“I’ll have the proof I need to show the Valkyries that they’ve been compromised. Then we can work together to flush out the mole.”
“And either way, we’ll have Skoll’s head.”
“I have to get a move on,” Skyla said. She swept me aside and went to the foyer. As she opened the door, she turned to Thorin. “I’ll call and leave you a message with an update.” Pointing a finger at both of us, she put on a stern face and said, “Play nice, you two.”
Skyla walked out and didn’t look back. I missed her the moment the door closed behind her. I turned to Thorin, who had shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and stared at the door, a reluctant look on his face as if, maybe, he shouldn’t have let her go.
“When should we leave?” I asked.
“Sunrise,” he said. “But we need to go out now and get supplies.”
I went into my room to grab my shoes but raised my voice so Thorin could hear me. “Hati worked for you for a while, didn’t he?”
“Skyla tell you that?”
“No, I read it in the police file on Mani’s murder. Hati worked for you, but not Skoll. But did you ever see him? Were they ever together?”
Thorin appeared in my doorway and rested a shoulder against the doorjamb. “I knew who Hati was but not what he was up to.” He looked down and scuffed the carpet with the toe of his boot. “And no, I never saw Skoll. Not in human form. It’s not the first time I’ve run into them since Ragnarok, but I never suspected Hati was going to do what he did. I thought all that was over with a long time ago. It’s no excuse. I shouldn’t have let down my guard.” Thorin took a deep breath, but whatever he was going to say next, he decided against.
I had no reply for Thorin except to say I thought he should have been more careful with Hati, but that would have been the equivalent of poking a beehive with a stick.
“This won’t be luxury, Solina. It’s a desert, and we’re going in with the barest of what we need to get by.”
I bit my lip and bobbed my chin in a curt nod. “I’m sure I’ll be totally unprepared and be a complete wuss. I apologize in advance.”
Thorin cracked a smile. “Thanks for the warning.”
I followed him to the front door, expecting Val and Baldur to fall in behind us, but Thorin and I stepped into the hallway alone. “Where are the others?”
“I had already sent Val and Baldur back to Vegas before Skyla told us her news. It’s Helen’s headquarters. The only other place Skoll would be is at Helen’s side. Val and Baldur are going to try to catch Skoll’s trail there. If Skyla is wrong, and if Helen doesn’t have a mole in the Aerie, I still want to get my hands on that wolf.”
“Maybe we should switch places.” I winked at Thorin. “Let Baldur and Val rough it in the desert.”
When Thorin and I stopped before a bay of elevators, he pressed the call button. “No, I want you far away from Helen. Skoll poses much less threat and is more vulnerable on his own. Divide and conquer.”
The elevator bell chimed, and the door slid apart to an empty car. Thorin and I stepped inside, and he pushed the button for the lobby.
“Couldn’t the same be said for us?” I asked. “We’re divided. Easier to conquer.”
Thorin huffed a breath through his nose. “I’ve already raised all your doubts for myself. At some point, we have to stop questioning and start acting. You said so yourself.”
“Using my own words against me? Good strategy.”
The elevator opened, and Thorin and I strolled across the elegant lobby. People turned to watch him—he had that kind of presence. He’d been a god for eons, while I’d only played at it for a few months. My humanity still shrouded me while Thorin’s fit like a sheer veil, barely hiding the divinity beneath.
“People notice you,” I said in a low voice only he could hear. “Everywhere we go, you turn heads. It’s like they can tell something’s different about you.”
Thorin’s mouth curved into a crooked smile. “They’re looking at you, too.”
“No…” My protest started and stopped on that single word.
The gazes that first settled on him had turned to me, studying, evaluating.
“They’re probably all wondering what a guy like you is doing with a girl like me.”
Thorin snorted. “The only person you’re fooling is yourself, Sunshine.”
A valet had brought the Yukon from the parking lot and left it idling under the portico for us. Thorin tipped him and slid behind the wheel while I climbed into the passenger seat. Thorin pulled out from the hotel’s driveway and eased into traffic. The sun had set, and the city lights limned his face—he looked like a two-dimensional illustration.
Thorin drove the whole way in silence, but as we pulled into the parking lot of a camping supply store, he took a deep breath and said, “I’ll admit I’ve had conflicting interests before, but now I have Mjölnir, and I’ve been released from my vows to Baldur.” He turned to me, and conviction blazed in his dark eyes. “There’s nothing but you to hold me back.”
“Me? How am I going to hold you back? I’ve never had the least bit of influence on you.”
The muscle in Thorin’s jaw clenched as he fought some internal battle. “That’s not entirely true. But I’m asking you to trust me, no matter what. No matter if I say or do something that you don’t agree with, or that pisses you off. I’m doing what’s best for me, and that happens to be what’s best for you, too.”
I raised a sardonic eyebrow. “You see the world through your own Thorin-colored lenses, don’t you?”
Thorin smirked. “You should give it a try sometime. It’s an exceptional view. But you’re deflecting. Do you trust me or not?”
“I—” My voice broke. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I don’t follow blindly.”
“I’m not asking you to do that.”
I studied Thorin’s face, although the darkness hid most of it. Somehow, he managed to exude an air of surety, confidence, and capability, offering a reassurance I hadn’t realized I wanted until that moment. I bit my bottom lip as the tension built between us. He wouldn’t let the issue go until I gave him an answer.
“Okay.” I let out a heavy breath. “I trust you.”
Thorin exhaled and seemed to relax. “Good answer, Sunshine.”
