by ST Bende
“Anything in particular? If it’s something you’ve never purchased before, I’m sure Gunnar would be happy to tag along and offer some advice.” Inga fluttered her lashes as Ull shot her a glare.
“Bug off.” Ull opened the front door and held out his hand for me. “After you, my lady.” As an afterthought he added, “and Inga.”
Inga stuck out her tongue, then followed me outside. Ull locked the front door and laced his fingers through mine. I gave his hand a squeeze and rested my head on his shoulder as we walked the few blocks to the shop.
Ull leaned down and brushed his lips against my hair. “You happy?”
“Tremendously.” I sighed. Our wedding was days away. We were about to embark on our honeymoon. And the love of my life had just shut down an honest-to-goodness goddess because he wanted to be with me. Happy didn’t begin to cover the way I felt.
It was a feeling I wanted to hold on to forever.
Ull and I were at the station on Wednesday night when Ardis’s train pulled in. She hopped off onto the platform, chestnut hair shining in a chic bob that peeked from beneath her pageboy cap. Her eyes searched the station before they came to rest on Ull. She lowered her gaze to confirm he was with me, and when I waved, her eyes grew big as saucers.
“Get out,” she mouthed.
I giggled.
“Kristia!” She ran to us and threw her arms around me. Ull pretended not to hear when she whispered, “Good God, he is hot.”
I untangled myself and grinned. “Ardis, this is Ull, my fiancé. Ull, this is my best friend from Nehalem, Ardis.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Ardis.” Ull’s words were lost on my friend. She couldn’t seem to find her voice under his penetrating gaze. I knew the feeling all too well. Watching Ardis weakly shake his hand, I marveled at how far I’d come in a year.
Thankfully, Ull drove us straight to my flat and headed home. I don’t think Ardis could have kept it together beyond the time it took to get to my place. She stood in my doorway, mouth still slightly open, while Ull deposited her suitcase at the step and leaned down to kiss me goodnight.
“The next time I see you, you will be Mrs. Myhr.” He gave me a look that left me barely holding it together.
I kissed him dreamily, stretching on my tiptoes to wrap my arms around his neck. He kissed me back with such intensity, I forgot about our audience. His lips moved against mine, and I grabbed at his hair, wrapping the strands around my fingers. I breathed in his woodsy scent, dizzy at the sensation of his hands stroking the small of my back. In the morning I would be his wife—I couldn’t believe this was happening.
Ull released himself from my embrace with a throaty groan. “God natt, darling. Ardis.” He nodded at my girlfriend, then walked briskly to the Range Rover, glancing back once to give me a wink.
He’d driven to the end of the block and turned the corner before either Ardis or I could find our voices. She was the first to speak. “You lucky wench.”
I laughed, both with relief at seeing her again and nerves at the enormity of the week ahead. She joined me in my laughter and we headed into the tiny flat. Emma and Victoria looked up from the program they’d been watching, expectant smiles on their faces.
“You must be Ardis.” Emma jumped up to hug my friend. “It’s nice to have you here. Kristia has been so excited that you were coming.”
Victoria stood, holding out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, more reserved than Emma. She raised one perfectly arched eyebrow. “So did you meet him?”
“Oh. My. God.” It was all Ardis had to say. The ice was broken and Emma pulled her toward the couch.
“He’s totally gorgeous, isn’t he?” Emma’s enthusiasm bubbled over.
“Our girl chose very well,” Victoria agreed with a wink. “Of course, so did Ull.”
I batted my eyes at Victoria. “Well bless your heart.”
“I cannot believe you get to marry that. That,” Ardis continued with authority, “is without a doubt the most beautiful man I have ever seen. Ever.” She emphasized.
“I know! The face! The arms! The body…” Victoria waggled her eyebrows and I blushed.
This conversation had veered way off course. “Enough about Ull’s body. How was your cast party? You didn’t have to leave early to make your flight, did you?” I asked Ardis.
“Oh, Lord no. I stayed until four a.m. It totally rocked!”
