by Brenda Drake
“Sure,” Stevie said, trying to act unaffected by his presence, but every time their eyes met, her heart raced. By the look on Blake’s face, he could tell.
Amira took a few steps as the line moved forward. “Are you kidding? We’d love it. You’re famous here. I heard some girls gushing about how hot you are and that you make a perfect Thor.”
“It is a little warm in here.” Blake wiped his sleeve across his forehead. “I’ve taken dozens of pictures with people today. I’m tired already.”
“Being famous will wear you out,” Amira said. “Don’t look now, but you have some admirers.”
A group of tween girls gathered a few feet away, whispering and glancing at Blake.
“You want to take a pic with him?” Stevie called to them.
The girls giggled and few nodded exaggeratedly.
Blake gave Stevie wide eyes before turning to face the group.
“Um, can we have Sif in it, too?” one of the girls asked, timidly.
“Sure you can,” Amira said, walking over to them. “You can all get in the picture. I’ll take it for you.”
They squealed and crowded around Blake and Stevie. Blake put his arm around Stevie and gripped her waist. It was as if lightning shot through his fingertips and rushed across her body. His arm was warm around her, and he smelled good. Not like a cologne kind of good, but more of a clean guy scent.
Amira took pics on all six of their phones. After they finished, the girls rushed off, their excited voices following them like a sound cloud.
“It’s our turn,” Amira said, then asked Comic Cam’s handler, “Can we have a shot with all three of us?”
“Of course.” The fake Comic Cam moved aside so they all could fit in front of the Gotham City backdrop.
Blake couldn’t keep his eyes off the actor playing Cam. The girl had a nice body, but it wasn’t about that. It was as if he knew something or was trying to find some sort of clue as to her identity.
When they were in the crowd, Blake snatched Stevie’s hand and pulled her back into the crowd, losing Amira. Without a word to her, he led her around the crowded aisle.
“What are you doing? Let go of me.” She stopped, but he yanked her forward. “Blake. Stop.”
He didn’t stop or glance at her, just kept going, towing her after him.
The exit door slammed behind them. Once outside, he spun to face her. “Where I’m from we say and take what we want. There aren’t games or wondering how someone feels. We say it. Say it, Stevie. Because I want you. Grace doesn’t matter. She’ll move on to her next infatuation. This matters.” He touched his heart, then hers.
She knocked his hand away. “Never do that to me again. Dragging me off as if you’re some possessive male. Who do you think you are? This isn’t your country. We don’t take whatever we want.”
The angry expression on her face made him step back. “Actually, I never have taken whatever I wanted.”
“Well, it was a real asshole thing to do.”
“I believe the name you called me means something bad.” He lowered his head and softened his voice. “And you’re right. That was wrong of me. I apologize. I’ve just been on edge, lately.”
I hate you. It bugged her that the ashamed look on his face looked so damn gorgeous.
Tears blurred her vision. “You scared me. I can’t do this right now.” She turned and yanked on the door handle. Locked. “Great. Just great. We’re locked out.”
When she looked back at him, there was a worry on his face. He tried the door.
“Blake,” she said his name so softly she wasn’t even sure it had come from her.
“I understand,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck and staring at the door as if it would magically open. “Grace is your friend. I can wait until she tires of me.” He pulled his gaze from the door and looked at her, a forced smile pushing on his lips. “We’ll have to go through the main entrance.” He headed down the alley. “You coming?”
She hesitated for a second before following him.
Putting aside the whole dragging-her-through-the convention-and-scaring-her episode, Stevie didn’t want to wait to be with Blake. She wanted to explore whatever was happening between them. She knew he wasn’t going to hurt her. He was frustrated and wanted to talk. She was frustrated, too. But sometimes doing the right thing hurt.
There was a wedge between them, and her name was Grace.
