Perfekt Balance (The Ære Saga Book 3) (5 page)

“That’s it, huh?” Forse withdrew his arm from
the back of the couch and set the popcorn on the end table. When he
turned around, he rested his palms on his thighs.

I
mirrored his posture, hoping to put him at ease. “It can be. Unless
you want to talk? About…anything?”

Please, please, let Forse want to talk about us.
After
years
of not asking me
out, please let today be the day he tells me he’s secretly loved me
all along and he wants to spend an eternity making up for lost time
by—

Be quiet, brain! Stop getting my hopes up
.

“
We can’t
do this tonight
hjärtat
.” Forse shook his head. “In the morning we’re going to see
Runa
.
We can’t
afford to lose focus, even for a minute. The last time we saw her,
she…she…”

“I know,” I said softly. “If she hadn’t
released Fenrir, my parents would be alive.”

Forse’s skin paled and a thin sheen broke out
across his forehead. “She’s a monster. Tyr doesn’t see that we’re
walking you straight into a trap.”

“Oh, Tyr sees it.” I tapped my temple,
reminding Forse of my link to the sometimes disturbing inner
workings of Tyr’s mind. “Odin gave us freaky sibling powers,
remember? I know Tyr’s taking care of things on his end. He had you
drop off the locator before we started the movie, right?”

“
Ja
,
” Forse answered.

“
Then
you
know
Henrik’s
upping the tech on that tonight. Probably trying to decrease the
search time, increase the radius, maybe even plug in that app Mia
and I are working on to identify mind signatures. Trust me, Tyr’s
making sure we’re going into this mission with every tool in our
arsenal fully prepped.” I paused. “Have you trained Brynn on how to
use the locator? Somebody other than you should know how to operate
it.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence in my
ability to not get captured.” The corners of Forse’s eyes crinkled
with his smile.

“You know what I mean. Having an alternate is
just good sense.”

“True. And it’s why I trained both Brynn and
Henrik on how to use it.” Forse rubbed the back of his neck.

“
Hey,
we’ve got this. We’ll be back before you know it, and then you can
go back to
not
touching me on movie night.” I elbowed Forse in the
ribs.

“Else, I—”

“I’m kidding. I’m trying to make you
laugh.”

Forse pressed two fingers between his brows.
“We’re dragging you into the middle of an obvious setup. Nobody’s
even trained you to defend yourself.”

“I took combat in school,” I argued.

Forse
looked up. “You knew you were a Key so you followed the
protected
god
curriculum—not the
protector
god curriculum. The two terms of basic swords your
program required aren’t enough. Not when you’re dealing with
Runa.”

“Okay, then you teach me.” I sat up. “We’ve
got tonight—teach me whatever tools you think I need to take her
on.”

“That’ll take more than one night.”

“
Well,
one night’s what we’ve got,” I pointed out as I paused the movie.
“It’s not how I was hoping we’d spend the evening, but I’ll make
you a deal. I let you teach me whatever would make you feel better
about my going with you—offense, defense, swordsmanship, gun
safety, those stupid Three Stooges routines Henrik finds so
amusing—whatever. You get two hours to prep me as you see fit. And
after, you curl up on this couch with me, and we watch a movie or
talk or just stare at the fire—
anything
but think about what we’re doing tomorrow.
Because you and I both know what a giant bucket of stress you are
right now, and that’s no way to go into a hostile zone. We both
need to relax.”

If the rigidity in Forse’s shoulders was any
indication, relaxation was going to be a tall order.

“Do we have a deal?” I asked him.

Forse drew a slow breath. “Your brother’s
going to kill me.”

“For the self-defense class? Or the relaxing
on the couch?” I teased.

Forse didn’t crack a smile. “Both.”

“Well, he can just deal. Keeping me in a
bubble didn’t help us when Fenrir came knocking, did it? I’m long
overdue for a combat refresher. High school was forever ago.”

