Perfekt Control (The Ære Saga Book 2) (12 page)

“Watchtower, my eleven o’clock,” I murmured
as I pivoted. “It looks unoccupied but it could have a drone.”

Henrik tensed against my back, but kept
moving in rotation. “Gathering of younglings, my ten o’clock. One
additional presence, semi-mature, possibly a sibling or
babysitter.”

We continued our tight circle. “Guard just
rounded the castle wall. Jeez, how’d he miss the Bifrost dropping
in?” I asked.

Henrik pointed to a flaming tree on the
opposite side of the castle. “He was probably distracted. I sent a
detonator ahead of us as we left Alfheim, and the unsanctioned
explosion should have pulled his focus.” He sounded smug.

“Pretty pleased with yourself,
ja,
ace?” Oh, good. Joking took the edge off the pain. I’d have to
remember that.

Henrik ignored me. “Best cover at my six
o’clock,” he deduced. “Near enough to the younglings we can
determine whether they’re being watched, and hopefully pick up some
information on what’s going on inside the castle. Do you think
Freya’s being held there?”

“Hardly likely.” I’d have to catch Henrik up
to speed once we found cover. “I’ll follow you.”

“Move out.” Henrik crouched as he ran to the
foliage he’d determined to be the safest hiding spot. I followed,
cringing with every twig snap and leaf crunch. There was no way we
wanted to get captured here. I’d sooner go to Helheim.

Helheim…
I shuddered, pushing the
underworld from my mind as I tucked my dagger back in my boot and
dove into the bushes. Henrik and I crouched side by side behind a
blue-leafed plant. I made sure to keep as many inches as possible
between us.

“You’re not going to touch me anymore?”
Henrik’s mouth turned down as he tucked my second dagger into his
belt. “Brynn, you have to understand, as much as I wa—”

“Careful.” I untucked the bottom of my
T-shirt and used it to cover my fingers so I could pluck a bloom
from the branch by Henrik’s waist. As I tossed it onto the dirt, it
burst into flames and rolled toward the castle. “Braxton bushes
burn when they’re touched. And as luck would have it, they’re
currently in season.”

Henrik swore. “Brynn! I need you to listen to
me.”

I ignored his outburst as I plucked five more
blooms from the bush. When we were safe from becoming Braxton
fodder, I looked up. “Didn’t you learn about the fauna when you
were here?”

Henrik gave me a long stare. I clung to the
protective bubble I’d placed around myself, and let his wounded
look bounce right off. After a pause, he shook his head and seemed
to let it go.
Thank Odin
. “No, I didn’t learn about fauna
here. I never served in Muspelheim. My tours were in the cold
realms. It’s where I learned to weaponize ice.”

“That’s not good. Okay, Muspelheim is the
complete opposite of Niflheim and Jotunheim in every possible way.
You’re going to have to think counter-intuitively if you want to
survive.” I mentally ran through the obvious dangers he’d need to
watch out for, letting science do what it always had and override
my emotions. “Okay, avoid contact with anything blooming. It will
either burn you or bite you. Obviously steer clear of the fire
giants—even the little ones.” I tilted my head at the gathering of
younglings, each with mottled purple skin and big bulbous noses.
The only obvious difference between them was their hair—each giant
had a cascade of stringy strands that mimicked a different color of
the rainbow. “And I’d say watch out for the guards, but all you
really have to do is stay out of range of their weapons. They’re
embarrassingly slow in every regard—slow movers, slow reactors,
slow thinkers…” I trailed off. Henrik looked at me with an
expression that bordered adoration and awe. “Why are you staring
like that?”

“You’re so calm about all of this. Most
goddesses freak out about this realm, but you act like it’s no big
deal.”

“Because it’s not a big deal.” I shrugged.
“Muspelheim may be the fiery embodiment of Hell the humans are so
afraid of, but I did my tours here. Once you know what to avoid,
it’s not too unpleasant. Well, the sulfur stinks. But other than
that, it’s just another realm.”

Henrik still stared, so I turned my attention
to the younglings gathered twenty meters from the bush.

“Get to work, Andersson,” I ordered.

“I’m so sorry, Brynnie,” he murmured,
squeezing my shoulder. My entire body stiffened. He was
not
supposed to be touching me. If he was sorry for not kissing me
back, I didn’t want to talk about it. And if he was sorry about the
alone time he’d just spent with the fairy, well, then I
really
didn’t want to talk about it.

