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“How?” Vetle was busy asking Odin. “You’re powerful, boss. But Isa’s on another level with his mother’s juice coursing through his veins.”
“I’m already a lot stronger now than I was yesterday,” Odin said. “And tomorrow, I’ll be stronger than I was today.”
Everyone there frowned except for Hunter.
Odin held up a hand before any of them could ask and shook his head. “It’s a secret.”
Vetle opened his mouth, clearly about to argue with that, but something on Odin’s face stopped him, and he ended up clenching his jaw shut instead. Though it was obvious he wasn’t pleased about being left in the dark.
“How much time do you think you need before you might be strong enough to challenge him?” Corbi was the one who asked the other question they were all thinking.
There was no real way of telling how powerful Odin needed to get to stand a chance against Isa, but since he’d dealt with him before, in the past and recently, he could hopefully come up with a close enough estimation.
Hopefully.
Only he and Hunter knew what getting stronger entailed. After the first week without skipping his blood, he’d need to test it out and see how strong the boost he gained was. Then they could come up with a clearer picture of how much longer they needed to keep up with it. Just like anyone who gave blood, Hunter felt a little lightheaded afterward and needed to relax and eat something. While his body reproduced blood cells faster than the average person, this still wasn’t a setup that could go on forever. They’d need to have a cutoff date in mind so he could make a full recovery.
Though, it was already assumed they’d need more than a single week. Odin couldn’t make an official challenge until they were at least mostly sure he could beat his step-brother. Neither of them would risk jumping in headfirst, no matter how badly they wanted to put this to an end and see Isa’s flesh peeling from his bones as he burned alive from the inside out.
“I’ll be able to update you on that in a couple of days,” Odin ended up telling them. “Ideally though? By the end of the month.”
Hunter didn’t say anything to that. It could be wishful thinking or not.
“What do you want us to do in the meantime?” Vetle ran a hand through his dark hair.
“Keep up what we’ve been doing,” Odin ordered. “Extra security everywhere, especially around important members like Jita. Everyone needs to stay close, no one leaves the city for personal reasons until further notice. We don’t think he’ll be crazy enough to start a bloody war in the streets, but if there’s one thing I know about Isa, it’s that no one can ever really guess what’s going on in his head. He could snap any minute for seemingly no reason at all.”
“And Wren?”
Hunter cocked his head at this. “What do you have Wren doing?”
“He used to be close with one of the Emperor’s cousins,” Odin said. “I asked that he get in touch with her and request an unofficial meeting between the three of us and the Emperor.”
He frowned. “You want to meet with the Emperor of Sanctum? Just you and Wren? Even knowing that he’s fucking Isa?”
“Sounds like I’m setting a trap for myself, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” he agreed. “So why bother?”
“It’s the only thing I can think of,” he admitted. “We need to find a way to get ahead of this situation between him and Isa. He can’t be left with that kind of control over the government.”
“Isa will have guessed already this is your plan.”
“I anticipate that as well,” Odin said. “No doubt Isa will be there with the Emperor waiting for us.”
Hunter blinked, finally getting it. “You want an excuse for the four of you to meet and force the issue out in the air.”
“There’s no way Isa is going to admit he’s playing around,” Odin figured, “and this way both Wren and I get to say what we need to in front of the Emperor and know he heard us.”
“And gage just how badly Isa has him addicted to his cock.” Vetle hummed his approval.
“It’s something we’ll need to see firsthand.” Otherwise, all they had was Isa’s word, and while they trusted he wouldn’t bother lying entirely, there was always the chance the Emperor was more afraid of him than a willing participant like he’d made it sound.
And if the Emperor was hot for Isa, well, then at least they’d know for certain and could plan accordingly from there.
“Take backup,” Hunter found himself demanding, even though he agreed this was a good plan. “Even if it’s a secret, private meeting. Don’t trust them, either of them.”
“Worried about me already, Huntsman?” Odin grinned.
