Alys looked over the table again. “Are you sure?”
“It’s really fine. I can handle it. My exercise already took care of most of it.”
“I really don’t mind. I’d be happy to help.” Alys rose, looking into those green eyes to see if they could understand the issue. If Hannah was scared, Alys didn’t want to force it on her, but if she was just being awkward, then they would be more than happy to spare her any pain.
She stared back, hesitating, but she finally nodded. “If it’s not any trouble.”
“It’s not at all.” More dexterously than their previous attempt, Alys traced a series of runes in the air before tapping Hannah’s temple. The flutter in their stomach and the sudden desire to cup her cheek were nothing but a strange aftereffect and meant nothing. It couldn’t happen. It wouldn’t.
Hannah’s overeager grin sent another ripple through them, and they had to take a step back. It was only because they’d never been open with anyone before. It wasn’t anything more than that. It didn’t even make sense. They were using Hannah. Nothing could happen with her, and they didn’t even want it to. They’d be lucky to even keep Emily as a friend when all of this was through, but even in the few weeks they’d known her, they’d seen that Hannah was far too innocent to ever understand. She didn’t know what it was like.
“Something on your mind?” Hannah asked, the goofy smile only growing.
Swallowing the lump in their throat, Alys shook their head. “No. Just still waking up. Weird dreams maybe.”
“Oh? Anything fun? Was I in them?” She giggled, and that same thought came back.
“Were you in them?” Alys asked, trying to find any explanation for that that didn’t play into the same demented thoughts that seemed to be running through their mind.
She shrugged. “I dunno. Just seemed like it.”
“Right.” It hadn’t been her hoping, just suspecting. They’d need to be more subtle. “I was going to make breakfast. Probably something bacon-y. You want anything?”
“Yes.” She grinned. “Can I help?”
“It’s fine. Let me know if Emily wakes up, and I can fix her.”
“I’m not going to watch her sleep. I’ve done that enough. Let me help. I’m not bad in the kitchen.”
Biting their lip, Alys tried to consider the request fairly. It wasn’t as if they had a good reason to say no. And they would enjoy the company. “Sure. You can grind some pepper over the bacon while the oven preheats. I was going to make omelets, but I’m really craving grits right now. You okay with that?”
Hannah blinked. “What are grits?”
“It’s like cornbread soup, basically. Think oatmeal but with cornmeal instead. You’ll like it. And be careful with my pepper grinder. It can’t handle your superstrength.”
“You know, I’ve been using my muscles my whole life and never accidentally…rarely accidentally broken anything. Damn, how did I never realize I had superstrength? In my defense, phone screens are really fragile.”
Alys did their best not to laugh. They failed and laughed into the fridge as they grabbed the bacon and butter. “Cookie sheets are under the oven. Put some parchment paper in it and start seasoning.”
The two of them set everything up in a companionable silence, and Alys absolutely hated how much they loved it. Those dreams really had not helped. How had they been that obvious that Hannah had been in them? They should have called a cab to take her and Emily home instead of getting completely wasted with them. They were so close, and it was way too risky to let things slip like that. “What time do you have work?” Alys asked, not at all looking for a reason to get rid of Hannah.
“Nine, but it’s on the other side of town.”
“I can drive if Emily still isn’t up.”
“Oh. I figured I’d take Emily’s car and either pick her up after or have you drop her off. Your way is probably better. But I didn’t think she’d mind being stranded here. Damn, I really didn’t think this through.”
More chuckling. That was not a good sign. “I have work later, and I’m sure she won’t mind picking you up. Let me drop you off.” Wait. Why were they offering? Emily could take a cab. Hannah needed to get away. If they kept getting closer—humanizing her—it would only be that much harder for Alys.
“If you’re sure,” Hannah said, biting her lip.
“I am.” If only they knew a spell to wipe her memory. That would solve everything. Why hadn’t Hel ever taught them anything of the sort?
Hannah grabbed a beer from the fridge and held another out for them.
“Morning drinking. Wow, no wonder Emily loves you.”
“That mean you don’t want one?”
“It does not. I’m still a Norse god.” Damn, did it feel good to be able to say that. They reached out, but Hannah pulled back.
“Hold on.” She set her drink on the counter and grabbed the top of Alys’s bottle, popping the lid off barehanded before handing it back.
“You know, I have a bottle opener,” Alys said. They’d seen the trick already. It didn’t make it less impressive, but they weren’t going to fawn over it. Again.
“Yeah. Me.” She did the same to her own drink and took a quick swig. “I’m starving. The grits ready yet?”
As if on cue, the timer went off. Hannah’s face lit up, and Alys did their best to ignore it. At least food would keep them from sticking their foot in their mouth.
When they’d finished their meal, and the several helpings that followed, Emily still wasn’t awake, and it was growing late enough that Hannah would have to hurry. “Let’s go,” Alys said. It was their last chance to change their mind, but that didn’t seem to be happening.
At least they managed not to say anything stupid on the drive. They simply let Hannah talk about accounting and her coworkers. They couldn’t imagine why it was so damn endearing.
When they got back, they needed to check in with Hel, but they couldn’t risk Emily catching them. That might have to wait until after work. Their daughter would be expecting an update, no matter how patient she claimed to be.
