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And I wouldn’t let it take her.
“Just shut up and eat,” I said with a sigh.
Fenrir chuckled. The man was way too damn happy to be a world-ending threat. Then again, he did just escape from several centuries of captivity. I guess I would be happy to be free, too.
He finished off his pita and started in on mine. My beast growled low. I fought the urge to yank the tray back. Laughter erupted from a nearby table full of teenagers, reminding me of what I was protecting. The bell over the door chimed, and a woman with a toddler entered.
“Don’t spend too long with your head in the sand,” Fenrir said between bites. “Everything will be gone before you know it.”
I felt a sucking sensation before I saw what Fenrir did. My stomach sank. Adrenaline slammed into my system. Fenrir’s power pulled at my skin. The salt and pepper shakers on the tables rattled towards him.
He winked before his maw split wide. A great, black void appeared in the depths of his mouth. I leapt across the table and slapped my hand over his mouth. Everything in the room went silent. All eyes turned towards us.
The sucking had stopped, though. Fenrir laughed behind my hand.
I kept my hand over his mouth as I apologized to everyone inside. Fenrir allowed me to drag him outside, which I thought strange at first. Outside, under the light of the sun, I noticed the dribble of red down his chin.
When I pulled my hand away, the skin of my palm had been stripped. Raw, red flesh stung. I clenched my fist while my beast poured power into healing. The dull throb was a fair price to pay for the lives I’d saved, but it would weaken me in the long run.
Of course, Fenrir clutched his stomach and laughed like he hadn’t just threatened the lives of nineteen people.
I pinched the bridge of my nose with my unharmed hand. When I lifted my head, the space that Fenrir had occupied was empty.
“Well…fuck.”
Addie
“You expectusto deal with Fenrir?” I gaped at Hel.
She flicked a pair of jeans off the couch before lowering herself onto a cushion. Maddox’s house was still a mess, and the sight of Hel in the middle of it all was strangely disconcerting.
She fixed that blue-fire light glare on me. “Of course, I do. You are the one who freed him, after all.”
I scowled and crossed my arms over my chest. A part of me refused to believe that it’d been that easy. A stray thought in the middle of a summoning ritual shouldn’t have sent it so far awry. It just didn’t make sense.
The timing seemed awful strange.
“You have an obligation to fix what you broke,” Hel continued. “Gather your friends. A Barghest, an elven princess, and the antichrist should be enough assistance for a godkin like yourself.”
My lip curled. “We’re not gods!”
It took four of the Norse gods to bring Fenrir down, and it’d nearly killed them. I refused to put my friends in harm’s way like that. Ness and Ryder were trying to start a family! This wasn’t their problem…
But it would be if Fenrir destroyed the world. Then there would be no future for anyone, let alone Ness’s family.
I buried my face in my hands and grumbled a few choice curse words. What other option did I have?
“I apologize for asking this of you.” Hel sighed. “The gods are weak in the time of technology. While our names are far spread now, our worshippers are few and far between. I do not have the power I had in the vision you saw. Nowadays, there are mortals such as yourself with more power.”
The weight of responsibility slammed onto my shoulders. It nearly forced me right through the floor.
Of course, that’s when Hel decided to stoke my flame. “And when you bring Fenrir back to me, I expect you to hand over your puppy, too.”
Slowly, I lowered my hands away from my face so I could stare Hel down. I didn’t care if she was a goddess, or my great-something grandmother.
“Say that again, and I’ll let Fenrir destroy everything, just so I can get some peace from you.” A furious cold burned in the center of my chest.
“You don’t mean that.” Perse entered the room on a warm breeze.