“
Actually, you
just
graduated.” Forse rested his head against the back
of the couch. I wanted to reach up and touch his light brown
waves
so very much
, but my intuition told me that would send him running
faster than a frost giant fleeing Muspelheim.

“Details.” I waved my hand as I stood. “Come
on. Let’s do this behind the cabin in case Captain Overprotective
is using his super senses. It’ll be harder for him to see us from
there.”

Forse
pushed himself off the couch and walked to the weapon closet. Tyr
had installed one in each of our residences, but since I came into
Midgard unconscious, and harbored a general aversion to tools used
to hurt living things, I hadn’t bothered checking out the contents
of mine. I drew a calming breath as Forse came out carrying a
dagger, a rapier, one of Brynn and Henrik’s implosion guns, and two
sticks on a chain.
Using weapons for self-defense is
totally different than using them to attack. I will only use these
tools to protect myself and my friends. I will not cause
unnecessary harm.

I tried not to shiver as Forse shifted his
cargo to one arm.

“Okay, little fighter. If I’ve only got two
hours, I’m going to use every minute. One hour on weapons, one hour
on creative combat.”

“Creative combat?” I asked.

“
You
don’t always have the luxury of having an actual weapon. Sometimes
you need to improvise. Use what you can find wherever you
are—sticks, boulders…if you’re lucky, in Svartalfheim you can find
a hot lava rock. They’re the ones with a slightly purple-ish glow.
They’ll singe the Hel out of any being they come into contact with.
They can even cut through iron, so be careful with
those.”

“Good to know,” I said with a smile.

Forse pointed to the hooks by the door. “Put
on a jacket. The snow’s stopped, but it’s still cold outside.”

I shrugged my coat on. “Do you want me to
hold those swords while you put on your coat?”

Forse
gestured to his tight sweater. “I’m fine like this,
takk
.”

Gods, yes he is.

“Okay.” I feigned nonchalance.

Forse held out his hand. “Come on. We’ve got
a lot to cover.”

“And then it’s couch time. Complete with more
Cokes in a bottle.”

Forse raised an eyebrow. “Have I ever gone
back on a deal?”

“Nope.” Thinking about a night curled up on
the couch with my favorite god and my favorite beverage brought on
a grin that made my cheeks tingle. I felt almost giddy as I placed
my hand in Forse’s, and followed him outside. “Let’s do this.”

* * * *

“
Elsa.”
The low rumble of Forse’s voice pulled me out of my dream. It had
been a
really
good one—Forse and I walked hand in hand in the forest
behind my cabin, and as we passed a moss-covered redwood, he spun
me behind the tree. He leaned against me, pressing his chest to
mine, brought his lips to my neck and—

“
Elsa,”
Forse murmured again, pulling me fully into the present.
Dang it
. I dragged my
eyelids open, only to realize my reality was
so very much
better
than my
dream.

Apparently we’d fallen asleep on the couch watching
The Tempest
. Our bodies
were twined together in a way Forse would
never
allow if he were awake. He
rested on his back, one hand behind his head and the other tucked
securely around my waist. I nestled against him, my torso draped
comfortably across his, and my cheek pressed against his heart. Its
steady beat pounded in time with mine, confirming my long-held
belief that we were really two souls destined to come together in a
glorious—

“
No,
hjärtat
.
” Forse interrupted me again. “The broadsword is
too heavy for you…use the rapier…” My mouth turned down at Forse’s
mumbling. The poor god couldn’t dream about walking on the beach or
skiing in the Alps like the rest of us; even in sleep he worried
about me, recounting his instructions from last night’s
lesson.
Identify two plausible escape routes in any
scenario. Assess an opponent’s weakness, then exploit it. Use the
most lethal weapon at your disposal, or barring that, the first one
you can reach. Strike to kill.

A chill ran through my torso. My healer’s
instinct wouldn’t allow me to kill; the concept went against the
very purpose of my gift. If we went to Svartalfheim today and I had
to end someone’s life to save my own, would I be able to do it?

Dear Odin, please don’t let it come to
that.