They opened the door, expecting to find Emily still sleeping. As nocturnal as she was, it would be a miracle if she was even awake before they left for work. Instead, they found her eating grits on the couch, watching Netflix.
“Anything good?” Alys asked, hiding their surprise.
“Some action movie.”
“You say as if you watch anything else.”
She rolled her eyes. “I do.” With a slight groan she added, “With you or Hannah. This one has that guy you liked from that space thing, though.”
“How specific.”
“You know the one.”
“I do not.”
“You will when you see him.”
If there was popcorn, Alys would’ve thrown it at her, but there wasn’t time to make it, and the grits would be too messy.
“The food is delicious as ever, by the way,” Emily said, patting the seat beside her.
Alys flopped onto the couch and stole a piece of bacon. “It should be. Your girlfriend helped make it.”
Emily grinned, a bit of grits still stuck to her upper lip. “Yeah? You didn’t seem to like her at first. I’m glad you two are getting along.”
“It wasn’t that I didn’t like her.” How the hell could they explain this? “It was just that I didn’t want to like her.”
“Oh,” Emily said. Alys studied her. What was she assuming? And why had they even said that? “Because of last time?”
Grinding their teeth, Alys sat back. It wasn’t entirely wrong. They shrugged. At least it was noncommittal.
“You do have a bad tendency to fall in love with my girlfriends, don’t you?”
“What can I say, we have the same type. Fortunately for you, yours tend to be too gay for me.”
“Sorry.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for.”
“Sharon was still awful about your gender.”
Alys shrugg
ed. “And you dumped her for it. And you were even cool when we both dated Claire.”
“Still feel bad about it.”
“Don’t.”
“Does this mean you’re crushing on Hannah?”
“No,” Alys shouted, far too vehemently.
Emily smirked, lacing her hands behind her head. “Let me know when that answer changes.”
Alys crossed their arms, promptly losing their huff. “Think I can get away with not putting these things back?” They gestured to their chest. They’d almost added, “for once,” which would’ve given the game away. If only they didn’t trust Emily. Emily certainly shouldn’t trust them.
“Huh. I hadn’t thought about it. I’d say it’s worth it. What are they gonna do? Say you didn’t have top surgery?”
They nodded. “You’re right.” They’d grown too used to lying. They’d forgotten how few consequences honesty sometimes had. On rare occasions. “I have work soon. Are you gonna stick around?”
“I was gonna finish breakfast.”
“That’s fine. Take all the time you need. My home is yours. You know that.” They’d just tell Hel after work. It wasn’t like there was much to report. The plan was finally on. Thor and Sif knew who Alys was and trusted them. It would work.
Chapter Sixteen
Saturday afternoon, Hannah browsed Facebook while Emily slept with her head on her chest. “I have to go to work soon,” Emily muttered, stifling a yawn and planting a soft kiss on her pillow.
“That tickles.” Hannah giggled.
“Should I bite instead? Maybe suck?”
Rolling her eyes, Hannah swatted Emily’s bare ass. “Go shower.”
“But I have better plans right now.”
“You have work in an hour.”
Emily’s teeth found a newly excited nipple.
“Babe, work. We do not have time.”
“You’re no fun,” she groaned, tossing the sheet from her legs and crawling out of bed. “Want to at least join me in the shower?”
“The last time we did that, we ran out of hot water, and I still ended up late for work.”
“Third time’s the charm.”
A knock sounded from the top of their stairs. “Go shower. I’ll see who that is,” Hannah said, grabbing her clothes from the floor.
“Father! I mean Thor…Hannah. Emily. We have returned.” The voice carried through the door and likely through the entire house. At least they weren’t selling drugs or anything. Calling people Norse gods at five o’clock in the afternoon was hardly grounds for an eviction.
“I guess I don’t get a shower or morning sex,” Emily said.
“It’s not morning.”
“I’ll call in sick. See what our crazy kids want.”
“They’re not our kids,” Hannah said, much louder than she’d intended.
“Are you getting the door or not?”
“Fine.” Stomping up the stairs, Hannah threw open both doors and promptly had two pairs of arms wrapped around her. “Ugh,” she managed, patting each of them on the back. “Let go.”
“Sorry,” Modi said, pulling back.
“It’s really nice to see you. We’ve missed you a lot.”
“Even if I am Thor, which I’m still not…” She hesitated, looking at the wistful faces before her. “I’m sorry. I know you miss him.” She needed to stop denying it, no matter how much it sucked. She didn’t want to hurt them.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” Modi smiled at Hannah and patted his brother on the back.
“Do you want to come inside?” The other week, the idea of inviting the armored stalkers who had been showing up around town into her house would have seemed the dumbest thing she could possibly do. Now, it seemed rude not to. It still felt wrong. It still felt crazy. Hell, it was crazy. But she was starting to accept that maybe, possibly, these might be her sons. And she needed to find out what that meant.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Is there beer?” Magni asked.
“Loads.”
Hannah cracked open four bottles, and Emily returned from the bedroom, now clad in a tank top and cargo pants. “My boss is pissed, but I’ve got the day off. What’s up?” She took one of the proffered drinks.