þrettán
Blake sat and watched the people come and go in the breakfast area of the hotel. Free breakfast got all types of people up early in the morning. Stevie was still asleep. Amira had said Stevie wasn’t feeling well. Blake volunteered to wait for her while the others went ahead to the con. He worried she was ill because of him and hadn’t felt like getting out of bed. It was cruel to have treated her as he had yesterday. His mother taught him to be better than that.
Blake had prepared Stevie a plate of food before the breakfast bar closed.
From where he sat, he could see Grace’s Jeep through the window. The con was in walking distance of the hotel. She’d given him the keys in case Stevie needed rushing to the hospital. Amira said Grace was being overdramatic. If they knew the real reason Stevie wasn’t feeling well, the girls wouldn’t let him anywhere near her. Which meant Stevie hadn’t told them about his bad behavior. He slipped Grace’s keys in into his pants pocket with his own.
The coffee was lukewarm.
After draining the last of his cold coffee, he stood and poured some more from the carafes lined on the breakfast counter. At least they kept the coffee bar open all day. He hadn’t slept well last evening. Since discovering the powers of the drink, he was now hooked on it.
When he returned to his table, Stevie stood at the entrance, dressed in jeans and a Batman T-shirt. Her shoulders were drooped and she had dark half-moons under her eyes. She crossed the room to him and he stood.
“Good morning,” he said. “The breakfast bar is closed, but I prepared a plate for you. No meat. I hope you like the choices I selected.”
“Where did you get the coffee?” She could barely hold herself up.
“Here. Take this.” He handed her his cup and nodded at his table. “We’re right there.”
“Thanks,” she said, taking a seat in the chair across from where he was sitting.
There was only enough coffee in the carafe to fill his cup halfway, the spout slurping the last bit out. Stevie was nibbling on a big chunk of watermelon skewered on her fork when he returned to the table.
“We can just hang out at the hotel today,” he said. “That is, if you’re not feeling well enough to go to the show.”
“You know the medication I take?” She tore at a piece of toast. “I have a heart valve disease. I’ve got a surgery scheduled to have my aortic valve replaced during winter break. I had my mitral repaired when I was younger. So when I do too much, I get tired.”
He wanted to fix her heart for her, wanted to hold her and keep her safe. “We can watch the Netflix and chill.” Kyle had told him that was what he called teen-speak.
Stevie laughed and sprayed coffee out of her mouth.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” she said. “But that’s American slang for hooking up with Netflix on in the background.”
“Hooking up?”
She tossed her head back and laughed harder. “Oh gosh. Sorry. I guess people use that for all levels of getting together. It means having sex.”
I will kill Lajos.
“Well, then,” he said, “we can just do the Netflix without the other part.”
“Sounds good.” She smiled against her coffee cup.
Blake leaned forward in his chair. “About yesterday—”
She put up her hand. “It’s forgotten and forgiven. Let’s start over, okay?”
“All right,” he said. “How does one start over?”
“Carefully.” Her laugh was weaker this time. “Anyway, let’s change the subject. How’s Saga? I hav
en’t seen her in a while.”
“She’s doing great. May is spoiling her rotten.”
He liked the way she ate. Small bites, savoring each morsel.
After Stevie finished eating, she went up to the room she shared with Amira and Grace to shower. A young man, tall and stiff, refilled the carafes of coffee. Blake stayed behind to have another cup. He would miss the drink when he went home. Possibly, he could convince his father to grow the beans on Asgard.
Outside the window, spotlights from the sun broke through the dark clouds. The earlier rain had made the sidewalks slick and the greenery shiny. Beads of water still clung to the windowpane. A shadow moved among the bushes lining the driveway into the hotel. Blake leaned closer to the window, watching the spot where he’d seen it.
Two pairs of black wings took off. Huginn and Muninn had followed them to Tacoma.
“Einar,” a familiar woman’s voice, warm as the sun and sweet as honey, came from his side. The older woman’s platinum hair pulled into a tight bun made her face taut. Her earthly clothes were plain and matronly.