Forse
stirred underneath me, bringing my attention back to the present. I
rested my chin on his chest and ran the tips of my fingers along
his collarbone as he woke. Long, dark lashes fluttered, revealing
emerald-green eyes clouded with sleep. One corner of his lips
pulled up in a lazy smile, and when he spoke, his voice sounded
deep and gravelly. “Morning,
hjärtat
.”

Please let this happen again. Please,
please
dear Odin, don’t let this be a one-time
deal.

“Morning,” I murmured. “Did you sleep
well?”

“Better than I have in years.” Forse lifted
his head. He took in the way my body was nestled against his, my
arms folded over his chest. The arm he held around my lower back
flexed, pressing me closer to his side. His eyes twinkled as he
brought a hand to my cheek. “We fell asleep like this?”

“Kind of.” My neck grew hot.

“Mmm.” Forse tucked an errant strand behind
my ear. My pulse skyrocketed as I leaned into the touch.

“
Is that
a good
mmm
or a
bad
mmm
? You’re
kind of hard to get a read on.”

Forse ran
his thumb along my jaw and closed his eyes. “It’s just
mmm
.”

I had no idea what that meant, but the fact
that he hadn’t leapt off the couch and run out of my cabin was
definitely a good sign. Last night, I’d enjoyed the most peaceful
sleep I’d had since Fenrir’s attack—no night sweats, no bad dreams,
and not even the standard-issue ache from teeth-grinding. At the
moment, I inhabited the Zen-like state I’d enjoyed before all
Helheim broke loose for the Fredriksen family.

Forget meditation. The key to inner peace was
a night in Forse’s arms.

“
I can’t
believe I forgot.” Forse shifted to reach into his jeans pocket,
and his hips pressed against mine in a movement that sent my pulse
to the stratosphere.
Breathe, Elsa. Breathe.
He shifted back, and I buried
my disappointment. “I was going to give this to you last night, but
you distracted me with your scary dagger skills.”

“Ha ha.” I propped myself so my forearms
rested on Forse’s chest. There was no way I was moving any farther
away from him than necessary.

Forse pulled his fist from his pocket and
held it above my hands. “I got you this.”

“You got me a present?” My cheeks flushed. We
exchanged gifts on Christmas and our birthdays, but that was
it.

“
It’s
just something little. I saw it and I thought
…well, it made me think of you.” He opened
his fist and a necklace fell into my palm. It was exquisite, a
pale-blue crystal with green swirls that appeared to glow from
within, held by a delicate silver chain.

Time stood still as I held the stone between
my fingers. “This is a larimar crystal. I’ve wanted one of these
forever. Where did you find it?”

“I was walking by the jewelry store in
Arcata, and I saw it in the window. Something about it made me
think of you, and I knew I had to get it.” Forse brought his hand
to my lower back and rubbed softly. I tried not to melt into the
touch, but considering I was holding a stone that originated in
mythological Atlantis, the purpose of which was to heal a wounded
heart while guiding it to its soul mate, I was finding not melting
inordinately difficult.

“
This
is…I can’t even…” I blinked up at Forse’s eyes, the exact same
shade as the green in the crystal. I didn’t have to check a mirror
to know that mine matched its silvery blue. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Forse said simply.
Then he held out his hand. “May I?”

“Of course.” I dropped the crystal into his
palm and tugged my hair to the side. He fastened the clasp behind
my neck, and the larimar fell, resting calmly against the hollow of
my neck. My entire body warmed as the crystal’s subtle vibration
pulled on the energy of my heart, and Forse’s. He raised an eyebrow
at my knowing smile.

“Do I want to know?” he asked. “Or is the
fact that I suddenly feel warm and fuzzy one of those mysterious
High Healer things?”

“
All you
need to know is that I’m
very
happy you gave this to me.
Takk
.” I pushed myself
up so I could kiss his cheek, pulling back before I could scare him
off. But Forse still didn’t look afraid—either the larimar was
having its desired effect, or we were
finally
making progress.