to fall in line.
“I suspect he prefers ‘Daddy,’” Bjarni mumbled by my side, drawing a guffaw from Saga.
Modi gave him a glare over his shoulder that could have turned a lesser man to stone. “Do not encourage her. Not another word out of any of you! You do realize that if we fail at this mission, she is stuck here forever? I will not allow that. Do you understand me? Now focus.”
Bjarni raised his eyebrows at me when Modi whipped back around, taking the lead, but he wisely chose not to respond.
“Sounds like you’re lucky Daddy didn’t threaten to turn the car around,” Saga muttered as he closed in on my other side.
Modi pretended not to hear him.
It didn’t take many yards before any amusement left us one by one. As we moved closer to the cauldron, the souls flowing into it from high above became distinguishable. I saw faces in there. Washed of color and twisted in fear, each soul sucked into the black depths of that cauldron emitted a wail that could only be heard because we were so close, and there were so many of them.
It hadn’t dawned on me until then what death was truly like. Curious, perhaps, for a woman stuck in the Realm of Death for weeks, but where I had felt the embrace of this gray nightmare suck any and all joy from the moment I had stepped foot in this place, I hadn’t experienced… this.
I stared at the souls disappearing into the cauldron. These were regular humans, just… people who’d died, and this was the afterlife that awaited them.
“What does she do to them once they’re in there?” I asked quietly.
“She drains their spark and leaves them empty husks she can command. They become her army,” Mimir said.
“Their spark?”
“The kernel in your soul that makes you you,” he explained. “Your will, your personality… that spark that only you possess.”
I swallowed thickly. “No one deserves that. These souls… They were people. Their only crime is that they died.”
A cool hand clasped my shoulder, squeezing gently. “She is the Queen of Hel. She decides the fate of every soul who enters her realm,” Grim said with a measure of kindness in his voice likely brought on by the ache in our bond. “We are here to gain your freedom, mate, so we can bring an end to Ragnarök. This is not our fight, and if we attempt it, we might lose everything.”
“He is right,” Mimir broke in. “Defeating Hel is not your destiny, plum. Do not deviate from the path the Norns have woven for you. Too much is at stake.”
I gritted my teeth and looked back up at the wailing souls. The terror on those pale faces jabbed deep into my gut. So much for eternal peace. “It’s not right,” I whispered.
“No. It’s not,” Magni agreed softly. He wove the fingers not clutching his weapon through my own. “But neither is Ragnarök. You are the only one who can stop all nine worlds from ceasing to exist, pet—the only one. Are you willing to risk the end of everything to right this wrong?”
I breathed deeply and slowly shook my head. They were right. If I died here, I would doom every living soul to this fate. Or worse.
The responsibility hadn’t sunk in before now. Not fully. I had been too focused on the aching matebonds and my instinctive and overwhelming fear of losing the five men who were tied to my soul. I hadn’t truly taken in that if I failed, if I didn’t live up to the fate bestowed upon me by the Norns, I would be responsible for the death of everything.
Warm hands rubbed circles against my back. I let out an explosive breath as my field of vision narrowed to pinpricks, then slowly expanded again, the weight of our mission settling in my chest. There was only one goal. Nothing else could matter. Not yet.
“Let’s go.” Modi’s voice was still a command, but there was a softer quality to it as he gave me a nod.
I kept my power close as we walked the final yards to the ominous black vessel, and when the lamentations became loud enough to pierce my heart, I hardened it until the tears pricking my eyes dried.
Only one goal.
Modi climbed the side of the cauldron with ease, followed by Grim, who practically scaled it like a cat. They both reached a hand down, and Bjarni propped me up on his shoulders so they could grab