Perfekt Balance (The Ære Saga Book 3) (21 page)

His easy words did nothing to soothe my
panic. “Forget finding me, just get out of here. Bifrost back to
Midgard, or port to the far side of the realm. Runa thinks you’re
dead, so you’re in the clear, but now she’s on her way to kill
Brynn.”

Forse clenched his jaw. “Tyr,” he muttered
through his teeth. “Some cover, please.”

My brother grunted in the background, and a
shimmery bubble appeared behind Forse. My lower lip quivered. I’d
never been so relieved to see one of Tyr’s protective shields.
Brynn would be safe, at least for now.

Forse
swiped his finger across the screen. “Oh,
skit.
Henrik just sent his full
analysis of the crystal Runa ingested.”

“
What
does it say?” Brynn’s face popped into the background. “Oh,
hei
, Elsa.”

“
Hei
.” I waved halfheartedly.

“
Double
skit
,” Brynn swore. “This is so not good.”

Tyr
leaned over Forse’s shoulder, nodding at me as he read.
“
Hei
,
Sis.”

“Tyr, Runa is crazy. Your little bubble isn’t
going to do anything. You have to get Forse and Brynn out of
there,” I begged.

My
brother scrolled through the screen. “
Skit
doesn’t begin to cover it. The
good news is that the crystal’s effects last one to three days from
the time of activation. So it could be wearing off any time now.
Then we’ll only have a regular-issue crazy goddess on our hands,
not a hyped-up crazy one.”

“Unless she pocketed a shard when the crystal
exploded and ingests another piece,” Forse countered. “Then the
clock would start all over.”

Tyr and Brynn swore in unison.

I leaned against the stone wall of my cell.
“What powers did it give her, exactly? Did Henrik break them down?”
I asked.

“She’s got the hand blast, as we saw. Henrik
thinks it’s a dark magic-laced gas that’s being funneled into a
condensed stream. The gas acts as a conductor for the dark magic.”
Forse swiped the screen.

“Fabulous,” I muttered.

“Then there’s the porting. The crystal should
give Runa the power to open and close portals within the realm.
Apparently the crystal’s power is tied to Svartalfheim,” Forse
explained.

“Interesting.” Tyr sounded thoughtful. “So if
we got her out of here, even if she’s still hyped up on crystal
juice, its powers would be impotent?”

“
Probably. But this dose should wear off in a few hours.
Let’s try to bring her in before she goes for round two,
ja
?” Forse rubbed his
jaw.

“Obviously,” Tyr grumbled.

“Or you could wait out her rampage in Asgard,
and come back when she’s off her uppers?” I offered.

“We’re not leaving you here alone, Elsa.” Tyr
glowered.

Gods are so stubborn.

“Fine.” I tapped my chin with one finger. “Do
you think she could have any other powers?” I asked.

“
The
crystal is enhancing what’s in her. She was already strong; now she
should be stronger. She was already fast; now she’s like a cheetah
on caffeine. You get the idea.” Forse rubbed the deep
V
between his
brows.

I knew exactly why. “Her darkness is growing
too, isn’t it?”

Forse
nodded. “If Henrik’s specs are correct, this crystal is enhancing
everything in her genetic makeup, from physical to emotional
traits. Runa had a rough life, and I always believed those
circumstances made her do the things she did. But
now
…I can’t help but
wonder if evil was bred into her all along. Maybe her soul is coded
for malice.”

“It’s not,” I interjected. “I talked to it.
Her soul is really nice.”

“
You
did
what
?” Brynn
squeaked. “Oh my gods, how?”

“
Forget
how, did you say her spirit is
nice
?” Forse’s eyebrows shot up.

“It’s a long story.” I glanced over my
shoulder, but my cell door was still closed. Thank Odin. “The most
important thing to know is that you don’t have much time. Runa has
some major daddy issues, and unless we turn over Fenrir, she’s
going to lose the only god she seems to care about—her bat-poop
crazy father.”

“You been talking to Mia lately?” Tyr
chuckled.

“You know what I mean.” I rolled my eyes.
“Runa is determined to kill Brynn. I think her plan is to keep
offing Asgardians until we turn over the wolf.”

