Perfekt Balance (The Ære Saga Book 3) (23 page)

My stomach plummeted as I chanced a look
down. One minute might as well have been an eternity.

Here goes nothing.

When
Forse suggested we take up rock climbing last year, I’d thought he
was insane. But as I descended the rocky wall of my Svartalfheim
prison, I was grateful I knew the best angle to dig my rapidly
chafing fingertips into the spaces between cold stones. And when I
accidentally dislodged a pebble from the castle’s exterior, and it
took a slow eternity to plunk into the moat, I realized I’d
miscalculated the tower’s height. After thirty seconds of climbing,
I was still fifteen-plus meters off the ground.
Oh,
well.
There was no turning
back now.

My toes
sought purchase on a slight outcropping, and I descended with more
caution than a hypochondriac in a sick bay. Odin hadn’t given me my
brother’s flying gene, or even Henrik’s semi-gene that let him
jump—or fall—ridiculous distances without getting hurt. For me, one
wrong move on a tower cloaked with this much dark magic would mean
a stay in Asgard’s healing ward
…if the lower healers could even handle an injury of that
magnitude.

Focus, Elsa
. I
pushed fear out of my consciousness and channeled happy thoughts,
or at least less morbid ones, as I continued downward.
Fingers, fingers,
toes, toes.
The tips of
my fingers were raw by the time I made it halfway down, and I hoped
any nearby drone birds weren’t equipped to sniff out blood. If they
were, the skin around my nails would drive them into a
frenzy.

I’d made
it three quarters of the way down when I heard the rustling.
Something shifted in the window just above me, and I pressed myself
to the tower and held my breath. After an endless pause, I chanced
a look up. A deep purple bird sat on the window ledge. It turned
its head as I studied it, and its eyes dilated with unnatural
speed. They formed a geometric pattern and widened, almost like the
aperture of a…

Oh gods. The drones found me
.

There wasn’t time to think about how much the
landing would hurt. I bent my knees and pushed off the side of the
tower. It only took a second to drop onto the thin patch of land
between the tower and the moat, but in that time I heard the whoosh
of the drone’s wings as the bird leapt from the windowsill. It let
out a cry as my legs absorbed my impact, and I knew Runa would
learn of my escape soon. There was no time to catch my breath, or
even remove the rock firmly lodged in the heel of my shoe. I had to
run. Fast.

Despite possessing more emotional gifts than
physical ones, I managed to build enough momentum to launch myself
off the sooty bank at the base of the tower, and clear the width of
the moat. It should have been a moment of glory for a girl who was,
admittedly, more indoors inclined, but the succession of bullets
chasing my heels kept my celebration in check. My toes pushed off
the grainy earth as I funneled everything I had into driving
forward. I pumped my arms back and forth, and focused on their
movement instead of the burning sensation rising in my legs. I
sorely regretted not working out every morning like Brynn
suggested. She’d been right about my post-coma fitness level.

Stupid Fenrir.

The shrapnel exploding in my path jolted me
from my “should haves,” and I ran harder, making a beeline for the
edge of the forest. If I could get under tree cover, I might be
able to lose the bird, or at least evade it long enough to find
Forse. He was somewhere in the trees; our paths were bound to cross
if I just kept running.

A boulder exploded to my right and I darted
left, running a serpentine pattern until I reached the forest. Then
I put my head down and sprinted. If I hit a tree, so be it—the
drone was closing in, and I couldn’t afford to waste energy on
something as trivial as navigation. My focus was so singular that I
almost didn’t hear the familiar voice calling through the
trees.

“Elsa! I said get down!”

Forse’s warning finally registered, and I
threw myself onto the ground. The drone’s wing grazed my back as it
dove for the exact spot I would have stood, if not for Forse’s
heads-up. Another shot rang through the trees, and as I rolled I
saw Forse standing at attention with his pistol pointed at the
bird. It plummeted to the ground, destructing in an explosion that
rained faux feathers, wires, and a shower of black-sooted soil in a
ten-foot radius. I curled into a ball and covered my head so my
back bore the brunt of the impact. The razor-tipped feathers
pierced my skin, and a stream of pain erupted at each point of
entry. My body contorted of its own accord. I writhed on the
ground, careful not to roll onto my back, and even more careful not
to scream. Most drones signaled their controller when they
self-destructed, and I didn’t want to give Runa any reason to come
to this particular spot.

