With one final flicker, the scene dissolved, and I was sucked back into my body, staring into Bodie’s concerned eyes.
“Did you get all that?” Bodie asked.
My eyes felt like they were about to pop right out of my head. “Yes.”
“You’ll need to stay the night here so we can keep an eye on you,” Tore ordered. “The guest room and its en suite are yours now; you’ll find they’re stocked with clothing and toiletries. We’ll start training tomorrow.”
I wiped the tears from my cheeks. “Huh?”
“The guest room,” Tore repeated. “It’s yours now.”
My gut clenched. I shifted my gaze from Tore to Mack to Johann, before settling on Bodie. He’d shown me this madness; surely, he’d understand why I was about to shoot to an eleven on the one-to-ten panic scale. “You want me to move into your guest room? Do I have any say in this?”
“We’d love to say yes, but . . .” Bodie shrugged. “There’s kind of a lot riding on you, Allie. We’re sorry to spring this on you, but we waited as long as we could. We didn’t come for you until your powers activated, but now that you have the necklace, and your Asgardian genes are kicking in, we need you to stop Nott and end the Night War. The future of this realm depends on it.”
I moved in the general direction of the hallway, stumbling over the area rug by the couch. “I’m not that powerful.”
“But you are, Allie,” Johann swore. “You’ve lived as a human for so long that you don’t remember, but you come from a long line of warriors. You’re tougher than you know.”
“No.” I moved, more purposefully this time, toward the front door. “I’m not doing this.”
“Doing what?” Bodie tilted his head in confusion.
“All of this.” I waved my hands in circles big enough to encompass the four crazies and their sweet mountain house. No wonder they’d been able to afford the rent. They were gods.
“You don’t have a choice.” Tore’s massive frame stepped in front of me, blocking my path to the exit. “This is happening, Allie, whether you’re on board with it or not. And you’ll make all of our lives significantly easier if you just play along.”
The words sparked something inside me, whether frustration or fear, I wasn’t quite sure. But I stepped right into Tore’s space and met his authoritative stare. “Listen, buddy, I don’t know what kind of a sick joke you’re playing. But I told you already, I’m out. Stay the hell away from me, or I’ll file restraining orders against every single one of you.”
I stepped to the side, intending to go around Tore, but he mirrored my movement. I tried again, and he quickly blocked me. After two more attempts, I put my hands on Tore’s chest, and pushed with every bit of strength I had. Tore didn’t budge.
Crap.
“Let me go, Tore,” I warned.
“I can’t,” he answered simply.
“I said,” I gritted out, “let. Me. Go. Now.”
“And I said, I. Can’t.”
“Allie.” Mack’s peaceful voice came from behind me. “Your mom really needs your help. We all do.”
My heart thudded at the mention of my mom. The tension in my neck ebbed, and I closed my eyes to stop the flow of warm moisture pooling in their depths. Eyes, don’t you dare cry in front of Tore. Don’t. You. Freaking. Dare.
“Please let me go.” I took a deep breath and pressed the heels of my hands to my still-closed lids. “I’m not the girl you need me to be.”
“Allie.” Tore’s voice cracked. The tenderness in his voice shocked me enough that I lowered my hands. Was the resident jerk finally ready to see reason?
“What?” I blinked. Sure enough, an expression that bore a surprising resemblance to sympathy lined his hard features.
“Guys? Give us a minute.” Tore moved out of my path. He stepped further into the living room and leaned against the couch. He crossed his arms so his biceps popped against the thick muscles of his chest. Wow.
Mack raised an eyebrow, but led Johann and Bodie into the hallway without question. “We’ll be in the kitchen if you need us, Allie,” Mack said softly. “Tore, be kind.”
“I am kind,” Tore growled.
“Fine. Be kinder,” Mack chastised.
The voice of reason disappeared around the corner, with Johann and Bodie close behind. I reached out with my energy to confirm that they hadn’t gone far. Walls didn’t block my energy-vision, so even though I sensed the guys in the kitchen, I knew their signatures were heavy with concern. As I pulled my energy back to me, I tried to pick up a read on Tore, but I still had zero idea what his signature felt like . . . or if he even had one. My inability to read him bothered me. A lot.
“Start talking, Tore.” I shifted my gaze between his biceps and the front door. I had a clear path and I could made a break for it . . . but I knew he’d take me down before I made it off the front porch. New life goal: work out more so I can outrun the Asgardian crazies.
“You don’t like me,” Tore said simply.
“Obviously.” I rolled my eyes.
“Well, I’m not the biggest fan of yours, at the moment.” Tore pushed himself away from the couch and stepped forward. Now he was entirely too close to my personal space. “The four of us put our lives on hold to help you, and you want to walk away from your responsibilities like they don’t exist at all. That’s not how we do things in Asgard. There we act with ?re—with honor.”
“Excuse me?” I squeaked. I took a step closer to Tore, so my chest brushed against his. He was tall enough that I had to stand on tiptoe and crane my neck to meet his eyes, but I made up for my literal shortcoming by injecting an additional dose of venom into my glare.
“You heard me,” Tore challenged. “You need to deal with this, Allie. So we can all move on with our lives.”
“That’s your advice?” I bumped his chest with one shoulder. “Deal with it?” I bumped him again, this time harder.
“That. And don’t be a coward.” A wicked glint shone in his eye.
Oh, no he didn’t.
“You humiliate me in front of my entire class.” I placed my palms on his chest and pushed him, hard. “You expose me to some. . . demon monster who you straight up murdered in front of me, you tell me my dead mom is allegedly not dead but just sleeping, and you also tell me I’m some kind of, what, demigod? And you claim there’s a magical weapon with my name on it that I’m supposed to use to defeat some goddess named Night? Come on, you expect me to believe this is true?” I pushed him again. When he didn’t move at all, a new wave of frustration coursed through me. Was the guy literally made of stone?
“Nott,” Tore corrected. “The goddess’ name is Nott. Not Night.”