Blake stood and kissed each of her cheeks. “Grandmother. Why have you come?”
Frigga sat in the seat Stevie had abandoned. “I want you to come home. You are not ready for the quest your father has sent you on. I worry for you. Lajos is better suited for this type of thing.”
“So far, I have done well,” he said. “I’ve killed a leech and brought down a troll.”
She folded her hands on the table. “With Lajos’s help.”
“He hardly did anything. It was mostly my doing.” Blake glanced around to make certain no one was in earshot of their conversation. “You’re the one who sent Huginn and Muninn to spy on me.”
Her eyes, a steely blue, watched him intently. “I did send them. To be my eyes. I’ve tested you. I give you the choice to come home with me, and you refuse. Your bravery pleases me.”
“Why must Father and you feel the need to test me?” He took a sip from his mug. “I have never disappointed you before.”
“We are all tested. It is how we handle such situations that shape who we become.” She glanced at the door. “Your girl’s heart is weak and it isn’t from symptoms of this world, but by the darkness of our own.”
He lowered his elbows on the table. “What do you mean?”
“A human woman found the horn. Stevie’s aunt, Jules. Murdered by the Frost King himself. It was a painful death, poor girl.” She placed a hand on her throat. “Thor was careless. A thief had stolen the horn from Asgard, and Thor had chased him to earth to recover it. During their fight, the horn was lost. We have searched many human years for it.”
“I was told Jules died of a heart condition,” Blake said.
“That is the cause of death we wished the humans to believe.” She paused as an older couple shuffled by them on their way to the exit, before continuing. “Heimdall’s Horn is bonded to the death of Ragnarok. The horn seeks a pure soul. One without evil sins attached to it. When Jules touched it, the horn connected to her. The Frost Giants followed the horn’s trail to her and their king touched her. Froze her breath in her throat.
When she died, her connection to the horn passed to her niece. Human surgeries will help her symptoms, but other parts will soon fail, and her heart will one day rot in her chest. Bringing her to Asgard will surely kill her. Huginn and Muninn overheard the girl talking with her friend in her bedroom. Jules had left a note for the girl. It said the horn could protect her, but it cannot.”
No. Stevie. I won’t let her die.
“There must be a way to save her.” The room felt as though it were spinning.
Frigga placed a silk bag on the table. Whatever was inside, clacked together. “These are the runes of the gods, made from their blood and tears. There is a ritual circle in the woods near where you killed the leech. Find it. On a full moon, place the runes evenly around the circle and have the girl stand in the middle wearing the horn. Call forth Eir, the goddess of help and mercy. She will heal the girl and break her connection with the horn. Have her put the horn in the box and seal it. Then you will be able to bring it back to Asgard without her.”
“I’ve seen the circle.” Blake picked up the bag. “That sounds easy enough.”
She grabbed his hand and held it. “There will be danger. Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar will try to stop you.”
“The light elves? Why would they interfere?” Blake didn’t care about any dangers to him. He only wanted to save Stevie and get the horn to Thor.
A storm swirled in her eyes, and she let go of his hand. “The nearer one gets to light, the greater chance to burn, and the farther one ventures out of darkness, the closer to light they become. Many creatures of Asgard and Midgard will hunt and kill you to get the horn. They lust to bring about Ragnarok and end the gods’ rule. To rebuild the worlds free of gods and goddesses.”
She stood and placed her hand on his cheek. “I must go. Know that if you see Huginn and Muninn, I am with you, my dearest grandson.”
When she had gone, Blake finished his coffee, lost in thoughts of what he must do to help Stevie. Worry followed him all the way through the hotel, up the elevator, and to the door to Stevie’s room.
He rapped his knuckles against the door, hoping his face didn’t show the weight of his concern.
She opened it, hair wet and wearing a clean pair of what she told him were yoga pants. He had no idea what she meant by that, but he appreciated how the material clung to her.
