As Dom toyed with the scarf around her neck, the one she’d put on this morning to cheer herself up, her mouth fell open.There was no reason it should.She’d heard plenty of outrageous statements tonight.Why learning Nina had a castle, in Long Island of all places, should become her tipping point, would remain a mystery.
But she wasn’t going anywhere.
Nope.Not today.Not to a castle.Not in a boat.Not on a float.Not to Mars, and definitely not with complete strangers in cars.
When Nina realized she wasn’t making a move to do as she’d instructed, she shrugged her shoulders, walking toward the front of her townhouse and pulling open the window.
“Look, we can fuck around all night long, but I have kids and a husband I want to say good night to.So either come or don’t.It’s no skin off my nose, accidental Viking.You ready, Fletcher?”
With that question, she stepped out of the window, onto the sill and disappeared.
* * *
“What the hellare you up to, MC?This has to be the craziest plan to date,” Harvey commented, as he followed Marty’s SUV back to Nina’s castle.
MC had opted to ride with him in order to give poor Dom, who was hysterical about the safety of her beloved Fletcher, a break.
She’d gone with Marty and Wanda under duress, but she’d gone nevertheless, worried for her pet, and Nina had surely known that was how she’d react when she took flight out the window.She’d taken Dom’s bird hostage as a way to entice her back to her home.
He’d known a vampire or two in his time, but he’d never seen one fly.
“I’m doing my duty, Harvey, and you well know what my duties to Midgard, Asgard, and the gods are.”His reply was dry and all business.
He pinched his temples, so over this redundant conversation that led them nowhere but in a big circle.“Is this your way of pressuring me to take charge?”
MC was quiet for a moment, his battered handle flashing beneath the lights of oncoming cars.“I can’t pressure you to do anything, young man.That much is obvious.If pressure was all it required, you’d have been at the helm long ago.”
The gods could have chosen any of his many brothers, or even sisters, to take the reins as ruler.They were certainly more qualified than Harvey, if not in character, then in battle experience.But they insisted Harvey was the right choice.
He gripped the steering wheel harder when he remembered that conversation.It had been long and tedious, and full of angry bolts of thunder and lightning.
But he and MC had endured this argument for months now, and it left him exhausted.“You know I can’t pick you up, MC.Despite the fact that I don’t want my father’s job, I can’t wield you, even if I wanted to.That obviously means I don’t have the qualifications for the job.No amount of nagging me can change that.”
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried.Hehad.MC declared it was his reluctance to take on the responsibility that kept him from picking him up, and maybe that was true.
Subconsciously, Harvey was certain his reservations were what held him back.He couldn’t rule Asgard or protect Midgard with reluctance, but it still didn’t change the results.
“Precisely.Thus, this is my way of handling my duties and finally putting an end to this vicious cycle of our quibbling.If you can’t take responsibility for my care and keeping, and for Midgard and the like, someone has to.I decided it was time to find someone who would.In my morning meditations, as I asked the gods what to do, the universe sent me the vision of Dominique.Beautiful, strong-of-spirit, long-on-patience Dominique.”
He barked a sarcastic laugh as they passed the lights of houses along the highway.“And you think she’s going to be less reluctant than I am, buddy?Did you see her reaction to what we told her?Not only did she have no clue the paranormal existed, let alone that we do, she thought we were all nuts, even after those women showed her what they really are.She’s in complete shock, and for good reason.She’s a mortal.”Harvey shook his head as he ran a hand over the stubble on his cheek.“C’mon, MC, this is a desperate stab in the dark, and you know it.”
“I do not stab in the dark, sir.I listen to the gods, and the gods say she’s the one.Dominique has mettle, grit, brains, and, above all, a pure heart.She’s rarer than hen’s teeth in this mad world.”
He’d sensed that the moment he’d shaken her hand, the thread of warmth that shot along his arm something he couldn’t deny.
“Those attributes aside, her physical presence is a treat.She’s a rare beauty, wouldn’t you agree?”
In all the madness of this evening, Harveyhadactually taken note of how beautiful Dominique truly was.The way she dressed reminded him of Audrey Hepburn, a favorite of his mother’s—classic, stylish, with bright red lips, round blue eyes, and flirty eyelashes.
Her olive skin, soft and glowing, set the tone for her raven curls and the scarf she’d tied around her neck jauntily, as his mother would describe it.She had a style all her own, one he rarely saw in women these days.
And she was terrified.
And MC hadn’t helped matters.
Harvey didn’t have a choice but to go along with this whacky plan.When a decision by the gods was made, there was no turning back.And because he was tasked with keeping track of MC, it was his responsibility to ensure his safety.
“So, how do you plan to teach a mortal how to rule Asgard and at the same time, protect Midgard?”
