Perfekt Order (The Ære Saga Book 1) (11 page)

“So they were secretive with individual
destinies, but if you were the god of whatever, they gave you the
information you needed to keep things running smoothly?” Charlotte
summarized.

“Exactly. Because so much rests on Asgard
maintaining control over the realms, it is a very traditional
culture with a patriarchal hierarchy, and Odin rules with an iron
fist. Did they teach you that in art?” Brynn asked.

“Nope. They just showed us pictures of a
naked god.” I winked at Charlotte, and she giggled.

“Well, the titled gods were given their
titles at birth, and they hold them for the duration of their
existence. On the rare occasion a titled god dies, or elects to
retire, his or her title passes down to his heir. So if anything
ever happened to Odin, the Alfödr title would pass to his son,
Thor,” Brynn explained.

“You talk about them like they’re real
people.” I smiled. “They must be a big part of the Scandinavian
culture.”

Brynn stilled. “Er,
ja
. They are a big
part of our culture.”

I nodded.

“These sound like military bedtime stories.
Where’s the romance?” Heather said.

“Order sounds romantic to me,” I said.
“Though Mama has a slightly different concept of romance. She
thinks everyone’s life should play out like hers did. She and my
dad met at a college homecoming party, locked eyes across the
crowded dance floor and fell instantly in love.”

“That actually happens?” Heather asked.

“In the magical land of Louisiana, yes.” I
grinned, thinking of the thousand times Mama retold her love story.
“The southern belle married her Yankee prince, and they lived
happily-evah-aftah.” I threw my hand across my forehead and
pretended to faint.

“Hey, true love is a powerful force. It’s
worth believing in.” Brynn urged.

“Oh, I believe in love,” I said. “I just also
think it’s great that your culture’s myths honor the beauty in
structure.”

“Well, they’re about destiny and meaning
within the structure, too, on multiple levels,” Brynn clarified.
“Asgard is actually a really complex society, mythologically
speaking, and every god plays a role in the overarching saga of the
realm—even the lesser known gods.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Asgard has warriors and bodyguards and
valkyries and farmers and craftsmen. Non-titled gods play key roles
in Asgardian society, not just the blockbuster gods like Thor and
Loki.” Brynn crossed her legs and rocked back and forth. “Okay,
like a Unifier? She minimizes conflict by heading off issues before
they come to a head, guiding opposing factions to a neutral
resolution, and fostering community.”

“Sounds like Mia,” Heather grumbled.

“Chore chart-maker for the gods.” Charlotte
snickered. I stuck my tongue out at her.

“Exactly. On a massive, inter-realm scale.”
Brynn nodded. “Then there’s a Healer—she’s able to cure almost any
ailment. A Seer is able to predict the future. These kinds of roles
are called Keys, and they can be passed through inheritance, or
through marriage, if the personality fits the job.”

“I don’t understand.” Charlotte frowned. “I
don’t remember learning about Keys in my AP class.”

Brynn hid a smile behind her hand. “Do you
think textbooks can teach you everything?”

Yes. Yes, I do.

“So these Keys could marry into a…” I
searched for the right word, “a job?”

“Exactly. If someone with a predisposition
for, say, bringing people together, were to marry someone with a
peacekeeping job, like maybe a high-ranking warrior? Well, then
Odin might make the warrior’s bride a Unifier, and she’d use her
powers to assist her husband in performing his duties.” Brynn
watched me closely.

“So she’d get to be the woman behind the man?
Would she have a choice?” I raised an eyebrow. That sounded kind of
backwards.

“It’s a pretty big honor, actually. In that
specific instance, the warrior god wouldn’t be able to perform his
job effectively without the Key’s assistance. They’d have an
extremely symbiotic relationship.” Brynn nodded.

“Talk about a power couple,” Charlotte
mused.

Brynn raised her arms over her head in a
yawn. “Boy, I’m getting tired. Must be bedtime.”

“I’m not sleeping tonight,” Heather muttered.
“Stupid rats.”

“It’s one night.” Brynn pulled her sleep mask
over her eyes and buried herself under her comforter. “The
exterminator will be here tomorrow.”

“He better be.” I shivered. Bedtime stories
or no, this was one new experience I wouldn’t have minded passing
on.

