“We’re not stopping until we reach Midgard,” Modi said, and when I looked up at him, sandwich already halfway inside my mouth, he had a distinct no-nonsense frown on his face.
“You insisted you come, and so come you will. I will not let you slow us down—my brother’s life is on the line, and in case you’ve forgotten, the Jotunns are marching on Asgard. I have duties back home, and I will not let a petulant omega slow down my return.” Modi placed his hands on his hips, widening his already intimidating span as he glowered down at me. “Get moving.”
If I’d been alone with the redheaded god, I’m pretty certain my first instinct to his commanding presence would have been intense fear, followed by immediate obedience. But I wasn’t.
Bjarni was a sweetheart, and a formidable fighter, and as much as my time with the Lokissons had been fraught with uncertainty and danger, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he’d back me against this haughty bastard any time. So instead of cowering at Modi’s words, I glared right back. And then I plopped down on my ass on Bifrost, crossed my legs, and took an enormous bite from the sandwich.
The redhead’s pale skin turned blotchy and red with anger at my open challenge, his blue eyes narrowing to slits as I held his gaze. “Get. Up.”
“The girl needs to eat,” Bjarni rumbled, his tone much more unconcerned than I’d expected in the face of Modi’s aggression. “And rest. She won’t be doing any magic tricks if she’s passed out from exhaustion.”
Modi continued to stare at me, and I got the distinct impression he was considering if he could somehow use my magic while I was passed out. But then he sighed, and a jolt of victory fizzed in my gut when he bit out, “Fine.”
What I wasn’t expecting was for him to grab me under my armpits the next second and swing me over his shoulder, the joint colliding with the singular bite of sandwich that’d made it into my stomach.
“G-hngh—what!” I groan-yelped, narrowly catching the rest of my sandwich before it fell. “Let me down!”
He locked his other arm across my hamstrings, keeping me from kicking him in the gut, and grunted, “Let’s go,” in Bjarni’s general direction.
Fucking alphas! Always with the goddamn manhandling!
“Seriously? What the fuck?” I snarled, beating at Modi’s back with my sandwich-free hand. “This is not rest! This is goddamn kidnapping! Put me down!”
Modi ignored me, his strides long and steady. Bjarni fell in next to me, bag once again slung over his back, not looking the least bit upset about my current predicament.
“Do something!” I snapped at him.
“Like what? I’d be happy to carry you myself, if you’d like.” The gleam in his eyes as he let his gaze sweep over my upturned ass was decidedly lecherous. “But he is right—we have limited time, and this way, you get to rest.”
I glared up at him. This was almost as bad as when Magni had dragged me up Verdandi’s mountain like a sack of potatoes.
At least I was wearing pants this time. But I wasn’t the same woman anymore, either. I wasn’t a scared, helpless human girl lost in a strange land at the mercy of strangers. I had power. I had agency.
I had goddamn dignity.
Closing my eyes, I reached inside for the golden light, not entirely certain what I was going to do, but damn sure it was going to make Modi put me down instant-fucking-taneously.
But before the shimmering magic so much as connected with my mind, a sharp zing zapped my ass, making me scream and drop my focus, my eyes popping open with a start.
“Ow! What the hell?!” I shrieked, reaching back to rub at my sore rump. My muscles there spasmed as if they’d been electrocuted.
“The next time you try to use your magic against me, little human, it’ll be significantly more painful for you,” Modi gruffed, clenching my hamstring harder when I squirmed. “You may be touched by Fate, but I have centuries upon centuries of experience on you. And the blood of the thunder god in my veins.”
He'd lightning-bolted my ass! He'd fucking lightning-bolted my ass!
I hung over his shoulder in stunned silence for several seconds while the humiliation and sheer audacity sunk in. And then, just like that, whatever grip I’d had on myself despite everything that’d led to this moment vanished into thin air.
“You goddamn piece of shit, I swear to fucking god, I’m gonna murder you!” I shrieked, throwing the sandwich at Bjarni’s stupid, laughing face before I started beating at Modi’s back with both fists
Modi scoffed. And then he kept walking as if he didn’t have a furious human over his shoulders, not even flinching at my continued assault.
Enraged, I screamed and swung at him until I didn’t have the energy any longer. But in the end, it didn’t do a thing except drain me of my already flagging strength.
After a good half hour, I hung limply in his grip, exhausted and miserable, but resigned to my fate.
“Are you quite done?” Modi’s haughty tone made me grit my teeth, but I didn’t have it in me to bite at him. Instead I remained silent.
The air cracked somewhere close to my ass, the unmistakable sound of electricity sparking. “I asked: Are you done?”
I gasped in a breath of air, eyes widening in outrage and shock. He wouldn’t!
But yeah, he would. He’d already proven as much. And he’d thoroughly won the battle of wills that followed.
Stupid goddam power-tripping alpha!
“Yes.” I was going for terse, but my throat was raw from screaming, so it came out as a broken whisper.
“Good.” He relaxed his hold on my hamstrings, only to pull on my legs so I slid down and into his arms, bridal-style.
I blinked up at him, suspicious of the motives behind this more comfortable position, but he didn’t so much as look at me. Instead, he glanced at Bjarni.
“Feed her.”
Bjarni arched an eyebrow at the command, but his features softened when he looked at me. “You done throwing away perfectly good food?”
I glared at him. He was so not forgiven for just standing by while Modi asserted his dominance over me.
The blond giant cracked a half-smile and swung his backpack off one shoulder to rummage through it for more food. “How about I take that as a yes, hmm? Here you go, sweetie.”
It was a sandwich identical to the one I’d tossed at him before. I ate it in silence, wincing with every swallow. He gave me a leather jug of water to wash it down with too, followed by a golden apple that turned out to be so sweet and delicious I couldn’t hold back a hum of appreciation at the first bite. Even my aching mate-bonds seemed slightly less painful while I ate it.
“Is that…?” Modi began as he stared at the apple between my lips.
“Mmhm,” he confirmed with a relaxed rumble.
“She is mortal!” For the first time since he’d picked me up, Modi stopped, and abruptly so. His fury was palpable.
“She’s the mate of gods,” Bjarni said with a shrug. “Do you wish for your brother to have a mortal lifespan?”
Modi blinked, redness rising in his cheeks. “I… Of course not! But—they’re sacred!”
Bjarni snorted. “Not that sacred. How do you think my brothers and I haven’t aged all these years we’ve been in exile?”