by S. T. Bende
“Elsa, I—” Forse interjected.
“Save your breath.” Runa waved her hand. “We killed her parents together, didn’t we, Justice? Oh, Elsa. Don’t look surprised. Forse happily gave me the key.”
“I didn’t give you the key; you stole it.” Forse circled closer. His hand flexed over the hilt of his broadsword.
“Mmm. But Fenrir was on your watch list, wasn’t he? That’s why the Fredriksens started keeping him caged up. And who left the key to a volatile subject’s cell on his kitchen counter, when he knew his girlfriend was coming over?” Runa clucked her tongue. “A responsible god would have made sure that key was locked in his high-security vault, not just lying around where anyone could pick it up. What happened to Elsa’s parents is as much your fault as mine.”
Runa stepped aside, giving me a full view of the god I thought I knew better than anyone. Forse’s shoulders drooped, and he averted his gaze. His lips turned in a tight frown, and even his eyes dimmed. Everything about him positively seethed defeat. Runa’s words had struck a chord, and from the way Forse’s aura turned a pale chartreuse, I knew he believed everything she said. He felt sick. He genuinely thought he was as responsible as Runa and Fenrir for my parents’ deaths. And it very clearly haunted him.
But there was no way what happened was Forse’s fault. Runa wasn’t a sociopath back when she’d dated Forse—or at least, she hadn’t appeared to be. She’d fooled us all, right up until the day she’d set Fenrir on his killing spree. Forse might have left the key out, but he hadn’t told Runa to use it. And he hadn’t told her to unleash Fenrir, or order the dog to kill my parents. Forse might have been fooled by the goddess Runa pretended to be back then, but he would never knowingly help her hurt anyone. Especially not my parents; he loved our family too much.
Forse’s energy pulsed at me, and my spirit stirred with recognition. He didn’t speak a word, but I felt the truth of his intention with a knowing more intense than any I’d ever experienced. As much as Forse loved our family, he loved me more. He loved me wholly. The truth resonated in my currently-immobilized spine.
Without stopping to consider the repercussions, I closed my eyes and reached out to Forse’s spirit.
Is this why you’re so afraid? Of us, I mean? I asked.
I listened for what felt like ages as Forse’s soul peeled back layer after layer of his carefully guarded emotions. And as I watched him shed his protections, everything that had frustrated me while I waited for Forse made perfekt sense. Recognition bloomed and my world turned a shade lighter. Forse had loved me all along. But he’d held his emotions back because of guilt. He held himself accountable for what happened to my family, and his innate sense of justice wouldn’t let him embark on our relationship until he’d made this right. That was why he was so insistent in tracking Runa all these years. That was why he wanted to catch the first Bifrost out of Midgard the minute he found out where she was. And that was why he was so adamant that I stay behind. After everything we’d already sacrificed, he couldn’t handle losing me too.
My eyelids flew open and my grin stretched so wide, my cheeks ached. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I blurted.
“I couldn’t,” Forse whispered.
“I…” I glanced at Runa. Her eyes practically spewed venom as she watched our exchange. No doubt she’d thought her news would break my spirit enough to make me cave, but it had done just the opposite.
It had let me see the truth.
“Let me go, Runa.” I kept my voice level. “Let me go and Forse will cut you a deal.”
“Excuse me?” Runa spat.
“You heard me. Release me and he’ll ensure Odin doesn’t execute you.”
Runa bent down and held her hand to my head. I shirked away from the radiant energy. “Oh, you’re not going anywhere.”
“Is that so?” Tyr dropped into the clearing, carrying Brynn on his back. She jumped off, and they moved in opposite directions, circling my captor. Runa watched their approach with careful eyes. Tyr took a step toward Runa and she shot a beam from her hand, forcing him to sidestep the blast. Seriously, when will that crystal wear off? With Runa’s attention focused on Tyr, Brynn charged from her other side, but Runa moved quickly, sending a beam at the valkyrie. The cycle repeated itself twice, ending when Forse let out a roar.
“Let her go, Runa. You’re outnumbered and frankly, none of us will think twice about killing you.” Forse raised his sword and stormed toward my captor, his boots making determined strides in the soot.
