“Hannah, are you sure about this?” Emily asked, flinching as one of them made the slightest move, but he didn’t take a step toward her.
Hannah shrugged. “They keep following us around. I want answers. Don’t you?”
“They’re clearly delusional. That isn’t enough of an answer?”
Hannah chewed on her lip, looking between Emily and the lunatics. “What alternative do we have? They’re not hurting us. They’re just confused. Let’s prove them wrong, and they’ll leave us alone.”
It sounded like there was more to it, but Hannah apparently wasn’t going to say, and Emily certainly wasn’t leaving her alone here. “Fine, but if they kill us, it’s your fault.”
Hannah shrugged. “I can live with that. Let’s get drinking.”
Magni slid a chair over. He seemed reluctant to sit in the booth, maybe trying to give them some degree of space. It was a welcome change. “First things first. Since your death, I am the strongest living being in the universe. If you can even come close to me in might, then that should show you something.”
“Well, if I don’t know how strong you are, that doesn’t tell me much.” Hannah offered a cheeky grin. Emily stared. Had she run off and had a few dozen beers when she wasn’t looking?
“Very well. Look out that window.” He pointed to a car on the street. The chair shrilly squeaked as he moved, heading outside. He stood next to the car, a perfectly normal sedan. Then it was suddenly several feet in the air in one of his massive hands.
Hannah stared her mouth hanging open. “That can’t be possible. And they think I can do that? It’s ridiculous.”
Emily blinked repeatedly, trying to wake herself up from this dream.
The car’s alarm started blaring as he set it down. He strolled back inside and took his seat again, a self-satisfied smirk on his lips. “I don’t know why that thing is making that noise, but are you convinced? It hasn’t cursed me, has it?”
“Can we shut the alarm off?”
“Um,” a voice sounded from under a nearby table. “Okay.” A man peeked up and pressed a button on a key fob, and the alarm ended with a chirp.
“There’s no need to fear,” Magni insisted. “I intend no harm to anyone. Please, beer wench, come back out and serve.”
“If I’m your mother, I raised you horribly,” Emily spat back.
This was met with a mighty laugh that echoed through the little establishment. “Everyone, please, relax and enjoy your food and drink. I shall pay for all of this, and any damage we cause.” Producing a heavy cloth bag from inside his armor, he tossed it onto the counter. “I believe that should cover everything?”
The bartender climbed up from behind the bar and untied the bag, causing a gold coin to spill out onto the ground. “I’ll have to ask my manager.”
“Very well.”
“Can I call them?”
“Of course.” There was a very good chance that he didn’t know what phones were.
The bartender pressed more than three buttons on his cell phone, so it was likely he wasn’t calling the cops. He probably just wanted that tip. Emily could hardly blame him. She was tempted to grab that fallen coin. “How do you want to test my strength?” Hannah asked. “I’m not really a fighter.”
“Now, those are words I never thought I’d hear my father say.” Another laugh bellowed forth from his belly. “Modi, sit and watch while I show you the truth of Mimir’s words. This is our father. I would know those eyes anywhere. I trust you know how to arm wrestle?”
Emily leaned back, rolling her eyes in disbelief. Somehow, it always came back to arm wrestling in this bar.
Hannah nodded slowly. “I have no idea why I’m going along with this. You’re lucky I love arm wrestling and drinking.”
“That’s our father,” Magni said.
With a groan, Hannah thudded her elbow on the table and held her hand out, staring into the gray eyes of the man who claimed to be their son. There was no way she could win. She couldn’t lift a car. But at least she could prove him wrong, and then they’d stop harassing them. Right?
“Are you ready, Father?”
“I’d be more ready if you stopped calling me that.”
He paused as if only now realizing how weird that must sound. “Then, do you have names? It would feel strange to call our parents such, but if that is your preference, I believe we can accommodate you. Can we not, Modi?”
He nodded. “We can, brother.”
