by S. T. Bende
My breath caught at his words. Yes, I was being bossed around by the world’s most irritating demigod. But jeez, did he ever know how to sugar coat a demand.
“Well . . . I guess,” I hemmed. Then, because I just couldn’t help myself, I blurted, “You’re sure this is going to work?”
“I’ll take care of you.” Tore stroked my hair with one massive hand. “I’ve been doing this a long time; I’m not going to let anything happen to my girl.”
I drew one shaky, acquiescing breath. “Okay.”
“Just give me half an hour,” Tore said. “If Scarlet doesn’t show by then, we move out and figure out a new plan. Close your eyes; see if you can get some rest.”
Ha! Rest at a time like this. “Yeah, right.”
“Your demi system will rejuvenate in that time, and your shoulder should be fully healed when you wake up—though I still want Greta to look at it. Hopefully Scarlet will be here by then, and we’ll go save our friend. Rest’s an order, Pepper.”
“You don’t get to order me around,” I chided him. Tore may have held court back at Protector Palace, but if he thought he got to be the boss of me—beyond the Bodie extraction deal—he had another thing coming.
“Then I’m asking you.” He lowered his head so his eyes were level with mine. Clear-blue orbs bored into my soul with an intensity I wasn’t prepared for. “Please do what you have to do to be at your best for what I hope is the deadliest situation I’m ever going to ask you to walk into. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Well, when he put it like that . . .
“Fine,” I agreed. “I’ll close my eyes. But I can’t guarantee I’ll sleep. There’s kind of a lot on my mind, you know?”
“I know.” Tore grimaced. “But any rest you can get will be good for you. Trust me.”
I nestled my head against his shoulder, closing my eyes as I threw my arm around his waist. I trusted Tore just fine.
It was the horde of monsters waiting somewhere inside that volcano that I didn’t trust.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I DIDN’T EXACTLY SLEEP, though exhaustion did pull my body into a weird half-awake state. But the moment Tore shifted his shoulder, my eyelids sprang open, and I gave a soft gasp. There, in the air right before us, hovered a shimmering blue energy. I scrambled to my feet, careful not to slip on the sharp lava rocks. Tore slowly pushed himself up beside me, and we both watched in utter fascination as the blue energy took on a larger, more defined form. In moments, Scarlet had materialized right before us. Dragon magic was seriously awesome.
When Scarlet’s talons hit the ground, she made a chuffing noise and looked around frantically. She exhaled forcibly when she saw me, so I quickly stepped forward to stroke her sleek scales.
“Good girl,” I murmured as I patted Scarlet’s neck. She all but purred in reply.
A glance over my shoulder confirmed Tore was watching me. His expression was indecipherable. “What?” I asked.
Tore blew a stream of air through his lips. “To be honest, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that was going to work out.”
Great. We were all about winging it right now.
“What do we do? Scarlet’s here, so we can go straight to Bodie, right?” Nott was probably scouting for us, and Bodie was probably being tortured. The faster we could all get out of here, the better.
“Almost.” Tore removed the dagger he kept tucked into his boot. “First, you need to bond with the dragon.”
I raised one eyebrow. I so did not like the way Tore was cleaning his blade on his pants. “Like, have a special chat and become besties? That kind of bonding?”
He shook his head. “You haven’t completed your bond. I imagine Milkir was going to walk you through it back on Nidavellir, but we didn’t get the chance. And since we need to be able to ride your dragon, you need to bond with her. Now.”
I swallowed hard. “And that dagger is somehow involved in this bonding?”
Tore shrugged. “That’s what Mack told me years ago. It’s worth a try.”
I groaned. “Today is the day of experiments.”
Tore asked for my hand, and I held it out. At this point, I had had so many injuries it wasn’t the pain I was worried about. It was the bonding, whatever that entailed.
As if she could sense my anxiety, Scarlet nuzzled her face into my tummy. She was a good egg. Without explaining anything, Tore sliced the knife across the top of my forearm. When I yelped, my dragon flared her nostrils and shot Tore a murderous look.
“It’s okay,” I told her.
Tore looked wearily at Scarlet before handing me the dagger. “Now slice her. Quickly before you heal.”
