Endre (Elsker Saga Book 2)

by S. T. Bende

  The woman holding the pail lifted her eyes. “What does it say, Skuld?”

  “I… I don’t know.” Skuld shook her head. “The page is turning blank.”

  “Blank?” Her sisters ran to her side. They stared at the parchment as if it were infected. “What’s wrong with it?”

  “Something is erasing the prophecy.” Skuld held the paper to the sky. Sunlight filtered down through Yggdrasil’s leaves, bathing the sisters in a mottled glow.

  “This has never happened before,” one of the women whispered. Her strawberry hair tumbled at her shoulders.

  The third sister wrung her hands together. “What does it mean?”

  “I don’t know.” Skuld twirled the parchment between her fingertips. “But what if it’s not just this prophecy? What if they all disappear?” She clutched her throat. “What are we going to do if we can no longer see what is coming?”

  The women stared at each other in horror as I was sucked out of the vision, through the forest, and back to the brightly-lit examination room.

  The beauty of the vision hit me like a runaway freighter with busted breaks, and my fingers relaxed their death-grip on the pen. The prophecies were changing. I was changing. The dark end the Sisters had predicted for Asgard wasn’t set in stone anymore. Despite their all-knowing powers, they hadn’t seen me coming years ago, and they couldn’t see what I was going to do now. The truth was, nobody could ever really know exactly how the future would unfold. And more importantly, there was no reason to know. Ull had shut himself off for who-knows how many years because some stupid prophecy told him he was fated to die at Ragnarok. But I was proof that everything could change. Here I was, normal old Kristia Tostenson from Nehalem, and out of nowhere it became my job to save the realms from imminent destruction. That hadn’t been The Fates’ plan for me, and yet here I was. My long ago words came flying back at me.

  Sometimes finding your destiny means doing the opposite of what The Fates have in store.

  Without another glance at the magnificent deity coolly scribbling beside me, and without so much as a roman numeral in an outline, I started to write. Words flowed to paper in an unbroken stream, my subconscious purging months of frustration. In a lot of ways, it was nice to know what was coming. At least in Asgard it created order, and allowed their society to function with minimal internal disturbance. But it came with a cost—look at the agony knowing his future had caused Ull. And what good was knowledge if it stopped you from living?

  My pen pressed across the notebook so hard I was afraid it might tear the paper. Easing my grip, I continued to write, fleshing out my argument with references from the Celtic and Egyptian myths, and touching on the significance of the Oracle at Delphi. When I circled back to the Norse Norns, I gripped my pen so tightly it snapped in two. The top half landed on Ull’s notebook. He picked it up with a surprised smirk, and set it gently to the side.

  “Superhuman strength kicked in a little early, ja? Guess you did need all those extras.”

  “Shh.” I picked up pen number two. It got me through the rest of the hour, and when Professor Carnicke called time I set it down with a flourish. It might not have been the most eloquent exam submitted that day, but it was sure to be the most passionate… and the most personal.

  “Well, that was fun.” Ull clasped his hands together, raising his arms high above his head. The thin fabric of his cashmere sweater strained against his biceps, earning more than one appreciative stare from the sea of girls seated around him.

  They could stare all they wanted. Next week he’d be all mine.

  The thought left a warm buzz in the pit of my belly. The three energy drinks zeroed in on the spot, sending a chorus of tap dancing crickets across my lower abdomen. They hoofed out a rhythm to the delicious thought. All mine, all mine, all mine.

  “And now we can celebrate.” Ull followed me out of the row, placing his hand on the small of my back as he guided me out of the classroom. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

  “Thanks.” I grinned. “Finishing the last exam of my sophomore year—not a bad way to celebrate.”

  “I have a better one. Though you probably need to crash after your all-nighter.”

  “That obvious, huh?” I smoothed my messy ponytail.

  “Not at all.” Ull squeezed the side of my hip as we walked. The familiar gesture redirected what little blood was left in my head to somewhere considerably more agitating. “It is two o’clock now. Let me walk you home. You can rest for a few hours while I tend to some arrangements, then I will send Gunnar to pick you up at six. We can have a proper celebration then.”

  “Send Gunnar? Why don’t I just meet you at your place? What’s going on?”

