roared at the once-again closed door.
Five
Modi
“Your father’s a dick,” the feral omega growled at my brother.
“I know,” he sighed, pressing his cheek against her dark hair in an achingly gentle gesture. “It doesn’t matter. My fate is to be by your side, Annabel. Always.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. They said newly mated alphas were always overemotional right after claiming an omega, and my brother sure seemed to fit that stereotype.
In all the centuries we’d known each other, Magni had been fierce, cunning—strong. But now, as he clutched the human girl to his chest, unbothered by Saga Lokisson’s presence, he looked… vulnerable. Weak.
As I watched the three of them, it was clear that this omega had changed him forever. And Saga too. Where once they’d been unyielding steel and muscle, there was now a soft spot that could end them both in the blink of an eye.
Magni was insane if he thought I’d ever join this hopeless love triangle.
“So. We need a plan,” Trud said, looking from me to Bjarni. “No offense, but you two aren’t a match for Loki, and I’m not about to lose my brother and new sister.”
“You leave our father to us. We don’t need no Asa’s help,” Bjarni growled, his tone raising my hackles. I’d always been protective of Trud, even if she rarely appreciated it.
“Sure, why don’t we let a bumbling fool with meat for brains try to out-trick the God of Mischief?” I said, narrowing my eyes at the blond giant. “Nothing could possibly go wrong with that plan.”
“You’re not helping,” Trud hissed at me, as Bjarni snarled in my direction, his muscles clenching. “Neither of you are equipped for this. Not without help. Loki is too clever.”
“We won’t need wit to convince him to help us—he’s our father. All we have to do is find him,” Bjarni said. I didn’t miss his brothers exchanging a look behind his back. Interesting. What did they know that he didn’t?
“He may be your father, but he’s not going to surrender voluntarily. Plus how do you plan to find him when Odin’s been searching for him for months with no luck? You need someone with magic to assist you,” Trud said, crossing her arms over her chest in a way I knew all too well. She had a finite amount of patience for explaining concepts she found straightforward. It’d caused more than a few arguments over the centuries.
“I have plenty of magic,” I said, arching an eyebrow as I summoned a bolt of electricity to let it dance between my fingertips. “As you well know.”
My sister rolled her eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn’t become lodged at the back of her skull. “Yes, and while it’s great that you’re a master at blowing things up, that’s not the kind of magic we need. To find Loki and convince him to come with you, you need intuition. Guile. Stealth.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Oh, we do, do we? And I suppose you know just the goddess to bring, huh?”
Trud shot me a bright smile. “As a matter of fact, I do. I’ll be coming with you, because let’s be honest—between the two of you, you have far too much muscle and not nearly enough brains to pull something like this off.”
I growled half-heartedly at my sister’s dig. I wasn’t fond of basically being called stupid in front of a bunch of Jotunn scum, but the offended look on Bjarni’s face was almost worth it.
“No, you need to stay here.”
To my utter surprise, the words came from the omega. I blinked, surprised the puny human thought it wise to interrupt, let alone tell a goddess "no." But then again, said puny human had also headbutted me and bitten my hand. Clearly whatever wildling had birthed her hadn’t raised her to respect her gods.
“I do?” Even Trud, who’d been way too excited since Magni declared the little thing his "mate," sounded startled.
“I…” Annabel frowned, her brown gaze seemingly locked on the wooden door. “I think I have to go. You need to stay here. You need to help Saga, Grim, and Magni figure out who’s behind this.”
“Did you have another vision, sweetling?” Saga asked.
“A vision?” I didn’t realize I’d voiced my contemptuous thought out loud until I noticed Bjarni’s glare. “She is just a human—”
“A human with power,” Trud interrupted me, her blue eyes focusing on Annabel. “What did you see, my sister?”
“It… It wasn’t a vision, I don’t think… It was more of a…