“If she’s serious about hurting our people,
then we’ll turn over the wolf.” Brynn shrugged. “We’ve trapped him
before; we can get him back again.”

“It’s not that simple,” I argued. “She’s
planning to use him to destroy Asgard. Apparently, the dark elf
prophets say Fenrir will play a key role in Ragnarok. And Runa
claims that if Tyr hands him over, he’ll die knowing he was
responsible for the end of the realms as we know them.”

My friends stared at the screen without
blinking.

“The dark elves have prophesies about
Ragnarok, too?” Brynn tugged at her ponytail.

“Apparently,” I confirmed. “I know we don’t
like to talk about the end of Asgard, but if there’s a chance this
could be true, we need to prevent it.”

The vein
in Forse’s forehead bulged. He was seriously mad. “Under no
circumstances are we to turn Fenrir over to
anyone
. Our Norns say
Fenrir will play a key role in Ragnarok as well. But they have
nothing but heroic things to say about Tyr’s role.”

A loud crash interrupted our
strategizing.

“What was that?” Brynn pointed. My friends
looked up, but my view was restricted to three furrowed brows.

I tapped the screen on my forearm. “I can’t
see. What is it?”

“
I think
a bird fell out of the sky.” Brynn flinched.
Crash.
“There’s another one. Is
someone shooting them?”

Tyr closed his eyes. “I’m not picking up any
mind signatures,” he surmised.

“Well, something’s making them fall. They
aren’t dropping on their own.” Forse ran his hand over the golden
highlights of his waves, and I wished I could reach through the
communicator and do the same. His carefully constructed layers were
slowly unraveling as his inner warrior clubbed his outer scholar
over the head, preparing for battle in the name of survival.

A disheveled justice god was unfairly
sexy.

At the sound of a third crash, Forse swore.
“They’re not birds. They’re drones in bird’s clothing.”

“Let me see,” I urged.

Forse angled his arm to show me the perimeter
of the silvery bubble, where a fourth black blur fell at the
protection. It struck the shield with a force that sent it bouncing
back, hitting a nearby tree with enough impact to shake its needles
loose. As it spiraled to the ground I caught a view of its
feathered head, bent wings, and broken beak. The drone convulsed,
emitting a series of red sparks before shooting a flare twenty
meters straight up.

Oh, gods.

Tyr growled. “It’s a scout drone. Whoever’s
sending them will be here any—”

He never got to finish his sentence. Before
my friends could draw their weapons, a sea of black birds rained
down on the protective shield. And a voice I wished I would never
hear again broke through the peaceful quiet of the forest.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

Runa was ready to play.

Dear Odin, help us all.

“So, my little friends found you. How
lovely.” Runa’s voice crackled, sounding far away.

Panic clawed at my heart. “Get out of
there!”

“Drone birds are equipped with speakers,”
Force said. “She’s not necessarily on site.” As he glanced up, a
trio of drones struck the shield directly above his head. How much
longer could it last?

“Whether she’s there or not, you need to
leave. Get back to Asgard and send the Elite Team in to take her
down. Don’t get yourselves killed!” I pleaded.

One
corner of Forse’s mouth turned up as the locator emitted a series
of beeps. “No Asgardians are getting killed today. We
finally
found you.”
Forse picked up Brynn’s backpack and tossed it to her. “Brynn, you
and Tyr hold Runa’s attention while I port to Elsa and get her out
of the tower. I’ll have Heimdall drop the Bifrost to bring her
home, then I’ll come back with—”

The loud boom jarred Forse. His lips parted
as he took in the silvery bubble, now streaked with so many breaks
it looked as if it’d met the business end of a Helbeast. The cracks
popped as they traveled the length of the shield, until the whole
dome was covered in jagged lines.

“
Forbåskat
,” Tyr swore.

“Incoming.” Runa’s voice rang triumphant as
another bird dropped out of the sky, dive-bombing the apex of the
shield. It sent a single crack from the peak to the perimeter of
the already splintered dome.

“It’s going to give soon,” Brynn warned.
“That last one hit the stabilizer.”

