“How long will it take us to get there?” she asked. I saw the same kind of wild longing on her pretty face as pounded in my heart. We were so close.
“About… three days?” Modi said, measuring the distance between Annabel’s and my fingers with his hand before he looked to me for confirmation.
“All depending,” I murmured, frowning at the flat map. “I’ve never been, though I hear the terrain is supposedly as rough as its inhabitants. But yes, I think three days is a reasonable estimate. That gets us back to Valhalla with only a single day to spare for any unforeseen circumstances along the way.”
“Then it looks like it is our best bet,” Modi said. “Let us rest and eat so we can head out in the morning with as much energy as possible. We are going to need it.”
Thirty
Annabel
The trek to Oregon was tougher than our hike from Seattle to find Loki and back. Much, much tougher. The wind howled constantly, throwing icy snow in my face despite Modi and Bjarni doing their best to shield me from the elements by sandwiching me between the bulk of their bodies.
We walked for sixteen hours that first day, forcing our way through hip-deep snow—though again, the alphas took turns taking the lead, so they could flatten the path for my human self. They did everything to make the journey as easy as possible for me, and it made me feel absolutely useless when we still had to stop for the night because I physically couldn’t move anymore.
“You should have said something,” Bjarni rumbled as he slipped underneath the blankets and wrapped me up in his blessed warmth shortly after we made camp. “All this is gonna be for nothing if you keel over dead from exhaustion.”
“We’re never going to make it if I can’t even handle walking in my own damn world,” I growled. “We’re so close, Bjarni. But if we have to keep stopping because I’m not strong enough—”
He stopped me with a kiss. “Shush. You’re human, Annabel. You’ve shown resilience above and beyond anything I could have dreamed, but you are human. It’s not a weakness. Look at all that magic thrumming right underneath your skin. Your willpower. You brought the God of Mischief to heel. You’re strong enough, sweetie. Stars, you’re strong enough to stop even Ragnarök. Tomorrow, when you start to tire, Modi or I will carry you. And we will make it in time.”
“I’ll slow you down,” I said, guilt clutching at my throat. “Without me—”
“Without you, we wouldn’t have had a chance at capturing Loki. Stop this nonsense, Annabel. Do you expect to do everything on your own? Why do you think Fate planned five mates for you? If your fate is truly to stop Ragnarök, then ours is to lend you our strength when you need it.”
“You make it sound so simple,” I whispered.
“It is simple,” he sighed, placing a peck on my forehead. “I don’t understand why you’re all angsting about it all the damn time. We’re meant for each other. I feel it right through my bones every time I look at you. And I feel it when Modi, curse his stupid ass, touches you. I saw it when the three of us took down one of the most powerful gods in the world. So tomorrow, you will let your mates carry you when your body grows tired, and together we will make it back to Asgard in time to save my brothers.”
It was a strange sensation, floating on the edge of consciousness and listening to his completely calm, rational explanation for something I’d struggled with ever since I fled from their farm so many weeks ago now. As if this whole, insane Norn-created mess was the most natural thing in the world. But my exhausted mind could only grasp onto the here and now, the physical problem.
“You need your strength. It’s so much harder for you two—”
“Annabel. We’re gods.” Bjarni’s otherwise so patient voice took on a stern note. “We’ve both faced far, far harder challenges in our immortal existence than dragging your sweet ass through some snow. Now, I will hear no more protest out of you. It’s time to sleep, and so help me if you don’t let us know the second you need to be carried tomorrow, I’ll show you exactly how much strength I have left. Fimbulwinter or no.”
I had a pretty good idea of how he was planning on showing me his strength, and I couldn’t hold back an amused snort even as my eyelids slid closed, my body more than prepared to obey his command to sleep. “Why is it always about fucking with alphas?”
“Sleep,” he growled.
I did.
The rest of the journey was still exhausting on a level I hadn’t experienced before, but true to his promise, Modi and Bjarni carried me whenever my body refused to continue another step. I knew it slowed the pace they could have set on their own, but I soon realized that it was faster for us all than if I tried to force my legs forward after I’d run out of steam.
It was midday on the fifth day when we, deep into Mount Rainier National park, finally located the portal.
We found it deep between a forest of huge pines and thick undergrowth that ripped at our clothes, its dark expanse a sharp contrast to the blanket of white covering everything else.
“Finally,” Bjarni sighed at the sight of it. He hadn’t said anything, but I knew both my alphas were stressing at our tight timeline. “Let’s not waste any time—come on.”
“I really think you should reconsider,” Loki said. He’d kept mostly quiet for the entirety of our journey, probably keeping Bjarni’s threat of getting silenced with a dirty sock in fresh recollection. “Niflheim is no place for a human. You know this.”
“I’m sure you are just dying with concern for our mate, and not in the least motivated by desire not to face Odin’s wrath,” Modi said, not bothering to look at him as he eyed the portal.
“Yes, well, be that as it may, my survival is also relying on the human girl surviving,” Loki said. “That part of the prophecy was clear. And if you get her killed in Niflheim, we’re all screwed.”
Bjarni spun toward him, eyes narrowed. “You do understand that if Saga or Magni dies, so does she, right? You do know how fundamental and inescapable the bond you were so keen on your sons to enter into is? Or was this grand plan of yours less contingent of the nitty-gritty details of how our lives would be forever altered, and more focused on how to save your own skin?”
Loki rolled his eyes. “Please, I have enough faith in Grim to know he’ll find a way out, even if Saga and Thor’s oaf of a bastard fail. If there’d been any real danger to them, of course I would have come to their aid.”
“Of course,” Bjarni bit.
“Ignore him,” I murmured, placing a hand on Bjarni’s bicep. “He’s just trying to distract us. Let’s go.”
“I will go through first with Loki,” Modi said. He was standing in front of the portal, letting his fingers skim over the void as he inspected it. “Make sure it is safe before you bring her through.”
“No!” My shout rushed out of my throat before I could stop it. I lunged the few yards from Bjarni to Modi, my heart hammering in my throat. I grasped on to his coat with both hands.