“I told you to stay back!” Runa moved her hand from side to side, sending shots at Forse, Tyr, and Brynn. Their light magic-charged swords enabled them to deflect her beams, and my friends circled us, pounding a path only six meters away. If I could have moved my legs, I’d have kicked Runa and run to them, but the poison still had me immobilized, and a very bitter goddess was about to blow somebody’s head off with her magic hand.
This was so not a good week.
“You have until the count of three, Runa. After that, your death is on you.” Tyr crouched in a fighting stance, his knees bent and sword held at eye level. Forse took up the same position, while Brynn angled her rapier. “One. Two.” Tyr leaned back, preparing to jump.
“Three.” A deep voice boomed from the sky. I craned my neck to see an enormous figure drop in through a black portal. He landed with a thud, the weight of his eight-foot-plus, pale-skinned frame sending a deep vibration throughout the forest. A flock of birds took flight, screeching as they fled, and a chill descended over the treetops. Forse leaned into his crouch, Brynn let out a gasp, and my normally stoic brother turned the color of a fresh Asgardian snowfall.
Runa kept her hand at my head as she turned to the monster with a self-satisfied smirk. When she spoke, her voice rang of victory.
“Welcome back, Hymir.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
HYMIR ROSE SLOWLY, HIS knees no doubt tender from bearing the impact of his fall. I’d never seen him in person, but I quickly realized Tyr had downplayed his biological father’s scary factor. The giant had wild white hair that stood in unruly waves, as if he’d just stuck his finger in an electrical socket. Large bulbous knots rose from pale-grey skin, and his knuckles were bloodied, as if he’d come fresh from killing something.
In all likelihood, he probably had.
Tyr held up a hand, signaling Forse and Brynn to stand down. He held his sword at his waist and walked steadily toward me. Though he was the outward appearance of calm, his voice shook with barely contained anger. “Hymir, stay out of this. Runa, give me my sister, and walk away.”
Runa let out a laugh so jubilant I thought for a moment her spirit had finally broken through the infinite layers of darkness imprisoning it.
That was me. Always the optimist.
“Accept your fate, war god,” Runa taunted, debunking my hopeful theory. “The longer you fight this, the worse Daddy will make you hurt.”
Hymir’s barking laugh cut Runa’s words short. The giant stormed toward us, his massive legs covering the distance before Tyr could reach out to pull me to safety. Hymir’s thick hands closed around my neck, blocking the flow of air as he lifted me from the ground. I couldn’t move my arms to fight him off; I couldn’t even kick. The poison still rendered me paralyzed, and all I could do was gasp for air as my brother’s face gradually shifted from white to pink to red.
Hymir didn’t know who he was messing with.
“Team,” Tyr commanded. “Let’s kill him.”
My mouth gaped as I sucked what little oxygen I could through my painfully constricted windpipe. No doubt the bulge in my eyes alerted Forse to my fear. He shifted his sword to one hand and drew his pistol. He gave me a small nod as he fisted both weapons. Relief washed over my air-starved insides as I noted the confidence in his eyes. Forse had a plan.
“Gladly,” Forse said. He lifted his gun to eye level. Before he could line up his shot, Hymir’s voice thundered through the forest.
“That’s enough!
” The deep reverberations made the trees quiver, and needles dropped onto the soot, leaving a purplish layer of foliage. Hymir kept one hand around my neck as he stepped to Runa. My vision blurred in and out of focus as Runa beamed up at him. Her smile disappeared when Hymir wrapped his other hand around her neck, holding her alongside me as if we were dispensable.
“What are you doing?” Runa squeaked, her features turning red as she struggled to breathe. My own face tingled with the thick haze of oxygen deprivation.
“Shut up.” Hymir shook Runa violently, and her eyes rolled closed. She’d resigned herself to her fate, as terrible as it was. Her energy pulsed with sadness.
Are you okay? I reached out to Runa’s spirit, to no avail.
“You know what I’m here for, Tyr,” Hymir declared. “I hoped you’d return to me on your own. But since you’re so determined to waste your abilities for Asgard, I’ve had to resort to Plan B.”
“What is he doing?” Brynn hissed at Forse.
“No idea.” Forse raised his sword again. He still held the pistol in one hand and his blade in the other, but from the look in his eyes, whatever plan he’d come up with had changed.
