"Why are you flushed?"
"Am I?" Elle touched her cheek.
Val eyed her. "You're chewing your fingers again."
Elle dropped her hand. "I need another beer," Elle said, not meeting Val's probing gaze.
"Which table?"
"Heimdall."
Val's eyebrows slammed together. "He never drinks more than one an hour."
"It's not for him."
Val glanced at the table, and her eyes darkened. "Elle-"
"I didn't ask him to come."
"We've talked about this. If he finds out who you are-"
"Lady Frigg knows. And Heimdall and Loki-"
"But Frigg, Heimdall, and Loki didn't try to kill your father. And thousands of fire giants. And vow to kill them all after Ragnarök." She looked around. "And though most of these are mortals, any number of sups pass through here who, I am sure, would be more than happy to sell you out for money or favor with Surtr."
Elle's fists balled. "Then why did we run? Why did we come here if I'm still going to spend the rest of my immortal life looking over my shoulder? I might as well have stayed and let Thadren have his way with me. At least with him I would've been protected."
Val crushed a lemon in her fist. "You are protected. I will protect you. But I want you to be careful."
"And stay away from Odin's son?"
"Yes."
Val wouldn't be happy with anything but her agreement to stay away from Thor, but somehow, she wasn't sure that was a promise she could make.
"I'll do my best. But I can't ask him not to come to his mother's establishment. That would be more suspicious than if I do nothing."
"Then continue to do nothing. Don't be discourteous, but don't encourage him either. If Thor Odinson finds out who you are, you can bet he will want one of two things: to use you to hurt Surtr, or to kill you to hurt Surtr."
Elle snorted. "Too bad he doesn't realize my father would have killed me himself if he'd cared enough about me to lift a finger.”
When Elle escaped with Val, she'd anticipated her life getting easier, not harder. She shook her head. She should have known better.
"Problem?" Frigg appeared next to Elle and smiled. “What can I do to help?”
"Tell me about her." Thor’s gaze remained on Elle as she moved about the bar in her dark, tight leggings that hugged her slender hips in a beautiful temptation. Once again, he didn’t like her wearing something so sensual around other people, but he had no idea why it bothered him.
"Who?"
Thor rolled his eyes. "Elle."
"Ahhhh..." Heimdall sipped his beer but didn't say anything.
"Ahhh? That's all you have to say? Ahhh?" Thor waited a moment. "Heimdall."
Heimdall shrugged his heavy shoulders. "Not much to tell. She got here about a month ago with her friend. They were looking for work. Frigg needed help and hired them."
"Where did they come from?"
