Weaving Fate - Nora Ash Page 0,58

up pregnant, not with the end of the world looming. I shouldn’t either.

Focus, Anna. Focus.

“Right. It’s just us. Then we’ll make it work. What’re Loki’s weaknesses?” I looked back to Bjarni. “Something we can exploit?”

The big alpha snorted. “Weaknesses? He has none.”

“Everyone has a weakness,” I said, rubbing my temples as I tried to conjure up any knowledge I had on the God of Mischief. “Does he have anything or anybody he cares about that we can leverage?”

Bjarni worked his jaw. When he answered, bitterness colored his voice. “No. He only cares for his own life.”

“So he’s selfish,” I mumbled. “Self-serving. He will only cave if it’s the best way to ensure his own survival.”

“Pretty much,” Bjarni said.

“Color me unsurprised,” Modi muttered, earning a glare from the blond giant.

“Brute force it is, then,” I said before the two of them could get at each other’s throats. “Show him we are strong enough to kill him if he doesn’t comply—and offer a carrot on the other end. He undoubtedly knows what plans Odin has for him. If we can somehow offer him an escape hatch once we reach Valhalla and your brothers are safe, he should be… persuadable to see things from our side.”

“It’s got merit,” Modi said, and if I wasn’t entirely mistaken, there was a drop of admiration in his voice. “But the question is how to convince him we are strong enough to kill him if he doesn’t back down.”

I looked from him to Bjarni. “Are we? Strong enough?”

“Perhaps,” the blond said, his voice uncharacteristically somber. “There is one way in which we have and advantage: He has no allegiance with anyone but himself. He is alone. We… We are not. If the three of us combine our strengths, we might have a shot.”

Twenty-Two

Modi

“Why did it take you two days to get here when the feather duster led you?” I grumbled as Bjarni turned off the road and walked toward the thick woods. “Even with a human in tow, it has been, what, sixteen hours? I presume your coward of a sire is hiding somewhere in the woods?”

Said human huffed behind me, but the irritation I felt in our bond at my words remained unvoiced. She was too exhausted from our sixteen-hour walk to argue. Not a terrible quality in a woman, in my opinion.

“His name was Arni,” Bjarni said, his voice acrid. “I suspect Loki wanted to throw off any pursuers—he had us take the scenic route.”

“Arni? Who names a raven Eagle?” I muttered.

“Was?” Annabel asked, her voice turning soft. She pushed forward a couple of steps, placing a hand on Bjarni’s arm. “His name was Arni?”

Bjarni hesitated, but his steps slowed, allowing the omega to keep pace. “Yes. Was,” he finally bit out. “Loki saw Magni's claim on you as a failure of mine and my brothers. He killed Arni and Magga as punishment for our shortcomings, and as a reminder not to fail him again.”

“Oh, no.” Sorrow flickered in our bond, pulling uncomfortably on my instincts to step forward and comfort the girl. But before I could process the urge, she pressed her forehead against Bjarni’s bicep and wrapped her arm around his back in an intimate gesture.

“I’m so sorry. They didn’t deserve that.”

Bjarni only responded with a grunt, but he pulled her closer against his side and kept her there as we entered the woods.

I followed them, fighting down the burn of jealousy as I stared at their backs.

It was just instincts—nothing but stupid, primitive instincts that had my body reacting as if Annabel were truly mine.

She was not.

What was between her and I was nothing but a Norn on a power trip deciding to weave our fates together, sprinkled with a healthy dose of hormones. Much as I loathed the thought, I could no longer deny that the prophecy they had blabbed about had to be true, at least to some extent. Why else would I have been compelled to bite down on her slender neck until her skin broke and the most ancient magic in existence bound us together? I certainly had not wanted to.

Sure, in that moment, while I was still dazed from the most pleasurable climax in my immortal life, my knot thick inside her tight heat and the scent of woman in my nostrils, it had seemed like the only choice. Like she was a piece of me and I would never survive being parted from her again.

Reality was… quite a lot less enjoyable.

I glared at the couple ahead