Yes. Yes to all, absolutely, yes.
“Where are you guys? The pieces are all laid out. Let’s get a move on.” Bodie’s voice crackled from Tore’s wrist. Tore raised one eyebrow before pushing up his sleeve to speak into the communicator. “Be there in two.”
“Duty calls?” I asked.
“Always does. But first . . .” Tore brought his hand to my back, pressing my pelvis hard against him. My eyes widened as he leaned forward to give me a slow, lingering kiss that sent a warm wave pulsing just below my belly button.
Oh. My. Demigod.
He righted me much too quickly, and gave me a firm slap on the butt. “You heard Bodie.” He grinned. “Get a move on, Pepper.”
My eyes narrowed. “You did not just do that.”
Tore backed up slowly, a glint in his brilliant blue eyes. “What are you going to do about it?”
I bent down to scoop up a snowball and hurtled it at him with all the force I could muster. It hit him square in the face, leaving icy flakes dripping from his lashes. “That,” I retorted. “No paybacks, remember?”
“You’re lucky you’re cute.” Tore shot me my favorite sexy grin and bolted forward. I ran through the trees, but it didn’t take Tore long to catch me. He scooped me up over his shoulder and carried me laughing all the way back to the cabin. We may have had unfinished snowball business, but right then, we needed to take care of actual business.
It was time to heal Gud Morder.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
WE STOOD IN A TIGHT circle in the center of the complex. Bodie and Johann had carefully set the pieces of Gud Morder and Greta’s crystal wands on a satin cloth. They now stood at each entrance, guarding against any potential ambushes. Mack and Tore stood a few feet to my right, and Greta took her place beside me. She stared at Gud Morder in awe. The pieces did have a spectacularly brilliant energy; they held so much power that they were kind of overwhelming.
“Two pieces down, six more to go,” Tore offered over my shoulder.
I sighed. “Where to next?”
“Well . . .” Tore paused. “We could wait a week and see if Huginn and Muninn give us any intel. Or we could just pick one and go.”
I nodded. Inter-realm travel wasn’t high on my bucket list after what we’d just been through. But I understood it was a necessity. For now.
“Let’s get these two fused before we strategize.” I rubbed my hand over my armor. Tore had helped me strap it on when we’d returned to the complex. “Greta?”
Greta raised her palm over the pieces. “There’s just so much power here.” She looked over at Mack and Tore. “Did you guys tell Allie how her weapon came to be?”
“Not in detail,” Tore said.
“Well, she needs to understand what she’s fusing herself to.” Greta turned to me. “Gud Morder itself was forged by the highest gods of Asgard. Long before you were born, the Norns had a vision of your life purpose.”
The word was foreign and familiar, all at once. “The Norns?”
Greta nodded. “The Fates—immortal deities blessed with future sight.”
Whoa. I had a thousand questions, but I waited for Greta to tell me more. She didn’t disappoint.
“The Norns saw a great darkness befall Midgard. They foretold that the night would seek to snuff out the light. But they also saw the daughter of Eir wielding the power to drive back the darkness—they saw you save Midgard, Allie.”
Double whoa.
Greta continued. “The Norns knew you would need to harbor a tremendous love for Midgard in order to fulfill your prophecy, and for that reason, they decreed you must be raised in the human’s realm. Only through truly understanding Midgard’s people would you be willing to lay down your life for them—though of course, we all hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Tears built in my eyes. I finally understood why Gran had taken me away from Asgard, away from the mother I’d have given anything to have known, even in her cursed sleep. I had to live as a human to love this sometimes-crazy planet, to understand what it was to hike in a redwood forest, or ski down a snowy mountain. I had to understand the natural beauty of Earth—of Midgard—to fall in love with it. And I had to love it to be willing to fight Nott to the death to protect its resources. Natural disasters, climate change, resource depletion—all of it boiled down to one sick, heartless goddess.
I was determined to end her reign of terror on my planet.
“Six of the most powerful gods came together to create a weapon that would enable you to fulfill your prophecy.” Greta nodded at the pieces of Gud Morder beneath her palm. I leaned forward, enraptured. “Odin the Alf?dr, Frigga the Goddess of Marriage, Eir the Goddess of Healing, Sif the Goddess of Beauty and Harvest, Idunn the Goddess of Wisdom and Immortality, and Thor the God of Thunder. They worked together to create your weapon. And they infused into it the power to destroy darkness and restore anything—or anyone—touched by its curse.”
Holy freaking . . . Thor touched this thing? I knelt down to examine the pieces. The hilt didn’t look especially menacing, but if the spiraling blades of the sword’s base were any indication, this was going to be some weapon.
Greta placed her hand on my armored shoulder. “Are you ready to heal the weapon and bond its power to your spirit?”
No. I was scared beyond belief. But instead of giving power to my fear, I met Greta’s grass-green eyes with a confident stare. “I’m ready.”
I couldn’t step down knowing the history behind Gud Morder and the role I would play as its keeper. No way was I letting Nott take over my realm. And no way was I leaving my mother in that awful sleep any longer than I had to. It was time to end Nott’s curse—all of her curses—once and for all.
Greta moved her hands in a figure eight over Gud Morder. “With each piece we find, the weapon will become stronger; you will become stronger. You will have the power of the gods at your fingertips.”
“No pressure.” I gave a nervous laugh.
Greta smiled serenely. “Our prophets are never wrong.”
I hoped with all of my being that was true.
“Call forth the Liv,” Greta instructed. Tore and Mack inched closer, I guessed so they could jump in if anything went wrong. Please, don’t go wrong. I took a deep breath and called up the wild power inside of me. In a rush, it burst from both of my palms, saturating the weapon in its brilliant light.
Greta lifted her crystal wands from the satin cloth, and molded the blue, healing energy into a kind of cocoon. “Okay,” she said. “Now pick up the pieces.”
I rubbed my hands together to slow the blue force. With a breath, I reached into the mass of swirling energy and grabbed the hilt of Gud Morder. It vibrated as my palm closed around it, and I knew that Greta was weaving her magic throughout its fabric.