  “That, my darling, is highly-classified intel. You would not want to ruin your birthday surprise.”

  I would, actually. Surprises tended to freak me out. “Will you at least tell me what to wear?”

  “Victoria knows. Do as she tells you.” Ull steered me in the direction of my flat as I chewed on this nugget.

  “So I can just drag it out of Victoria then?”

  “Mortals…” Ull chuckled. “Always have been the most impatient creatures. Just do what Victoria says and get ready for the birthday night of your life.”

  The crickets took a bow and began a frenzied encore to their new theme song. Night of your life, night of your life.

  “You know there’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep after that comment,” I complained.

  “You will sleep. There is an all-nighter and an energy-drink crash on sleep’s side.” Ull leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Besides, you want to be well rested for what I have planned.”

  Thousands of nerve endings snapped to military attention. My head swam with visions of what Ull might have planned. By the time we entered the courtyard of the student houses, I was an even bigger bundle of nerves than I’d been before our Mythology exam. Hot bejeebus, that god could push my buttons.

  “Get some sleep, Kristia.” Ull kissed me softly. He stroked my cheek with the back of one finger, then backed slowly toward the fountain. “Gunnar will be here in four hours.”

  “’Kay,” I called feebly after him. When he rounded the corner, I shoved my key in the lock and stumbled into the flat. Suddenly, four hours seemed like forever.

  Chapter Nine

  “HOLY MOTHER, KRISTIA. YOU look hot.”

  “You don’t have to sound so surprised.” I elbowed Gunnar in the ribs as I closed my front door. My four-inch heels wobbled precariously on the cobblestone path, hindered, no doubt, by the absolutely enormous gown Victoria had put me in. It was spectacular—pale pink lace, layers of crinoline supporting the full skirt, and a strapless neckline that more than showed off some artfully enhanced… assets. I wasn’t sure what boggled me more—that Victoria had whipped up an Oscar-worthy gown on two weeks’ notice, or that she expected me to be able to walk in the sky high heels she’d paired it with.

  “Hold my arm.” Gunnar watched me stumble across the stones with barely contained glee. “He’ll kill me if I have to take you to the emergency room instead of the castle.”

  ‘The castle? We’re going to a castle?” My face lit up. What a great birthday. A date at a castle!

  “Dritt. That was supposed to be a secret. Well, whatever. I can still make this night a surprise.” Gunnar helped me into his Jeep. He had to—it was one of those ten feet tall things, with headlights on top. Where he went off-roading in urban Wales was beyond me, but this was clearly not a vehicle meant for surface streets.

  Or for ball gowns.

  After a fairly awkward struggle, I was situated in the truck. Gunnar closed the door behind me and climbed into the driver’s side. Turning, he rooted through the messy backseat. “Gym shoes. Jump-rope. Textbook—don’t need that anymore. Ah, there it is.”

  “A tie? That’s going to look a little weird with your hoodie, don’t you think?”

  “Have a little faith, Kristia. Close your eyes.”


  I did as instructed, and I felt the silky fabric cover my brow. “What are you doing?”

  “Hold still.” Gunnar pushed the tie over my eyes and tugged, binding it tightly in place. “Perfect. Now you won’t know which castle we’re going to.”

  “You could have just told me not to tell Ull you squealed.” I pointed out.

  “Yeah. But this is more fun.” Gunnar laughed as he threw the Jeep into gear. I felt the hum of the engine as we drove down the street.

  “What are you and Inga doing this summer?” I asked. It felt rude to talk without looking at him, but Gunnar’s tie made that kind of difficult.

  “Besides attending the wedding of the millennium?” From under my blindfold, I imagined him shooting me that enormous smile, the one that made his dimple pop out. “We’re going to do some scuba diving off the Maldives. There’s some kind of migration going on right now that’s supposed to be out of this world.”

  “You guys are so brave. I could never go scuba diving.”

  “Why not? It rocks.”

  “I don’t believe in stepping down a rung on the food chain.”

  “Meaning?” Gunnar braked so hard my head nearly hit the window. “Sorry. Rogue cat.”

  “Meaning I’m pathologically afraid of sharks. Also sting rays. And sunfish.”

