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But in the last few years something had changed.Tveir hardly ever smiled.She never laughed.And when Einn brought up the old times, she frowned and grumbled under her breath.

If only E had time to figure out what was wrong and why T was so focused on getting the Twinometer’s range and focus kicked up to an eleven in record time.Maybe then she would understand why getting to Asgard six months before their arbitrarily set deadline was so important.

But there wasn’t time…

Her eyes flashed to the second clock counting down the time she had left, the one over Tveir’s right shoulder and her heart skipped a beat.The numbers were down to one hour, forty-three minutes, and seven seconds.

She needed to get a move-on, but she simply couldn’t be the first one to look away.She had to…

And then it happened.Tveir looked down at the tablet laying across her forearm and the tap-tap-tapping of the tips of her nails hitting the screen filled the lab.Before Einn could so much as breathe, T barked, “You are falling behind, E.You need to get busy.You only have one hour, forty-two minutes, and twenty-one seconds.Do I have to do everything myself?Do I need to find a source of Power that is…”

“That’s it!”Einn screamed.Flying across the room, she slipped her long, knobby-knuckled fingers between the back of the tablet and Tveir’s forearm, grabbed the device, and lifted it over her head.“That’s it!That’s it!Nanny-nanny-boo-boo!I, the Great and Wonderful Einn have figured it out!”

“For the love of…”

But that was as far as Einn let her sister get before doing a happy dance to end all happy dances.She shimmied and shook.She turned to the side, swung alternating arms downwards while kicking the opposite leg behind.She did a little boogie then ended with the famous Saturday Night Fever move.

Suffice it to say, she covered all her bases and made sure it was as irritating as possible for her twin.After all, it was only a fraction of what Tveir deserved.

Stopping with her right hand holding the tablet to her chest and the other as high as she could get it in the air with her fingers wiggling all about, she shrieked, “Zip it!Hush!Shut the hell up!Listen to me.I have something to say.I have figured it all out!”

“Okay,” Tveir sighed with an unconvincing roll of her eyes.“But you know how I feel about being told to shut up.”

“I do… And I don’t give a good diddly damn.”

Huffing as if she was auditioning for the part of the Big Bad Wolf, Tveir pursed her lips and sassed, “So, spill.Tell me what you think you know.Then I can figure out how to make it better.”

“Oh, sister dear,” Einn mocked, feeling a little guilty but loving the surprised look in her twin’s eyes.“There will be no making it better.What I just figured out is the best thing ever created.It is Magical.It is wonderful.It is intelligent.And it is mag–fucking–nanimous.”

Doing a soft shoe dance toward her twin, Einn sang at the top of her lungs, “It’s love!True!Big time, sappy, rom com, Fate will not be denied, the Universe made it–Love!Love!LOVE!”

“What in the hell are you…?”

“Oh, do be quiet, Tveir,” Einn hushed before tossing the tablet at her sister then spinning toward her workstation.“Pull up the info from our last visit to Earth,”

“But…”

Whipping back around, her fists hit her hips, she glared with flames dancing in the depths of her bulbous black eyes and growled, “Just.Fucking.Do.It.”

ChapterTen

As soon as she crossed the threshold, her steps slowed to a sedate stroll.With one foot in front of the other, she was reminded of the walks human couples did when courting in the eighteenth century.Or was it the nineteenth?She couldn’t recall.However, she did remember her fascination with watching them from afar while always wondering if Hope would ever walk with her in public.Would he hold her hand?Would he tell everyone that she was ‘his girl’ like the men of that long gone era had?

“What a joke,” she scoffed.“I seriously get closer to utter insanity every damned day.”

“And we love you all the more for it,”Carys chuckled, her voice faraway, a sign that she was deep in thought but still keeping her eye on Hel.

“Mhm,” Hel murmured in response as she sent good thoughts and admiration through the special bond they shared.

Unconsciously reaching out, the goddess ran the jagged tips of the nails of her dead side along the light granite walls with sparkles of silver, gold, and opalescence adding a Magical feel to the décor.Tactile distraction was something she’d done since childhood.The need to feel, to absorb, to confirm she was alive when her mind was reeling had always been a comfort, and on this occasion, she needed to more than ever.

Leaning her head toward the wall, she was fascinated by the vibrations in her fingertips as they resonated up her arm.Then came the rough, grating sounds.For some strange reason the unique and discordant melody reminded her of the bass line of the Viking Folk song,My Mother Told Me, a tune her father changed toMy Father Told Mewhen she was a little girl.Just hearing the tune conjured one of the happiest memories she had.

Lost to the unique rhythm created by the soles of her feet hitting the floor and her nails going over, in and through every nook and cranny of the massive granite stones that formed the walls of her home, Hel sang the words in old Norse that translated to:

“My father told me

Someday I will buy