Perfekt Balance (The Ære Saga Book 3) (26 page)

Runa grimaced as the flickering light grew
stronger. She pushed the dagger at Brynn’s heart, but it stopped an
inch above the valkyrie’s chest. “What the Hel is happening?” Runa
shrieked.

I know you can overpower your host. You just have to
believe it with me.
I
pleaded with Runa’s spirit. It stayed silent, but I saw the light
brighten. And though Runa fought frantically to drive the dagger
into Brynn’s chest, her hand pulled back, as if an invisible force
guided her body.

Runa’s spirit was taking over.

Thank you, Elsa.
The spirit spoke at last. Runa shrieked as her body was
wrenched backward off Brynn and into the trunk of a nearby tree. At
the same time, Brynn leapt to her feet, the poison eradicated from
her bloodstream.

“Oh, I don’t think so.” Brynn scowled. Then
she dove for Runa, who was still being restrained by her spirit.
Brynn ripped a set of handcuffs from her belt and Runa’s wrists
shot out, presenting themselves for imprisonment.

“What the Hel?” Runa shrieked again. If the
situation weren’t so serious, I would have laughed at the sight of
the giantess, manipulated against her will by her own inner
goodness. Unifying was seriously fantastic stuff.

Brynn slapped the cuffs on Runa’s wrists and
dragged her to her feet. “We’ve got a special pit in Asgard for
monsters like you,” she growled.

“Don’t be too hard on her, Brynn,” I urged.
“There’s hope for her yet.”

Brynn snorted. “We’ll see about that.”

As Brynn
pulled a second set of cuffs from her backpack, Runa’s spirit
pressed a thought into my consciousness.
You saved
me
.

You saved yourself
, I corrected. The spirit smiled.

And as
Forse overpowered Tosk, and Tyr battled his father for the freedom
to live in peace, Runa’s spirit retreated to her body. Runa wailed
at the ever-brightening light emanating from within, as her spirit
sent me one final message.
Thank you
.

With that the spirit went quiet, and I
settled my attention on the aftermath.

* * * *

“He’s dead.” Forse’s voice was hard. He spoke
with one foot planted on Tosk’s limp torso, giving the hilt of his
sword a violent twist.

“Good riddance.” Brynn didn’t take her hands
off Runa. In the endless minute it had taken Forse to finish off
Tosk, Brynn had my captor doubly bound and gagged.

“
Isn’t
the gag a bit excessive?” Tyr asked, as he crossed to my side.
Since I was still curled in a ball, he bent low to remove my
handcuffs with a flick of his sword. “
Hei
, Sis.” He touched my shoulder
lightly.

Ouch
.

“Last time Runa was bound, she swallowed a
magic rock and got superpowers. I’m not taking any chances.” Brynn
glared at our captive.

“Fair enough.”

“What happened to Hymir?” Forse didn’t take
his hands off the sword, but his vigilance wasn’t necessary. As he
spoke, Tosk’s spirit withdrew from his body. It was black and
mangled; he’d been one of the rare truly dark souls. Without
looking back, the spirit shot into the sky, no doubt journeying to
Helheim, where it could live among kindred spirits.

Good riddance, indeed.

“Hymir got away,” Tyr said.

“What? How? He was missing an arm; don’t tell
me he overpowered you.” Disbelief colored Brynn’s voice.

“He didn’t overpower me. He opened a portal
and jumped through. With everything going on here, I wasn’t about
to leave you vulnerable by following him. I have my agenda when it
comes to Hymir, but you lot come first.” Tyr nodded at me.

I nodded back, understanding. “We’ll get him
next time.”

“
Odin
only knows how long he’ll stay in hiding, but there’s no doubt
he’ll be back,” Tyr rumbled. “He’ll need to rebuild, since we took
down his officers. And he’ll have to regroup—he lost a limb, and he
doesn’t have the brain trust we do to build him a Fred.” Tyr flexed
his prosthetic arm. He didn’t sound sorry. He didn’t sound
anything. Everything about him, from his stance to his voice,
screamed
impassive
. He’d shut down his emotional centers, something I knew he
did when he fought, and it would be a while before he opened back
up again. Seeing the lengths his father had gone to destroy the
goodness in his spirit—again—had to hurt. But he’d get through
this. He always did. The war god was one of the two strongest gods
I knew.