As if I could have kept her away.

“Elsa!” Forse’s voice sounded far away.
Footsteps pounded behind me, but I couldn’t roll over to watch his
approach. The razors sent their poison through my bloodstream, and
pushing them in farther would only expedite the process. “Elsa,
don’t move. When I get there we’ll port you to the healers
and—”

“Stay back!” I yelled. A wave of darkness
passed over me, alerting me to the third presence. The residual
anger filling the forest confirmed my fear. “She’s here.”

“Who? Runa?” Forse sounded like he’d moved
closer. He was almost at my side.

“I said stay back!” I pled. I wrapped my arms
around my knees as a fresh wave of pain rocked my back, shooting up
my neck and settling into the top of my spine. A drawn sob escaped
my lips as the poison shot down my vertebrae, filling my nerves
with fire before rendering me stiff.

I couldn’t move.

“
Förbaskat,
” Forse swore at the same time as a sharp energy
filled my body. I was jolted upward, and drawn, as if along a
pulley, into the arms of the psychotic creature I’d come
this close
to
escaping.

“How many times do I have to kill you?” Runa
screamed at Forse. Her claw-like fingernails scraped my arms as she
cuffed my hands to restrain me. It wasn’t necessary; the poison had
essentially left me frozen stiff from neck to toe. Only my facial
muscles escaped paralysis, allowing me to watch as Forse drew his
sword and charged at Runa. My avenging angel was stopped short by a
blast from Runa’s left hand. The beam of energy sent him flying
against the thick trunk of a nearby tree, and he crumpled to the
ground, narrowly avoiding impaling himself on his own sword.

“Forse!” I shrieked.

He stumbled to his feet and raised his sword
just in time to deflect four more beams from Runa’s hand. One
ricocheted so close to her head she had to duck to avoid
decapitation. As she stood, her glare intensified. Forse began to
close the distance between them.

“
I
wouldn’t do that again,” she warned. “Your girlfriend can’t defend
herself. And it would be a shame for her to lose a limb…or
worse.”

Forse froze. “What do you want, Runa?”

“I told you,” Runa hissed. “I want Fenrir.
You gave him to me before, the day he killed the Fredriksens. I
want you to do it again.”

“Forse didn’t give you Fenrir. You broke into
his cage and turned him on my parents.” As I spoke, Forse’s face
turned the off-white of the late-spring snow.

“You never told her?” Runa’s lips pulled back
in a terrifying smirk.

“Elsa, I—” Forse’s eyes looked haunted. What
was going on?

“Forse, give me the wolf, like you did when
we were together,” Runa demanded.

“He never gave you Fenrir,” I repeated. “And
there’s no way we’re turning him over now. He’s too dangerous.”

“I know.” A cruel smile stretched across
Runa’s face. “Forse is the one who allowed him to kill your
parents.”

She was
trying to bait me. I kept my mouth shut and focused on
Forse’s
perfekt
face.

“Don’t listen to her,” Forse pleaded.

“Why not? Afraid your little snowflake can’t
handle the truth?” Runa stepped between Forse and me, and placed
her hands on either side of my face. Without the ability to fight
back, I had nowhere to look but into her mud-colored eyes. “Didn’t
you ever wonder how your pet managed to procure the key to his cage
and unlock his own door?”

“I know you stole Forse’s key and set Fenrir
on my parents.” Despite the tumult swirling in my gut, I kept my
voice void of emotion. “I know you’re the reason they’re dead. Is
that what you want to hear?”

Runa
laughed. “Oh, Elsa. You really have no idea. I’m only
half
the reason your
idiot parents are no longer with us. Have you really spent all
these years believing Forse would be stupid enough to let someone
steal that key? Especially when that someone was
dating
the god
responsible for locking Fenrir up and keeping that key
safe?”

I moved my eyes back and forth, trying to see
around Runa to Forse. “What’s she talking about?”

“Elsa, I—” Forse interjected.