“Drop your weapons,” Hymir commanded. “All of you.” He pulled his arms apart so his body formed a cross, me dangling from one hand and Runa from the other. “If you don’t comply, Son, both of your sisters will die.”
My mouth fell open and Forse’s eyebrows shot practically to his hairline. What did he just say?
“What did you just say?” Tyr echoed my thought.
“Oh, Tyr.” Hymir clucked his tongue in a very unconvincing demonstration of sympathy. “Didn’t Odin tell you about your sister?”
“Elsa’s my sister,” Tyr growled.
“Elsa is your adopted sister,” Hymir corrected. “But biologically speaking…”
No. Freaking. Way.
“No,” Brynn gaped.
Tyr narrowed his eyes. He glanced at me and pressed a thought into my head. His aura’s too clouded. I can’t tell if he’s lying. I don’t remember having siblings, but our parents adopted me when I was young, and I wouldn’t put it past Odin to have wiped my pre-Asgard memories under the name of “realm security” …
I closed my eyes and scanned Hymir’s energy. Sure enough, it was mottled with dark clouds and black holes. If I lingered too long, he’d suck me in, and I might never break free. Pulling back, I strengthened my protection and reached out to Hymir’s spirit. Is Runa really your daughter?
Yesssss. Hymir’s spirit spoke in a hiss, and I immediately shut down our communication. His soul was black. Truly black. And not to be messed with.
Tyr. I struggled to retain consciousness as I pressed my thought into his head. He’s not lying. But you need to get out of here. Take Forse and Brynn and port or fly or Bifrost or whatever, as far as away you can. Hymir’s homicidal.
I’m not leaving you. Tyr sounded insulted. And I’m sure you realize a herd of Helbeasts couldn’t make Forse port us out of here without you.
I smiled, even as I rasped for breath. Then hurry up and kick some giant butt.
The corner of Tyr’s mouth curled up in a smirk. Gladly. He held up two fingers to signal Brynn and Forse. “Now!”
And then all Hel broke loose.
Forse holstered his pistol and charged at Hymir with all the fury of a raging bull. He leapt into the air, sword drawn, on a trajectory to strike the giant’s chest with his blade. But Hymir swung the arm restraining me, using my body to swat Forse out of the air. Since the paralysis hadn’t worn off, my stiff body vibrated like a baseball bat, waves of agony piercing my already screaming nerves. Gods, that hurts!
Forse hit the ground with a sickening thud, skidding across the soot toward a thick boulder. Brynn leapt in his path, pushing him to the side so his head missed the rock by inches. At the same time, Tyr leapt at Hymir, his arms flexed and his sword held high. Hymir’s grip loosened enough that I was able to draw a ragged breath. As my focus sharpened, I made out the pulsing vein in my brother’s neck, the clenched muscles of his jaw, and the way his normally steady hands shook with anger as he flew through the air and sliced his sword through the leathery skin of his biological father’s right arm.
Air flooded my lungs and I fell to the ground in a heap, Hymir’s now severed limb releasing its death grip on my neck.
“Arugh!” Hymir let out a guttural cry. He released Runa and brought his remaining hand to his shoulder, which spewed blood everywhere. A thick stream of the sticky liquid struck my back and I rolled to the side. It took me a moment before I realized what my rolling meant. The venom had worked its way through my bloodstream—I could move!
I didn’t get to celebrate for long. With a fierce battle cry, Tyr charged at Hymir, and Forse and Brynn pushed themselves up from the ground. As they moved, Runa found her footing. She held out her hand and shot a beam at my kneecap, sending an intense wave of pain coursing through me.
Forse let out a roar, and I looked up in time to see him charge Runa, using his sword to deflect her shots. She kept her hand high and alternated beams at him and Brynn, bending down to wrap her free hand through the chains that still bound my hands. As she yanked me to my feet I screamed, my injured knee buckling in protest. I dropped to the ground and flung my head back, ignoring the pain as my skull made contact with her shin.
“You little—”
Runa dropped the chain and wrapped her hands around my hair. She pulled me to a seated position then slammed my head into the ground. I ignored the sticky gush of blood through what felt like a broken nose, and threw my head back again, this time earning the crack of what sounded like a broken kneecap.
An eye for an eye…Sis.
