Perfekt Control (The Ære Saga Book 2) (17 page)

“It’s okay. I’m okay.” Tyr held out his arms
and Mia tucked herself into them. When she was enveloped in his
massive embrace, her shoulders shook. The sounds of her whimpers
weren’t far behind.

“I hate seeing you hurt,” she sobbed. I
caught Henrik’s eye. Mia was usually stronger than this. Yes, she
hated that Tyr’s job put him in danger. But I hadn’t seen her cry
over his injuries since… well, since we nearly lost him to
Fenrir.

The mortals were
definitely
getting
hit early this time.

Tyr rested his chin on Mia’s head. “I know,
baby. Sorry to run out on you like that. But I’m just fine, and
everything’s sorted.” He shot Henrik a look. “For now.”

Mia pulled her head back. “What do you mean
for now? Did you kill the dragons? Or tame them? Or whatever you
guys do to dragons?”

Tyr wrapped his arm around her waist and
turned her toward the house. “Why don’t we all go inside? Brynn,
grab Forse and Elsa. I think we’d better have a meeting.”

“And a healing.” I nodded at his wounds. “My
leg’s not exactly in mint condition at the moment—maybe she’ll do a
two-fer.”

“I don’t need a healing,” Tyr grumbled.

“Big baby.” I rolled my eyes.

Henrik picked up Mia’s blanket and book and
walked to Tyr’s house while I ran to Forse’s. There were only a
handful of homes in the tiny cove, each boasting Cape Cod-style
façades and connected by an emerald green lawn. Elsa’s lights were
off, so I rapped on Forse’s door. Sure enough, they answered it
together, and after a brief explanation I brought them back to
Tyr’s, Elsa’s healing box in tow. In no time, five gods and one
mortal were gathered on the couches framing the big stone
fireplace. Someone had lit a fire, and Mia sat beneath a thick
quilt with her knees tucked to her chin.

“Good. We’re all here.” Tyr rubbed his
girlfriend’s shoulder with one hand and ran the other through his
hair. He’d changed into a clean shirt in the time it took me to
fetch our friends, and though the wounds on his face looked like
they were trying to knit themselves shut, blood was still caked on
his cheeks. I wondered if it was his or a dragon’s.

“We’re all here,
kille
. Start
talking.” Henrik leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

“Something’s going down with the dragons,”
Tyr began. “I don’t know what, and I don’t know why. But that
initial skirmish we saw a few weeks ago in Nidavellir was just the
beginning. Back then they were fighting amongst themselves,
posturing for dominance. The dwarves were only getting hurt when
they tried to intervene. Now the dwarves are being outright
attacked. The dragons turned on them, and they’re getting more
aggressive. And the dragons’ numbers are down—either they’re
killing each other off, or they’re transferring to another
realm.”

“They’re transferring,” I confirmed. “Forse’s
scout in Muspelheim reported a group of dragons entering a portal
in the volcano. If they’re transferring realms in Muspelheim, they
could definitely be doing it in Nidavellir.”

Henrik rubbed his neck. “Do you suppose they
took Freya through the Muspelheim portal to Nidavellir? Then what’s
happened to the missing dragons?”

“Maybe there’s another portal from Nidavellir
to a second realm,” I mused. “Or maybe the portals can go to more
than one location. Tyr, is it safe to go back there to investigate?
Or are the dragons still attacking?”

“It’s safe at the moment. Odin sent the Elite
Team to cover me, and we were able to subdue a good number of them.
The ones we could find, anyway.” Tyr rubbed the stubble on his
chin. “You think there are two portals in Nidavellir?”

“Well, the dragons in Muspelheim had to come
from somewhere,” I pointed out. I quickly recapped what Hyro had
told us about the unusual dragon presence, the existence of fire
giant wizards, the weird energy around the portal, and the bizarre
mutation of Muspelheim’s normally sluggish fire giants into
full-blown super soldiers. “It’s insane there right now—the giants
are even
breathing
fire, shooting the hot stuff out of their
mouths a ridiculous distance.”

Henrik leaned back to stare at me. “It’s
almost like they’ve taken on the qualities of the dragons.”

My eyes widened as I stared back. “That’s
never happened before. There can’t be an inter-species
transmutation of powers. Can there?”

