watch the battle as well. “Why aren’t Hel’s forces here?”
“It was part of the bargain I made,” I said. “She will not join the battle.”
They all turned to stare at me. But if I’d hoped for admiration or praise, I’d have been sorely disappointed.
“What did you promise her, Annabel?” Magni asked, his teeth clenched and a distinctly no-more-stalling note to his deep rumble.
I sighed. “What I had to. I promised to find a way to free her, and in exchange, she swore to keep her army from joining the battle.”
Saga drew in a sharp breath. Magni’s jaw clenched.
“And if you fail?” Modi asked softly. “What price will she exact then?”
“I won’t,” I said. “We won’t.”
“Annabel. What is her price?” Grim asked, his voice firm.
“My life,” I said, already shaking my head when all five of my mates growled, nostrils flaring and eyes widening. “It won’t come to that. I swear to you, I will find a way to free her.”
“The other gods will never allow it!” Magni snarled, his green eyes sparking with anger and fear. “They sealed her down there eons ago, and they did so for a reason. No one wants the Goddess of Death roaming freely through the lands, and the only way to release her is if they all willingly undo the magic that binds her. There is no other way!”
I reached out and stroked a hand through his beard. “Then we will convince them. But there is no point worrying about it until we have stopped Ragnarök. Let’s keep going.”
He pushed his cheek into my touch more on instinct than agreement, judging by the glare he leveled me with. “If I lose you…”
“You won’t,” I promised again. “I would never do that to you. To any of you.”
“And what bargain did you make with our sister to be released yourself?” Saga asked, his voice silken, but with a dangerous undertone. They were all pissed at me. “If you already offered your life to keep her forces at bay?”
“My magic,” I said. “But not yet. In nineteen years, she will claim it.”
They all frowned, a shared look of puzzlement crossing their handsome faces. “Why then?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. And I don’t much care. She can have it. All I care about is that we get through this together.”
Saga’s gaze softened—I knew why. Of all my mates, he understood how much discovering my powers and finding my own strength had meant to me.
“Let’s go,” I repeated. “You can yell at me about my choices later.”
“We will,” Bjarni rumbled. He clasped a hand to my shoulder and nodded up the path toward Valhalla. “All right, then. Let’s go knock this Betrayer’s skull in.”
We all resumed our journey up the mountain, save Modi, who lingered for a moment longer, surveying the battlefield. When he caught up with us, he said, “It’s not just Hel and Níðhöggr who are missing. So is the Fenris wolf.”
“He will make his way here once he has run across Midgard and spread darkness and terror,” Magni said.
I remembered what Bjarni and Modi had told me about Ragnarök, and what Loki’s giant wolf-monster and sea serpent offspring would do to the human world, and swallowed thickly. Even if we won, even if we stopped the end of the nine worlds, how much would be left of mine?
“Maybe we should go there,” I suggested. “If we can stop Fenris and that huge serpent—”
“No.” Mimir’s voice was gentle. “If you travel to Midgard, plum, we will lose.”
“Will my family survive?” It hurt to force the question out of my too-tight throat.
“No one but the Norns can tell you that, and even they may not be able to see through the darkness of Ragnarök. All we know for sure is if we do not win, they will die, along with everyone else.”
He was right. All I could do was believe that by the end of this, I would get to see my parents again.
The enormous wolves that had guarded Valhalla’s entrance upon my first arrival were still sitting on either side of the gates. When we approached, they stood up, ears flattening along their skulls and teeth bared.
“Whoa,” Modi called, reaching both hands forward, palms up. “You know me, you daft beast. Let us enter.”
He barely managed to pull his fingers back in time before sharp teeth snapped the air where they’d been seconds before.
“Let me,” Bjarni said as he shouldered his way past the frowning redhead. “You don’t have the right touch with animals. Or omegas.”
Both