we gonna do?” I hid my face in my hands, trying my best not to let hopelessness overwhelm me. If we ended up failing Saga and Magni over something as ridiculous as this…
“What is she talking about?” Modi rumbled from somewhere above me.
“Travel papers,” Bjarni said, his voice as calm as ever as he pulled me into his body and rubbed my back. “And coin for clothes that’ll let us blend in, plus the fare.”
“Humans,” Modi muttered, and something about his tone made me pretty sure he had a good eye-roll. I lowered my hands to glare up at him.
“I’ve got coin,” he said, touching a hand to the leather purse on his belt. “Enough to buy us any papers and clothes we may need.”
“Yeah? Is that Norwegian Krona, or American dollars?” I bit.
“It’s gold,” he said, an arrogant eyebrow creeping up on his forehead at my lip. “I’ve yet to see a human turn down gold coins.”
I stared at him for a long moment. Then I turned to look at Bjarni. “How long has it been since this guy was on Earth?”
The blond alpha chuckled and lifted his chin at Modi. “Things have changed a bit down here. Regular traders don’t accept silver or gold. We need access to the local currency, and travel papers take a long time to procure. Unless you have a little völve handy, of course.” His gaze shifted back down to me as he gave me a wink.
“A what now?”
“A witch. Or a human girl touched by Fate and blessed with magic so strong she can stop the end of the world,” he said, his voice pitching lower as his gaze turned heated. “With a little help, of course.”
I stared at him. “I’m sorry, are you suggesting I somehow pull three passports and several grand out of my ass?”
“Well. Not your ass,” he said, a wicked grin spreading on his annoyingly handsome face. “I’m sure Modi can guide your magic, should you need it. And I’m more than happy to provide any top-up of power you may require.”
Echoes of what it’d been like the last time he helped me reenergize flickered before my mind’s eye, and my mate-bonds ached as the memory of the hopelessness I’d felt afterward set in. I opened my mouth to tell him exactly where he could stick his top-up, but Modi interrupted before I could even get a word in.
“We didn’t just drag you over Bifrost and down the mountains to listen to you complain. How is your strength? Can you provide these travel documents, or do you need another rutting?”
The redhead’s voice was harsh, but he did have a point. With a final stare at him, I closed my eyes and called on the golden magic within. It rose willingly enough—not as powerfully as right after Bjarni had tended to me, but it still filled me with a strength that seemed to hum through my bones.
I released my grip on it and let it settle back into the depths of my being. “I’m fine. But I don’t know how to whip up passports and money out of the blue.”
“I’ll guide you. But we need some paper,” Modi said, looking around the alley. “Ah, that should do.”
I raised an eyebrow as he walked to the nearest dumpster and pulled out some scraps of what looked like burger wrappings without flinching. When he handed them to me, I did my best not to grimace. If Asgard’s mighty son of Thor could handle a little dumpster diving without whining, so could I.
Once I’d accepted the trash, Modi rubbed his palms together before wrapping one hand around the back of my neck. “Call your magic. Envision what we need.”
“I… don’t know how exactly a passport looks,” I said, frowning. “The gist of it, sure, but there are so many details—”
“You don’t need anything but a general idea,” Modi snapped. He dug his fingers into my tendons a little tighter. “Focus.”
“Well, excuse me for checking,” I grumbled before I closed my eyes to once again call on my magic.
Modi’s presence was like electricity sparking in every cell of my bloodstream, but it was gentler than last time. He pushed me forward at a calmer speed this time, wrapping golden ribbons around the image of a passport with my face I conjured. His presence tugged on mine, swathing me in a warmth that made even the chill of the Fimbulwinter fade from my consciousness.
“Like this.” It was a low rumble, more of a sensation