ducked under a fir branch laden with snow, holding it aside for him so he could pass without dropping Annabel. “It doesn’t strike you as a strange idea that Ragnarök itself, which was foretold before either of us were in existence, can be averted by a little human girl—so long as she ties five gods to her side? Not to mention no one has heard of this prophecy before now. Why are you blindly okay with this insanity?”
He was quiet for a little while, and I wasn’t entirely sure if he was trying to control his temper or considering his answer.
Finally, he said, “I don’t know why you’re happy to believe our entire world and everyone we love is doomed, but not that there might be a way to stop it. You felt her magic when you guided her to Freya. Have you met many mortals with such power? I’ve been in Midgard for centuries. I have met no one like Annabel.
“I love my brothers more than life itself. I would die for them. Why would it be odd that I’d share my woman with them too? Magni I could have done without, but who am I to argue with a Norn?
"Fates or no, from the first moment I smelled this omega, I knew she was mine. What I don’t get is why it bothers you this fucking much. If you don’t feel the pull, then regardless of what Magni wants, you’re not her fifth. Once we’ve freed our brothers from Valhalla, you can return to fight the Jotunn army with your beloved daddy and leave Mimir’s prophecy to us.”
I gritted my teeth against a particularly vicious gust of freezing wind, the chill in the air doing much to cool the heat rising in my cheeks. I wanted to snarl at him that my brother’s fate was very much my concern, that none of them had felt any more fucking pull to the human girl than they would any other omega—
But I didn’t. He was right. And what did I care? Magni had already mated her. There was no coming back from that.
I loved my brother, and I too would die for him like Bjarni would for his blood, but he’d chosen how he’d live his last days: hunting down a crackpot prophecy, chained to a woman who welcomed his enemies into her snatch.
I didn’t answer. There really wasn’t anything to say. My only job was to bring Loki back to Odin and ensure Magni’s mate didn’t die in the process. That was all I needed to care about.
Eleven
Annabel
It wasn’t until we got to Oslo, Norway’s bustling capital, that it dawned on me we had an unexpected problem on our hands.
And not before some kid stopped in the waist-high snow along the pavement we were walking down and pointed at us, eyes alight with wonder as he chirped happily at his less-enthusiastic looking mother.
Up until then it’d been too bitterly cold for me to give much thought to the hows of our plan, my sole focus being on getting on a plane to Seattle ASAP.
“Uh… guys?” I said, ducking into a narrow alley to shield us from the relentless wind digging into every exposed part of my skin. Both alphas followed, Modi with an irritated scowl. If he wasn’t careful, his face would permanently lock up in that expression.
“We’ve got to change outfits,” I said once they boxed me in from both sides, shielding me from any stray winds blowing into the alley.
“You want to go shopping?” It was a credit to Bjarni’s mild temperament that he only sounded gently puzzled at what he clearly saw as some sort of womanly desire for pretties in the midst of our life-and-death quest.
I rolled my eyes nonetheless. “No, I don’t want to go shopping, but in case you haven’t noticed, we all look like we just stepped out of a Viking reenactment. There is no way any sane airline is gonna let us board a plane like this—especially not when they realize your weapons aren’t made of Styrofoam. Also, we need money for the tickets. And for passports! Oh, lord, what on earth are we gonna do about passports?”
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought about that part. If one was to travel without magic portals and transdimensional rainbows, one needed traveling documents.
And a credit card. Mine were still back in Iceland, and I had a fairly good idea that neither god had thought of such mundane necessities either.
“Oh my god, what are