“How did you do that,” Brenna asked after a while.
Brandt tilted his head toward her and kissed her forehead just between her eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t think I did it; I think the power ran rampant on its own.”
“There seems to be a lot of that going around,” Brenna frowned. The thought of unchecked power reminded her that outside of their bedroom, the dark sorcery was still prowling around and growing stronger. They had taken a sacred slice of time for themselves, but now they had to get back to the matter at hand. Soon, the plague would return, and it would likely be stronger this time.
“We have—”
“I know,” Brandt interrupted her as he ran his hand along the side of her face. “We have to go.” He sighed and kissed her, and she felt his hesitance.
“The sooner we vanquish this new threat, the sooner we get that Chinatown moment in the loft, right? Besides, I’ve been craving drunken noodles for a while now.”
Brandt laughed, but Brenna could tell his laugh was less hearty and more laced with worry than usual. “Yes,” he said. “Let’s hurry this up so we can get to those drunken noodles.”
They both got up slowly and put on clothes. Brenna stood against him and ran her tongue along his lips as she fastened his pants.
“I think I remember you saying that it would be all day?”
“What would?”
“The lovemaking at the loft.”
This time his smile was genuine as a playful grin overtook his mouth. “Oh, not just one day…days.” He picked her up and swung her around, and when he sat her feet back onto the ground, he put both hands on the sides of her face and kissed her as if he were breathing in life.
When they walked back out into the apartment, they saw that Helia and Matt were just on their way out and that the Fate hadn’t seemed to have moved from her spot at all. She sat still, staring out the window as the sun began to rise, and Erik sat in the chair looking at her.
“Have you guys slept at all?” Brenna asked as she walked into the room, hand in hand with Brandt.
“I don’t think anyone in this apartment has slept,” Helia answered as she looked at Erik’s sagging eyelids. She didn’t know if the Fate even needed to sleep, but even her cat-eyes seemed to look weary.
“Anyway, Matt and I are leaving now. The streets still seem clear for the moment, and we need to get to Hel before the plague returns. If this dark sorcery succeeds, there will be plenty of human lives ended and many people who end up in my underworld.”
Brenna felt a twinge of guilt bite at her. The mortals would die because of the choice she would make.
“Hey,” Helia said as she touched the side of Brenna’s wrist. “Don’t beat yourself up about this. It’s an impossible position to be in. If it helps, know that I would make the same choice. You can’t let the dark sorcery continue to grow, even if it means sacrificing the mortal realm. I’m sure the purple-eyed girl is right; you guys will figure out a way to bring it all back.”
“Thanks,” Brenna smiled weakly. Helia’s words didn’t actually bring her any comfort, but she appreciated the fact that she tried to make her feel better.
Helia nodded and then turned to walk onto the elevator with Matt. “In the meantime, we’ll be in the underworld.” The doors closed, and Brenna listened as she heard the elevator hum down the inside of the building.
Brandt motioned his head toward the Fate, and Brenna went to sit by her as Brandt fetched them coffee from the kitchen. When Brenna sat down, the Fate seemed to be woken from her daze of looking out the window. Her pupils refocused on Brenna’s face, and a serious, business-like expression fell over her. Erik stood up and started to walk toward his bedroom.
“Where are you going?” Brandt asked as he came around the kitchen island with coffee for himself and Brenna in his hands.
“To sleep. I watched over her the entire night,” Erik said as he looked back over his shoulder at the Fate. “You guys can figure out the next bit without me.” He disappeared down the hall, and Brandt heard the bedroom door shut as he handed both girls a cup of coffee.
“No, thank you,” the Fate said as she waved it away.
“You must be tired,” Brandt said. “You haven’t slept.”
“I don’t sleep much anyway. It’s troublesome seeing the fate of things. Futures are not always pleasant, and once I see things, I tend not to be able to forget them.”
“I can see how that would give anyone difficulty sleeping,” Brenna said sympathetically.
“Have you made your decision?” the Fate asked. She brushed off Brenna’s sympathy. She was a deserter and would now be considered a traitor by her sisters. She had compromised their gods-given power of fortunetelling. She did not think she was deserving of anyone’s sympathy.
“Yes. I’ve decided to cure the plague and stop the dark sorcery.”
“And you are aware of what this will mean for the humans and their mortal realm?”
“Yes.”
“Has Lopt spoken to either of you about anything other than what I have already told you?”
“No,” Brenna answered. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” The Fate had hoped, even though she had warned Lopt against it, that he had somehow slipped Brenna the information she had shared with him during their game of windows. She had hoped Brenna would have realized by now that she, herself, was mortal, and by doing this, she would perish as well. But it appeared to her that the thought hadn’t even crossed Brenna’s mind.
Maybe it was because she had magic in her veins and therefore considered herself impervious to it, or maybe it was because she was a descendant of Freya and thought that protected her. Maybe she even thought that if she were safe on an immortal realm while she enacted the cure, that would keep her from dying with the other humans. But the truth was that Brenna was not immortal like the rest of them, and nothing would save her from being destroyed with the rest of the mortals. The Fate had hoped she would have figured it out by now; she thought Brenna was smarter than that.
“You said that we would be able to restore humanity and the mortal realm, right?” Brenna continued despite the thoughts running through the Fate’s head, which she was not privy too.
“Yes, but it will be difficult.”
“We’ve handled difficult before,” Brenna said confidently.
Yes, but this kind of difficult will require you to realize something before you die, the Fate thought to herself. If Brenna didn’t figure out that her death was imminent before it was too late, then the chance to recreate all that would be lost, cease to exist. She wished more than anything that she could tell them, but she had already risked too much by allowing Lopt to figure it out. He was their best chance now. Lopt still had time to do something with the information that he had.
“How do I do it? How do I cure the plague?” Brenna asked.
“You want to do it right now?”
“Yes,” Brenna and Brandt looked at each other a bit perplexed. Why wouldn’t they want to stop the dark sorcery now? Why would anyone want them to hesitate?
The Fate grappled with her sworn loyalty to her sisters and to the duty of the three Fates, and it fought against her free will that pushed her to do what she knew was right. “Brenna, you—you should wait.”