human, but she was still the Goddess of Wisdom and Strategy. She needed a plan. The beast that held her was much too strong for her and fighting now would only result in more injury. No, she was going to have to wait for an opportunity to escape. Then she would find a way to bring Thor and Ares there to kick their sorry asses.
Damn, it burned her ass that she needed their help.
She pushed that thought to the back of her mind. First, survive. Second, see to it that Loki gets his ass handed to him by any means necessary, even if it meant asking Thor for help.
Thor. Damn it, she hadn’t wanted to like him. Too many years ago to even count, he had caught her eye. Those big eyes and those big shoulders and his big… well... everything. The man was larger than life in everything he did. She had wanted him even then. Now, she wanted him even more. What was worse? She respected him.
Athena was mentally kicking herself for not sleeping with him when she had the chance. Now she would never know what it was like to be that close to him. Even if she lived through this mess that she’d somehow gotten herself into, she was human and he was a god.
It wasn’t lost on her how she was having the epiphany of a lifetime while bouncing unceremoniously over the shoulder of an invisible monster, either. Now that was irony.
They entered one of the buildings and Athena remained still, taking in all of the details of each hallway they traveled, of each room that they passed. She would need it when the time came to run.
The idea of running didn’t make her very happy either.
Finally, Mr. Invisible stopped at a door and pushed it open. It was an altar room. It had everything a standard magical altar should have. There was a long mirror on the far wall, a cabinet full of herbs and trinkets, a shelf full of ready to use potions and what looked like a seeing pond. This was Freya’s altar room. Athena had never been to Asgard, but she knew of it. She knew that Freya was the Asgardians most prized goddess. Her powers ranged from magical to visions.
The invisible man dropped her hard to the floor just as another door on the other side of the room opened. A woman floated more than walked into the room, wearing a silken robe and leather sandals. She was slender with skin the color of latte, dark brown hair that was twisted up into a messy bun on the back of her head, and jewels that sparkled on her neck and wrists. “Hello Freya,” Athena said defiantly, holding her head high.
“You will bow in the presence of the goddess,” the invisible man said. Athena turned her head in the direction from which his deep voice had come.
“Why? I don’t see you bowing,” Athena replied.
“Athena of Olympus,” Freya said, coming closer and looking her over from head to toe. “Could it be true?” She got within inches of Athena and smiled. “I never thought I would see the day,” Freya continued. “The Goddess of Wisdom standing in my altar room, a mere human. How did you manage that?”
Athena didn’t answer her. There was no point.
“Oh I am sorry,” Freya continued, just as Athena knew she would. “You can’t see Rankor. Let me help.” She picked up a jar from the shelf and scooped some of the blue powder from inside into her hand. She blew the powder into the air and it settled on Rankor. The warrior became visible to Athena and he was every bit as scary as she remembered. “He is something to behold, isn’t he?” Freya asked her with a smile. “He’s one of my favorites.”
Athena was growing tired of this. “What do you want, Freya?” she demanded.
“I want my eye back,” the goddess told her, circling her body as if she would see something that wasn’t there before.
“I don’t have it,” Athena answered honestly. “And I don’t know where it is.” Also true. She knew that Thor had it, but she didn’t know where he was either. Speaking of which, why hadn’t he come to her rescue yet? The more she thought about it, the more it pissed her off. Not at Thor, but at herself. She thought that he felt something for her, but perhaps not. How could she have been so wrong? Athena hated being wrong.
“It doesn’t matter,” Freya told her, unaware of the battle raging within Athena’s mind. “Ares took it and he will pay for his crimes. I fully intend to—oh wonderful!” She clapped her hands together as Emma was brought in by another invisible being.
“Put me down, you piece of shit!” Emma yelled. “When my husband finds you, you’re toast!”
After Emma was deposited more gently on the floor than Athena was, Freya made Lor visible as well. “What the hell?” Emma shrieked, backing away from him.