“I’m Hannah,” she said, her hand already extended.
“Are we seriously doing this?” Emily asked.
“These guys keep showing up places. It’s just all too ridiculous. I need answers.”
Groaning, she shrugged. “Fine. I’m Emily.”
“Hannah, Emily, it’s nice to meet you.” Magni took Hannah’s hand, his grip looking likely to crush the tiny girl’s. Emily dared not breathe.
“I’m glad we can be civil now,” Modi said. “I wish we’d known this all from the beginning. It really is a pleasure to meet you, and I hope that we haven’t offended you too gravely.”
“Nah, it’s okay,” Hannah said, sounding far too eager for the little contest. “Let’s do this.” Magni’s face tensed, his lip trembling as his hand pushed against Hannah’s. She didn’t move, and she appeared as cheerful as she had a moment earlier. Hannah was weirdly strong, but this man had just lifted a car. “Are you holding back?” Hannah’s voice was soft, almost scared, but with a strength that reassured Emily. Whatever was going on, no matter how crazy this was, at least Hannah would be here. And having a super strong girlfriend was hardly the worst fate in the world.
“A little,” he admitted, his voice sounding strained. He looked to be redoubling his efforts, as veins popped out on his head and arm, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
Hannah met his strength, letting out a chuckle as she leaned in, gritting her teeth. Emily’s annoyance gave way to staring at her girlfriend’s biceps with undisguised lust. “Well, I am too.” Emily swallowed, not believing the words. She really wasn’t struggling? This wasn’t possible.
Modi’s hand thudded on the table, the wood splintering under them as Hannah jumped to her feet and cheered.
He stared at her, his jaw dropping. “But you don’t even have your belt.”
“What a weird response to having your ass kicked.” She laughed. “Does this mean I have lightning powers?”
“What?” Modi asked. “No. You’re not Zeus or anything.”
“Is Zeus real?”
He shrugged. This was only raising more questions.
“You were just hustling her, right?” Emily asked, unable to move her gaze from Hannah’s arm.
“No.” Magni panted, falling back in his chair and almost sliding out of it. “I was giving that my all. She is Father…I mean, she is Thor.”
Hannah smirked.
“This still doesn’t mean I’m a goddess,” Emily said, her voice weak.
“That is much harder to prove.” Modi took a seat next to his brother, clapping him on the shoulder. “Mother—that is to say, Sif—er, Emily. I’m sorry this is so difficult. Her hair. It was the most beautiful thing in the world, to the point that even a golden veil was considered a poor substitute for it.”
“Your hair is amazing, babe.”
“You are going along with this way too easily.” Emily finally tore her gaze away to stare at the men claiming to be her children. “Having amazing hair doesn’t make me a god.”
“I don’t know how else to show you.”
She looked pleadingly at Hannah. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
“I know it doesn’t. I still can’t believe it, but I just won an arm-wrestling match with someone who could lift a car.”
Biting her lip, Emily stared at everyone. Was that really all Sif did? In the movies, she at least fought and then disappeared forever. Wow, was she really that insignificant? But she was Thor’s wife, apparently. Was that why she’d felt so drawn to Hannah? She�
�d never been like this with anyone before, but with Hannah, they’d come together almost instantly. They’d even moved in after only a week. She’d assumed she was finally living up to lesbian stereotypes, but could there be more to it? “Fuck it. Clearly, Hannah can beat up both of you if you’re trying to pull something, and I make it a rule to never turn down free drinks.” Her mouth was dry for so many reasons, and she was trying to go along with this, but what was she supposed to do? And more importantly, really? All she got was amazing hair? Hannah got superstrength, and she, what, got pretty hair? Damn, at least Alys hadn’t let her cut it.
“Then it’s time for my test.” Modi grinned. “Thor could outdrink anyone, even other Aesir and Jotunn. He once drank the ocean down several feet when it was turned into beer.”
“What?”
