that kernel of magic into me. My other hand skimmed my abdomen at the reminder of what she had said as she did so. “Freya may have had hope, but what she asked is impossible.”
Mimir glanced past me, to the tree line. “He is patrolling—we are not within earshot. Tell me, plum. What did the goddess ask of you?”
“She said if I can gather all five of my mates and channel all my love, it might be enough to bring us home. But yeah, not exactly doable with four of them on another plane of existence and Grim determined to win Villain of the Year. She said I had to find forgiveness for him, but how am I supposed to forgive something he doesn’t even regret? That he has no intentions of rectifying, even if we could somehow get in contact with the others?”
I sighed, letting the sense of defeat and despair swallow me whole as I gently stroked my still-flat belly. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve let you down. I’ve let literally everyone down—the entire world, nine of them. But I can’t fix this. I’m not strong enough.”
“You are not strong enough on your own,” Mimir said quietly. “You never were. That is why the Norns wove your thread with five powerful godlings.”
“Their mistake, then,” I said bitterly.
“All this wallowing is highly unattractive, plum,” Mimir chided. “What we need is a way to bring your mates to you. Once they are here, we can work on the broody one.”
“Oh, yeah, of course. I should have thought of that.” I glared at him. “Why don’t I just snap my fingers and send for them? Meanwhile, you can work on convincing the man who just killed the Goddess of Love to put on his best smile and get with the program.”
Mimir leveled me with an unamused look. “Less sass, plum. More thinking.”
I waved a hand at him and turned my head so I could look back up at the sky. “You can think as much as you want, prophet. Let me know how that works out for you.”
“Highly unattractive,” Mimir repeated. I ignored him.
Mimir stayed silent for hours, which suited me just fine. I lay on my back and stared into the sky, letting my mind drift into blessed oblivion.
Occasionally I would hear Grim’s soft footfalls draw near. I knew he was checking on me—felt his eyes linger on my prone body, my face. I didn’t bother to return his gaze.
At some point I supposed I would have to tell him about my pregnancy. He was the father, after all.
That thought was the only thing that penetrated my numb oblivion, filling me with tendrils of fear. I’d thought I understood his motivations—his heart. I’d felt so safe with him as we lay together, intimately tied in flesh as well as spirit.
But now? This man, who had killed and deceived and betrayed? What guarantee did I have that he wouldn’t harm my child, either in some twisted attempt at protecting me, or out of sheer indifference for the life we had created together?
I rubbed my thumb over my abdomen. It was… funny. I hadn’t known about my daughter’s existence for more than a few breaths, and she was still hardly more than a couple of cells—a spark, at best. But I loved her. Whatever else Grim was, at least he had given me her, even as he’d rent my soul in two and crushed the last flicker of hope in the world.
But if he hurt her? I wouldn’t survive that.
The flapping of wings drew me from my gloomy thoughts, and I looked up at the two ravens circling above me. Arni and Magga had flown off sometime during my fight with Grim—probably so the dark god wouldn’t take out his ire on them like his father had. I hadn’t seen them since, not that I’d been looking.
“News of Freya’s demise is spreading through the realm,” Magga said. “Even here, her death ripples through the denizens. Despair and bleakness abound—more so than normal.”
“Any news from above?” Mimir asked.
“Nothing,” Arni cawed. “Too soon for the recently deceased to bring any whispers of the consequences of her absence with them.”
Mimir blew out a breath. “Hel has all days been woefully behind the information curve. It would really be helpful if the queen allowed passage for more than just dead sou...” He trailed off so abruptly my indifference waned enough for me to turn my head in his direction.
The prophet had a faraway expression in his