“And if I left you for Grim, and something happened to you while I was gone—”

“I know. That’s always the fear, isn’t it? I could let you put me in a cage.”

He shook his head. “You’d never do that, Sunshine.”

“I can’t go with you. I could, but it’s a risk. And I shouldn’t go with the Valkyries, either. They can finish off the golems with or without me. That leaves me with the task of going home to get my parents and convince them to go to New Breidablick the way I had planned. Baldur can watch my back. I think he’ll help me if I ask nicely.”

“I’ll go with you,” Skyla said.

“No.” I shook my head. “You’ve got to go with the Valkyries. You’ve got to make sure those golems are destroyed. Something funny is going on with those women, Embla especially.” Skyla’s face reddened, and she opened her mouth, presumably to form an objection. I raised a hand and continued. “You can’t tell me you didn’t smell something fishy with that truck driver in Winnemucca.”

She shrugged. “What are you getting at?”

“He was a setup—a red herring.” I explained what the truck driver, Kowalski, had said about being told to leave the convoy and lie in wait for us. I laid out my concerns about Embla’s lack of investigation and her ready acceptance of Kowalski’s lame story. “Something isn’t adding up, but I’d love to be proven wrong. I’d love to think we could trust the Valkyries implicitly. That’s what I’m asking you to do. Prove them loyal. Just promise me you won’t blindly follow Embla.”

Skyla scowled, and a vein in her forehead throbbed. “Fine,” she said between gritted teeth. She shook her head as if a fly had pestered her. “Fine. I’ll make you a tasty plate of crow to eat when this is all over.”

“I hope you’re right.” I reached across the table for her hand. She let me take it, despite her rancor. I twined my fingers between hers, and she didn’t resist, although her frown remained in place. “I want you to prove me wrong. Please, prove me wrong. I need those Valkyries on my side. You’re the only one I trust to put them there.”

Skyla ground her teeth and nodded. She squeezed my hand once and let go before rising to her feet. “Boss Man, can you get me to the hotel in a hurry? The Valkyries are waiting on me. We’ve got a golem army to demolish.”

Thorin exhaled in a rush of breath and nodded. He stood and pulled me to my feet. “Let me take Solina to Baldur first, and then I’ll come back for you.”

I dropped his hand and threw my arms around Skyla for a brief hug. She returned it, patting my back. “Thank you,” I said. “I owe you.”

“No, you don’t. This is what I was made to do. It’s my purpose.”

I stepped back from her and nodded at Gróa. “After everything you’ve done to help me, I feel I owe you more than just my thanks. But I don’t have more than that to offer right now. And I’m sorry for leaving in such a hurry.”

The seer shrugged. “I’m like the Valkyrie. I don’t need your thanks. I’m just doing my job. We’re all in this together, mostly. If you can keep the goddess of the underworld from turning this into Hell on Earth, I’ll kindly take that as payment for my services.”

“I hope I see you again,” I said.

Her green eyes twinkled as she winked. “If you need me, you’ll find me.”

Thorin pulled me into his arms. “Thank you,” he said to Gróa. “Your assistance today won’t be forgotten. The Aesir owe you a favor, now.”

She waved him off. “Maybe you’ll pay to get the Honeywagon out of impound for me sometime.”

“I’ll do much more than that,” he said in the moment before my ears popped. “I swear it.”

When Thorin spoke the necessary rune, raidho, we dissolved into the whirl of cross-dimensional travel. But somewhere in the spinning darkness, the winds and dizziness faded. Everything went still and silent. He wrapped himself tighter around me.

“What’s going on?” I asked. He had suspended us in a place without light or outside sounds. Only his touch and warmth assured me of his presence. “Where are we?”

“Between,” he said simply.

“Between what?”

“Between here and there. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take you to Baldur soon enough, but this was the only way I could get a minute alone with you. No witches or Valkyries or Allfathers.”

My heartbeat quickened into an unsteady gallop. “Why? What’s the matter?”

He brushed his lips over my temple. “You’re asking me to leave you, and I’m actually considering going through with it. I can’t help feeling I’m going to regret it.”

“You’ll regret losing Grim even more.”

“More than losing you? I don’t think so.”

“I’m going to New Breidablick. There’s hardly a safer place for me, is there?”

“I still think this is a bad idea.”

“All our options are bad.”

“I agree. So at least let me have a decent goodbye.”

“What do you mea—” He kissed me before I finished my question, demonstrating exactly what he meant.

Dizzying winds returned, emboldened and amplified. Thunder, lightning, and rain crashed, and I met and matched Thorin’s elements with my own—fire, light, and heat.

I pulled away, laughing, rejoicing in our combined strength. My light set his eyes ablaze. “I believe in you.” I smiled, brimming with confidence. “Never forget that.”

“I won’t.” His tone was grim despite the smile playing on his lips. “I just hope it’s enough to get us through whatever comes next.”

Thorin settled me on my feet in the living room of the River’s Edge Hotel suite and held me until I regained my balance. Baldur sat on the couch nearby, leg thrown casually over his knee, arms extended across the sofa’s back—kingly, regal. His blue eyes narrowed, and he looked hard at me then at Thorin and back at me. A knowing grin broke out over his face. “Ah, I see. It’s about time.”

I ignored Baldur’s comment, stepped away from Thorin, and inhaled, urging my emotions to settle, steeling myself against the desire to tell him not to go. “Allfather, I have a request.”

Baldur arched an eyebrow. “I had a feeling you would. It’s why I’m here, waiting for you.”

I settled into a chair across from him and sucked in another big breath. “It’s a long story. I hope you’re not in a hurry.”

Thorin cleared his throat. “I’m going to get Skyla. Then I’m heading out. If I come back here, I think...” His face fell flat, and his eyes went dull. He avoided my gaze. “I think it’s best if I don’t come back here until I’m done with Grim and Val.”

I bit my lip and swallowed the protest rising in my throat. I’ve had to separate from too many people I’ve cared about today. It’s not getting any easier. “Go. Be fast. Be safe.”

“I’ll see you at New Breidablick?” he asked.

“You’d better.”

He nodded and disappeared without another word.

I turned my attention to Baldur. Both of his eyebrows rose as he stared at the empty space Thorin had previously occupied. “I have a feeling I’m not going to like whatever you have to tell me. Whatever happened to make him leave you...”

“It’s not good,” I said. “It was hard enough the first time. Explaining it again won’t be any easier.”