of here, singing such mournful songs the trees around her weep. Follow those tunes, and you will find her.”
By my side, Annabel went utterly still. “Freya?” she whispered in abject horror. “Freya is here? In Hel?”
Fifteen
Annabel
“How did a goddess get kidnapped to Hel, and no one knew about it?” I stomped my way through the underbrush, anger fueling my pace. “For fuck’s sake, someone must have known! Sensed it…”
I trailed off as something dawned on me, and I spun around to face Grim.
“Did you know? Is this another part of that grand plan your ex-ally set up to end everything that was ever good?”
Grim only looked at me, his features stony.
“He won’t be able to tell you if he did,” Mimir reminded me. “The binding spell he is under is ironclad. And mine too, for that matter.”
I bared my teeth and hissed. “Is it that easy? Exiling gods and prophets to Hel, and silencing those who know about it?”
“No,” Mimir said. “It is not easy. Very few—”
He broke off on a gargle, as if someone had snapped his windpipe shut. I gave him a concerned look, but the choking fit was over as swiftly as it started.
“Damned spell,” he croaked, eyes still watering.
Whoever was behind this was powerful; I already knew that. But if few were powerful enough to kidnap a goddess—or a prophet—to Hel, then at least that narrowed down the list. Too bad I didn’t know who might fit those parameters.
“I don’t suppose either of you will be able to name everyone who might be strong enough for this bullshit?” I asked.
“I’m afraid not, plum,” Mimir said. “But perhaps Freya can help. We should keep moving. The sooner we get to her, the better.”
Grim didn’t speak to me for the rest of our journey through the woods that day. I wondered if he was quietly brooding over what the ravens had said—that he had doomed his own mate to Hel, and that loving me might be the only way to save me. That unbreakable wall separating our bond was proof my newest mate struggled with intimacy and soft emotions. I wondered if he felt regret now. And I wondered if he did—love me, that is.
If he’d even know.
I glanced over my shoulder at the darkhaired alpha. His focus was on scanning our surroundings, but every once in a while I felt his eyes rest on me, heat trailing up my spine in response.
It was easy for me, relatively speaking. I’d been through this four times before, and with Grim—that extra layer of being his soulmate had made it effortless to give in to the tug on my heart from my new bond. I knew what love felt like.
It was a lot less likely that he did.
As if sensing my attention, my broody mate shifted his focus to me. Pleasant warmth spread through my chest when our eyes met, and I gave him a half-smile. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t there yet. Freya would help us. And hopefully, we could help her in return.
Grim didn’t return my smile, but the intensity in his eyes deepened as he took me in for another heartbeat. Then he returned his attention to the woods surrounding us.
I too turned my focus to the path ahead, something akin to relief fluttering in my chest. Soon we would be back in Asgard. Soon the aching hollows in my soul would spring back alive, and together, we would find out who was behind this whole nightmare and put a stop to them.
We traveled through the woodlands for three days without coming across weeping trees or goddesses of love.
Every night when we made camp, Grim would light a fire even though it brought us no warmth, and then instruct me to practice refining my powers. Despite his silence during our travels—and his less-than-enthusiastic approach to the role of teacher—once I proclaimed I didn’t have it in me to light another branch on fire or drill yet another hole through whatever hapless rock was nearby, he would come to my side, strip me bare, and let me teach him about love. Or refuel my powers, as he called it. But I knew, in those intensely intimate minutes when the wall he’d put between us came crashing down and our souls merged, that being with me was anything but an objectionable task to him.
Sometimes he was gentle, sometimes rough, but his mind always, always sang my name with such reverence before his knot forced my mind back to