  Gunnar’s laugh filled the car. “You’re willing to go through whatever they’re going to do to you to turn you immortal, but you’re afraid of a couple of fish?”

  “Sharks. And sting rays. And maybe also fish.”

  “You are something else.” The laughter ebbed. “Ull’s gonna have his hands full with you.”

  “Says the guy who wants to go diving with sharks.”

  “You’ll come around.” Gunnar spoke confidently. “Once you realize sharks can’t hurt you, you’ll be begging us to go on holiday. Just wait.”

  “You’re an adrenaline addict.” It wasn’t a question. If there was one thing I’d learned during the past nine months, it was that Gunnar felt most alive when he was hurtling toward what the rest of us would see as certain death. He and Inga were perfect for each other.

  “Y.O.L.O., you know?”

  “Yeah, but the ‘once’ you only live is forever.”

  “Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe.” Gunnar seemed to steer to the side as the sound of a siren neared. “Uh-oh, must be an accident. I’ll pull over.”

  The siren got louder, and by the time Gunnar stopped the car it was blaring so intently I figured it must have been directly behind us.

  “What’s going on?” I craned my neck, even though the tie blocked my vision. “Is there an accident?”

  “Get out of the car and keep your hands where I can see them!” The angry voice was undermined by the perpetually polite Welsh accent. It came from just outside the Jeep—whatever was happening, it was close.

  “Aw, dritt,” Gunnar muttered.

  “Ooh, who’s in trouble?” I strained against the blindfold. “Can I take this thing off? I can’t see.”

  “Out of the car, now!”

  I heard the car door open and I wondered if Gunnar was getting out of the car to help the officers. Horns honked around us, heightening the air of confusion. “Gunnar?”

  “Sorry, Kristia. This will only take a minute.” Gunnar sounded further away, now he was outside of the Jeep. Something smacked against the hood and I felt the car shake.

  Enough with Ull’s surprise. The blindfold was coming off.

  Before I could tear the tie from my eyes, someone opened my door. Thick arms reached across to unbuckle my seatbelt, and I was physically removed from the truck. My feet kicked against my captor’s hold, but he cradled me tightly against his chest. “It’s all right, miss. You’re safe now.”

  Safe from what?

  “Let go of me!” My voice sounded shrill. I pounded against a chest that felt like it was made of lead until my feet touched the pavement. Immediately I ripped the blindfold from my eyes and glared. A uniformed man with a chest like a boulder stared back at me. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Saving your life, miss. Did he hurt you?”

  “Did who hurt me?” I stared at my misguided savior, perplexed. He was a clean-cut man in his late twenties with dark hair and grey eyes. His police uniform looked freshly pressed, and he carried a baton tucked into his waistband.

  “The perp, miss. Did he hurt you before he abducted you?”

  “Abducted me? What are you talking about?” I followed the officer’s stare to the front of the Jeep, where an officer had Gunnar’s face pressed against the hood. His hands were behind his back in handcuffs, and he was looking at me with barely contained amusement. My fingers stroked the silk tie lying against the bodice of my gown.

  Everything came together. “You think he abducted me?” The laugh escaped without warning, tiny bubbles dancing through the air as I processed the absurdity of the situation. Me in a ball gown, blindfolded by a silk tie. And Gunnar in his hoodie and jeans, driving his off-roading vehicle well beyond the speed limit through the streets of Cardiff. “You think he abducted me!” The laugh built, until I was bent over, my arms clutching my ribs. “This. Is. Fabulous.”

  “Kristia? You want to help me out here?” My assassin friend’s face was still pushed up against the Jeep’s hood. Another guffaw escaped my lips.

  “Do you know this man?” Officer Grey Eyes stared at me in confusion.

  “Yes.” I choked back my laughter. “He’s my friend. He’s taking me to meet my fiancé, who wants to surprise me because it’s my birthday.”

  “So the blindfold…” Grey Eyes’ pale face turned pink.

  “It’s so I don’t see where we’re going. He’s not kidnapping me. Honest.”

  “Let him go,” Grey Eyes called to his partner. “It’s not what we thought.”

