I rolled my eyes and tugged at Val’s arm. “C’mon, tomcat. Let’s hit the road.”
Val hurried to open the door for me, but I backtracked when I remembered another issue requiring resolution before we all went our separate ways.
“I forgot something,” I said. “I’ll meet you out front, okay?”
Val gave me a sour look but did as I asked.
I turned to Thorin, who watched me, brows drawn down, a frown tugging at his mouth. I reached behind my neck and unfastened the chain supporting Mjölnir. “I think you’ll be needing this.”
Without taking his eyes from mine, Thorin held out his hand. I pooled the necklace into his palm, and he closed his fist around the warm gold. He stepped closer and put his free hand to my jaw. His fingertips rested like a breath on the pulse point in my neck. Surprise and uncertainty rooted my feet to the floor.
“Solina.” Thorin could undo me so easily, saying my name like that—like a prayer. He was possibly nothing more than a manipulator like his cousin, except he had a subtlety Val lacked.
No, I don’t believe that. He’s not devious. Just driven and resolute.
“Please,” Thorin said.
Hearing him implore me, his tone soft and needful rather than demanding and harsh—I might have given him my soul when he talked to me that way. Instead, I steeled myself against his allure.
“What is it?” I asked. “What do you want?”
“Above all else, you must keep yourself alive.”
“I know.” I lost my patience and threw my hands out at my sides. “Your life is so important to you, but is it possible for you to realize mine is at least as important to me? Unlike you, I get a finite number of years. I’m not anxious to give them up any earlier than I have to. So stop reminding me how important it is that I stay alive. I know. I know it like I know the sky is blue.”
Thorin’s lips quirked up in a half smile. “So, you’re still trying to convince me it isn’t always about me?”
“I don’t know why I bother. It’s an impossible task.”
“Mostly, yes. You’re right. But sometimes…” His voice drifted away, and his ghost of a smile went with it. The brown in his eyes deepened to black.
I met his gaze, though it took a great deal of self-confidence to do so. “Sometimes what?”
“Sometimes, there’s something… else.”
The air between us filled with potential, the kind of energy waiting for one spark to set it loose. I couldn’t do it, though. I wouldn’t be the one to strike the flint.
Thorin drew a deep breath, and his hand fell away. “One last thing before you leave.” He raised a hand, and Mjölnir dangled from his fingers, swaying on its gold chain. He undid the clasp, slipped the pendant from the necklace, and stuffed the hammer into his pocket. “Wear the chain. When the hammer is separated from its lanyard, they can be used to track each other. As long as you are wearing this and as long as I have Mjölnir, I will be able to find you, no matter where you go.”
I let him put the necklace around my neck, substantially lighter without the golden nugget of Thor’s Hammer weighing it down. Thorin let me go without another word. My heart thudded as I trudged through the hotel.
Mani used to listen to my problems, giving advice when I asked or lending a sympathetic ear when I needed that more. Having a guy’s perspective had kept me out of more than one bad relationship. Actually, it kept me out of pretty much any relationship. Maybe that explained my problem. Enduring emotional conflict with Thorin—and Val—on my own totally sucked.
“You smell like him,” Val grumbled when I climbed into the Yukon’s passenger seat.
I turned to face him. “I accept I clean up pretty good sometimes. I’ve come into some nifty special powers. But, really, it’s not every day an otherwise ordinary, small-town girl has two immortal men chomping at her heels. What is it? If it’s my deodorant, I can switch brands.”
“So you admit he’s trying to seduce you. That pretentious, two-faced—”
“Stuff it, Val. Neither of you are paradigms of virtue.”
“At least I don’t put on a show, trying to make you think I am.”
“He’s not trying to seduce me.” Thank God for small favors. And big ones.
Val cut his blue eyes to me with a beleaguered expression before turning his attention back to the road. “We had this discussion before, Solina. You need your ego stroked or something?”
“Just the opposite. I need a reality check.”
“Your loyalty, courage, dedication to something you believe in… it’s a rare thing.”
“It’s not so rare,” I said and scoffed. “And you knock Thorin for it all the time.”
“Because it’s misplaced. His attachment to Baldur is going to wind up getting everyone in trouble.”
“I agree, but I also see Thorin’s point. Everyone needs a friend when they’re standing on the edge of the abyss.”
“Hmm,” Val said in an evasive way. “But back to your original question. I’m more than happy to tell you all the reasons I find you irresistible.”
“No. Forget I brought it up.”
“You need someone in your life to remind you of these things so you never have to doubt.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I might get an overinflated sense of myself.”
“Having healthy self-esteem is a good thing.” Val grinned, and a mischievous sparkle lit in his eyes. “Besides, your ego will never be bigger than mine.”