“Tell us about it,” Emma probed.
“We had it at this super trendy bar around the corner from the theatre. There was this amazing DJ from LA, and half the theatre school turned out. Plus like, a dozen celebrities showed up. Mostly reality stars, but still. We went for pizza after, and just walked around the city until dawn. Then I booked it for the airport.”
“God, it sounds amazing.” Victoria exhaled. “I would love to see New York someday.”
“Well there’s always Fashion Week,” Emma reminded her. Turning to Ardis she explained, “Victoria’s taken a job with Alexander McQueen after graduation. She’s going to be a famous designer!”
“I’m going to be a lowly assistant,” Victoria corrected. “But then a famous designer.”
“Wow, that’s awesome.” Ardis was impressed.
“It will be an adventure,” Victoria said with uncharacteristic modesty. “And Emma is going to stay on at Cardiff to earn her Master’s.”
“Maybe I can land a hot grad student like Kristia did.” Emma giggled.
“If it were that easy, I’d sign up for grad school, too.” Ardis chuckled. I sat back happily, watching my dearest girlfriend interact with the two women who had seen me through the biggest year of my life. Everything was as it should be. My friends were here to celebrate with me, and tomorrow I would embark on a destiny I had never seen coming. At this moment in time, my life was absolutely perfect.
Chapter Eleven
“I LIKE YOUR FRIEND,” a raspy voice hissed from the end of my bed.
“Hmm.” I rolled over and pulled the covers up to my ears.
“The one sleeping on the couch. She seems very nice.”
“Uhhhh.” I pulled a pillow over my head for good measure.
“It would be a shame if anything were to happen to her.”
I snapped to attention. I knew that voice. Oh, come on. Elf Man had to show up the night before my wedding?
“Please, for the love of all that is good, go away. This is not the best night for me.”
“I could just leave, sweet Kristia. But then I wouldn’t be able to give you the terrible news.”
“What news?” I sat up reluctantly and tucked the comforter under my arms, wishing I’d worn more than a sheer camisole top to bed.
“Something horrible happened to your beloved Olaug.”
“So help me, if you’ve done anything to hurt her—”
“Oh, it wasn’t me.” The evil creature broke into an ear-splitting grin. “She has fallen ill. Of natural causes.”
I eyed him levelly. “What did you do?”
“I may have opened the gateway, but the disease found her all on its own.”
“Bull. Fix this.”
“Oh, but I can’t.” He feigned disappointment. “This is a powerful disease. A magical disease. It would have to be. After all, gods don’t get sick.”
“So how did Olaug get this magical disease then?”
The elf raised his shoulders. “Now what kind of a challenge would this be if I told you that?”
“You tell me how to make her better, or I swear on my grandmother’s grave, I will spend every minute of the rest of my life hunting down your sorry behind. And when I find you—”
“Ooh, such threats from a human. But you don’t scare me. And to prove it, I’ll throw you a bone. The only way to heal your precious Olaug is to destroy me.”
“My pleasure.” I grabbed for my necklace, knowing it had nearly killed him twice before. I was more than ready to finish the job. But my fist closed on nothing. My throat was bare. Frantica
lly, I dug around in the sheets. It had to have fallen—I never took it off. But after a moment, I remembered the necklace was resting in a solvent in the bathroom. I’d left it to soak overnight so it would shine for the wedding. It was a treasure of Asgard, after all, and it deserved its moment in the sun.
“Missing something?” Elf Man fingered his neck idly, mocking me. I stood, dropping the comforter and moving toward the door. “Oh, Kristia. I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. I have to kill you.”
“In your dreams.” I ran for the door, but he grabbed my arm before I was halfway there. I swung, putting all my weight behind my fist, but the gesture was futile. Elfie blocked it with an easy parry and landed a punch of his own in my gut. I doubled over, gasping for breath. Ull was going to have to make good on his promise to train me if he expected me to survive Ragnarok.