“
SO YOU’RE SAYING THEY
can’t fit us
in until next week? That is completely unacceptable.” I threw my
gym bag over my shoulder and marched out of RSU’s locker room.
Brynn trailed behind, fluffing her ponytail, not the slightest bit
put out. “Why aren’t you upset about this?”

She shrugged. “It’s just a few rats. I still
don’t see what the big deal is.”

“The big deal is that we’re camping out in
our living room. Are we supposed to do that for an entire week
while we wait for the rats to chew through our walls? Heather’s
going to kill us all before then.” A cute guy walked through the
glass door and held it open. “Thank you,” I said as I passed
him.

“You are welcome, darlin’,” he drawled. He
gave me a once over, his eyes taking in the bare skin between my
sports bra and cropped yoga pants. His look might have made me
blush if I weren’t so focused on the image of crawling rodents.
Ew
.

“Camping out is kind of fun,” Brynn argued.
“And we could always go back to our rooms.”

“I’m not sleeping up there.” I pulled my
sweatshirt out of my bag and slid my arms through the sleeves. I
didn’t bother zipping it up; the night was unexpectedly warm, even
though dusk now bathed the red brick buildings in a purple-ish
glow.

“Fair enough.” Brynn skidded to a stop, then
stood on her tiptoes. “Oh yay. Henrik! Tyr!
Hei hei!
”

My heart thudded to a standstill.
Tyr
.
He who still had not called. When Brynn waved, I followed her sight
line until I spotted Sweden’s Herculean export. He walked toward us
wearing black jeans, a black T-shirt, and a smirk.

“
Hei
, Brynn. Hey, Mia.” The voice
belonged to Henrik; Tyr was too busy staring at my exposed stomach,
his eyes moving along the contours of each of my abdominal muscles.
Despite my religious workout schedule, there were only four; I was
never able to get those last two to pop. Tyr didn’t seem to mind.
Stare away, Hercules
.
See what you’re missing.

“How are you guys?” Brynn chirped.

“We’re good. Just heading to the lab to pick
up my laptop,” Henrik said.

“You left your laptop in the lab? Henrik! You
know it’s got the breakdown for—eh, you know you shouldn’t leave it
lying around.” Brynn sounded upset. It was sweet of her to worry
about Henrik’s research project, or whatever other school materials
he kept on his laptop, but I couldn’t echo her sentiment. My eyes
were lost in a deep blue vortex.

Tyr stared me down with an intensity that
tripled my heart rate. He stood with his shoulders back and his jaw
set, and although his lips turned up, the expression looked forced.
Tiny tremors of an emotion I couldn’t identify rippled just beneath
his perfect exterior. The effect was barely noticeable, but I was
so glued to each little nuance that I couldn’t help noticing he
seemed… off. Not that he was ever Mr. Warm And Fuzzy, but just
below the usual air of arrogance rested a vulnerability I wasn’t
used to. His eyes looked at me with almost softness, at the same
time as his hands were balled into fists.

Tyr Fredriksen was a study in contrasts.
Absolutely striking, impossibly irresistible, infuriatingly
frustrating contrasts.

“Mia. Breathe.” I didn’t realize I was
holding my breath until Brynn elbowed me in the side.

“Huh?” I blurted, to Tyr’s amusement. The
softness disappeared as I toppled over, and in a lightning quick
movement, he threw an arm out to catch me. As always, the touch
sent a burst of heat radiating through my body, and I pulled my
elbow out of Tyr’s grasp as soon as I was steady. When I met his
gaze, he stared back at me with wide eyes for just a moment before
wiping his face clear of any expression.

He was so stinkin’ irritating.

“Ouch, Brynn. That was hard!” I
complained.

“Sorry.” She shrugged, totally
unapologetic.

“Kickboxing class ended twenty minutes ago,”
I muttered.

“You two took kickboxing? Feel like punching
someone today?” Tyr raised an eyebrow, once again the picture of
calm and collected.

I crossed my arms. “Maybe.”

“Anyone in particular?” The amusement on his
face was beyond annoying, but I wouldn’t bite.

“So Henrik forgot his laptop, but what are
you doing here? You’re not a student.”

“Haven’t you figured it out by now?” Brynn
gestured to her friends. “They’re joined at the hip.”

“Twinsies.” Henrik held up a fist and Tyr
pounded it with his own, the universal sign of male friendship.