Modi sipped the beer and gave it an appreciative look. “This is good.”
“It’s local.”
“Is there more?”
“Not cold.”
“Cold is a novelty that I’m not used to. I’ll happily take warm beer.”
Hannah grabbed one from the cabinet and set it before him. Emily had taken the third chair, so Hannah sat in her lap. It was a surprise how strange it felt doing that in front of people who were at least, in most ways, not her children. “What did you find out?”
“We want to take you to Idavollr,” Modi said.
“Which is?” Emily asked, draining her own beer before glancing between Hannah, the cabinet, and her now empty bottle.
“The home of the gods. It’s where Asgard was before it fell.”
“Ah.” Emily sounded thoroughly unimpressed.
“The other Aesir doubt that you’re really you,” Magni said. “Even my claim of your strength wasn’t enough for them. We want to show you to them, to let them see how ‘you’ you really are.”
Hannah was justifiably skeptical of how convincing her appearance would be, but she held her tongue.
“So we’re leaving Earth?” Emily asked, still sounding as if she was talking about a trip to the corner store. Hannah couldn’t understand how she acted so blasé. Granted, she acted that way about most things, but this was going to another world. And they were talking about it as if they were going out of town to visit relatives. She supposed they were.
“Yes, we’ll be leaving Midgard,” Modi said.
“Glad I called out.”
Hannah swallowed her fears. She needed answers, but she wasn’t willing to put her life on hold for them. “How long will we be gone?”
“Shouldn’t be more than a day. Unless, of course, you want to stay there?” Magni looked so hopeful. He clearly wanted his family back. Hannah could imagine how she’d feel if something happened to her parents, and she was told that someone else used to be them. She would probably want this connection just as badly. She doubted that Emily would agree, but it explained why she felt so bad for disappointing them.
“What should we bring?”
“You shouldn’t need anything. We’ll take you to the Bifrost, and then it’s a few hours’ walk from there to the main city. Without Heimdallr, we can’t control the bridge, but it seems to have taken pity on us. It’s very near.”
“Is there overnight parking near it?” Hannah was not willing to risk losing the car for a trip to some magical land. She had to be able to get to work.
“Sorry?”
Emily sighed. “We’ll find out. Do you know where it is?”
“We can direct you,” Modi suggested. “It’s around a dozen miles from here. It should only take a few hours.”
“How about we drive? I’m sure we can find parking.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hannah, I believe we’re going to have to teach our children about cars.”
“They don’t even know to look both ways before crossing the street. Clearly, we were very neglectful parents.”
“So you do believe us, then?” Magni asked, that same hopeful expression all the clearer.
“I don’t know what I believe,” Emily said as she stood.
Hannah yelped and clambered to her feet. Pouting, Hannah looked up but accepted that it was time to leave. “Let me throw on some pants. Should I bring a jacket? Is it cold?”
“It is quite warm.”
“Do you even have pants?” Emily asked, her voice lilting mockingly.
“I have a couple.”
“Prove it.”
She could tell by the look in Emily’s eyes that she wished she’d challenged her on this ages ago. She knew she looked amazing, a
nd Emily was only proving her point. “I love those jeans.”
Hannah smiled victoriously, ignoring the fact that they belonged to Megan. It was absolutely worth wearing them.
“Right.” Modi cleared his throat. “Are you ready?”
“Can we grab more beer for the road?” Magni asked.
Hannah put her hands on her hips. Far too much of their budget went to beer, and they couldn’t afford two more people with bottomless appetites. Was that a god thing? It would explain Alys. “Don’t you have beer in Asgard?”
“It’s not Asgard anymore and not like this.”
“Do you have more of those gold coins?” Emily asked.
“Of course.”
“Sweet,” Emily said. “Hand some over and we can stop at Fred Meyer on the way.”
✥ ✥ ✥
“Roll the windows up,” Emily called as they approached the statue the Asses had mentioned. Maybe she really was their mother. She was certainly acting the part. Hannah tried not to laugh.
“How?” Magni asked.
“I think we just hit the button,” Modi replied, promptly unlocking his door.
“Just pull your heads in, and I’ll roll them up. Christ, it’s like giant armored Labradors.”
“That sounds adorable,” Hannah said, grinning back at their strange dogs.
“Don’t encourage them.” Emily rolled the windows up and came to a stop at a red light. “It’s by the statue of Mimir, right?” After a few minutes of them attempting to give directions that didn’t involve street names or landmarks and included the word fathom at least once, Emily had looked up the statue on her phone.
“It’s right next to it. Maybe three paces away.”
“Great.” She found a parking lot nearby that offered overnight parking. “You sure this will only be a day? I’d rather it not get towed while we’re gone.”
“You could stay for longer,” Magni said, hope clear in his voice.
Emily and Hannah exchanged looks. Hannah tried to silently convey that they absolutely could not. This was all still crazy, and if they stayed too long, she might not make it back for work, and it sounded dangerous, and scary. She hoped her point got across.
Emily shook her head. “We should probably just do the one day. But I’m sure we can come back later.”
Thor: Daughter of Asgard Page 13
