Patrick kept his balance on the branch, dagger clenched tight in one bleeding hand, as he stared at his twin while the battle raged beyond them.
Hannah was dressed in casual clothes not fit for winter, and her red hair, once tangled and long, had been shorn up to her shoulders. Patrick didn’t have to think very hard about what spell Ethan would’ve used her hair for.
There’d been idols and a sacrifice and prayers to a god for areason.
Hannah said nothing, but her intent was communicated through the burning magic that poured from her fingertips, the power of a nexus cradled in her body and soul from a godhead aching to be freed.
Patrick had no hope of containing Hannah and the godhead trapped in her soul—not here, not now. Persephone could want Macaria back all she liked, but Odin was Patrick’s priority right now, and he clung to that mission with every last bit of him.
Bleeding fingers included.
Patrick threw himself off Yggdrasil’s branch, reaching for the rope Odin hung from with his one free hand. The spell meant to kill him burned through the space Patrick had been standing in, charring leaves to ash as gravity pulled him down.
Patrick got his fingers around the rope, and momentum had him crashing into Odin’s body. They swung there in the open air like a pendulum, and Patrick found himself staring into Odin’s eyes.
They blinked back at him.
Patrick bit back a yell of surprise and tried to ignore the way the rope was shredding his palms. Planting one foot against Odin’s chest, he levered himself upward and pressed the edge of the dagger blade against the rope. White heavenly fire flickered in its depths, along with countless silvery words giving voice to the prayers that shaped the weapon.
He didn’t bother with sawing through the rope, just put his strength and the dagger’s magic behind the blade to cut through the fibers with a single slice.
The rope separated and Patrick was weightless for not even half a second before they plummeted to earth.
I didn’t think this through.
Patrick and Odin fell through snow and wind and bursts of magic—landing not on the ground, but caught by Brynhildr.
Patrick slammed against the back of Dynfari behind Brynhildr, the valkyrie’s free hand snapping out to grab him by his leather jacket to steady him. Patrick reflexively tightened his grip on his dagger as Odin’s weight where it swung in the air nearly pulled his left arm out of its socket.
“Shit! Shit!” he cried out as he scrambled to not fall off the pegasus or let Odin’s body go.
“Hold on!” Brynhildr yelled.
“I’m fucking trying!”
The ground rushed up to meet them. When they were close enough he didn’t think any bones would get broken, Patrick let go of Odin. The god’s body thumped to the earth. Patrick’s entire body jostled hard when Dynfari’s hooves hit the ground, nearly biting through his tongue.
Patrick slid off the pegasus to the ground on shaky legs. He stumbled over to where Odin lay sprawled in the snow, unmoving save for his eyes that still slowly blinked, the noose still tight around his throat. Patrick’s hands throbbed, wood from Yggdrasil buried deep in his skin and the meaty flesh of his palms. It wasn’t enough to stop him from undoing the noose and tossing it aside. He hooked his arms beneath Odin’s shoulders and hauled the god off the ground with a grunt.
“Brynhildr!” Patrick yelled. “We need to get him out of here!”
The howling of hellhounds made Patrick swear loudly as Brynhildr urged Dynfari closer.
“The Allfather is not dead,” Brynhildr said.
She didn’t sound relieved, and Patrick didn’t know what to make of that. “That’s the whole point of this rescue mission, right? Save the god, save the world?”
Brynhildr didn’t blink when she said, “Is it?”
“Fuckyou gods and your riddles.”
Snow swirled faster around them as Hinon and Eir descended, landing nearby. Hinon’s wings were like an electric storm that Patrick didn’t want to get close to.
Eir dismounted Töfrandi and hurried over to them. Her spear was coated in blood, but none of it seemed to be hers. “Let me aid you.”
Patrick looked over at Hinon. “Hades?”
“He retreated to Zachary’s side. I felt it prudent not to engage them further when you had need of me,” Hinon said.