“I said, get to work.”

“Listen, I’m sorry I never told you Finnea
and I used to have a thing.” His fingertip grazed my collarbone,
and I leaned farther away.

“You don’t owe me an explanation. Let’s just
pretend none of today ever happened. Skip all the awkward.”

“But, I—”

I inched as far away from Henrik as I could,
given we were ensconced in a bush. We were
not
having this
conversation. Me and my stupid kissy lips had ruined everything
between us. The sooner we jumped into our new normal, the better.
Uncomfortable
hei
s on our way to the kitchen, duct tape down
the middle of our lab space so there could be no accidental
touching, awkward side-hugs at celebratory gatherings—bring it on.
If I could gather dead souls and carry them thousands of miles on
pegasus-back, I could
so
handle this. “We’ve got a job to
do. Can we please table this for now?” Or maybe for
always
?

Henrik didn’t look happy; in fact, the line
of his jaw strained like he was biting down really hard on
something sour. But he gave a curt nod.

“Good. Because I need to brief you.” I
exhaled. Chapter closed. Black box repaired and sealed. Moving on.
“So before Tyr sent me to, um, get you, he told me Forse had a
scout in Muspelheim named Hyro. According to Hyro, a portal opened
up by the volcano not that long ago.”

“A new portal or an existing one?” Henrik
asked.

“I don’t know. And I don’t know if it’s
powered by dark matter, but given it’s in Muspelheim, odds are good
it wasn’t an Aesir that set it up. We’re tasked with finding Hyro
and obtaining any information the giant has about the portal and
Freya’s potential whereabouts.”

Henrik nodded. He reached out and lightly
placed his hand over my heart. The heat from his palm was a sharp
contrast to the icy barrier that I’d erected between us this
morning, and I drew a ragged breath.

“Listen,
sötnos
…” Henrik’s words
dropped off as I inched away.

“Please don’t touch me,” I whispered. I
didn’t stop moving until his hand fell away from my heart.

Henrik looked like I’d just slapped him. Our
friendship had always been so easy. Well, it had been easy for him.
I’d spent the last few centuries in love with a guy I’d never even
had a chance with.

Sometimes what
was
just well and truly
sucked
.

“Brynnie—” Henrik started.

But I cut him off by placing my finger
against my lips. The younglings had scattered from their circle,
and were moving through the clearing. Some headed toward the
castle, while others walked in our direction. We held very
still—odds were they were headed in the direction of the garden to
our left, maybe to pick berries or sit in the shade. Both suns now
blazed directly overhead, making the ground even hotter than usual.
The soles of my feet began to warm inside my boots, and I sorely
regretted my black outfit. The color soaked up the heat like a
sponge. Henrik must have been feeling the effects of the climate
too, because he shifted beside me. As he did, he lost his balance,
and in a move of uncharacteristic clumsiness, he tumbled out of the
bush. He dropped flat on the ground, his face pressed against the
dirt. He wore the regulation black camos and T-shirt, so he should
have blended with the sooty earth. But he rolled once as he fell,
and the movement caught the eyes of two of the younglings. They
scampered to his side.

The one in the pink party dress clapped her
hands gleefully. Since Asgardian secondary education covered all
three of the fire giants’ dialects, I knew the little partygoer was
from the southern region the minute she opened her mouth. “Ooh, a
prince! I asked for one for my birthday, and I got him!”

Henrik remained prone on the ground.
Apparently Asgard’s former Elite Team Captain now subscribed to the
youngling school of hiding—if he couldn’t see them, then they
couldn’t see him either.
Snort
.

“I don’t know, Tullah.” The one in the blue
tutu wrinkled her round nose. “He looks kind of funny to me.”

“Of course he does. He’s a
human
prince. See the way his ears aren’t pointy? You’re the only one who
wants an elf prince, Sabby.”

The little giants thought Henrik was a human.
Double snort.

“Yeah.” Sabby poked Henrik’s head with the
toe of her shoe. For the first time, he lifted his head from the
dirt and opened his eyes. Since he didn’t appear in imminent need
of rescuing, I decided to let him run lead on this one.

“Ooh, he’s
handsome
!” Tullah lay with
her belly on the dirt and propped her chin in her hands. She
blinked adoringly at Henrik, now inches from his face. “Hello,
prince. You probably can’t understand me because you only speak
human, right?”