  “You sure?” The officer smashing Gunnar’s face seemed reluctant to release his hold. Judging by his sizeable midsection and undesirable hairline, I surmised he enjoyed having someone like Gunnar under his thumb.

  “You are telling the truth, right, miss? Because if you’re in any kind of trouble now is the time to speak up. We can help.” Grey Eyes watched carefully for my reaction.

  “I swear it’s fine. I’m marrying his best friend. He’s practically family.” I held up my fingers in the scout’s salute.

  “All right.” Grey eyes pressed a card into my hand. “We’ll just need you to sign something. And if you have any trouble, call me. My badge number is on the card.”

  “Thanks.” I fought against the laughter rising in my throat. It would have to wait until we were on the road again. Grey Eyes already looked embarrassed enough.

  “Let us know if you need any further assistance, miss.” Grey Eyes held out a yellow form. I scribbled my signature and he backed away, but not before I caught him staring at my cleavage.

  “Thank you,” I called, pointedly. When he realized he’d been caught staring, he hurried toward his squad car. His partner released Gunnar with a clipped apology, and in seconds the officers were speeding away.

  This was going to make one heck of a story.

  “Now that that’s out of the way,” Gunnar muttered. He rubbed at his wrists, sending me into a fresh wave of hilarity. My amusement came in undignified guffaws now. I might have even snorted. “What a night.”

  “Hey, Gunnar. Remember that time Ull asked you to look out for me and you got yourself arrested?” I hooted.

  “Shut up, Kristia.” But the dimple was out.

  “Wait until Inga hears this!”

  Gunnar rested his head against the steering wheel. “Is there any chance we can keep this little episode between us?”

  “Nope.”

  “Yeah, I figured.” Gunnar raked his fingers through his unkempt hair. “Well, don’t say I never showed you a good time.”

  “Oh, if there’s one thing I’m sure of it’s that Gunnar Andersson knows how to show a girl a good time. So good it should be illegal!” My sides ached from
laughter, but I couldn’t stop myself.

  “You know it.” Gunnar grinned. “Now are you going to laugh at me all night, or do you want to see your fiancé? He’ll be pretty irked if I don’t get you there in the next ten minutes.”

  “Can you do that? How much further is it?” I dabbed at the corners of my eyes.

  “Doesn’t matter.” Gunnar’s dimple deepened. “Hold on, girl. I’m gonna take you for a ride.”

  Eight minutes and one terrifying car ride later, we pulled up to Castell Coch. The stone structure rose from a sea of trees, protected on all sides by oaks and willows and ferns in every imaginable shade of green. Its grey turrets rose from the foliage, topped with flags that shifted gently in the evening breeze.

  “I know this place.” I smiled slowly. “Ull took me here when we first started dating. Before…” Before I knew he was a god.

  “Yep. Wanted to celebrate your birthday with a trip down memory lane. Sort of.” Gunnar stepped out of the Jeep and crossed to my side. He opened my door and leaned down. “Hey, if you could forget to mention what happened tonight to Ull…”

  “Not a chance.” I giggled. The story of Gunnar in handcuffs was way too good to keep to myself. “It was the high point of my week.”

  “Evading arrest was the high point of your week? You have some seriously messed up ideas of fun.”

  “I didn’t nearly get arrested. You did,” I pointed out. “And yes. Watching you talk your way out of jail time was all kinds of fun.”

  “You’re a lot meaner than you look.” Gunnar appraised me from an angle. “I like this side of you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Gunnar’s green eyes sparkled, our faces mirroring our amusement. So far, my nineteenth birthday was turning out to be nothing like I’d expected.

  “Well unless you wanna give the law another run for their money, I believe someone’s waiting for you.” Gunnar jutted his chin toward the steps. My eyes moved up the stone path. Every third stair was bookended with iron lanterns, each holding a blazing pillar candle. A light dusting of white petals marked the center of the path, and at the top was a vision the likes of which I’d never forget. Ull stood calmly, his hands folded behind his back and his feet shoulder width apart. He wore a jet-black tuxedo that made the silvery-blue of his eyes pop even more than usual. His normally disheveled hair was slicked back so it looked almost wet, and he was staring at me with a look that made everything around me slow to a standstill.