The next morning, I awoke a new woman. Gone was the push-over who waited for jerks to intuit her feelings and make a move. If the right guy came along and wanted me, great. If not, peace out. I slipped into some yoga pants and a sports bra and tied my hair into a bun. This morning needed to start with coffee and meditation, or someone was getting stabbed.
Upon exiting my room, I immediately heard Tore’s voice in the kitchen. The commanding tenor was paired with the enticing scent of bacon. My two favorite morning things . . . until last night. Now my one favorite morning thing, and my totally platonic roommate. Yup.
I rounded the corner, following the scent of cured meat to a serving platter on the island. Mack and Tore looked up from their stove-side chat as I selected a plate and dished up. Tore slid a cup of hot coffee over the counter. “Looking good, Pepper. Leg all healed?”
My mouth popped open in surprise. I’d totally forgotten about my leg! I flexed it experimentally, astounded not to feel a single ounce of pain. Well done, Greta. I wrapped my fingers around the coffee mug and settled back on my stool, sipping the liquid joy and ignoring Tore’s question.
“So . . .” Tore pressed. “You went to bed early last night . . .”
I looked up, giving him the universal female expression for don’t talk to me, idiot.
“Mmm-hmm.” I sipped my coffee. “Hey, Mack. Wanna do yoga with me?”
Yoga with Mack accomplished two things: One, avoiding Tore, and two, working out with the only guy in the house who understood that yoga wasn’t a waste of time; rather it exercised both body and mind simultaneously.
Mack raised one eyebrow. He glanced at Tore and then at me. “Sure.”
I snatched one last piece of bacon off of the plate and popped it into my mouth before chugging the rest of my coffee.
Tore watched me behind narrowed eyes. “You feeling okay this morning?”
I gave the best fake smile I could muster. “I’m fine.”
Instead of saying anything else, Tore just stood there with his arms crossed, a frustrated expression painted on his perfect face. Apparently, the demigod was too dense to understand that if a woman told him she was fine, there was only one prudent response.
Run.
****
An hour later, sweat dripped from my brow, and my muscles groaned as I held my side plank. Yoga could hurt like a mother. But I held my pose without complaint—no way was I letting Mack show me up.
We were about to shift into cobra pose when the door of the complex burst open, and Tore and Bodie ran in. One look at Tore’s face, and I knew something was horribly wrong.
I pushed myself to my feet, my chest heaving as I caught my breath. “What’s going on?”
“Allie . . .” Tore didn’t say more, so I looked at Bodie.
“Bodie?” I wrung my fingertips together. “Talk to me.”
Bodie swallowed hard. “Your mom . . . she was attacked.”
The news caught me totally off guard. “No!” I whispered. My legs gave out, and I dropped to my knees.
Tore crossed the complex in quick strides to kneel in front of me. “She’s alive, but . . . it’s bad. We need to get your weapon assembled so we can kill Nott and stop the energy drain. Now.”
My head swirled with the need for more information. “How the hell did Nott get into Asgard? Why wasn’t my mother better protected?”
Tore looked every bit as furious as I felt. “The Alf?dr is looking into it.”
Mack growled beside me. “Eir’s safety should have been the Alf?dr’s top priority.” His energy seethed. “May Nott burn in Helheim for all of eternity!”
Rage burned inside me, filling every last pore. My fingernails dug into my clenched palms as I struggled to speak coherently. “Take me to see my mother first; then I want to go to another realm. I don’t care if we don’t have any leads, I’m getting every last piece of Gud Morder back. And then I’m going to destroy Nott and everyone who helped her.”
CHAPTER NINE
“ONE OF THE RAVENS just dropped this off.” Mack’s low whisper broke through the calm of my mom’s little house. I held up my pointer finger to quiet him, and he fell silent.
After my diva-warrior fit, the boys had taken me back to Asgard. The plan was to say goodbye to my mom before Bifrosting to the frozen wasteland of Jotunheim. We still didn’t have any leads on where the remaining pieces of my weapon were, but the Alf?dr’s ravens had spotted a lingering dark magic burst in the frost giant’s realm. It could have been a night elf looking around, or it could have just been the jotuns being their sunshiny selves. Either way, it was the only intel we had, so we were following it.
Right after I had a moment with my mom.
“What is it?” Johann whispered back.
“It’s the coordinates of the dark burst.” The rustling of papers let me know the boys were passing something back and forth. I raised my finger again, this time following it up with a glare.
“Gentlemen,” Tore hissed. “Go outside if you want to talk.”
“Sorry, Allie,” Bodie offered. I turned my head away from my mom and gave a curt nod.
“I’ll walk them out,” Greta offered. She rose from the table at my mom’s bedside, where a densely-stocked healing box lay open. “Allie, I trust you’ll come and get me if her condition changes.”
“I will,” I whispered.
“We’ll leave you alone. Let us know if you need anything.” Mack placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Thanks, Mack,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
“You can go outside, too,” I said to the only protector who hadn’t filed through the door with his friends.
“Not on your life.” Tore spoke fiercely. “Somebody broke in here and corded the Hel out of your mom’s energy centers. We were lucky the healers were able to stop the drain before her essence was completely wiped out. I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Don’t trust that I can take care of myself?” I challenged.
Tore stepped beside me and crossed his arms. “I don’t trust our enemies. If you’ve got a problem with that, then too bad. I failed to protect Gud Morder. I’m not about to let you down again.”
“You don’t owe me anything, Tore. You can go outside already.” I crossed my arms and leaned forward, mirroring his posture.
“I took an oath to protect you. Remember?” Tore’s too-intense eyes bored into mine.
“Right.” I fought to keep the bitterness from my voice. Obviously, his oath was the only reason he stuck around me. I hadn’t seen the Bifrost last night before I went to sleep, which meant Synna stayed at the safe house past midnight. Lord only knew what she did with Tore all night. And possibly into the morning. I certainly wasn’t going to ask, but I didn’t appreciate his arm around me one second and then . . . Ugh. I didn’t want to go there.
“Listen, Allie, about last night—”