“Uh, hello.” Henrik slipped into Tullah’s
dialect as he lifted one hand from the ground in an awkward wave.
If he wasn’t in immediate danger of blowing our cover, I’d have
laughed out loud. As it was, I permitted myself one inward chuckle.
A long one. This totally took the edge off my morning of
mortification.
Thank you, karma
.

“Are you here for my birthday? We’re having a
tea party. Nanny just went in to get cake. Do you like cake? I bet
you do. All princes like cake. And dancing. And balls.” Tullah
twirled her ankles in the air. “Do you want to have a ball? I do.
I’m a beautiful dancer. Want to see?”

She jumped to her feet, and leapt into the
air with all the grace of a dizzy rhino. Then she dipped into a low
bow.

“Wow, Tullah. That was
really
good.”
Sabby looked genuinely impressed.

“I know.” Tullah skipped back to where Henrik
still lay prone, and squatted down. “Do
you
want to dance
with me? Is that why Daddy sent you?”

“I… er… you see, uh, Tullah, is it?” Henrik
stammered.

“Yep.” The little girl nodded happily.

“Right. Well you see, Tullah, your, uh,
daddy, wanted me to be a surprise for later in your party. After
your cake. So be a good girl and go on back to the rest of your
guests, okay?” Henrik pushed himself to his feet and patted the
tiny giant on the head. She scrunched her face into a pout and
stamped her foot.

“No! I want you to dance with me, and I want
you to do it
now
!” The last word came on a howl, and Henrik
rushed to cover her mouth with his hands.

“Shh!” He looked around wildly. “Somebody
will hear you! Oh!” He pulled his hand away from the girl’s mouth
and rubbed it. “You bit me!”

“I don’t
caaaare
!” Tullah wailed.
“It’s my birthday and I want to dance with a
priiince!
”

“Okay, okay.” Henrik ran his hand through his
soot-covered hair. “Let’s be quick about it, though. You wouldn’t
want to keep your party guests waiting.”

“Oh, no.” Sabby shook her head seriously.
“You have to dance in front of everybody. Tullah said she was going
to get a prince for her birthday and nobody believed her. If you
don’t do it over there”—she jutted her chin—“they’ll think she made
it all up.”

“Yeah, but…” Henrik stalled. What could he
say? If he danced with her in the open, he’d risk exposing himself
to her Nanny and whatever guards watched this little girly
gathering. But if he said no, the caterwauling of a spoiled little
giantess would give away our location for sure. “Okay. How about
this? You want to call your friends over here, and they can watch
us dance? See, I have to stay here, under the trees. Human princes
are sensitive to heat, and those two suns of yours would make me
burn.”

The girls’ eyes widened. “Burn? No!” Sabby
cried.

“To a crisp,” he embellished, sensing a
loophole. “I’d fry right up and disappear if I stepped out there.
And then I wouldn’t get to dance with you on your birthday.” Henrik
molded his face into a mask of sorrow. Tullah’s bottom lip
quivered.

“I don’t want you to die,” she said
sadly.

“Me neither,” Sabby chimed in.

“Well that is
very
generous of you.”
Henrik winked at the girls, and they giggled. “So go get your
friends. I’ll wait right here.”

Tullah tapped her foot. “How do I know you
won’t disappear?”

She was good. Henrik’s body language
practically screamed
the minute you walk away I’m out of
here.
He was seriously off his game this afternoon.

Henrik crouched down so he was at her eye
level. “Because a prince never breaks his word.”

A small
V
formed between Tullah’s
eyebrows. “Nuh-uh. Sabby, you stay here and make sure he doesn’t
run away. I’ll go get the girls.”

“’Kay.” Sabby scooted closer to Henrik. Her
tiny purple hand reached up to hold his calloused peach one, and
she appraised him through mud-brown eyes. “Don’t move.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Henrik gave her a
charming smile. When she turned to watch her friend’s progress
across the field, he chanced a glance at the bush where I was
hidden.
Help,
he mouthed.

I raised my shoulders, palms to the sky.
There really wasn’t much I could do without exposing my position to
the tiny giant. We could always make a run for it—if we were fast
enough, only the two younglings would know we’d ever been there in
the first place. All things considered, that seemed like the best
option. I pulled back the branches, preparing to bolt, but stopped
when I saw Henrik shake his head.