“Don’t you dare stop, Allie!” Tore yelled. “The darkness will kill you both if you do.”
Well, that was motivating. Since I had no intention of dying any time soon, I decided that Mack might just have to feel some pain. With one deep breath, I yanked the blue-coated black blob out of Mack’s leg and watched in equal parts horror and fascination as it danced up my arm, crossed over my heart center to my necklace, then slid down my armor and into my bowl. On its way, it picked up its worse half, so that by the time the bowl was filled, my armor—and my body—were free from the darkness.
Thank God.
Tore sprung to his feet, wasting no time in bringing his sword down hard on the contents of the bowl. The blob quivered one last time before breaking up into a black mist and dissolving into nothing.
I sat back on my heels, panting as I reached for Mack. “You okay?”
Mack was as pale as the snow. The sweat that dotted his forehead was freezing into icicles along his eyebrows, but he gave me a thumbs up.
I drew up all of the tension I’d been holding and released it in one big breath. Tore dropped back to my side and pulled my shoulders around so I faced him.
“You’re amazing,” he said. My heart stopped as his face swam into view. Those gorgeous blue eyes seemed to peer straight into my soul, his look infused with admiration I wasn’t used to seeing from my uptight protector. I didn’t know how to respond.
“The blue fireball . . . what was it?” I asked.
Tore continued to stare at me as if I’d pulled a gold-flinging leprechaun from Mack’s leg and we were now all millionaires. “The blue fireball was the Liv—life. You give life Allie. Just like your mother. You don’t need crystals, or vials, or anything else to heal. You are the antidote to every Asgardian malady that has ever been. You are life.”
I swallowed hard and let that sink in. Life. The blue fire was life. Okay. Right.
Mack had pushed himself up to a seated position. Now he reached over to place a hand on my shoulder. “My mom is going to be so pleased.”
I just laughed.
“I owe you a great debt.” Mack stared at me intently.
I shook my head. “You owe me nothing. Just stay alive. I only just got a god-brother, I’d hate to lose him already.”
Mack slung his big arm around my shoulders, giving me a squeeze.
“Jotunheim is not on my shortlist of favorite vacation spots.” I stood up, and Tore and Mack followed.
“Johann, Bodie, you can stand down,” Tore commanded. The guys dropped their defensive positions and released heavy breaths as they took in Mack’s standing form.
“Thank gods you’re okay, man.” Bodie came over to clap Mack on the back.
“Don’t scare us like that again.” Johann sheathed his sword, then gave me a swift hug. “Thanks, Allie.”
“Sure.” I hugged him back. “Now can we please get what we came here for and go the hell home already?”
“Anything you say.” Mack grinned, and I returned the smile. Our little group was alive and well. At this point, that was all we could ask for.
The storm continued to rage, so our visibility was limited to five feet on all sides. We trekked up the side of the hill in a tight huddle, and I sent regular energy scans ahead to make sure we weren’t ambushed again. When we were nearly to the peak, I sent my awareness out one last time. What I sensed made me gasp in horror.
“What is it, Allie?” Tore whirled to face me.
“The darkness . . . it’s on top of the light,” I croaked.
“No.” Tore closed his eyes, and held himself still. He must have been confirming my analysis, because a minute later he swore. “Skit. Allie’s right. Directly above this notch of the trail is a white light surrounded by a ring of darkness. We’re going to have to change our plan.”
Bodie nodded. “I say we run at the dark wall—rush into whatever it is and cut it down. Whether the ring is the elves themselves, or a dark magic wall, the Asgardian swords will be able to hack through them.”
Johann unsheathed his sword, then reached into his pack and withdrew a dagger. “Double fist style,” he grinned. “Reminds me of that one time in Muspelheim.”
Bodie snickered, “That’s what she—”
Tore snaked his hand out fast to sock Bodie in the shoulder, before shifting his gaze to Johann. “I think Mack peed his pants that night.”
I took a long look at my boys, committing their heckling to memory. These guys had come into my life and completely ruined it for the better. I didn’t even remember what it was like to be normal, or even human, and yet I wouldn’t trade it for my life. Even if said life might be cut very short, very soon, by a horde of angry night elves.
I reached out to put my hands on the biceps closest to me. Mack and Bodie looked down to meet my eyes. “There’s no one I would rather climb this frigid beast of a mountain with, and shortly thereafter, possibly die with, than you boys. Thank you for being with me,” I said sincerely.
Bodie, pulled me in for a side hug. “Nobody’s dying today. We’ll all be holding warm cups of Mack’s hot chocolate in an hour. Two hours, tops.”
I hugged Bodie back as the rest of the guys weaponed up. Then I drew my own sword and waited while Tore shifted his two swords between his hands. “All right,” Tore barked. “Let’s do this and get home.”
We set our packs down, and I mentally prepared myself for the next fight. Maybe it was just a nasty pocket of the storm that created the dark blob of energy up above us. Yep. That. Definitely.
Tore used one of his swords to draw our attack plan into the snow. “The four of us will go straight for the wall and hack through whatever it is.” He drew a single X on the ground. “Allie, your one job is to get to that weapon, and then we get out of here.”
I nodded.
Tore looked at the boys. “On three.”
Mack nodded. “One.”
Johann piped in. “Two.”
Bodie tightened his grip on his swords and gave a menacing look. “Three.”
Without another word they sprinted for the storm, running headfirst into whatever waited for us on the other side of the ledge.
I gave the boys a few seconds of lead time before I ran after them, charging into the raging storm and whatever darkness it held. In those few seconds, I’d concocted all kinds of wild ideas about what could be ahead of us: a hundred night elves surrounding my weapon, a dark energy wall, Nott herself. With the recent night elf attack, I’d completely forgotten where we were . . . so I was totally unprepared for the assessment that came on Tore’s panicked cry.