Runa screeched and fell to the ground, giving Forse the window he needed to come to my rescue. He closed the distance between us in the amount of time it took for Runa to cradle her shattered bone. Forse lifted me into his arms and sprinted to the thick trunk of a nearby tree. My hands were still bound in front of me, but I used my fingertips to trace the firm planes of his chest as he ran, closing my eyes and inhaling the familiar scent that enveloped me like a warm blanket. I knew in that moment that everything would be okay.
“Gods, Elsa, you’re a mess. Screw orders, I’m porting you out of here,” Forse declared. “Tyr and Brynn can handle Hym—”
But before he could finish his sentence, a tiny black hole appeared behind him. The circle grew at an alarming speed, opening to a door-sized portal in the time it took me to gasp. “Forse! Look out!” I cried, as the hooded figure of a dark elf stepped through the blackness and back into our lives.
“Well, well, well.” Tosk’s voice brought our exit plan to an abrupt halt. “You couldn’t just hand over the dog like we asked, could you? Maybe a gift will motivate you.”
As he opened his hand and threw a bird drone at the god I’d have given my life for, I arched my back and flung my body to the side. The motion pushed Forse off-balance, pulling him out of the path of the poisoned feathers. As we landed, I rolled on top of him, covering his body with my own and bearing the fallout of Tosk’s gift. Forse looked up in horror as my face scrunched in pain.
“Elsa, what did you do?” Moisture filled his eyes. As pain wracked my body, an uprooted tree soared through the sky behind Forse’s shoulder. It landed with a thud, and Tyr emitted an enraged roar. Hymir cackled in response before launching another tree. Tyr ducked out of my frame of vision and I held my breath, praying he’d avoided the projectile. I exhaled when I heard the vicious swiping of my brother’s sword—the welcome sound meant he was still alive. As he flung himself at his birth father, I turned my attention to my legs.
“I can’t move. Again,” I said unnecessarily, as the drone poison overtook me for the second time that day. If history was any indication it would only take a few minutes for the drug to wear off, but in the meantime I was in a world of hurt. “Go take care of business for us, okay?”
Forse brushed my forehead with his lips before
he lifted me off him. “With pleasure.”
As Forse leapt to his feet and reached for his implosion gun, Brynn jumped on Tosk from behind. “Nobody fake-bird poisons my friends!” she screamed, wrapping her legs around Tosk’s waist and pounding his temples with her fists.
“Brynn, get off him! I can’t take the shot with you there!” Forse yelled.
But Brynn continued to pummel the dark elf as if she hadn’t heard Forse. If the bulging vein in her otherwise delicate forehead was any indication, she was in another zone.
“Brynn! Clear out. That’s an order,” Forse repeated himself. My heart thumped at his command. Sometimes I forgot he was a high-ranking titled god, and a member of Odin’s cabinet.
Bossy Forse was ridiculously hot.
Brynn continued her attack as if she hadn’t heard Forse.
“Brynn Aksel,” Forse growled. But Brynn continued to beat Tosk. Her punches clearly annoyed him, but the weaponless assault wasn’t likely to do much damage. If she’d had command of her reason, she’d have followed Forse’s order and let the senior officer remove the threat, but thick pulses of anger leapt off her skin, showing me Brynn wasn’t acting with her mind. She was acting with her heart.
That lapse of judgment was going to get us all killed.
“Let me try to reach her.” I closed my eyes and reached out to Brynn’s spirit.
Brynn, I pressed words at her. Brynn!
After a long pause, her spirit shook itself from the anger frenzy. With a tremendous sigh of relief, I registered its panicked reply. What?
You’ve got to calm down. Forse needs you to clear Tosk so he can use the space gun.
Nanomolecular particle accelerator, Brynn’s spirit corrected.
Right. We really need you to step down. Like, right now.
Brynn’s spirit pulled back with a nod, and she drew a long breath. Either she was assessing the situation or she was trying to rein in the fury that still colored her aura. Either way, her pause had the desired effect—the anger radiating from her body dimmed several notches, and while I watched, Brynn leapt off Tosk’s back and rolled away from his body. “Now!” she yelled, and Forse took aim. He fired the space gun at Tosk, but Runa hurtled a beam directly in front of the elf, intercepting the bullet and diverting the implosion. A nearby tree took the hit, leaving nothing but dust in its wake.