“I added several movies to my list.” She sat on the edge of the bed. “Since we’re at a comic con, I thought we’d stick to a superhero theme. I have Thor, X-Men, The Avengers, and Batman v Superman. Do any of them appeal to you?” She looked up at him. “You could sit. I won’t bite.”
He removed his wallet and both his and Grace’s keys, placed them on the bench at the foot of the bed, and sat on the other side of the mattress from her. “Nothing with Thor. I think I’ve had my fill of him. How about that one with Batman.”
“Great,” she said, tapping her finger on the keyboard of her laptop. “I loved that movie. It has Wonder Woman in it. Her costume in this movie is cooler than the one I wore.” The bed shook as she scooted backward to the headboard. She adjusted the pillows behind her. “Scooch back and get comfortable.”
He took the spot beside her and she started the movie.
Blake wasn’t sure when they had fallen asleep, but he awoke to Stevie’s head on his shoulder and her laptop between them, the screen dark. His shoulder ached and his arm had fallen asleep. The digital clock said it was nearing two. He moved slightly. Stevie’s eyes blinked open. She lifted her head and rested it on her pillow.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, his arm like a dead weight by his side.
“Hungry.”
“Kyle mentioned they deliver pizza to the hotel.” Pizza had become Blake’s obsession. There wasn’t anything like it on Asgard. “Or we could go out.”
She glanced out the window. “The sun is out. Let’s do a picnic somewhere outside. Maybe a park?”
“All right,” he said. “We do have the automobile. We can find a place to get a sandwich and search for a nice place to eat it.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She hopped off the bed and went into the bathroom.
“You look like you’re feeling better,” he said.
“Yes, I feel tons better.” She came out tying her hair into a ponytail. “Ready?”
“I am.” He stood and searched his pockets for Grace’s keys. Still groggy he couldn’t remember where he’d put them. “Once I find the keys, that is.”
“Here they are.” She tried to pick up his keys, but they wouldn’t budge. “What the hell? They’re stuck to the bench.” She yanked on them.
Only the worthy can lift the hammer, Thor had told him. He would have thought Stevie could do it, but maybe her connection to the horn made her unworthy. The thought disappointed him.
He rushed over. “Here let me try.�
�� It was a careless move to leave his keys out with Jölnir attached to them. He pretended to struggle with removing it from the bench before lifting them. “Got them. They must have been stuck to something.”
“Yeah, they must have. So strange.” She inspected the bench. “There’s nothing there it could catch on.”
“Maybe one of the keys caught between the bed and bench,” he said.
“Guess so,” she muttered and straightened.
He rubbed his chin, mimicking the confused look on her face.
“Shall we go?” he asked.
She nodded and opened the door.
After picking up sandwiches from a small café, Blake drove to a thin park that butted up to a waterway. Stevie removed her hoodie and left it on the passenger seat before getting out of the Jeep. They crossed the grass and sat on a bench that faced the water and was shaded by the canopy of a tree.
“It’s such a warm day for November,” she said. “I love it.”
Blake reached inside the paper bag and handed her a plastic wrapped hoagie roll stuffed with cheese and vegetables. “Your world is full of wonders. Salami is delicious. Why don’t you eat it?”
“Your world?” Her eyebrows pinched together. “As if you’re from another world. You’re from Norway, dude, not Mars.”
He wanted to kick himself for the misstep. “I suppose it’s a translation confusion. I feel out of place here at times.”
“There must be some similarities between our countries.” She opened her mouth wide and took big bite of her sandwich.
He finished chewing his mouthful and swallowed. “There are a few.”
“So what are we doing?” she asked around a mouthful.
His mouth was dry, so he retrieved the small cans of juice from the bag and passed her one. “We’re eating lunch.”
She pressed her lips together in a cute smirk. “I mean us. This. Grace. Whatever.”
“I thought you decided we’d be friends because of her.” He cracked open his juice can. “So we’re chilling as buddies.”
