Perfekt Control (The Ære Saga Book 2) (29 page)

I might have been one of Freya’s warrior
goddesses. But until that moment, I’d had no idea how much power I
possessed.

The magnitude was too much for my little
black box; tears flowed freely down my face as I was washed in wave
after wave of pure energetic power. “Oh my gods, Elsa.” I wept.

“I know,” she soothed. Soft flicks sounded
around my face, but I didn’t open my eyes to see what Elsa was
doing. I couldn’t believe I was finally free.

I must have cried for a good minute, the
cathartic tears of realizing the guilt I’d carried for years wasn’t
mine to own. And when I opened my eyes, Elsa sat across from me,
lowering her hands from my head to my waist, as if pushing my
energy down to my anchor. She opened her eyes with a gentle
smile.

“Thank you.” I sobbed.

“I’m a facilitator. That was all you,” she
said in earnest. “You grounded yourself firmly in your own circle,
and any time you feel those undeserved thoughts of guilt or what
ifs, you push them into that stream, or ravine, or tree, and know
they’re not yours. This energy, everything you’re
feeling—
this
is what’s yours. You can call on it at any
time. You know that, right?”

“Our healings have never been this… this
powerful before,” I said. “Why is that?”

“Because
you’ve
never been this
powerful before. Think about it, Brynn; the last time I healed
you—really healed you, not the surface wound stuff we do around
here—was right after Freya’s last disappearance. You weren’t
anywhere near ready to process this stuff then. But now you are.
Now you know that none of what happened before is your fault. And
you don’t have to lose
anyone”
—Elsa raised an eyebrow—“who’s
important to you, for
any
reason, unless you choose to let
them go. Do you hear what I’m telling you?”

I nodded, still high on vibrating cells.

“Now if I’m not mistaken, I believe your
commanding officer is waiting for you on the beach.” Elsa pulled a
clear crystal from her pocket, rubbing it between her hands as she
spoke.

“Thank you, Elsa,” I whispered. “I never
thought I’d be free of that guilt.”

Elsa hugged me back. “There will still be
sorrow. But you don’t need to carry any more than that. Not if you
plan to walk your path.”

I squeezed her again. “I owe you big
time.”

“I accept payment in waffles. Or pancakes.”
Elsa opened the office door and pointed down the stairs.

“How about both?”

“Quit stalling.” Elsa gave me a gentle nudge.
“Freya and Henrik are waiting for you.”

I took a grounding breath and walked outside.
Here goes nothing
.

“
AH, HERE SHE IS.”
Freya smiled from
the beach.

I walked carefully down the wooden steps and
across the damp sand until I reached her side. I raised a brow at
Henrik, who gave an infuriatingly calm smile before holding out his
hand.

“Here she is,” he echoed. “Let’s take a
walk.” When I didn’t move, he wrapped his fingers around mine and
gave a gentle tug. The three of us began a slow amble toward the
pine trees at the edge of the cove.

“Brynn,” Freya began, when we’d put some
distance between the houses and us. “I’ve known you the better part
of your life. I’ve been your friend, your boss, and by the grace of
Odin, I get to be your matchmaker.”

“Just tell me if I’m fired,” I pleaded.

Freya raised an eyebrow. “Why would you be
fired?”

“Because… um…” I hemmed, waiting for the bad
news.

Freya smiled. “No. You’re not fired. In fact,
it’s just the opposite.”

What was the opposite of fired?

Freya gave a sanguine smile as she continued.
“Brynn, I’ve always appreciated your warmth and kindness—you’re one
of the most open spirits I’ve had the pleasure of knowing, and I
knew that a soul as sensitive as yours would need its other half to
be strong and dominant, but yielding when necessary, and ruled by
compassion always. I also knew you’d need a counterpart who would
challenge you, both intellectually and emotionally. You’re one of
the smartest goddesses I’ve ever worked with. Luckily.” Freya’s
eyes twinkled. “The two of you and your genius technology saved my
life back there.”

“Yeah, well, that was mostly Mia’s
conception. She mapped out the schematics so all I had to do
was—”

“Not true.” Henrik shook his head. “Remember
that day when we were all in the lab talking about ‘what ifs,’ and
you said ‘what if we’d been able to stop time right before Fenrir
bit Tyr?’ That’s when we mocked up our original prototype and
that’s the—”

“You’re a team,” Freya interrupted. “And the
perfekt
one at that. To answer your question from earlier,
Brynn, yes, I knew you’d give in at some point and try to kiss
Henrik. You’re smart as a whip, but you’re ruled by your emotions.
It was only a matter of time before they shattered your
perfekt
control. I’m just grateful it was love, and not
fear, that you chose. For a long time after Anja’s passing, I
watched your heart battle itself. I was afraid the wrong side would
win out.”

