“Yes, a week,” I said. “I’ll work double overtime when I get back.”
Dad was still grumbling when I said my goodbyes and hung up. I tossed the phone onto the bed and exhaled a heavy sigh. “I’m definitely going to need a margarita after that.”
A few minutes later, I was sprawled on a patio recliner, sucking a Diet Coke through a skinny straw and trying to convince myself the caffeine was as good as a cocktail. In my current mood, it would have taken three or four margaritas to mellow me out. Or one of those huge fishbowl drinks. Prudence suggested now was a bad time to spiral into a drunken stupor, so I sipped on soda and basked in the sun in hopes of finding a more natural path to peace and serenity.
I had almost achieved a state of Zen when Thorin invaded my tranquil afternoon. He strolled around the side of a giant blooming bougainvillea and stopped at the foot of my chair. “Contrary to how it may appear,” he said, “we are not here on vacation.”
Thorin’s eyes were black again, but not from anger. A tingle wormed its way up from my toes until the sensation prickled pleasantly over my scalp. Thorin scraped his gaze up the length of me before meeting my eyes. I thought I saw interest in his expression, but the sentiment faded too fast to be sure. “You’ve made yourself comfortable, haven’t you?” he said.
“Would you prefer I curled up on the couch in my sweats, crying and hugging a pillow? Because I did that already. For months. And I do not want to be that girl anymore. It didn’t bring him back. It didn’t give me any answers.”
Thorin said nothing but shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and worried his bottom lip with his teeth.
“Did you come out here to give me grief, or did you have something to say?” I asked.
Thorin took a deep breath, and his shoulders slumped. He padded in bare feet to a chair near my lounger and sank onto the cushion. I pointed to his toes. “You look comfortable, too. I can’t say I’ve ever seen you relax.”
“Relaxation is expensive at a time like this.”
“My brother would say it’s times like this when it’s most important to take a little pleasure in life.” I smiled sardonically and batted my lashes. “I mean, tomorrow we could all be eaten by wolves.”
Thorin snorted, and his eyes flicked over me again. “You’re not much like him.”
Well, no. I have boobs. “Did you expect us to be? Did you think because we were twins that we shared a personality? I may be out of my element in your world, but I assure you that I am devoted to my brother and doing what is necessary to prevent his murderer from avoiding justice.”
“Does ‘doing’ what is necessary include Val?”
I balled my fist but held back, knowing it would do no good to hit him. “Why are you so hung up on me and Val? It almost sounds like you’re jealous.”
Thorin leaned closer, his eyes ablaze. “This has nothing to do with jealousy and everything to do with your disregard for the seriousness of the threat facing us all. Val is distracted from his purpose, and so are you, when it pleases him. I will not have you putting my future or the future of my kind in jeopardy for a meaningless fling.”
“What if it wasn’t meaningless?” I asked. “What if we were soul mates fated to be together for eternity, like Baldur and Nina? Apparently then it would be perfectly fine to put your future in jeopardy.” The dig on Baldur was a low blow; he seemed like a nice guy, even though I wasn’t sure going to Vegas to look for an obscure woman was the brightest idea.
Thorin growled. “You are talking of things you know nothing about.”
“Then explain them to me.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Because I’m too ephemeral and insubstantial?”
Thorin raised an eyebrow, shrugged a shoulder. “You’ve lived… what? Twenty-five years? So, yes, you are ephemeral and insubstantial compared to Baldur and Nina’s epochs and eons. Do you have the proper frame of reference to appreciate that kind of devotion and loyalty? I think not.”
I rolled to my feet and stood over Thorin, fists clenched, pulse racing, and poured out my scorn by the bucket. “If Mani and I are the beings you all insist we are, then we have shared those epochs and eons, as well. Maybe I don’t have the awareness of my history with my brother that Baldur and Nina have, but I’m willing to bet the goddess inside me does. She knows, and she can appreciate that kind of loyalty.”
“But Baldur is immortal and Nina is timeless. My mortal status is a lot more uncertain. If I die going after some godly whim, Sol reincarnates again in another thousand years, which is fine and dandy for her. But what happens to the girl I am now? What happens to Solina Mundy? That would mean both of us were gone, Mani and me, and no one will be left to avenge us.” Tears burned in the corners of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I had just thrown a self-righteous hissy fit before the God of Thunder, who should also be called the God of Stone-Cold Composure. This was not how I wanted to make my point. “Is that really a risk you expect me to take for someone else’s sake?”
Thorin rose to his full height, unwilling to let me lord over him. “You going to burn me down, Sunshine?” The corner of his mouth curled up in a smile. “I see it in your eyes. The flames are dancing in there.”
“You think this is funny?”
His smile fell. “Not one bit.”
I drew in a calming breath and pushed aside my anger. If Thorin could keep his cool, so could I. “I will not defend myself to you when I’ve done nothing that requires defense. Tell me what you want, or I’m going to my room.”
“I’ve heard from Helen. She wants to meet.”
My bubble of fury burst, and my knees gave way. I wobbled, but Thorin caught my shoulders and held me. I took a deep breath and pushed him away, standing on my own strength. “When and where?”
“Just you, alone, tomorrow.”
“She’ll kill me.”
“She’ll try,” he said. “But I don’t intend to let her get away with it. Neither are you totally defenseless.”
“She knows my tricks. She’ll be prepared. Probably have fire extinguishers and sprinklers pointed at me from every direction.”
Thorin laughed. He rarely did so, which was a shame because his laughter was lovely, the rumble of a distant summer storm. A strand of my hair had fallen loose from its knot, and Thorin reached to tuck it behind my ear. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Because you can’t let Helen succeed?”
“Yes.”
I sighed. “That’s fair enough. If I’m your security blanket, then at least I know you’ll do anything to keep me safe. A girl could have it worse.”
Thorin sniffed, and his eyes roamed over me. The mood suddenly changed from animosity to something… else. “There’s no girl here.”
What would have happened next I couldn’t say because Skyla raced onto the patio, excitement crackling from her like electricity. “Val’s been picked up by hotel security for cheating. They’re holding him downstairs until they can review the video.”
