Thorin’s eyes darkened, but not in anger. “You make me do all kinds of things I never intended to do.”
Although Thorin and I stood inches apart, it felt as though we were staring at each other across a wide valley filled with unspoken sentiments. Thorin’s allure pulled at me, urging me to act, to do something decisive for once. I resisted that impulse, and as if sensing my reticence, Thorin stepped back and shook his head. “You don’t have to leave, but I wish you would. I’ve got to get back to work.”
His dismissal stung, but it cleared my head. I latched onto it and used the hurt to temper my urges. It’s not right to want someone so much. He’s a god, and I am not. How can it go any way but badly between us? “Don’t do anything to hurt my apples.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He turned and walked back to his rock pile and crouched among the stones. “They’ve kept me going. They’ve attracted small game, squirrels and birds. This place is coming back to life.” He turned to look up at me. “I don’t know how you did it, but it’s a miracle.”
“It has to be a miracle. I don’t know quite how it happened either.” I told him about how the first tree had come back to life under my touch and how I’d planted the seeds from the first apple harvest.
Thorin smirked and shook his head. “I never thought I would see the day.”
“You think it means something?”
“I don’t know what it means, but I’m thankful for the little bit of life you’ve brought with you.”
“Is it really Asgard?”
Thorin selected a rock and rose from his crouch. He hauled it to the newly erected section of Idun’s house and heaved the stone into place. “It’s really Asgard. It exists on a plane that is contrary to human existence.”
“It’s like a dream. It’s hard to believe any of it might be real. I don’t think I’m fully myself when I come here. Part of me is somewhere else.”
“The part of you that comes here is the spirit of Sol that gives you your ability with fire.” Thorin stopped working again and gave me a solemn look. “So long as you live, you remain tethered to her. She is you, and you are her. That which defines you as Sol is not tangible. Your spirit can exist in Asgard, but not your humanity.”
I motioned toward the burnt-out skyline behind us. “Do you think it could be rebuilt?”
“I would have said no before, but I’m beginning to wonder.”
“I could stay and help you,” I said. “I like it here.”
“When you are separated like this, you are putting yourself in danger. If Helen found you in the earthly realm right now, you would be easy prey. This is only a half life for you. You must go back.”
“And leave you here, alone?”
“I’ve been alone for centuries, Sunshine.”
I crossed the yard and stopped at a spot that kept the rock pile between us. “What happened to you?”
Thorin, moving like a snake, slithered around the meager barricade of stones and towered over me, his eyes blackened by the ferocity of his imperative. “Forget about me. Baldur will take you to his home and protect you. Forget about going after Helen. Forget about Skoll. Keep yourself alive. Forgive me for the comic-book dialogue, but the fate of your world rests on your life, and you cannot jeopardize that on my behalf. Not for me, not for Val, not for Skyla, the Valkyries, your parents, or your brother. If Helen wins, if Skoll takes you, then all of that is gone. My life doesn’t even begin to weigh on that scale.”
Thorin’s hand shot out and latched onto my upper arm, squeezing. “Tell me you understand.”
“I understand.” I returned his bold gaze and didn’t shrug off his grip, although my arm throbbed in protest.
“Tell me you’ll do as I say.”
“You want me to forget about you?”
Thorin snarled. “Yes.”
I spread my lips into a thin, defiant smile. “I’ve never done a damn thing you told me to do before, Thorin, and I don’t plan to start doing it now.”
I awoke with a gasp. The sudden shift from Idun’s garden to the real world upset my sense of balance, and the room swirled around me. The howl of Thorin’s outrage echoed in my ears, but the man himself remained in Asgard, trapped. The cabin breathed as a squall of wind passed by. I inhaled several deep breaths and sent them out in one therapeutic whoosh. When my heartbeat settled into a normal rhythm again, I eased against the headboard and let my mind drift back, replaying my encounter with Thorin.
Thorin’s argument presented solid reasoning. His life for the fate of the world? Logically, I would have said no, he wasn’t worth that much. Something inside me wanted to disagree. I shifted in the big, empty bed and sat up, intending to go to the kitchen for a drink of water. I considered finding something mind-numbing to watch on TV and shutting out my thoughts for a bit. Going back to sleep was a hopeless goal.
As I reached across the bed to snap on the lamp, I noticed something on the pillow beside me, something heavy enough to sink into its downy filling. When my fingers curled around the item, I recognized the shape, but it radiated none of its usual warmth. All my aches and pains drained away as panic sent me racing from the bed, calling for Skyla.
Skyla threw open her bedroom door and rushed to meet me in the living room. Whatever she saw on my face sent the blood draining from her own. “What is it?” she demanded. “Helen? Skoll?”
“No.” I presented my discovery. Skyla looked down at my open hand and gasped.
By then Baldur had joined us. He saw my prize and swore. “Mjölnir? Is Magni back?”
“No. I found it lying on the pillow next to me.”
“What does it mean?” Skyla asked.
Baldur shook his head. “Nothing good. Mjölnir would never leave Magni unless it was taken from him unwittingly or if he lost the will to possess it.”
“Lost his will?” Skyla asked. “Like…” She swallowed and started again. “Like, if he died?”
“It only means he’s lost the force of will required to possess Mjölnir. Something terrible has happened, but I cannot presume to know what.”
“He’s not dead,” I said. I told Baldur and Skyla about Asgard and what Thorin had said in Idun’s garden about not being able to leave. “You can go there and get him, Baldur. You can make him leave.”
Baldur shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Not without knowing where Magni’s corporeal body is. His godhood cannot exist in this plane without his body.”