“Just because it’s never been done before
doesn’t mean it’s impossible,” Henrik pointed out. “Think about it.
Idunn spliced apple specimens until she came up with the
immortality blend. Odin spliced raven genes until he created Huginn
and Muninn, the ultimate eyes in the sky. Who’s to say it couldn’t
be done inter-speciously?”

“Maybe,” I conceded. “But inter-realm
species? That’s just playing with fire.”

Elsa giggled from the end of the couch.
“Isn’t that what they’ve created? Fire-breathing fire giants?”

Henrik and I inhaled simultaneously.

“Oh my gods. Do you realize what this means?”
I asked him.

“They’ve found a way to create hybrid dark
species. How? Their energy levels should be disparate enough to
kill off the invading genes.” The thought tumbled out of Henrik’s
mouth.

I matched his pace. “Unless the dominant
gene’s been enchanted to accept the recessive one. Could a spell
like that even exist? And how long would it hold?”

“And what happens when it wears off? If the
specimen contains warring genes and one side wins out, what happens
to the host body?” Henrik continued. “Does it return to its
original state or does it die?”

“Could a corporeal being even withstand that
kind of internal dissention?” I asked.

“Uh, Einstein? Tesla?” Mia held up her hands
in a cross. “Time out. The rest of us can’t keep up.”

Henrik took a breath. “Brynn and I are
wondering… if it’s possible that the fire giants actually got some
kind of genetic transplant from the dragons. Magically. If that
happened, they could have taken on some of the dragons’ physical
capabilities, like the fire breathing.”

“But because a magical transfer is finite,
unlike a physical transfer, the magic would eventually wear off and
the transferred genes would be at odds with the pre-existing
genetics of the host body. So what’s going to happen to the fire
giants then?” I asked.

“And how is the transfer taking place? Is
that how the volcanic explosion plays into this? Is everything that
goes near that volcano in Muspelheim infected with some airborne
dragon pathogen? Or does the spell target specific individuals with
a certain predisposition?” Henrik asked.

“And how do the biomechanics break down?” I
wondered. “Are the host bodies the only susceptible organisms, or
is this something endemic? Could it spread?”

“And if it spreads, what’s the transfer
mechanism? Are we talking cellular level, airborne pathogens, Odin
forbid, a mushroom cloud…” Henrik trailed off.

“And most importantly”—I shot him a
look—“what does this mean for us? Does it have anything to do with
Freya? Is whoever’s taken her controlling the dragons too? What’s
their ultimate goal?”

“I’m glad we’ve got
Brynnrik
working
on this.” Elsa rested her head on the back of the couch. “But why
do I feel like we’re even further from figuring this out than we
were yesterday?”

“We know there’s a portal between Nidavellir
and Muspelheim, though whether it goes on to a second destination,
we can’t say. We know Freya was taken through it. And we know the
dragons are involved in some way.” Tyr nodded at Henrik and me.
“Your next stop’s going to be Nidavellir. Search the area for
Freya, and pay our dragon guy a visit. He may have some
insight.”

“You have a dragon guy?” Mia sounded
incredulous.

“We’ve got a guy for everything,
prinsessa
.” Tyr kissed the top of her head.

“Oh, there’s one more thing you should know.”
I leaned forward and spoke directly to Tyr. “The mortals are
feeling Freya’s absence. The effects are taking hold sooner than
we’d expected.”

Tyr glanced at Mia, then set his mouth in a
firm line. When he spoke, it wasn’t conversational. It was a
command. “Henrik, Brynn, go catch some sleep. When you wake up,
head straight to Nidavellir and track down Berling. Then report
back here and we’ll regroup.” A deep
V
formed between his
brows. “We need to fix this fast.”

Henrik reached over to squeeze my knee and I
bit down on the inside of my cheek. This was not the time for
another black box explosion. Or even a fissure.

My world view narrowed to a singular focus.
The dragons were inconsequential. We just had to get our love
goddess back.

Everything depended on it.

“Um, guys?” Elsa raised her hand. “Healings
first. Then sleep.”

“I’m good. Just take care of Brynn,” Tyr
ordered.

“No can do, brother. Those wounds should have
closed themselves up by now. You’ve obviously got dark remnants in
there, coupled with whatever you had left after the Arcata attack.”
Elsa tapped her foot.

“You didn’t let her heal you when you got
here?” I turned on the god of stubbornness. “Tyr, you’re our
leader. If something happens to you, we’re all screwed.”