“Oh, poppet. Did I hurt you?” The demon kicked me in the thigh, forcing me to the floor. My vision blurred and I could barely make out his legs as he walked toward me. He lifted his hands over my torso and started to mutter an incantation. I had no idea what it meant, but I knew it wasn’t going to end well for me. My brain got very fuzzy and I realized I was losing consciousness. At the same time a sharp pain was forming in my chest—something was literally squeezing the life out of me.
I had to act fast if I was going to live. Using my last bit of strength, I grabbed the leg right in front of my face and bit down on the monster’s Achilles’ tendon. Hard.
He let out a high pitched shriek and I took another bite. The thud must have meant he’d fallen over, and as soon as the incantation stopped, my consciousness flickered back into focus.
I didn’t have any time to lose. Without sparing a thought for the ache in my gut, I pushed myself to my feet and bolted. I ran for the door and down the short hallway until I reached the bathroom. My necklace was right where I’d left it. I grabbed it with a tight fist and it erupted, beams of light shooting from between my firmly clenched fingers. The elf was right behind me. He dropped to the floor as soon as the lights appeared. They pierced his body, my saving swords, and he writhed in pain as the beams sliced through his flesh again and again. After a short eternity, he vanished with a pop.
My hands trembled as I fastened the clasp around my neck, and I made my way down the hall on shaky legs. Ardis was snoring on the couch where I’d left her, and Emma and Victoria’s doors were still closed. How had they slept through that?
I rubbed at my bruised leg as I limped back to my room. Sleep was the furthest thing from my mind. Should I wake up Ull? He’d ordered me to call him immediately if I ever saw Elf Man again. Of course, he’d also ordered me to keep my necklace on at all times. Oops.
No matter, I knew Ull would be beyond furious if I didn’t call. He wouldn’t care that I’d done a halfway-decent job of taking care of things on my own. I shuffled to my bed and found my phone on my nightstand. At least one thing was where it was supposed to be tonight.
“Darling.” Ull sounded groggy. “Are you having wedding jitters?”
“No, I’m fine.” It was such a relief to hear his voice. I was more shaken than I wanted to admit. “But you have to check on Olaug. Can you reach her?”
“I am not calling my grandmother at three in the morning.”
“Ull, she’s sick. Or she’s going to be. We were wrong—Elfie isn’t after me. He’s after Olaug.”
“What are you talking about?” Ull sounded more alert. “She cannot get sick.”
“I know that. The elf did it, he cast some kind of spell or something, and she’s going to get some magic disease. The only way to make her better is to destroy him, but I tried and even though he disappeared I don’t think he’s really gone.”
“Kristia Tostenson, when did he show up again?”
“Just now. He was in my room when I woke up.”
“And did you use your necklace right away like I told you?”
“About that.” I chewed on my lip. “It was sort of in another room. I was cleaning it overnight—you know, for the wedding.”
“Sweetheart!” Ull’s frustration rang through the phone.
“Well, it was dirty! I couldn’t very well get married wearing a dirty necklace, now, could I? Besides, I got to it in time. It did the whole light-shooting thing again and it looked like it sliced him up pretty good. But then he just disappeared. I don’t know where he went.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“A little,” I admitted. “But I’m okay. Really.”
“That is it. I am coming over there.” I could hear the rustling of clothes.
“No!” I panicked. “It’s bad luck for us to see each other the night before our wedding.”
“Do you really think I am concerned with a mortal superstition at a time like this?”
“You should be. Divorce rates are high these days, and considering the odds are stacked fairly well against us to begin with—”
“Sweetheart.” I could hear Ull’s smile through the phone. “Except in very extreme circumstances, Asgardians do not divorce. We mate for life. And since you will become one of us tomorrow, it is not something you will need to worry about either. I am coming over.”
“Well, I’m still a human today. Tonight. Whatever. And I’m sticking to this. You can’t see me until we’re at the church. Period.”
Ull sighed. “I need to know that you are all right.