Oh, God. I knew that was where this was headed. “Sorry, girl,” I muttered. I knelt to put my hands on her front foot. I was careful not to cut too deeply, and she barely flinched when the blade sliced through a few of her red scales. When a few pearlescent drops ebbed from the wound, I looked up at Tore. “Now what?”
“Quick, rub the cuts together.” Tore gave my back a gentle nudge.
“This is weird,” I said. Scarlet blinked down at me with puppy-dog eyes, probably wondering why I’d had to cut her. I was wondering the same thing myself.
Here goes nothing.
I pressed my open cut to hers and held my breath. The second our blood commingled, I was thrown backward with a searing headache.
“Ahh!” I grabbed my head, breathing in through my teeth while pain ricocheted across my brain like a pinball.
“Skit! Allie, I’m sorry.” Tore came to my side. But just as quickly as the headache had come, it was gone and . . .
‘Master,’ a bold female voice spoke into my mind. I yelped, scrambling backward, away from Tore and Scarlet. My mouth dropped open as my pet dragon, head held low, stared into my eyes.
‘Scarlet?’ I tried.
Did she smile? ‘Yes, Master.’
My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I jabbed an accusatory finger at Tore. “You!”
He blanched. “What happened?”
I leapt to my feet, keeping my finger pointed at Tore. “She is speaking into my mind. You are paying for all of my therapy for forever, do you understand me?”
The tension drained from Tore’s face. “Good, you are bonded. We need a ride. Ask her to fly us far enough away from Maldraul Mountain that we can call the Bifrost.”
I took a steadying breath. I could yell at Tore later. After I had saved Bodie with my mind-reading pet dragon. Therapy for life.
‘Uh, Scarlet? We need to ride you. Is that okay?’ I pressed the thoughts into my dragon’s mind, while my sense of self-preservation all but screamed, Please say no. I’m so scared.
Unfortunately for my survival instinct, my dragon bowed down low. ‘Yes, Master. We fly.’
I frowned. ‘Call me Allie.’
‘Yes, Master Allie. We fly now.’
With a sigh, I passed along the message. “She says we can fly her.”
Tore grinned. “Nice.”
I took a few tentative steps towards the big beast. She knelt awkwardly before us, her barbed tail raised in the air. My gaze skimmed her back until I found the place where her wings met between her shoulder blades. Reaching up, I ran my hand along the grooves there.
Scarlet purred. Like, a legit purr. Telling myself anything that purred couldn’t be dangerous, I studied Scarlet’s back for possible riding spots. The safest place to sit seemed to be just behind Scarlet’s wings but in front of the spikes that began at the base of her tail.
‘Hurry, Master Allie. I smell darkness. Must keep safe.’
My eyes bugged, and I scrambled awkwardly onto the dragon’s back, wincing as one of her spikes jammed painfully into my thigh.
“Hurry up. She smells darkness. Nott must be coming,” I relayed.
Tore took one step towards Scarlet and my dragon hissed, sending a puff of smoke through her nose.
“Hey, be nice. That’s my boyfriend,” I scolded.
‘He cut you.’
/>
Oh, for heaven’s sake. ‘He cut me to bond us. He protects me. Like you do. Be nice.’
Scarlet lowered her body with a frustrated chuff, allowing Tore to jump on behind me.
Tore wrapped his arms around my waist. “This feels weird. I should be in the front.”
Laughter bubbled in my throat. “My dragon. I drive.” While Tore grumbled behind me, I turned my attention to Scarlet. ‘Let’s fly. Take us away from the source of the darkness. I’ll tell you when to land.’
At my thought, the dragon’s bat-like wings kicked out, their flapping making my hair fly in all directions. Without another word, Scarlet’s body rose from the ground, and we were airborne.
Holy mother. I was flying my pet dragon across Muspelheim. Every time I thought my life couldn’t get any weirder, we went and upped the crazy.
As we flew farther from Maldraul Mountain, the desolate realm passed beneath us. Muspelheim was barren, no doubt. But there was a beauty in the way the lava oozed off the tops of its mountains and the way the rocks jutted out of the stark earth. The whole effect was mesmerizing, in a post-apocalyptic kind of way.
