not be whole without them, as they would not be complete without me.”
Silently I bumped my head against his. He stroked down my back in response and breathed deeply against my hair, scenting me, even if there was no smell to be found.
“But I have missed you… so terribly,” he murmured, voice gruff. “I need some time with you. Just you.”
I grimaced and pulled back to look at him, one eyebrow raised. His lap was turning distinctly pokey, giving a pretty clear indication what he meant by needing “some time” with me. “Look, I missed you too—all of you. But I’m human, remember? I’m quite sure my lady parts are going to fall off if you guys don’t slow down a bit.”
“Actually…” Mimir’s voice sounded from where Magni had sat him down before heading out to look for firewood. “After your mates offered you their powers, you are not… quite human. More of a demigod, if we are to get technical.”
I blinked and stared at him. “I’m sorry… are you saying I’m a god?”
“Demigod,” he emphasized. “They imbued you with their combined essences, and they changed your DNA in the process. It was… quite spectacular to watch. Even in my long life, I have never seen the creation of a demigod before. I did not realize Freya would have known of such magic, if she even knew that was the outcome of her instructions to you.”
So that was why he had been uncharacteristically quiet about our reunion—he’d been… awed? I shook my head and tried to come to grips with what he’d said.
A demigod. I was a demigod?
“What… What does a demigod do? I mean… How am I different?” I asked.
“Well, for starters, plum, you should easily be able to handle your mates’ amorous attentions,” Mimir said evenly. “Your body will be tougher—not quite as strong as a god’s, but able to withstand much more than a human’s. And your lifespan will be longer—if we get out of Hel, of course. Even without Idunn’s apples, you would probably live three, five hundred years. Give or take.”
I opened my mouth, to say what I wasn’t entirely sure, but Bjarni broke in with a happy, “Excellent!” He straddled the tree trunk Modi and I were sitting on and reached out to cup my cheek. “If we start now, we might be halfway done before the others get back.”
I glared at his smiling face. Of-fucking-course the only thing he cared about when hearing, “hey, your mate’s a demigod!” would be the part where he didn’t have to worry about breaking me with too much sex.
“Did you miss the part where y’all had to carry me around all day because I’m still hurting from last night?”
He shrugged and leaned in to steal a kiss. “It’s like sparring. In the beginning, you hurt, but the more you do it, the more your body gets used to the strain. Eventually it’s no longer painful.”
“Or,” I said, pulling back from his kiss to continue glaring, “it’s like kicking a god in the balls. He’s a god, so he’ll probably be fine, but he’d still very much like to avoid it.”
Bjarni heaved a sigh. “Again with the testicle threats. We just want to pleasure you, sweetie. We need to.”
“He is right,” Modi said quietly. “I need this, Anna. I need you.”
I leveled my glare at him, but the earnestness in his eyes made me bite the inside of my cheek as I reconsidered. They were all plenty capable of forcing their will when it came to sex, but they weren’t. Not this time.
Bjarni curved his strong hands over my lower belly. “We’ll be gentle,” he murmured. “Please, little goddess. We need to worship you.”
Goddammit. “Fine. Fine. Fuck’s sakes.” I leveled them both a glare for good measure and folded my arms over my chest. “At least turn Mimir around this time.”
“There is really no need, plum; I’ve seen you intimate a great many times,” Mimir protested. “One more won’t matter.”
I glared at the talking head. “For a bodiless man, you’re a real pervert.”
“I am merely academically interested,” he said mildly. "Mating habits have always fascinated me. Of course, when I was still intact, so to speak, I did occasionally indulge past scholarly interests.”
I gave my alphas a pleading look.
“On it,” Bjarni chuckled as he got up from the trunk and turned to the prophet. “Sorry, old man. If we make it out of here, I’ll find you a nice whorehouse to vacation in, hmm?”
Mimir sighed. “I guess that’s