AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He grinned. “Far more prestigious.”
“What was this Valkyrie’s name?”
“Astrid.”
My heart seized and that deep pulse sensation happened again.It was what?
Tyr chuckled. “Now you can see why it took me a minute to process you were a real person with a fairly common name and not some folk legend come to life.”
He’s right.Astrid wasn’t even close to a unique or obscure name.
I blew out a breath. “Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I can’t sprout wings from my back or cast mystical spells like some badass D&D spellcaster.”
“If you could have one or the other, what would you pick?” he asked.
I pursed my lips and thought that over. “That’s so hard. Both sound amazing. But if I must choose, cast spells. So much more potential to do cool shit. Plus, my dad knows fun and cool illusionist magic tricks. Ever since I was little, I wanted to be able to do it like him, to no avail. So having real magic would be like a dream come true. You?”
“Wings. I’ve always wanted to be able to fly anywhere I wanted.” He grinned. “And magic sounds too complicated for me.”
I laughed. I’d always wondered what type of rules life would have for magic if it were real.
Tyr stood. “Would you mind helping me set up more logs? Having one hand does slow that process down. Raeni was actually helpful in that respect.”
I glanced around at the work he’d already done. “Are you sure you don’t want to do something else? You’ve made quite the dent in this pile already, and we expected it would take us to the end of the month to get through.”
He rolled his shoulders. “I prefer to do manual labor to pass my time.”
“What about hobbies? We have a lot of resources here, and even if one in particular is missing for you, we can look into making it possible.”
He thought for a moment. “That’s a bit more difficult for me. I lost a lot of interest in hobbies I used to have because relearning with a missing hand was either too difficult and frustrating, or outright impossible. And don’t try to suggest anything like painting, because I don’t find it fun.”
There went that idea. “How about baking?”
He chuckled. “Shove anything to eat in front of me, experimental or proven, and I’ll eat it. But prowess in the kitchen was never a strong suit of mine, even before losing my hand.”
Somehow, I believed that. “What about gardening? We have a greenhouse, and plenty of outside space.”
His eyes squinted. “Last time I tried, I was banished from ever stepping foot around a garden again.”
I couldn’t stop the boisterous laugh. I didn’t know why I found that so funny, but I did. He didn’t seem to mind. In fact, Tyr appeared quite pleased by my response. “Alright, I’ll have a think about it to see if we can get some extra excitement in your day.”
“If you can’t, just put me to work, boss.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
Tyr grinned. The expression sent a pulse of heat between my legs.No, don’t, it’s not appropriate.I didn’t care what Carrie said.
I snagged a log to distract myself.
Tyr looped his arm around another log. “Do you have any tattoos? I don’t see any, but you seem too interested in them to not have at least one.”
I nodded and set my log on a chopping block. “A sternum mandala. Not original, but I like it.”
“That’s what matters, right?” He smirked, his eyes trailing a heated gaze down my body. “And I’m sure it’s the perfect choice for you.”
I swallowed and told myself to move to the next topic. “Maybe you’ll see it one day.”
Fuck.Mouth, meet foot.
