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25
ADDIE
Hel lifted her skeletal hand, and magic swirled in the air. I snatched her hand and met her gaze.
“You’re not taking us anywhere. Talk to us right here, right now.” I stared her down in challenge.
Since Fenrir had attacked Hel, her power level had been similar to mine—there was a chance that I was stronger than her right now. She needed me to reignite her underworld for her. That told me just how desperate she was for help.
Hel grumbled. The sound was low and nearly a growl. It made Maddox step forward until his chest met my back. Hel’s attention flicked upwards, towards him for a moment before dropping back down to meet my eyes.
“Fine,” she snarled.
Why did she have to be so contrary? I didn’t understand the need to be this aggressive with me. I’d agreed to help her already. I didn’t need her treating us like this. It helped no one.
I moved to tell her that she wasn’t allowed to belittle us when she pressed her skeletal palm to my forehead.
“Catch her before she falls,” Hel told Maddox.
“What?” His voice hitched.
A tidal wave of black rushed towards me. It hit me and dragged me under. The center of the darkness glowed with a faint blue firelight. I didn’t have to reach for it because the light rushed towards me. I flinched just as it hit me dead on.
Nothing happened. I cracked open a curious eye and found myself in another world. At least, it seemed like another world. A tree with leaves made of gemstones shaded me from the bright sun above. Green and pink lights danced among the shadows on the ground. The rustle of the shimmering gemstone leaves sounded like glass chimes.
It was beautiful. I couldn’t imagine anything more stunning. The marble white bark of the tree wrapped around thick boughs far above my head. Every bough held a collection of leaves that seemed to sing a different song, like the leaves were a little different on every branch.
I stared up in awe when a warm figure approached me from behind. Though I wanted to turn to see the person, I couldn’t control my body. I lowered my head and took in the shadow stretching across the ground. A small smile reached my lips as warmth blossomed in my cold chest.
The voice that came from my mouth took me by surprise.
“Approach me from my left,” I said with Hel’s voice. “I wish for you to always see me from my good side.”
The chuckle behind me belonged to another familiar voice. It would have sent chills throughmybody, however Hel reacted a little differently. A warmth erupted in her core that made me want to violently eject myself from her body.
Please don’t make me watch the two of you have sex. I will gouge out your human eye if you put me through this kind of hell.
Fenrir ignored Hel’s request and stepped around her right side. He dragged his knuckle along her bony cheek, conjuring vibrations that rippled down her spine to pool in that warm core. He leaned in close and whispered to her:
“What if I love this side of you more? What then? Am I to be punished for the ways you cannot love yourself? I only wish to bask in the beauty that is my divine lover, and nothing more.” His words were saccharine sweet.
I could see right through them, but I could also understand why Hel fell for them.
Why was she showing me this? We already knew that she and Fenrir had history. He’d informed me that my bloodline came from him—all the more reason to come to terms with my childless future, really. So, what was the reason behind this vision?
“Hel, ruler of all. It has a nice ring to it. Doesn’t it?” Fenrir purred into her ear.
Hel stiffened. She slid a curious glance in his direction though I could feel that she kept the rest of her face carefully blank. Here was the first time that his mask slipped with her. She touched her stomach, already bulging with child.
Jealousy sparked within my spirit. Hel jerked, surprised. I, too, paused. Was I back in time? How could that be? I didn’t know Hel had enough juice to do something like that let alone the ability to do it.
Was time travel even possible? Perhaps it was if the thread of fate reached back that far. Hel must have sent me along her own fate thread. It stretched into the past, but the future of it had been severed by the same man holding her now.
“You have aspirations far above my own,” Hel admitted to her lover.
Fenrir gripped her hips and pulled her back into his chest. I wanted to puke, but I didn’t have a physical body to do so. Hel almost laughed at the thought rolling around my head. I had to be careful because our minds were somehow mingling.
Had she become wary of him because of me? I sure as fuck hoped so.