“And also, we like you,” Mia pointed out.

“Thanks for the concern, Brynn,” Tyr said
wryly.

“You know what I mean. Stop being a stubborn
pig and take your healing like a man.” I stormed up the stairs to
Tyr’s office, pausing at the landing to look at the sea of shocked
faces. “Oh, like you weren’t all thinking it.”

Mia’s tranquil voice cut through the tension.
“Actually, I’m kind of curious about how all of this works. That
one after Fenrir happened so fast. Would it be okay if I
watched?”

Elsa looked thoughtful. “Emotional healings
are private, but Tyr’s not getting one of those. I don’t see any
reason you can’t observe a physical healing. It might give you a
better understanding of how our systems operate.”

“I’ll whip up a batch of my
amazing
Swedish pancakes while you lot are getting patched up. Healings,
snacks, and sleep should make everything right—at least for
tonight.
Ja, sötnos
?” Henrik shot me a wink.

“There’s very little your pancakes can’t
fix,” I admitted begrudgingly. “But let’s do this fast. We need to
get back in the field as soon as possible.”

A lot of lives depended on it.

I TURNED ON ONE
heel and walked
through the French doors that marked the barrier between the
upstairs landing and Tyr’s office. A massive window took up almost
the entire beach-facing wall of the large room, flooding the space
with natural light. A leather sectional was cozied against the
glass, with a separate foot stool positioned a few feet away. The
desk and chair butted against the smaller window, the one facing
Freya’s house. A dresser stood on the wall beside the door,
boasting hurricane glasses filled with smooth stones and candles,
and the door to the en suite bathroom occupied the fourth wall, a
jetted tub just visible beyond the frame. A long soak suddenly
sounded heavenly.

Maybe tomorrow. First we had to track down
our love goddess.

“Mia, take the desk chair and sit in the
corner. Tyr, Brynn, the couch is yours. Sit down, feet flat on the
floor, and hands on your knees, facing up so I can scan you.” Elsa
issued her orders as she strode into the room, a pitcher of water
in one hand and her healing box in the other. She set both on the
desk and used her magic to open the box, removing two small cups
before shifting through ingredients with delicate fingers.

Mia took her seat. Tyr closed the French
doors behind him before walking across the room. “You doing all
right, Brynn? You’re moodier than usual.”

“Shut
up
, Tyr!” I dropped into my
appointed seat on the couch.

“I think Brynn might benefit from an
emotional healing, as well as a physical one,” Elsa said calmly.
“This is a lot to process, and although she’s doing really well
managing everything…” She turned to me. “You really are doing
brilliantly, love.”

“Uh, thanks?” I crossed my arms.

“All things considered, an overall
purification might do a world of good,” Elsa finished.

Having the realm’s High Healer as your
in-house nursemaid had its benefits, as we’d seen when she saved
Tyr’s life. But it also had major drawbacks. Sometimes I just
wanted one of those regular medicinal healings the normal healers
gave, not one of Elsa’s full-service hippie-dippy deals.

“I appreciate it, Elsa, I really do. But
time’s of the essence, and I really want to get back into the field
as soon as possible. Can we table the emotional cleansing until
after
we get Freya back?” I asked.

“Brynn.” The corners of Elsa’s mouth turned
down. “Your energy’s totally closed off.”

“Sorry, Elsa.” I was. She was one of the
sweetest goddesses in Asgard, and none of this was her fault. “Long
day.”

“Long life,” she pointed out.

“You can say that again,” Tyr muttered.

“And an emotional cleansing won’t be
effective if you’re not open to it, so maybe waiting a few more
days might not be a bad thing. But when you’re ready, I want you to
let me know so I can effectuate the closure you need on this.”

“Thanks.” With everything else going on, I
wasn’t ready to go
there
.

“So, how exactly does all of this work?” Mia
craned her neck from her spot at the desk. She’d dug a pencil and
paper out of the drawer and was poised to take notes.

Typical Mia.

Elsa turned from her healing kit and walked
to Tyr. “We do things a little differently in Asgard. You mortals
like to compartmentalize your systems. You see a medical doctor for
a physical injury, a religious leader for a spiritual ailment, and
you more or less neglect your energetic systems entirely. But where
we’re from, we recognize the entire being—physical, spiritual, and
energetic—as one entity. And a weakness in one area can lead to an
injury to the whole. Does that make sense?”