Now it’s my turn. My turn to protect him. From himself.
My arm vibrates. Every moment I shared with the love of my life flashes before me. When we cooked. When he dried me. His songs and poems and stories. His insults and flirts. His naked laugh. Naked body. His eyes. Smile.
The hammer howls in my hand. Excited. It shrieks like Ari. Crying into the night. Yearning to reunite with its goal.
Its goal? My man. My love.
My Ari.
I open my eyes, staring straight into the frost giant’s empty glare.
That’s not my Ari.
I want him back.
I scream at the top of my lungs. It’s time to throw my weapon. Thrust. Like Odin.
The hammer doesn’t decide.
The Queen doesn’t rule.
Only me.
I am the only ruler.
Ari ismyman.
Let them weep!
Still screaming, I fling the hammer at my monstrous lover. The curse screeches as it flies at its target.
Not where it wants.
Where I decide.
My target.
I see it for a split second. White. No longer metal. Not even ice.
Pure energy.
It connects with Ari’s chest. Thunder booms. Shattering reality.
The world vanishes.
My vision explodes into a flickering flower of light.
No Norns. No Queen.
Kilda the Wild.
The choice is mine.
All white.
CHAPTER 82
Warm light strokes my nonexistent body. My edges are gone. I am being, breath, nothing more. I am unmade.