“I’m fine. Honest.” A little shaken up. Maybe a little bruised. But nothing a good night’s sleep with my necklace firmly in its rightful place wouldn’t fix.
“I do not believe you.”
“Remember, you promised to start trusting me.”
“Touché, Miss Tostenson. Or may I call you Mrs. Myhr?”
“Not for another couple of hours.” My brain was too tired to do the math. “But I would feel better if you checked on Olaug.”
“I will call you back in five minutes.” With that he hung up.
Precisely four minutes later my mobile rang. “Is she okay?” I answered breathlessly.
“She was. Until I called and woke her up. Now she is mad at me.”
“Sorry. But isn’t she sick?”
“No. She had no idea what I was talking about, either. She said nobody had cast any spells on her. She is the pinnacle of physical health, thanks in large part to a strict regimen of, her words now, good food, brisk walks, and regular sleep.”
“Oh.” I was stumped. “Then what did the elf mean?”
“He was probably just trying to get into your head.”
“Maybe.” That didn’t make sense. Why would he want to play mind games before he tried to kill me?
“Are you sure you do not want me to come over?”
“Positive.”
“Are you wearing your necklace now?”
The threat was clear. If I answered wrong, I knew I’d have a large Adonis on my doorstep. “Yes.”
“Good girl. Try to get some sleep. You have a big day tomorrow.”
“You can be really bossy, you know that?”
“I do. But it is for your own good.”
“In your dreams.” I laughed.
“I shall see you at the church.” Ull’s voice sounded husky.
“I can’t wait,” I whispered. For a lot of reasons, morning couldn’t come fast enough.
Chapter Twelve
THURSDAY, THOR’S DAY TO the Norse party, dawned foggy and cool. It was just like so many of my days in Cardiff, and I couldn’t imagine it any other way. How was it already time to say goodbye to this place? Cardiff was where my life truly began; it was where I fell in love with Ull. And now we could be together forever—literally.
But first, there was one teensy detail to take care of.
“Are you ready?” Inga asked when she picked me up. She wore a hot-pink terry sweat-suit and pale-pink Uggs, and her hair was pulled up in a messy bun. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m just not used to casual Inga. I like it.” I placed the large
garment bag across the back seat. The dress was our cover for our morning outing. We’d told my friends we were going to have it taken in one final time before the wedding. In actuality, we were doing an adjustment of an entirely different nature. I fastened my seatbelt and Inga started her car.
“It’s early,” she huffed. “And I used all my energy kicking the boys out of the house this morning. Ull did not want to miss being there for your transformation prep. I told him we were just doing superficial girly stuff to get you ready for the wedding—hair, and nails, and waxing, you know? But he was still worried about you. Made me promise to call him if you seemed even the slightest bit stressed out about being changed. I practically had to wrestle him into Gunnar’s car. I didn’t have any time left for fashion.”
“Please. You look amazing. You always do.”
“Oh.” Inga adjusted her rear-view mirror as she sped through the streets of Cardiff. “Thank you.”
“Welcome.” I fiddled with the wrists of my sweater.
“How are you feeling?”
“Terrified.”
“You don’t have to go through with this.” She shot me a sideways look.
“I want to go through with it,” I insisted. “I love Ull more than anything, and I want to be with him for a hundred lifetimes. But that doesn’t make crossing over any less scary. Are you sure it’s not going to hurt?”
“Well…” Inga nibbled on her bottom lip; something else I’d never seen her do.
“Oh my gosh. You guys aren’t sure! That’s why you made Ull leave!”
“We’re not a hundred percent sure,” Inga admitted. “I mean, we’ve never exactly done it before. But we don’t think it’ll hurt. Why should it hurt? It’s just a transference of matter, and a mutation of brain cells that—”
“You’re doing what to my brain cells? Olaug didn’t say anything about that.” I pulled so hard at my sweater that I heard a small rip.
“Relax.” Inga rolled her eyes and steered swiftly into a space in front of her flat. “It’s going to be super easy. We think,” she muttered under her breath.