Tyr glared at the sky. “Forse, go get my
sister, now!”

Forse wrapped his hand around the hilt of his
sword. With the other, he saluted Tyr before drawing a small circle
in the air with his pointer finger. My last image before Forse
ported out was of the silver glitter raining down on my friends, a
sparkling contrast to the sweeping sea of drones. The fake birds
filled the sky like a thick fog, blocking the sunlight and casting
a haze over the forest. The communicator went dark for an endless
beat.

Oh gods, come back. Come back!

As my heart thumped to a standstill, the
beautiful image of Forse’s face filled my screen. Behind him stood
a sea of thick, soot-covered trees.

“Oh thank Odin. You’re okay.” My teeth
released their hold on my fingernails.

“For now. There’s no telling where Runa’s
drones will turn up next.”

“Where are you?”

Forse turned a circle. “I’m in the woods due
north of your tower, probably a good two kilometers away. If Runa’s
super-senses are wearing off, I don’t think she’ll be able to
detect me at this distance.”

“That was good thinking.” I glanced out my
window.

“That’s why they pay me the big kroner. We
need to get you out of there, but I’ve got to assess the castle to
figure out the best exit strategy.” Forse squinted. “Is she still
in the building? Or has she left to put a hit on Tyr and
Brynn?”

I scanned the castle for energy signatures.
“She’s here,” I confirmed. “And she’s really angry. Her spirit’s
still good though—I’m going to talk to it and try to get her to
call off her attack.”

“Nobody’s that powerful, Elsa.” Forse’s voice
was low. “You think I didn’t try to save her a hundred times over
the years? She doesn’t want our help. She doesn’t want to be
saved.”

I stared into the sorrowful green eyes in the
screen, finally realizing what this recon must have cost Forse.
Coming face to face with the ex-girlfriend who betrayed him in the
worst possible way; seeing how far the goddess he once loved had
descended into darkness; watching helplessly as I was taken away.
This trip had been a living Hel.

And now I was asking him for more time.

“I’m sorry, Forse,” I apologized. “I have to
try. My mother would have wanted to know we did everything we could
to save Lifa’s daughter.”

Forse raised his eyebrows.

“I’ll explain everything later. Just move
toward the castle. I’ll try to talk to her, and hopefully get her
to call off the drones—maybe even let me go. If I’m not in the
forest closest to the tower in ten minutes, you’ll know I didn’t
succeed. In that case, come up after me.”

Forse sucked in a sharp breath. “And if you
don’t succeed? Then what do you want me to do with Runa?”

I closed my eyes. “Then you do what you have
to do to protect Asgard.”

“This is too risky. Let me come and get you,
and we can—”

My eyes flew open. “I am the Unifier of
Asgard. For better or worse, I’m all our realm has. This soul needs
my help. You have to trust me.”

Forse’s
features softened. “I do trust you,
hjärtat.
It’s that monster I don’t
trust.”

I took a deep breath. “Ten minutes. That’s
it. Oh, and Forse?”

“Mmm?”

“I love you. You should probably know that.”
With that, I pressed my finger to my wrist, the communicator’s
screen darkening on the image of the God of Justice, with his mouth
open and eyes wide.

My hands shook as I tucked my hair behind my
ears. As terrifying as that was, I knew something even scarier lay
ahead.

I gritted
my teeth and sucked in a breath.
Here goes
nothing
.

ERM
,
HEI
. I
REACHED
out to Runa’s
spirit.
Are you still here?

Silence.

You don’t have to talk to me, but you need
to call off this god hunt. They’re going to bring in assassins to
kill you.

Still nothing, but my spirit felt the
pulsating anger from Runa. My breath came in ragged gasps as I
absorbed the rage burning within her. My heart sunk with the
realization that I’d failed—Runa’s spirit was almost completely
black. There was only a tiny flicker of light left within
her—barely even a spark. The darkness had all but snuffed out the
spirit that had once been a protective big sister and loving
daughter.

Gods,
what did it take for someone to go from being that pure, to
this…this evil? What kind of blow had she been dealt since the last
time I spoke to her spirit? Was there any point in trying to reason
with her anymore? Or should I turn tail and save myself?