"Baldr." My knees threaten to buckle. "This whole fucking time, you were—"
"Playing the dutiful son?" He shifts back to his true form, those frost-blue eyes dancing. "It was almost too easy. Though I suppose you're wondering where the real golden boy is?"
"Where is he?" The words tear from my throat.
"Poor, precious Baldr." He leans in close, his breath like winter against my ear. "Let's just say he won't be attending any more family dinners."
His eyes glitter with sadistic glee. "I can't wait to see Odin's face when he finally realizes his one true heir, his last living son, lies cold and dead within his own realm." His laugh rings off the walls, sharp. "And now...I'll take his precious Zephyrite Stone, too."
"You're out of your fucking mind." I spit the words at him.
"Such language." He catches my chin in an icy grip. "But you see, I need that stone. And more importantly—" His fingers tighten. "I need your little gift. These realm barriers are becoming quite... restrictive."
I wrench away from his touch. "You want me to open a portal? Go fuck yourself."
"Oh, but I think you will." His smile turns knowing. "Unless you want your precious Viking to remain where I left him." He smirks. "It's quite simple really—you get me the stone, open a portal, and I'll tell you where to find him. Everyone wins."
"Everyone except Rhyland."
"Details. But time isn't on his side, Lightborn."
Light blazes between my fingers as rage burns through my veins. "You forget who I am, asshole. I'm not just some little bitch you can manipulate. I'm the savior of the realms, and when I find Rhyland—" Power crackles around me. "I'm going to enjoy watching him tear you apart."
"Ifyou find him." Loki's form begins to fade, his smile cruel as winter. "So much spirit. Let's see how long that lasts while your mate suffers in the dark."
Rhyland
62
Ice burns through my veins as consciousness slams back into me. My muscles spasm, betraying me with that first desperate gasp. Black water floods my lungs, and raw fury ignites in my chest.
The chains bite deeper, their magic pulsing with ancient power. Each thrash only tightens their grip, metal singing against metal as I fight anyway. Blood clouds the water—my wrists are raw meat from fighting the links. I don't care. I'll tear myself apart if that's what it takes.
"Dani."
Her name blazes through my mind, and I claw for our bond. Nothing. The wards block everything—my powers, our connection, even my ability to sense if she's safe. The thought of her vulnerable while that horned bastard roams free makes my vision go red.
What if he's going after her next? What if right now, while I'm trapped in this frozen hell, Loki is—
My body convulses as more water fills my lungs. The pain transcends anything I've felt in a thousand years—like being torn apart cell by cell, only to be stitched back together for more torture.
Lightning should be answering my rage. These chains should be ash. Instead, that poison still courses through me, leaving me trapped in my own useless flesh while my powers burn just out of reach.
Find me, baby. Please find me.
But the thought of her feeling this agony through our bond makes my heart seize worse than the ice. She'd feel everything—every death, every resurrection, every moment of this endless torture.
Darkness edges in. My heart stumbles...
No—
Black.
Pain explodes through my chest as life crashes back. The water's colder now, if that's even fucking possible. My muscles seize as ice crystallizes in my bones.
The chains rattle with my renewed struggle. More blood clouds the water, but the wounds heal almost instantly—my body repairing itself just to be torn apart again. Some sick cosmic joke.
These fucking wards mock me—letting my body stitch itself back together just so I can die again, while keeping my real power locked away like a caged beast. A thousand years of strength, lightning, and raw fucking dominance, reduced to nothing but an endless cycle of drowning and healing.