“Tore!” I shouted through the wind. “How long do we have to fly to be in Bifrost range?”
He was silent for a moment. “Maybe another fifteen minutes if the dragon flies fast.”
I directed Scarlet to fly fifteen minutes south, continuing her trajectory away from Maldraul Mountain. When we reached our destination, I asked Scarlet to ground us near a pool of dried up, blackened lava. She landed us safely inside a nearby cavern. The overhanging rocks shielded us from any fire giants, or night elves, or God knew what else may have been roaming around.
Tore shifted behind me, sliding as if he intended to get off of Scarlet. I reached back to stop him.
“Wait.” I unstrapped my brown suede waist pouch and handed it to Tore, keeping only Scarlet’s horn in my hands and Greta’s crystal wands tucked into the waist of my pants. “Just call the Bifrost and have Heimdall send this back to the safe house.”
Tore’s brows knitted together. “You’re afraid Nott will steal the piece of Gud Morder?”
I nodded. “I’m also hoping that if our S.O.S somehow gets misdirected or lost in translation, the team will see this pouch whenever they get back to Canada and know to ask Heimdall to direct them to our last known Bifrost drop.”
Tore leaned forward to kiss me. “Always have a failsafe. Genius.” He slid off my dragon and stepped a few feet away before pulling out his dagger. He bent low and carved some lines into the ashen, black surface. It wasn’t until he labeled the Bifrost site and Maldraul Mountain that I figured out he was drawing a map leading to Nott’s hideout, just like we’d talked about. When our friends dropped in, they’d know just where to find us.
I hoped.
With the map in place, Tore stepped outside the cavern and summoned the Bifrost. Meanwhile, I sent silent prayers to any deity who might be open to requests, begging them to let our crazy plan work. After an agonizing ten seconds, the Bifrost shot down in front of the cavern, illuminating the space in a spectacle of light. Tore chucked the pouch containing the piece of Gud Morder into the rainbow and shouted out instructions to Heimdall. When the pouch was gone and the rainbow withdrew from sight, Tore jumped onto Scarlet’s back.
“Let’s get the Hel out of here,” he ordered.
I relayed new flying instructions to my dragon, and we were once again airborne, en route to Maldraul Mountain.
As we soared across Muspelheim, and in all likelihood toward our imminent death, I took some comfort in knowing that if we perished trying to save Bodie, Mack and the boys would come in and fix our mess.
* * * *
A quarter of an hour later, Tore, Scarlet, and I hovered atop the mouth of the allegedly dormant volcano that was Maldraul Mountain. Scarlet’s wings flapped fiercely against the wind that kicked hot flames in oversized swirls away from the lava.
“What is that? You said this volcano was dried up!” I screeched into Tore’s ear.
He gave my shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Nott must have reactivated it. Doesn’t change the plan.”
The plan had been for Scarlet to drop us atop a dried up volcano. Now, I instructed her to get us as close to the edge as she could without singing her leathery hide. We’d have to figure out how to drop onto the narrow ledge without teetering into the molten fire.
Didn’t change the plan, my left foot. Men.
As Scarlet neared the mountain edge, Tore launched himself from our ride, landing gracefully on the narrow mountaintop. He held out his arms and called up to me. “Remember, Allie—jump left, the wind will—”
“I know, it’s going to blow right. Got it.” I swung my leg over Scarlet’s back and focused on my target.
‘Thanks for the ride girl,’ I patted the scales along her neck.
Since there was no way to slow my pounding heart, I prayed the palpitations would improve my focus. Then I pushed off my dragon, aiming to land just to the left of Tore. As predicted, the wind blew me away from my intended target, so I dropped neatly into the awaiting arms of my protector. He caught me with ease and lowered me onto the ledge beside him.
“Now what?” I asked.
“Now we take a little hike.” Tore glanced at the sky. “Tell Scarlet to wait for us nearby. We’ll call her when we’re ready to move with Bodie.”
‘Scarlet?’ I spoke to my telepathic reptile friend. This relationship was beyond weird.
‘Yes, Master Allie?’ my dragon sent back.
