“Vervain!” Thor shouted in relief and hugged me.
Then he saw the others.
“Who are these people?” Thor scowled. “You've been gone for hours and you come home with a group of strangers?”
“This is Kirill,” I introduced Kirill first. “I met him when I freed the Intare from their nasty goddess, Niyarvirezi.”
“You what?” Thor gaped at me.
“Hold on to your leather trousers, Viking,” Demeter said, “things are about to get crazy.”
I gave Demeter a silencing look, and she held up her hands in surrender.
“She was hurting them, Thor,” I said. “Kirill was chained to the floor; as in a bolt through his ankle.”
“You were bolted to the floor?” Thor asked in horror.
“And I thought we had it bad,” one of the humans muttered.
“You know nothing of true pain,” Kirill said to him. “I vas tortured for years and zen I lost my mind.”
“And yet here you stand—seemingly sane—beside my wife.” Thor narrowed his eyes at Kirill.
“She's my Tima now,” Kirill said, “ze Goddess zat gives me immortality. You vill have to accept zat Vervain is no longer completely yours.”
“The fuck I will,” Thor growled as he started forward.
“Thor!” I pushed him back. “It's been a rough day. Do you want to hear all of it, or are you just going to beat on a man who's already been beaten too much to care?”
Thor's shoulders dropped, and his expression softened. He closed his eyes and sighed.
“You're right,” Thor said. “My apologies, Kirill. I trust my wife; I shouldn't be questioning her motives for bringing you here.”
“Thank you.” I hugged the big lug.
“Now, who are the rest of these people?” Thor asked.
“Demeter's ex-prisoners,” I said.
Thor looked at Demeter with wide eyes.
“Oh, don't act as if your people have never owned slaves, Viking,” Demeter hissed. “Freedom is a modern concept, and even then, it isn't worldwide; not for any world.”
Thor grimaced but nodded.
“You agree with her?” I gaped at him.
“I agree that she speaks the truth,” Thor corrected. “The Vikings were slavers; most of the conquering races were.”
“Well, I'm an American, and we don't...” I trailed off as I realized how wrong that statement would have been.
“You don't what?” Thor smirked at me.
“Yeah, okay; let it go,” I huffed. “I freed these people, and they're going to be staying with us until we can get them settled back into their lives.”
“Your wife is a hero, Sir,” one of the men said. “We're all very grateful to her.”
“Thank you,” Thor said. “And yes; she is valiant. Vervain has always been so.” He leaned down to kiss me softly. “It's the reason I first noticed her.”