The justice god was the other.

As Forse
pulled the sword from Tosk’s corpse and tossed it on the ground,
the poison
finally
released its hold on my body. I jumped up and took off
across the clearing. My feet sunk into the soot as I launched
myself at the god I’d loved for centuries, no longer caring if I
scared him off. Life, even an immortal life, was too short to
tiptoe around the truth. And the truth was, I was head over heels,
heartbreakingly devoted to, and overwhelmingly in love with Forse
Styrke. And he could just deal with it.

“Oh my gods, he didn’t kill you!” My sentence
came on one hurried breath as I flew through the air, wrapping
first my arms and then my legs around the god who’d owned my heart
since Freya’s spin-the-bottle party centuries ago. Forse caught me
easily, tucking one arm around my waist and the other underneath my
bottom. The movement brought me closer to him, and as I pressed my
hips against his stomach, relief gave way to an entirely different
sensation. One that was sure to send Forse running for the
hills.

I didn’t care.

I placed my hands on either side of his head
and waited for his reaction. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. But
his heart thudded against my chest, confirming that no matter what
his overthinking justice-god brain was telling him, he wanted this
every bit as much as I did.

Finally.

“Forse Styrke, don’t you ever scare me like
that again.” I stroked the skin along his jaw. The days-old stubble
felt rough against the pad of my thumb, while the adoration in his
eyes was the very definition of gentle. As he’d always be, Forse
was a study in contrasts.

“And if I do?” The corners of Forse’s eyes
crinkled. “Then what?’

“
I’m…well, I’m…”

My words faded into silence. I was lost in a
grass green vortex as Forse pressed his forehead to mine and let
out a low chuckle. “Enough talking. There’s something I need to
do.”

And
before I could tell him to stop laughing at me, Forse hiked me
higher on his waist and brought one hand to the back of my head. He
laced his fingers through my hair and pulled my face to his. With a
groan, he crushed his mouth against mine in a kiss that obliterated
the artfully constructed image he was careful to maintain. To
everyone else, he was cautious, rational, calm…the poster god for
justice, and all that it represented. But as he moved his lips
against mine in a maddening dance, he confirmed what I’d suspected
all along: underneath Forse’s calm façade was a passion that burned
brighter than all the realms’ suns combined.

And it was about to consume me.

A soft
moan escaped my mouth, and Forse didn’t miss the opportunity. He
ran his tongue along my bottom lip and nipped softly at the
sensitive skin. A warm sensation shot straight through me and I
wrapped my legs tighter around him, moving slowly with each gentle
sweep of his tongue. He tasted like spearmint and fresh air, and as
his fingers tugged at my hair I let my head fall back. Forse’s lips
followed the trail along my jaw and down my neck. I arched my back
as he neared the deep
V
of my neckline, but before my fantasy of being ravaged by
the god of my dreams could come true, my darling brother
intervened.

“Ahem.” Tyr cleared his throat loudly. “We
should probably take our prisoner and clear out before anyone else
shows up. Also, that’s my little sister. Knock it off.”

Forse had the decency to remove his mouth
from my neck. But when he placed his hands on my hips to help me
down, I locked my legs in place.

“
No way.”
I shook my head at Forse. “I’ve waited
forever
for this moment. Tyr can just
deal.”

Forse chuckled. “He’s right. I need to take
Runa into custody, and we need to get you back to the compound.
After I sort through Runa’s intake, I’ll Bifrost straight to your
place in Arcata. No pit stops.”

My eyes narrowed. “Promise?”

Forse
dropped his mouth to mine, and delivered a sweet kiss more in line
with what I’d expected of the buttoned-up justice god. Then he
raked his teeth along my bottom lip and sucked with a force that
let me know that, when it suited him, he could be anything
but
sweet.
Oh
my gods
.

“Promise?” I panted. Again.

Forse pulled back and brought his lips to my
ear. “Have I ever broken my word?”

“No,” I whispered, drawing my shoulders back
as the shiver traversed my spine.

“Forse!” Tyr complained.