“I see.” An involuntary chuckle escaped as I
watched the bromance play out, but my amusement stopped short when
a shiver laced my spine. Despite the warm breeze rustling through
the old oak trees that peppered campus, goosebumps danced across my
skin. I uncrossed my arms and glanced down to zip up my hoodie, but
a low voice stopped me cold.

“Don’t,” Tyr ordered.

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t zip it up.” He ran a hand through his
tousled hair as he stared at my stomach. “You’ll ruin the
view.”

Next to me, Brynn snickered.

My jaw fell open. On the one hand, it was
incredibly forward of him. Who said that kind of thing out loud, in
front of other people? On the other hand, it was hard to maintain
the appropriate amount of indignation when the cutest boy I’d ever
seen had told me he liked my abs.

Bet his abs are to die for…

Sparks popped along my cheeks as I hurried to
zip up my sweatshirt.

“Sorry about him,” Henrik apologized. “We
don’t let him out much. He likes to get a rise out of people.”

“Obviously,” I muttered.

“You guys get your rat situation under
control?” Henrik asked.

Brynn sighed. “I called the guy you
recommended this morning. He can’t fit us in until next week.”

“You ladies could always come stay at our
place. We’ve got plenty of space,” Henrik offered.

Brynn’s eyes lit up at the same time as Tyr’s
smirk disappeared.

“Oh, that’s not necessary,” I blurted, just
as Tyr muttered, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Our eyes met in a mutual understanding. Tyr
didn’t want to go out with me, and I didn’t want to feel underfoot
in his house. Spending the night at his place would be more awkward
than being caught in white shoes after Labor Day.

“But you were just saying a week was too long
to sleep on the living room floor,” Brynn argued. “And Heather’s
going to explode when she hears it’ll last another week.”

“Why are you sleeping on the living room
floor?” Henrik asked.

“Uh, well…” I glared at Brynn.

She shrugged. “I think it’s all pretty
ridiculous.”

My eyes scanned the sidewalk outside the gym,
looking for an excuse to get away. The way Tyr looked at me was
unsettling. “Um… well…”

“Mia and the girls are scared.” Brynn reached
up to straighten her ponytail.

“Really,
prinsessa
? The Super G champ
is afraid of mice?” Tyr raised an eyebrow.

“They’re
rats
, they’re over my
bedroom, and I like to sleep alone, thank you very much.”

“Mmm.” Tyr stared me down, and I flushed.

Oh
.

“You do realize the rats are going to make
their way to your kitchen eventually, right? I’m assuming you’re
not as uptight as Tyr, and you leave the occasional crumb on the
counter. And your living room floor is probably closer to the
kitchen than your bedrooms.” Henrik raised an eyebrow.

Oh, crepes.
Why hadn’t I thought of
that? I whirled on Brynn. “There has to be another exterminator.
Someone who can fit us in
today
.”
Note to self: scrub the
kitchen top to bottom the minute you walk in the door.

Henrik chuckled. “I might know another guy.
His methods aren’t exactly conventional, but he can rid the house
of pests pretty quick.”

“We’ll take him,” I blurted.

“I’ll give him a call and see if he can fit
you in.” Henrik punched Tyr in the arm. “We’d better get going. I
have to turn in grades to Professor Antoise by nine. You guys both
passed your quiz, by the way.”

“Are we talking an A or a B?” I pushed. It
was never too early in the semester to obsess.

“I think you both got As.” Henrik furrowed
his brow. “Or A-minuses—I can’t remember. Oh, and you guys got the
internship spots. Congrats.”

“Fabulous!” Brynn trilled.

My grin was so big my cheeks pinched, my
irritation with Tyr and rodent-induced paranoia both forgotten.
“Really?”

“Really. Mia, you have a really good resume
for a freshman. Volunteering at the Space Center must have been a
great experience.”

“It was. I mostly just collated data for the
scientists, but it was fun getting to read their research papers
before they were published.” I beamed. “Wow, I’m really
excited.”

“Great. Can you start tomorrow? I’m thinking
Tuesday and Thursday afternoons will work, unless you have classes
then.” Henrik pushed the thin-framed glasses up his nose.

“I’m free after two,” I offered.

“Me too,” Brynn chimed in.

“Excellent. See you both in the engineering
lab.” Henrik offered a wave and turned in the direction of the
engineering building. “Tyr! Stop staring at Mia and come with
me.”