“
Save
your breath.” Runa waved her hand. “We killed her parents together,
didn’t we,
Justice
? Oh, Elsa. Don’t look surprised. Forse happily gave me the
key.”

“I didn’t give you the key; you stole it.”
Forse circled closer. His hand flexed over the hilt of his
broadsword.

“
Mmm. But
Fenrir was on your watch list, wasn’t he? That’s why the
Fredriksens started keeping him caged up. And who left the key to a
volatile subject’s cell on his kitchen counter, when he knew his
girlfriend was coming over?” Runa clucked her tongue. “A
responsible god would have made sure that key was locked in his
high-security vault, not just lying around where
anyone
could pick it up.
What happened to Elsa’s parents is as much your fault as
mine.”

Runa stepped aside, giving me a full view of
the god I thought I knew better than anyone. Forse’s shoulders
drooped, and he averted his gaze. His lips turned in a tight frown,
and even his eyes dimmed. Everything about him positively seethed
defeat. Runa’s words had struck a chord, and from the way Forse’s
aura turned a pale chartreuse, I knew he believed everything she
said. He felt sick. He genuinely thought he was as responsible as
Runa and Fenrir for my parents’ deaths. And it very clearly haunted
him.

But there was no way what happened was
Forse’s fault. Runa wasn’t a sociopath back when she’d dated
Forse—or at least, she hadn’t appeared to be. She’d fooled us all,
right up until the day she’d set Fenrir on his killing spree. Forse
might have left the key out, but he hadn’t told Runa to use it. And
he hadn’t told her to unleash Fenrir, or order the dog to kill my
parents. Forse might have been fooled by the goddess Runa pretended
to be back then, but he would never knowingly help her hurt anyone.
Especially not my parents; he loved our family too much.

Forse’s energy pulsed at me, and my spirit
stirred with recognition. He didn’t speak a word, but I felt the
truth of his intention with a knowing more intense than any I’d
ever experienced. As much as Forse loved our family, he loved me
more. He loved me wholly. The truth resonated in my
currently-immobilized spine.

Without stopping to consider the
repercussions, I closed my eyes and reached out to Forse’s
spirit.

Is this why you’re so afraid? Of us, I mean?
I asked.

I
listened for what felt like ages as Forse’s soul peeled back layer
after layer of his carefully guarded emotions. And as I watched him
shed his protections, everything that had frustrated me while I
waited for Forse made
perfekt
sense. Recognition bloomed and my world turned a
shade lighter. Forse had loved me all along. But he’d held his
emotions back because of
guilt
. He held himself accountable for what happened to
my family, and his innate sense of justice wouldn’t let him embark
on our relationship until he’d made this right.
That
was why he was so insistent in
tracking Runa all these years.
That
was why he wanted to catch the first
Bifrost out of Midgard the minute he found out where she was.
And
that
was why
he was so adamant that I stay behind. After everything we’d already
sacrificed, he couldn’t handle losing me too.

My eyelids flew open and my grin stretched so
wide, my cheeks ached. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I blurted.

“I couldn’t,” Forse whispered.

“
I…” I
glanced at Runa. Her eyes practically spewed venom as she watched
our exchange. No doubt she’d thought her news would break my spirit
enough to make me cave, but it had done just the
opposite.

It had let me see the truth.

“Let me go, Runa.” I kept my voice level.
“Let me go and Forse will cut you a deal.”

“Excuse me?” Runa spat.

“You heard me. Release me and he’ll ensure
Odin doesn’t execute you.”

Runa bent down and held her hand to my head.
I shirked away from the radiant energy. “Oh, you’re not going
anywhere.”

“
Is that
so?” Tyr dropped into the clearing, carrying Brynn on his back. She
jumped off, and they moved in opposite directions, circling my
captor. Runa watched their approach with careful eyes. Tyr took a
step toward Runa and she shot a beam from her hand, forcing him to
sidestep the blast.
Seriously, when will that crystal
wear off?
With Runa’s
attention focused on Tyr, Brynn charged from her other side, but
Runa moved quickly, sending a beam at the valkyrie. The cycle
repeated itself twice, ending when Forse let out a roar.