“I miss her every day,” I admitted. “But even
on my saddest days, Henrik’s always been right there. I’ve cried on
his shoulder more times than I want to admit.”

“I know.” Freya smiled. “Who do you think
told him to comfort you?”

I blinked at Henrik. He grinned down at me.
“It didn’t take too much convincing,
sötnos
. Nobody wants to
see someone they love in pain.”

There it was again.
Love
. My heart
flew somewhere high in the clouds and beamed down on me.

“But we can’t be together until I make
captain, right, Freya?” My heart dive-bombed back into my chest.
“Oh, gods. If I’m not fired for trying to kiss Henrik in Alfheim,
then when I make captain someday you’re going to present me with my
perfekt
match. But if he’s not Henrik, I don’t want him.
I’ll pass.” My eyes pleaded with Freya. “I can pass, can’t I? I do
have a choice in this.”

Freya laughed, the tinkling sound bouncing
across the shore. “Sorry, I’m still pretty out of it. I’m not doing
a good job. Let me make this clearer. Brynn Aksel, for your role in
hunting down my abductors, for assisting in the development of
tools that enabled your team to track my whereabouts, and for
embracing the light within your heart and thereby saving my life in
Helheim, I hereby promote you to the rank of captain within Odin’s
High Order of the Battle Goddesses, the Valkyries.”

I gasped. “But that’s a jump of two full
ranks!”

“Are you questioning my decision?” Freya
raised an eyebrow.

“No, ma’am.”

“You are now titled captain in good standing,
with virtues fully honorable. And as Goddess of Love, and head of
the valkyries, it is my deepest pleasure to present you with your
perfekt
match. Henrik Andersson, you may claim what I
promised you.” Freya winked at Henrik, and started toward the beach
house. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Henrik touched Freya’s arm and she turned
around. “You should know Brynhild’s getting a bit ahead of herself.
She threatened Brynn while you were gone. You might want to speak
with her about her role.”

Freya arched one eyebrow. “I will deal with
Brynhild personally. Maybe it’s time her
talents
were
focused elsewhere within my organization.”

“Good call.” Henrik released Freya’s arm,
then touched it again. “Oh, and Freya?” He broke into a grin.
“Thank you.”

“Treat her well, Andersson. I’ve got my eye
on you.” With that, Freya retreated, walking backwards with an
impish grin.

My jaw fell open as I watched her leave. When
I gained the muscle control to look at Henrik, he wore a smirk.

“I was… promised to you?” I gaped.

“Freya’s surprisingly open to suggestion,” he
responded. “I told her I’d been in love with you since high school.
Then I explained how your credentials would make you an exceptional
lab partner, and I wanted her to put you on Tyr’s team so she could
see how well we fit together. She didn’t have to observe for long
to realize I was right.”

“Henrik Andersson, you… you…” I shook my
head. “That was really smart! It never occurred to me to just
ask
her if we could be together.”

Henrik stepped so he stood directly in front
of me. He slipped his hand around my waist so his fingertips rested
lightly against my lower back. A beam of heat shot somewhere due
south of my navel at the touch.
Oh, gods
.

“‘You miss one hundred percent of the shots
you don’t take,’” he quoted.

“That a scientific fact?” I teased.

“Mmm.” He hiked me closer, so my hips were
pressed against his upper thigh. A small gasp escaped my lips, and
he used the moment to dip his head to mine. His cool breath brushed
my cheek as he spoke. “Something like that.”

My heart beat a thunderous rhythm in my chest
as I brought one hand up to his bicep. Gods, it felt good. With the
other hand, I lightly touched his hair, fingering a strand that
curled in a gentle wave behind his ear. “Am I allowed to kiss you
now?” I whispered.

“No,” he whispered back. And my hands dropped
to my side in defeat.
Still
?

Henrik slid the hand not holding my waist up
my back until he cradled my head in his palm. His eyes bore into
mine with an intensity that left me breathless.

“Because Freya made me another promise,” he
murmured.

“What’s that?” The question came out as a
squeak. A
squeak
. What was wrong with me today?