‘Just Allie’s fine. Seriously.’
‘Yes, Master Just Allie?’ came Scarlet’s reply.
‘No, I mean . . . oh, forget it. Master Allie wants you to wait up here. I will call for you when we have our friend. But I won’t know where at the base of the mountain I’m going to be, so can you just follow the sound of the horn for me?’
‘We bond, Master Allie. I know your location. Always.’
Oh. Right. Dragon master perk.
Scarlet flapped her wings and moved far enough from the flames that she was no longer in danger of becoming reptilian flambé. She landed on a narrow outcropping of rocks that shouldn’t have been able to support her massive frame, yet somehow did. Maybe the whole dragon magic deal was more powerful than I thought
“All right, Scarlet’s on standby. I’ll follow you in.” I gave Tore a tight nod.
“Wait.” He bent down to swipe three fingers in a pool of jet black ash. “Close your eyes.”
“We’re on narrow ground; I don’t really think that’s the smartest—oh.” I squeezed my eyes shut as Tore pressed his fingertips above my left eyebrow and drew them down along my cheek. Weird. I didn’t open my eyes until he’d removed his hand. “Is this some demigod good luck ritual?”
“Kind of.” Tore dipped one finger back into the ash. He traced a line downward from my bottom lip, before cradling my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Asgardian warriors wear paint when they go into battle.” He stepped back to study me. “Just like I thought. Sexy as Hel. Now let’s move.”
Oh my God, could he be any hotter?
Without another word, he jumped from the ledge onto a narrow track that rimmed the volcano in a two-story spiral. We walked carefully forward, hugging the toasty rocks of the mountain wall to avoid falling into the lava down below. Heat pulsed up in waves, lining my brow with sweat. Nott must have been beyond powerful, if she could re-activate a dormant volcano. God only knew the kind of havoc she could wreak on Earth. We seriously needed to bring her down.
At the end of the path, we stepped cautiously into the blackened opening of a tunnel. “Is this our entrance?”
“Yep.” Tore drew his sword, and its blue luminescence lit the tiny space. The tunnel was narrow—barely wide enough for us to fit through and so shallow that Tore would have to duck as he walked. “This is the dead-end Hjalmar told us about. We should be able to sense the dark energy coming off Nott’s den when we’re near it. And I’ll be
able to sense Bodie. I’ve been able to identify his signature since we were kids.”
“So, go in blind, sense energy through walls, find Bodie, grab him and go. Easy peasy.” I drew my own sword, appreciating the illumination brought to it by Valhalla’s finest. “Okay, let’s go.”
Tore bent down to plant a light kiss on my lips. “Be careful, Pepper. And don’t forget, you’re Eir’s daughter.”
I used the hand that wasn’t holding my sword to reach up and grab the back of Tore’s head. I pulled his mouth to mine and kissed him thoroughly. After a delicious half-minute of contact, I pulled away. “I love you,” I said breathlessly.
“I love you, too,” he murmured. We were not saying goodbye. Because we were not going to die in this mountain. We just weren’t.
Tore stepped into the tight space with a sigh. “We’re really going to need that vacation after this, aren’t we?”
“The clothing optional one?” I allowed my anxiety to be replaced with a searing pulse of desire. Mmm. Clothing optional.
“Ja, that one.” Tore moved forward.
I crept after him. “The minute we kill Nott, let’s book that puppy.”
“Already on it.” Tore continued walking, so I followed him into the darkness. The further we moved into the tunnel, the hotter it got. Apparently, this track ran adjacent to another runoff. Since the volcano was supposed to have been dormant, this would have been the perfect hidden entrance to Nott’s hideout. But with fiery liquid running somewhere on the other side of the stone, the temperature was stifling. And it would only get hotter as we went deeper into the mountain. I crept closer to Tore, who was still talking about our maybe-if-we-don’t-die vacation.
“I have a private villa in Bora Bora reserved for three different weeks over the next six months,” he continued. “We’re bound to make one of the reservations.”
The toe of my boot struck a hard object, and I nearly face-planted into Tore’s back. I lowered my sword so it lit up the rocky floor and kept a closer watch on my feet. “You really think this’ll all be over within six months?”