“Me?” he finally said.
“You.”
“What…what kind of god?”
“Heimdall’s power is one of protection. He is the watcher of the gods, the sentinel with his eyes on the horizon, the one who will warn the other gods of war, of the end of times, of Ragnarok.”
“He’s the amber alert god?”
I grinned. “He’s whatever it is you make the power become. He has a magical horn. And he was in that superhero movie.”
“I haven’t seen it.”
“You should. Heimdall was badass. Hot.”
“Yeah?” His grin was back.
I resisted rolling my eyes at him again. “You know this isn’t a movie, though. You will have responsibilities you can’t ignore. For all of your life, which might be very, very long. It’s a big commitment and one you have to step into willingly. It will change everything.”
He shifted in his chair, fingers gripping his knees as he leaned forward. “Tell me honestly that you’re not bullshitting me, Delaney.”
“God power is real. I think you’re strong enough to take one on. I think…I think that’s what you came back into town for. What you were really looking for. Not me. You were looking for the power that belongs to you. I am not bullshitting you. All you have to do is say yes, and the power will be yours and then you’ll know I’m telling the truth.”
He held his breath, his eyes searching my gaze, no longer lingering on my mouth.
I tipped my head. “Breathe, Cooper,” I said gently, reaching over toward him. “You’ve still got a little time to decide. To think this through.”
I pressed my palm against his hand on his knees, and the shock of that connection rocked through me.
A small moan escaped his lips, and I had to catch my breath at what that sound stirred in me. Not an emotional need—or notmyemotional need. That sound, that desire I could feel rolling off Cooper stirred the power.
And the power was hungry, singing, calling.
For him.
“Do you feel that, Cooper?”
His eyes were glazed with heat. With desire.
“That’s the power. Your power, if you’ll take it.” I kept my hand firmly over his, the contact of our hands strengthening the connection.
All the worries, all the butterflies, all the tension in me was wiped away. Just asking that question, offering the power to someone as my family had done throughout the generations, seemed to settle something in me. It was like climbing a rope and finally reaching a knot I hadn’t ever made it to before.
“If I say yes?”
The power’s song shifted again. Harmony and trill.
“If you say yes, then you’ll need to come back with me to Ordinary. I’ll give you the power, and then…” I shrugged.
“And then?” He leaned forward, rolling his hand beneath mine to slot our fingers together.
“And then you’re a god,” I said.
He stared at my mouth a moment before his gaze lifted to my eyes. “Yes.”
The song roared to a stunning single note that swelled with joy. It was so loud I didn’t know how everyone in a three-mile radius wasn’t hearing it.
I grinned. “Good choice.”