“I assume it was the term ‘beer wench’ that offended you? What should I call her instead?”
“Hey, could we get about thirty rounds here?” Hannah called. She was already back to going along with it. Then again, it was Hannah and free beer, so at least one thing in the world made sense.
“Wait,” Emily said.
“What’s the matter, Moth—Emily?” Modi asked.
Emily strode across the room to the guy recording them. “Hey, uh, I didn’t mind so much when it was just crazy guys, but I’d really rather my girlfriend not go viral, so…” She held out her hand.
“Huh?” The man replied.
She snatched the phone and deleted the video, then scrolled through to make sure there weren’t any others. “Did you send this to anyone?”
He shook his head.
“Then great.” She grinned. “Enjoy the free food and I guess the free show. No flash photography or recording, anyone,” she shouted as she headed back to the table. Now she was acting as crazy as they were. But Hannah had superpowers. She couldn’t let her end up dissected in some lab. The whole reason they’d agreed to this contest in the first place was so crazy people would stop following them. If footage got out, that would only ensure they would keep following them.
She took a deep breath. It looked like she was gonna have to go along with this insanity. “All right. Let’s do this.”
After twenty-five drinks, Modi’s head hit the table, and he seemed unable to continue. Both Emily and Magni were given a single drink from the remaining five, but Hannah took the other three for herself. Emily’s head was swimming, but she wasn’t anywhere near gone yet. So she got minor drinking powers? She’d always been able to hold her liquor, at least around anyone who wasn’t Hannah. But even there she got a better power! Hannah drained the three drinks and continued keeping pace.
Soon, Emily found herself unable to continue. “I’m tapping out.”
Magni hiccupped. “Does this prove it yet? No human could handle what either of you two did.”
“I’ve seen humans drink a lot,” Emily insisted.
“Well, those humans belong in Val…” He trailed off, his eyes growing distant and sad. “I should take this pitiful fool back home. We have much to tell the other Aesir. We’ll find you again soon.”
“Okay. This has been…” Hannah paused, seeming to search for the right word. “Interesting.”
“So we’re Norse gods, whatever,” Emily muttered. She must have been drunk if she was starting to believe it.
“I bid the both of you a good night. I believe Modi’s coin should be good for a bit of food if that contest built up an appetite. It should only be a few days.” Hoisting his brother over his shoulder, he walked out the door, leaving them with a great many unanswered questions and a hell of an appetite.
The waitress’s attention was already on them, so it took no effort to wave her over. “Could we get five orders of nachos, two orders of pulled pork sliders, two grilled cheeses, and two burgers?” Hannah asked.
They enjoyed their food and the rest of their night, but every time Emily tried to bring up what had happened, Hannah brushed her off. It worried her, but she could wait. Not everyone could process something this big so quickly. Or maybe she was just drunk.
Either way, Emily savored the chance to reaffirm how very not-straight her girlfriend was. She could see how familiar they were, how well everything fit together. It felt like they’d known each other for centuries.
Chapter Ten
None of this made any sense. Hannah sat at the desk a few feet from the bed she’d been sharing with Emily for the last week. She’d barely been able to sleep. She’d tried so hard to keep her cool. The guys really didn’t seem like they meant any harm, and she didn’t want to piss them off, and they were pretty convincing, but it was just all so insane. Maybe she could accept that she was a god. Maybe. But what did it mean for her relationship? It couldn’t be that she was predestined for this. That had nothing to do with it. Right? She’d just met a beautiful woman and fell for her.
And moved in with her barely a week later.
Because the timing had worked out. Why wouldn’t she? She was graduating college and following her dreams, and she’d met the most amazing woman who was absolutely her type—
“Right,” she muttered, blinking away the tears she’d been trying to hold back. Of course Emily was her type. They’d been together for centuries. Millennia? How long ago had everything happened? No wonder she’d fallen in love the second they met. It wasn’t her doing it; it was just Thor.