“Oh this is interesting,” Freya said, noticing Emma’s round belly. “I didn’t know that Ares had knocked up his human. Even better. Now where was I? Oh yes, I intend to take the eye back from the God of War and then I will punish him for all that he has done to me!”
“Sure, whatever,” Emma said, standing closer to Athena. “What’s your beef with him?”
“She’s pissed because Ares broke her heart a long time ago,” Athena said, matter of fact.
Emma rolled her eyes. “Good lord. You would think that being married to a god would be different, but no. He had to bring his ex-girlfriend drama with him. Men are all the same.”
“Emma,” Athena warned, “Freya is a powerful goddess on Asgard.”
Emma shrugged and Athena wanted to both beat her and high-five her at the same time. The woman had a smart mouth that rivaled her own, but she had no sense of self-preservation.
“Sit,” Freya commanded and Athena and Emma were forced to sit by her magic. “I intend to take everything he loves from him. I will kill you in front of him and then as he is wallowing in his own self-pity, I will take his life too!”
“Over my dead body,” Emma growled.
“Yes, that is exactly how I intend to do it,” Freya said sweetly.
Emma gulped but didn’t say anything more. She subconsciously wrapped her arms around her belly as if to protect her unborn child from the revenge-crazed goddess.
“Goddess,” Rankor said, bowing at the waist, “Do you want me to restrain them?”
Freya laughed and poured herself a glass of wine. “Why? Two human women? One of them pregnant? What are they going to do? No. Leave them there. If they run, kill them.”
“As you wish, Goddess,” Lor answered. “I have word that the other one is on the way.”
“Oh goodie,” Freya said, rubbing her hands together. “This is going to be such fun,” she said to Athena. “Just wait, you’ll see. And since you’re human, you will get the distinct opportunity of feeling each molecule as it is ripped away from your body. I hear it’s quite painful.”
“Go to hell,” Athena growled at her.
Freya sat her glass down harder than necessary and glared at Athena. “I’ve been there for far too long. Now it’s your turn.”
Thor kept his back against the wall as he listened to the goddess rant. He had no doubt that she intended to do exactly as she said. Freya was very powerful and she never made a threat. Anything the goddess promised to do was done without reservation. Even though he couldn’t see her, Thor could also hear Athena and Emma. It did his heart good to know they still lived, but for how long? It seemed that he only had precious few minutes to find Loki and set all of this right before his goddess and the human woman became victims of Freya’s wrath.
Damn his brother.
There was a time when Thor would have done anything to protect Loki, no matter what he had done. Now, he couldn’t. Loki had put the woman he loved in danger and that was unacceptable. When had he realized that he loved her? He didn’t know, but he did. Athena was so much more than a beautiful goddess that could fight as well as any warrior. She was also kind and vulnerable, but Thor would never tell a soul about that. He much preferred his head on top of his body. As he fought with himself over what to do, Thor realized that he had always loved her, even in the beginning, from the first time he'd
laid eyes on her.
It took every bit of self-control that Thor had not to rush into that room, grab both women and race them to freedom. But that would not solve the problem. He had to find Loki. He had to make this right. Reluctantly, Thor turned his back on the altar room and set out to do just that.
Chapter Eighteen
Loki returned to the club where he had left Odin’s eye in care of his favorite dancer. When he saw Bella from across the room, he motioned for her to meet him in the private area where he could retrieve the eye.
When she pushed the red velvet curtain back and entered, Bella jumped at him and threw her arms around his neck. “I was so worried about you!”
Loki wrapped his arms around her waist automatically and held her. “You don’t ever have to worry about me,” he assured her. “I can take care of myself.”
“They came looking for you,” Bella continued. “Your brother and his wife. They said you were in danger.”
Loki felt his heart jump in his chest. What did Thor want? “What else did they say?” he asked her.
“They said that if you gave the box back then the people it belonged to wouldn’t kill you.”
How would they know about the box? They wouldn’t unless Bella told them. “Did you give it to them?” he asked, grinding his teeth together.
