“How long?” he growled.
“I wasn’t hiding, not from you, anyway.” Big fat lie number two.
“From who, then?”
I arched a brow in a meaningful way. “Do you really need me to make a list?”
Thorin grimaced and waved for me to continue.
“As far as anyone knew, I was dead. And regular dead is a way better alternative to being chewed up by a wolf to fulfill some cataclysmic prophecy, no?”
“You can see how well that worked out.”
“I made it five weeks,” I said. “I was on the road for one week and in San Diego for four before that Rolf guy showed up and started making threats. How can you not know who he is? Only so many of you survived Ragnarok.”
“Reincarnation, a Jötunn, or simply a well-connected human who has deep pockets and access to high-level technology—he could be anyone or no one.”
“He wasn’t no one. And he wasn’t simple.”
“There were nine worlds,” Thorin said as his phone rang. He tugged the device from his pocket and peered at the screen. “He could have come from any of them.”
Thorin swiped his thumb over the screen and put the phone to his ear. An animated voice on the other end rattled on for a bit before Thorin replied with a casual, “Yup. She’s here.” And a moment later, “Yes, she’s fine.” After the caller spoke again, Thorin said, “I don’t know yet. I’ll give you a call when we figure it out.”
“Who was that?” I asked when he hung up.
“Val.”
I blanched. I would have rather faced the wolf than deal with Val. Skoll wanted to kill me, and I harbored a steadfast and unequivocal loathing for the wolf. Val, however, wanted to own me and had used heavy-handed methods to get his way. I didn’t hate him, but I wasn’t eager to face him yet, either.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“North Carolina.”
My pulse skittered. North Carolina was home, the place I most wanted to protect and keep separate from the strange and dangerous world of magic and monsters. “Did he really think I was dumb enough to go back there?”
“Weren’t you?”
“Dumb? No. Incognizant? Yes. I left there fast. I knew what a danger it was.”
“Well, it’s as good of a place to look for your trail as any.”
Thorin was right, which is why I hadn’t stayed. Not wanting to talk about home anymore, I moved on to my next question. “How about Baldur? Where is he?”
Thorin’s brows drew down into a contemplative look. “Back in New Breidablik. Why?”
Instead of answering, I asked another question. “What were your plans for me once you got here? When you heard my voice on the phone and you knew it was me, what did you think would happen next?”
The furrow in Thorin’s brow deepened. “I thought I’d come and make sure you were safe.”
“Then what?”
“Then I planned to take you back to Alaska, regroup with Val and Baldur, and put you somewhere safe. Being out in the open, as you’ve discovered, is too dangerous.”
“So, lock me in a cage. That’s your answer?”
Thorin’s jaw clenched. He folded his arms over his chest, and darkness—the cold, angry kind—glinted in his eyes. “I’m sure if I say yes, you’ll tell me all the reasons why that would be a bad idea.”
“You’re a smart guy, Thorin. I’m sure you could figure them out for yourself.”
“Why did you call me? If it wasn’t my protection you were seeking, then what do you want from me?”
“I do want your protection,” I said.
Thorin’s eyebrow flickered upward, and his expression changed from antagonized to intrigued.
“I want your brawn and your might. I want your experience and knowledge, too. I want all these things for several specific reasons, and none of them have to do with you locking me up in a cage. How would that work, anyway? Your conscience is appeased because you saved the world—and yourself—without having to kill an innocent woman. Meanwhile, I rot away in captivity. Is that how you see it going?”
A-a-andhere comes the animosity again. But no, quite the opposite. Thorin’s severe posture relaxed. He slumped onto the bed beside me and rubbed his eyes. “Is that really how you see me, Sunshine? It’s true I’m an immortal being and a god, and it’s my nature to command and expect submission, but I have also lived as a man for a very long time. It has tempered me, some, believe it or not.”
Thorin scratched his jaw. “When I left you at the Aerie, the last time I saw you, I thought we had established a trust between us. I thought we had an understanding. I had proved myself capable of compromise, but then you took advantage of my goodwill. You used it to deceive me, so forgive me if I’m less inclined to reason with you now.”
Thorin’s argument made more sense than I wanted to admit. All the ire and self-righteous pomp I had built up in preparation for confronting him seeped out like air from a leaky balloon. I stared at the blank TV screen and said, “It would be easier if you were just the Thor stereotype. Angry. Rash. Obstinate. Not too bright.”
Thorin snorted, but a smile played on his lips. “Then you could dismiss me and not take my opinions or feelings into consideration.”
“Yes. It’s easier to keep you at an arm’s length that way.”
“It’s no surprise that building walls would be your tendency, Sunshine. You’ve been hurt. Badly. That’s not a thing anyone easily overcomes.” He spoke truth.
