Goddess, I can’t wait.
:Me either,:he whispered in my head.
I hadn’t meant for him to hear my salacious thoughts. My cheeks heated but I couldn’t be embarrassed. Not at the appreciation shining in his bond. He could have ignored my plea for the darkness to rise and come to my aid.
:My greatest regret is I couldn’t respond while you were still trapped inside Jörmungandr.:
:You couldn’t enter Hel’s domain?:
:No. Only watch and see. Not help. Not respond. But once you made it to Yggdrasil, my power shines among the great tree’s branches. I whispered as loudly as I dared, and you heard.:
The vehicle came to a halt. We must have reached the house.
Heimdallr licked his bite to seal the flow of blood and raised his head. His eyes spun with rainbows again, and his complexion wasn’t nearly as gray. He stroked his index finger down my chin, lightly rubbing back and forth, and I felt the pulse of magic as blood sank into my skin. His blood had dribbled down my chin.
My mouth watered all over again, and my fangs throbbed with anticipation of biting him again. Hard. Holding his flesh in my mouth.
He shuddered, his jaws tightening.:Your salacious thoughts will be the death of me long before Loki finds us.:
I started to laugh but then I registered his words.:Wait, what?:
:Loki and I are destined to kill each other in Ragnarök. AllFather, let it be a very long time from this marvelous day.:
I didn’t want to think about losing any of my Blood, even the god I’d only known for a few precious hours so far.:Surely if Ragnarök begins, all of us will die quickly. Though I don’t remember as much of the legends as I ought.:
Lokken opened our door. Heimdallr took my hand in his, kissed my knuckles, and then held our hands out to him so he could help me down out of the car. We’d parked in a circular driveway in front of a large two-story stone house. Rounded steps rose in a stacked dais to a grand door in the center with a hexagonal tower on either side. Lights illuminated the front of the house and most of the windows were brightly lit as well.
Above the center door, a stone balcony curved between the two towers. A wider tower rose from the balcony, peaking higher than the other towers on either side. Ornamental evergreen trees in various shapes decorated both levels and the front garden.
I turned to look back over my shoulder where the lights of Reykjavík glowed against distant mountains. There were equally large houses on either side of ours but far enough apart I hopefully wouldn’t need to worry about nosy human neighbors.
Clara and the rest of the team waited for us to join them on the lowest dais step. Gunnarr still carried Bjørg. Lokken and Myrk moved ahead of us a step, protecting our flanks, while Heimdallr, Svar, and Gunnarr covered my back. I looped my arm through Dörr’s, and we moved closer to the humans. Immediately, I felt the tingle of a blood circle hovering in the air.
Pausing beside Clara, I closed my eyes and stretched out my hand, letting the magic flow over me. My ancestors’ blood still sparkled here. Their faces flickered through my mind, just likewhen I first sat in the Ironheart throne. Even my mother’s face, since she’d given her blood to the circle. So much history.
A pang of grief tightened my throat. I wished I’d known them. I wished I knew my family history. How long had my grandmother sat on the throne? What kind of queen had she been? When was this house built? Where had Ironhearts lived prior?
I had no idea. Perhaps my family could trace our ancestry back to the founding of Reykjavík.
:I can give you a full accounting of your family line if you’d like,:Heimdallr offered.:The first Ironheart queen in Iceland settled in Akureyri from Denmark. Your grandmother Hrefna built this house in the late eighteenth century.:
:I would like that very much.:I bit my wrist and held my hand out over the circle, adding my blood to the magic encircling the house. The earth flared with recognition. Eagerness snapped and sparkled in the air, welcoming me home.
It was a large circle from necessity, since the house itself was easily twice as large as my house in Vík. My awareness swept around the grand stone entrance. Walled side gardens and courtyards. A small pool in the back. Trees lined the property on either side, their branches rustling without any wind, as if they whispered a welcome. In the rear of the property, we had access to the harbor, though the blood circle didn’t stretch out into the ocean.
I wasn’t sure how much blood to add to the circle. I just waited until I felt a mental nudge. Then I stepped through with Dörr.
“Let me introduce you to the Reykjavík staff,” Clara said. “This is?—”
A man suddenly appeared in front of us from thin air on the next step. I had a split second to take in his appearance, every detail emblazoned in my mind. He wore an old-fashioned blackvelvet long coat. Lacy ruffles at his throat and wrists. A green silk neckcloth tied around his neck in a knot with a gleaming gold pin, two snakes curved together in the shape of an S. He wore a matching green vest beneath the coat and a large signet ring on his pinky finger of his right hand.
Shimmering emerald eyes glowed like eerie lamps despite his benevolent smile.
Dörr twisted beside me, enfolding me against him while turning aside, shielding me with his back. I heard the snap of his wings. The screech of his claws on the concrete steps as he shifted. Something swept past us in a blur, whistling through the air with deadly speed. Metal sliced through the intruder and clanged on the stone, sending up a shower of sparks. With a heavy grunt, Heimdallr staggered a step, thrown off balance when his sword simply flowed through his enemy.
My enemy.
My father.