Henrik ran the side of his nose along mine,
and my eyes fluttered closed. “She promised me that
I
got to
kiss
you
.”

Before I could blink, soft lips pressed
against mine. My hands flew back to Henrik’s hair, and I laced my
fingers through the waves and pulled him closer. I’d waited
my
whole entire life
for this moment, and I didn’t have a drop of
patience left. Henrik’s throaty chuckle reverberated against my
mouth before his tongue lightly probed my lips. I parted them, all
but begging him to enter, and tasted the indescribable sweetness
that was all Henrik. Everything that was right in all the
worlds.

Henrik shifted me so I was cradled in his
arms. As he dipped me backward, he nipped at my bottom lip, sending
a wave of pleasure coursing all the way through my body. I held on
tightly as he kissed a trail down my neck, committing every touch
to memory. I knew I’d be reliving this moment for the rest of my
life.

“Woo-hoo!”

“About bloody time!”

“Finally! Pay up, Fredriksen, I totally
won.”

The claps and cheers interrupted my
long-awaited bliss, and I reluctantly opened my eyes. Henrik stared
back at me, his grey-blue orbs twinkling with laughter. “Guess we
deserve that.” He righted me, holding me close to his chest, and
wrapped both arms possessively around my waist. “Leave us alone,”
he shouted to the small crowd of gods and a solitary mortal
gathered on Tyr’s back lawn.

“No way!” Tyr called back with a laugh. “Mia
and I had a bet, and I owe her some nominal mortal thing.”

Mia elbowed his side. “We shouldn’t be
watching this.” She giggled.

“You’re the one who told us to look outside,”
he pointed out. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What do you say,
sötnos
? It’s been a
few hundred years—can this wait a few more hours?” Henrik looked
down at me, his eyes mirroring the adoration I beamed up at
him.

No.
I sighed. “We should probably let
Tyr debrief everyone, and give him an update on which weapons
worked on which species.”

“Mmm. Work first. Smart call.” Henrik bent
down and nipped at my ear.
Oh, hello
. “But after, what do
you say you and I steal a little alone time?” He shot a pointed
glance at the grass, where Forse let out a catcall.

“It’s a date.” I stood on tiptoe and pulled
his head down so I could give him one more lingering kiss. Tyr’s
wolf whistle broke the spell. “All right!” I yelled across the
sand. “We’re coming!”

As we crossed the beach to the stairs, the
only thing keeping me from floating to the heavens was Henrik’s
steadying hand holding tightly to mine. And though I was told I
gave a thorough debriefing about the effect of the sound box on the
dragons, about the properties of the ice on Helheim, and about what
I suspected to be the inherent flaws in the worm hole of doom, the
only thing I remembered about the meeting was the moment it ended,
and Henrik whispered in my ear, “Let’s get out of here.” He scooped
me in his arms, ignoring the catcalls of our friends and grinning
the entire way to his house. He set me on my feet and backed me
against the wall, pinning my arms to my sides and kissing me with
such fervor, I lost all sense of time.

“Brynn Aksel,” he murmured as I fought to
stay standing.

“Mmm?” I murmured.

“Now that there’s no muffling spell blocking
your hearing, there’s something I need to tell you.” He pulled back
and rested his forehead against mine. I grinned, knowing exactly
what he was going to say. “I love you,
sötnos
.”

“I love you, too. Now kiss me again.” I
pulled his head to mine and lost myself in the absolute joy that
was
finally
kissing Henrik Andersson.

“I might never stop,” he warned.

“I hope you never do,” I vowed. Henrik
covered my lips with his, finally claiming the
perfekt
match
he’d been promised by the Goddess of Love.

And I realized something I think I knew all
along.

Perfekt
control was
way
overrated.

“
WE’VE GOT EVERYTHING UNDER
control
back at the house. Don’t worry, we’ll save you a sample to play
with after you finish your last exam. It stinks that you have one
the day before vacation—I had all of mine on the first two days,
which sucked at the time, but—” I tilted my head to anchor my phone
to my shoulder while Mia clucked her sympathy. As she moved on to
listing her own academic-induced anxieties, I adjusted the lens on
my microscope. “It’s okay. I already know you passed Calc II;
Henrik graded our tests this morning and said we both got an A.
Just ace your Literature final so we don’t have to hear what a bad
influence we are during Christmas break. Okay. You too. Bye.”