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Despite the green hair and being dressed like a rock star, Odin looked like the devil incarnate.
And the devil had told him he owed a blood debt.
Odin ran a pleasure district…but he also owned and operated a dozen or so organizations outside of Liaand Norra. Some were legal and upstanding, others…
He shuddered, all the possibilities racing through his mind. Suddenly, getting better was the last thing he wanted to do. Hunter lifted his right hand, less grateful that he’d regained movement, and twisted it in the light. He’d been so certain he’d broken the whole thing back at the warehouse, but there was nothing but a couple of small braces on his last two fingers and a smattering of bruises that had already turned green across his wrist.
With a groan, he forced himself to sit up, waiting for the room to stop spinning as soon as he did before taking a proper look around.
It was larger than he’d imagined, with the queen-sized bed he was on situated closer to one side, across from where the entrance was. A large window with blood-red drapes was to the left, and they were cinched tightly shut, blocking out all signs of what time of day it could be. A small circular table littered with medicinal supplies sat next to it with a single chair that had been left pulled out. On the other side of the room, there was a plush seating area with a velvet couch and more cushions than Hunter bothered to count. Another door, which had been left slightly ajar, clearly led into the bathroom, and as if struck by the realization it’d been a while, his stomach cramped.
Could he make it all the way there on his own? He ground his teeth, already feeling a wave of embarrassment over the idea of having to ask for help just to take a damn piss.
Refusing to be so pathetic, Hunter practically crawled to the other side of the bed, inhaling deeply in preparation for what was no doubt going to be a world of pain. Then he planted a palm against the end table and shoved off, wobbling on his feet for a moment. It got a bit harder to breathe, but something told him that was most likely from having remained bedridden all this time. His ribs didn’t hurt, a good sign that they were mostly healed, and aside from a slight itch wherever the tight bandages that were wrapped all over his upper body were, he didn’t feel any stings there either.
His earlier deduction about how healing wasn’t in his best interest returned and any relief he’d been feeling died. If he was already in this state, he must have been here for a hell of a lot longer than he’d expected. Weeks even.
At least he was able to make it to the bathroom with no issue, though he still needed to use objects like the dresser and the wall to keep himself fully upright.
The room was opulent, and he spent a good minute pointlessly staring at it before he shook himself free of his stupor, moving toward the toilet that was situated between a marble sink and a bathtub big enough to fit four grown men. There was also a standing shower on the other side of the room, large enough for company, and he was happy to find that the floors were heated. Everything was done in snow-white marble with streaks of pale pink and gold dust. Wherever there was metal, it was gold flourishing that was so shiny Hunter could see his reflection.
He’d been dressed in a pair of silk pajama pants the color of coal, and when he pulled the front down a bit it was to find that he wasn’t wearing underwear. Trying hard not to think about it, he focused on emptying his bladder.
“Looks like someone’s feeling better.”
Hunter jolted, instinctually covering himself up even as he shot a glare over at Odin. How long had he been there?
Odin had his arms crossed, a shoulder propped on the doorway and his gaze locked low. He smirked when Hunter pulled his pants up, doing nothing to hide his enjoyment at having caught him. “Modesty, Huntsman? This is hardly the place for that. Besides,” he swept his eyes up and down his form suggestively, “there’s nothing you have that I won’t be seeing eventually.”
Hunter sucked in a breath, a shiver racing down his spine before he could help it. He knew his cheeks were flushing and hoped that it wasn’t noticeable—even though with how bright the damn lights were in here, logic told him that was impossible.
That statement—no, that claim—should have made him furious or, at the very least, afraid. Instead, he felt himself heating slightly, all those old fantasies from when he’d been a horny teen racing through his mind like a pornographic movie on fast-forward.
Odin noticed the subtle change—of course he did—tilting his head as his expression morphed to one of momentary confusion before the wolfish grin was back in full force.
“What’s this?” He took a step into the bathroom, eyes flashing when Hunter stiffened. “Are we back to pretending? Back with the act?”
Think of Meg, Hunter ordered himself, but even though the guilt was still ever present within him, he couldn’t focus on anything other than the advancing Shout for longer than a couple of seconds.
Hunter frowned as Odin approached with slow, deliberate steps that had his heart beating and warning bells going off like sirens in his head. Fight or flight was activated and he knew which of those two his best option was. He glanced over Odin’s shoulder toward the door, receiving a dark, mocking chuckle for his efforts.
“Make up your mind, Huntsman.” Odin crowded into him, wrapping a hand beneath his chin so he could force Hunter from retreating and tip his head up, the pressure at either side of Hunter’s jaw a warning not to move. “Are you going to try and convince me you have a crush, like before, or are we going to be honest from here on out?”
Hunter’s brow furrowed deeper, but then it finally clicked into place and he scoffed. “You think I seduced you? When? When we were kids?” That idea was so laughable, that he actually did, the sound sharp and echoing in the large room.
Odin’s eyes turned black as night. “You think it’s funny?”
“I think it’s hilarious,” he confessed, holding up a hand when he realized how that sounded, not completely too far gone to miss the danger here. “What I mean is, I think it’s hilarious that you truly believe that’s what happened. Me? Seduce you? Snow, you looked at me all of one time, and you were wasted then. When Frost ordered me to lead you into the forest, I thought he was crazy for thinking you’d ever follow someone like me anywhere.”
Bringing up that particular point in their past was a mistake. Apparently his survival instincts weren’t as activated as he’d thought.
Odin’s hand tightened, cutting off oxygen like he had back in the warehouse, only this time his goal wasn’t to knock Hunter out. His goal was to cause suffering.
Hunter grabbed onto his wrist and tried to pull him off to no avail, settling for digging his nails into his flesh. Still, that did nothing but earn him a hard yank forward, so that his body crashed against Odin’s solid chest.
“If you think Isa is going to come rescue you,” Odin said darkly, “you’re mistaken.”
This proximity was doing things to him, things equal parts fear-inducing and something else. He latched onto the anger as blotches started winking in his vision, calling on all of the strength he could muster to shove Odin away. Surprisingly, it worked, at least enough to dislodge his hand from around his neck.
