the ends justifying the means. And I knew I would have to burrow deeper if I wanted any chance of making him understand how wrong he was for believing Ragnarök was the only way this could end.
“Hrm-hmm.”
Mimir cleared his throat, and I glanced down at his head beneath my left arm. The bodiless man arched his bushy eyebrows at me before casting a meaningful look at Grim’s back. “We are getting close, plum,” he whispered. “Time to lose the broody one.”
I frowned and cast a quick look at Grim to ensure he hadn’t heard Mimir. Judging from his long strides, he wasn’t paying attention to either of us.
“What do you mean? I can’t exactly leave Hel without him.”
Mimir huffed. “You’ll have to. He won’t let you escape this place so long as his allegiance is twisted.”
“It’s your prophecy,” I reminded him. “It’s supposed to be five gods’ sons, not four. Grim’s my fifth.”
“He’ll have to join up once we return to the world of the living. Much can be done to change a man’s loyalty, but you will not be able to stop Ragnarök while you’re trapped in Hel. Come morning, you will have to leave him behind.” Mimir gave me a meaningful look.
“And how am I supposed to do that?” I asked. “He’s so much stronger than me, and I’m… not in peak condition.”
Which was putting it mildly. All I wanted to do was sleep, but every morning I woke as exhausted as I’d been when consciousness left me the night before. Sleep wasn’t going to fix this—only one thing would. I’d drained my energy too much when I healed Grim, and courtesy of my omega nature, the only way of recovering was to let an alpha restore my reserves. With his dick. Because of course.
Unfortunately, the only available alpha was not exactly in the mood to offer his services, and frankly, I’d rather collapse from exhaustion than ask Grim for the magical equivalent of a pity fuck.
“Leave that to me, plum. Just make sure you go to sleep close by me tonight, and be ready to run once I wake you.”
We stopped to make camp for the night by the side of a pond that could have been beautiful, if Hel hadn’t left it devoid of color and life.
“Is it safe?” I asked as I gave the tranquil water a longing look. I wasn’t dirty, per se—I didn’t sweat in Hel, which was at least some sort of silver lining—but I still had soil and pine needles stuck to my hair and clothes from sleeping on the ground. Just the thought of a refreshing dip seemed to lift some of the heaviness weighing down my body.
“Nothing is safe in this realm,” Grim growled.
I heaved a sigh and looked to the less doom-and-gloom of my companions. “Will some monster eat me if I go for a swim, Mimir?”
“Unlikely,” he said. “The more nefarious of the water creatures tend to attack only when their prey is alone. But if you hear a violin, best come back to shore.”
“A violin?” I asked as I stripped out of my feathery leathers, focus mostly on the still water ahead.
“The Nix can be a bit of a difficult spirit. Sometimes he’ll teach you to play, sometimes he’ll lure you underwater and drown you. Seeing as we’re in Hel, it’s probably best to assume the worst and keep a wide berth,” the prophet explained.
“Oh, so he’s like the freshwater version of a siren?” Finally naked, I walked to the water’s edge and dipped my toe in. I’d expected it to be cold, but the water held no temperature at all.
“Similar,” Mimir conceded. “Though his prey is always children or women, not men. The children he lures with his music, the women with his pretty face.”
“How equal opportunity of him,” I muttered as I took a full step into the lake, “making sure it’s not just horny men trapped at sea for too long getting targeted.”
A strong, cold hand closed around my upper arm, halting me before I could take another step. I gasped as much out of shock at the chill against my flesh as the unexpectedness of the touch. I spun halfway around, only to be met by Grim’s dark stare. He stood close, way into my personal sphere, his boots kissing the edges of the lake.
“Don’t drink the water. Not so much as a mouthful,” he said.
“I wasn’t planning to,” I said.
“If you do—”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll extra-die. I get it,” I said. It