mind.
Dark tendrils wove around my golden light as he showed me how to harden the connection between myself and the magic within. I followed his lead, and the next blast that hit my shield around Bjarni only sent an unpleasant tingling sensation through my bones.
A rumble of thunder pulled my attention back to Modi. His teeth were gritted, his muscles bunched as he swung his sword at his sister with one hand while slinging lightning at her with the other. There was nothing but murderous intent in my redheaded mate’s eyes, but I knew what this would cost him—him and Magni.
I thought of the wolves guarding Valhalla’s gates and Bjarni’s complaint of what had been done to them to make them mindlessly attack. I also remembered my first meeting with Trud. Her genuine delight at my presence in her brother’s life, her gentleness and understanding of my nature and destiny. The kindness I had felt radiate from her.
This wasn’t her. Her attempts at killing her own brothers couldn’t be her free will. And it did matter.
“We have to find out how he is controlling her!” I shouted. None of the four men on the dais heard me—they only had senses for the fight in front of them. They worked together, darting in with blades and magic, intent on finding a way through the destructive power pouring out of the blonde goddess.
But Grim heard me.
“Annabel, it doesn’t matter!” he growled. “We don’t have time.”
“That’s Modi and Magni’s sister,” I hissed at him. “How would you feel if you were forced to kill your brothers when there was another way? She hasn’t betrayed us—someone is forcing her to do this. We will make time.”
Grim bared his teeth, frustration etched in every feature of his coldly handsome face, but I saw the surrender in his eyes as my words sank in. With a growl, he whipped back around to take in the fight. Moments later, his dark magic floated through the air and encircled Trud.
“There is… something,” he said through gritted teeth. “He is blocking me. I can’t see.”
I didn’t pause to think. I clutched Grim’s arm harder and sent a thread of my magic into him. It split my focus from my shields, and I clenched my jaw and forced my protections firmer, but Grim had already latched on to my offering. He grabbed the thread of golden light and forced himself at Trud once more.
I saw it this time—the dark, horrible entity latched onto the young goddess as Grim surrounded her with our combined power. Like thorns, it bit into her skull and seeped through the brightness that had once been her gentle spirit.
A flash of pain, followed by roar pulled my mind back into myself just in time to see Saga stumble a few steps before he renewed his attack on Trud. Blood seeped from a gash in his thigh.
I had let my shield around him drop, too distracted with Grim’s attempts at uncovering how Trud was being controlled to keep all five of my protective barriers as solid as they needed to be.
Cursing my own stupidity, I strengthened my shields and held.
“There is… a sigil. Or an idol. He is using… something. She is too strong-willed to be controlled with a simple command,” Grim gasped by my side. From the strain in his voice, it was clear that even with the help of my magic, this wasn’t an easy task.
“The crown!” Mimir called from the floor where he’d been dropped before my mates rushed at the dais. “It has his touch.”
Grim swore under his breath, then shouted, “Break her crown! Break her fucking crown, you idiots!”
Bjarni reacted instantly. Just as Magni grasped her arm and sent a shock of lightning through her shields, Bjarni rolled across the platform to get behind her and shot up, his heavy sword aimed at her head. The weapon struck Trud’s golden crown, and the impact rang through the great hall.
She shrieked and whipped around, lips pulled back and eyes wild as she focused her full ire on Bjarni.
I strengthened his shield just in time. The force of her attack was enough to make me stumble and grit my teeth against the aftershock, but my blond mate was unscathed. He struck again at her head, but it was Modi who connected with the golden metal from behind her. He hit her so hard that had she not been enveloped in magic, he would have cleaved her skull in two.
The power of his strike knocked