Bella lifted her head from his chest and looked up at him. “I did. Was I wrong? I didn’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
Loki forced air into his lungs in a relaxed manner. She was only trying to help him. Just like a stupid human. He placed his hands on her shoulders. “It’s ok, Bella,” he told her. “You were only trying to protect me. I understand.”
“They said they would return it for you,” she said hopefully.
Loki nodded, moving his hands inward so that they were on either side of her neck. “And they will,” he said. “And I have learned a very important lesson.” He pushed his hands together, locking them around her throat. Bella’s eyes bulged and she made a squeaking noise, but that was all the air that she was able to move. “Never trust a human,” Loki continued.
Bella tried to pull his hands away from her throat, but she was no match for Loki’s immortal strength. He watched as she fought, and then as she stilled. Her eyes turned red as the vessels in them broke and finally, she went limp. Loki held on a little longer until he could no longer feel her pulse under his hands. Then, he laid her on the trashy sofa and smoothed her hair out of her face.
A heavy feeling sliced at his chest, but he ignored it. He didn’t have time to ponder on it. There was work to do. He would miss her, he decided as he was leaving the bar. Just as he exited the front door, his phone rang. It was Tykir. As soon as Loki answered, the dwarf said the words Loki had been waiting to hear.
“The God of War is down.”
After leaving the bar, Loki ghosted himself to tree line just north of Ares’s home. He laughed out loud when he saw the dwarf, Tykir, trying to drag an unconscious Ares into the trees. The god was easily four times the size of the dwarf and outweighed him by one hundred and fifty pounds. He was dragging Ares’ dead weight by one arm and covered in sweat.
“It’s about time,” Tykir grumbled, giving Ares’s arm another tug. “This man weighs a freaking ton.”
“I had to tie up a lose end,” Loki said absently while staring down at Ares. “What did you do to him?”
Tykir dropped the arm and grinned proudly. “I shot him with a poisoned arrow and when it paralyzed him, I dusted his face with faery dust to knock him out. Speaking of which, I don’t know how long it will last so how about a hand here?”
Loki leaned over and pulled one of Ares’ arms around his neck. “Come on, you heavy son of a bitch,” he grumbled. With one movement, he pulled him up over his shoulders and ghosted away.
Just before Tykir was about to follow, the voices of the other gods that were in Ares’ home could be heard looking for him.
“Thanatos, stop your grumbling for a minute.” Poseidon held up his hand. “Something isn’t right. Did you hear that?” Without another word, he ghosted himself to the front lawn where he thought he might find his friend, instead he saw something else entirely. Loki nodded to Poseidon with a smirk just as he disappeared with Ares. “Mother fucker!” Poseidon’s crystal gaze became a raging storm of blue.
Tykir had no time to throw his transportation charm—the other gods would be there at any moment. He was going to have to stay and fight. He strung his bow when he saw the God of the Sea ghost from the house. Poseidon immediately locked eyes with his own and before Tykir could release his arrow, the god pounced, knocking the wind from his chest. “What has Loki done with Ares?” he demanded, picking him up by his shirt collar and tossing his bow to the side with his other hand.
Tykir’s feet were dangling a good two feet from the ground. He’d lost his only weapon to fight against a god of Poseidon’s size and strength, but he was a warrior—he would never back down from a fight. Tykir looked up at him defiantly and spat, “The God of War is as good as dead.”
Poseidon growled and shook the dwarf like a rag doll, then brought his left hand up seizing his throat.
“What the hell’s going on out here?” Thanatos interrupted. “And who the hell is that?”
Tykir was gasping for air when Poseidon turned toward Thanatos clutching the dwarf’s throat even tighter. “I found this thing standing beside Loki just before he ghosted away with Ares thrown over his shoulder. He needs to tell me where Loki took him!” Poseidon boomed shaking Tykir with much more fervor.
“Well man, his face is purple,” Thanatos pointed out. “He can’t say much if you choke him to death.”