She stomped out and yanked on the bedroom door. With a wretched creaking and the sound of metal straining, it popped clean out of the wall. The room didn’t have any windows, but the light filtering in from the hallway was now unobstructed, and she could see the hinges hanging from the hunk of wood in her hand.
A confused noise came from the bed. “Hannah?” Emily asked, the words muffled by sleep.
“It’s fine,” she spat back, choking down more sobs.
This was why she hadn’t had a bedroom door as a kid, wasn’t it? She remembered having one when she was much younger, but when she was ten or eleven, she vaguely recalled it breaking somehow, and she didn’t get it back for years. Her parents had never really talked to her about that. Did they know?
What if they did? What if that was how those two weirdos had tracked her down? Why wouldn’t they have told her anything? What could they have been thinking? Had they hidden everything from her?
No, that didn’t make sense. Her mom had been so worried when she’d talked about Emily.
But that didn’t mean she knew Emily was Sif.
Hannah wanted to scream. Why was she treating this like it was real? She dropped the door and sprinted to the hallway by the kitchen, dropping to the floor to start her push-ups.
She was strong because she worked out. That was all.
And sure, she’d been strong before she’d started crew and hadn’t really worked out until then, and she’d had to learn to hold back to keep pace with the other girls, but that didn’t mean she was Thor.
Even if crazy old guys in armor insisted she was. Even if she fell in love with a woman they thought was Sif. It didn’t make it true. None of it had to be real.
She tried to focus on her breathing, on the exercise, on the feeling of her muscles straining. But they never did.
Could she really lift a car?
She couldn’t stop thinking about it. She’d watched that man pick up a car with ease, and then she’d crushed him in arm wrestling. But that didn’t mean she could do it. Did he throw the game? But she’d seen the strain on his face. She’d felt how hard he was pushing against her. It didn’t seem like he was faking.
She’d finished her third round of sit-ups and was working on the matching set of jumping jacks and couldn’t get the image out of her head. He’d picked up a fucking car! It wasn’t possible. No one could do that. Right?
When she finished the last set, she could almost feel it calling to her. It was like a gravitational pull that she had to resist, tugging her toward the stairs and the door, trying to take her out front to Emily’s car. But there was no way.
She stared at the car. She barely even remembered walking outside. That hopefully meant she hadn’t ripped the doors off the wall. How much was Emily’s security deposit anyway?
She squared her feet and crouched beside the Nissan, adjusting her stance as she tried to figure out where to grip it. Where had he grabbed it? The axle? She didn’t know much about cars.
Oh, well, it was old, and insurance would probably cover any damage. She took a deep breath and, making sure to put all the weight on her legs, gripped the bottom and started to stand. She’d expected it to be a strain, to feel her body protest and the car to resist, but it came up with her. It was heavy, sure, but it didn’t feel much heavier than all those boxes when she’d moved in. The only difference was that the car was a bit more awkward to hold.
Hannah raised the car straight above her head, and her biceps trembled. Finally, it felt like a bit of a workout. So this was what everyone else always whined about? All the other girls on her team had complained about the pain and aches of rowing, and she had never really gotten it. Sure, after eight or ten hours it would start to get to her, but it was never that bad. But now, holding at least a ton over her head, she could feel it. It was exhilarating.
And it meant her sons—no she couldn’t call them that, it was too crazy—those armored assholes were right.
The joy drained out of her, and a pit formed in her stomach. With a good deal less grace, she set the car down, and it bounced on its tires. That probably wasn’t good.
“Fuck.” She wanted to scream it, but she only dared to whisper. It was all true. She was Thor. And that meant Emily had to be Sif. And that meant it wasn’t Hannah’s choice to be with her. This wasn’t about her meeting an amazing woman and falling in love; it was some preordained bullshit. She was only with Emily because she’d always been with her, and she hadn’t had a choice in the matter.
Thor: Daughter of Asgard Page 8