“
Right.”
Forse gave me a wink and I reluctantly unwrapped my legs from his
waist. He set me on the ground, careful to hold my hips as my knees
wobbled unsteadily. Whatever intake involved, it better be quick. I
wanted to be on the couch at my cottage with the god I
adored,
not
watching a movie.

I wanted
that
right now
.

“Come on.” Brynn yanked Runa by her elbow and
dragged her to Tyr’s side. “Let’s get you off to Odin. Oh, the
things he will do to you.”

“Brynn, wait.” I laced my fingers through
Forse’s and walked to Brynn’s side. Runa glared at me, but behind
the anger was sadness. Her father had used her as a pawn before
abandoning her—again. And the brother she’d fought to save was
about to lock her up forever. As much as I wanted to see her
imprisoned so she could never hurt anyone the way she and Fenrir
had hurt all of us, a part of me felt for her. She’d been born a
good spirit—she’d just been overtaken by a series of unfortunate
corporeal circumstances.

Brynn held up a hand. “Don’t get too close,
Elsa. Last time—”

“I know,” I said softly. “Just give me a
minute.”

Then I closed my eyes and spoke to Runa’s
spirit.

You won today
. I
smiled.

Runa’s
spirit nodded in recognition.
Today, yes. What if the
darkness wins next time?

Keep
shining your light in there, I pressed.
Runa doesn’t want to hear it, but
there’s goodness in her
.
You’re
in
her. You’ll bring her around
.

Runa let out a high-pitched shriek, muffled
by the gag tied tightly across her mouth. A series of wails
followed, and garbled though they were, I clearly understood the
words. “Get out of my head!”

Keep doing good, Elsa. Your mom would be so proud of
you.
Runa’s spirit sent
a wave of warmth at me. I imagined it was her way of giving me a
hug.

I smiled, even as Runa’s shrieking grew
louder.

“Okay. I’m done. But there’s one more thing
we need to do before you go. Tyr?” I motioned for my brother. He
approached cautiously, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

“What are you doing, Elsa?” he asked.

I drew a steady breath. “Tyr, I want to
introduce you to your sister.”

“Whatever she used to be, she is not my
sister,” he hissed. “She’s as responsible for our parents’ deaths
as Fenrir. And she tortured you.”

I held up
my hand. “Runa’s made some awful choices. Some
horrific
choices,” I
emphasized. “But once upon a time, she loved you every bit as much
as I do. Didn’t you, Runa?”

Runa’s eyes shot veritable fireballs at
me.

“Okay, fine. I’ll tell him.” I turned back to
Tyr. “Hymir’s been a monster—”

“No kidding,” Tyr muttered.

“Let me finish. Hymir’s been a monster all
your life. When you were little, he did terrible things to your
birth mother. Truly heinous things you probably would have
remembered and been deeply scarred by if Odin hadn’t wiped your
memory, and if your sister hadn’t protected you.”

“What do you mean?” Tyr didn’t blink.

“When Hymir went on his rages, Runa kept you
hidden away. She made sure Hymir never hurt you, and she tried to
keep you from seeing all of the awful things he did to the people
around you. But most importantly, she’s the one who brought you to
our parents. She risked her own life, and gave up her family, to
make sure you had a chance at happiness.”

Forse tightened his hand around mine and
Brynn sucked in a breath.

“I know it seems impossible, but Runa gave up
everything to save you, Tyr.” I watched as my brother’s gaze
shifted to Runa.

“Is this true?” His voice was steady, but I
noticed the slight shift of his jaw as he bit the inside of his
cheek. I hadn’t seen the nervous tic in years, and Tyr’s sudden
vulnerability tugged at my heart.

Runa raised her chin in defiance. The fury
radiating from her features made it clear that even if she wasn’t
gagged, she wouldn’t be talking any time soon.

Tyr turned his eyes back to me. “This doesn’t
make any sense. If Runa brought me to our parents, why didn’t they
adopt her, too? And when she showed up in Asgard all those years
later, why didn’t she come to live with us? Mom had a heart the
size of Vanaheim; there’s no way she’d turn away someone who needed
help.”

Runa let out a low growl, and Forse shifted
so he stood between her and me.