Sharalyn had had enough of sitting in the damn house while the ‘men’ did all the heavy lifting. Look where that had gotten her. She was still pissed Emma had been kidnapped right in front of her as if she were a mere powerless human. Not anymore, she thought. She barged out the front door demanding to know what was going on when she saw Poseidon and her husband arguing.
“What the hell are you two going on about out here? We need to do something instead of standing around with our thumbs up our asses!” she shouted with her hands on her hips. Then she looked at Poseidon and nodded. “Who the hell is that and why are you choking him?”
Poseidon loosened his grip a bit and Tykir took in a long gulp of air. “As I was telling your husband, this little shit had something to do with Ares’ disappearance. Loki took him.”
“That’s it!” Sharalyn stormed over to Poseidon and yanked Tykir from his hands as if he weighed nothing more than a bag of flour. “You’re coming with me!” she growled, then ghosted back into the living room.
Thanatos looked to Poseidon and shrugged. “She’s pissed. We should probably follow.”
Sharlyn held a shaking Tykir by his throat and slammed him down to the floor. She proceeded to sit on top of him before he had time to catch his breath. “Do you see these two black fingers?” she asked waving them in front of his face.
Tykir had been quiet for too long. If he was going to die, it wouldn’t be at the hands of a woman! “Fuck you and your black fingers!” he ground out. His lungs were on fire and he thought he might have a few broken ribs.
Sharalyn threw her head back and laughed just as Thanatos and Poseidon joined her in the living room. She turned and glared. Then looked back down at the steaming pile of shit who was responsible for taking Ares. She knew he was in on the plan of kidnapping Emma as well. Torturing him was gonna be fun.
“I am the Goddess of Death! These little fingers right here,” she waved them in front of his face again, “can kill you with one touch. One touch!” she shouted leaning down into Tykir’s face. They were nose to nose.
Tykir squirmed and kicked attempting to get out from under the goddess’ weight. He knew if he could reach the dark faery dust, he’d have a chance at escape, but Sharlayn was too fast. “What do we have here?” she asked, yanking the leather pouch of faery dust from his hand.
Thanatos watched as his wife’s eyes and body began to glow. She was about to kill the dwarf with her death touch because the anger inside of her had become too great. “Sharlayn stop!” he demanded, walking toward her. “You’re going to kill him before we get the information we need. Come on.” He held out his hand for her to take.
Sharalyn looked at his hand, then at her own now glowing hand. She hadn’t noticed when she pulled on her power in a fit of rage, she only wanted answers. She tossed the leather pouch to the side and took her husband’s offered hand.
Tykir sneered attempting to sit up. “That’s it, woman. Listen to your husband. A woman has no place in battle.” Sharalyn lunged for him and Poseidon held her arm. “Don’t let him get to you. That is what he wants.” She continued to glare at the dwarf. If only looks could kill.
Thanatos rounded on Tykir and was on him in a flash. “Shut the fuck up or I’ll kill you myself!” He looked toward Poseidon. “Grab some rope from the garage. We’re tying his ass up!”
Poseidon headed for the garage and Thanatos caught Tykir just as he was about to make a run for it. "Oh no you don't! Have a seat!" He slammed him down into one of the dining room chairs. "What's your name and don't lie to me! Like my wife, I can kill you with only a touch. I suggest you start talking!"
Tykir wasn't afraid of death, in fact at times he welcomed it. However, tonight was not the night he wanted to die. He wanted revenge against the Olympians and a plan began to form in his mind. He was tired of training every day with no war in sight. This was his chance to bring the war of the gods to Asgard. He wouldn't betray his goddess per say, only push the Norsemen back into war where they belonged.
“My name is Tykir, not that it will do you any good,” he said with a sardonic smile. When he glanced to his left he could see the pouch of faery dust just inches from his foot.
Sharalyn stood next to her husband with her arms folded across her chest. “Where has Loki taken Emma and Ares?” she asked pointedly, looking down at him.
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