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She needed to talk to someone other than herself and Carys and sheneededthe advice of a friend who had actually been out in the world and had experiences neither she nor the Dragoness Queen with whom she shared her soul had.That was all there was to it.She needed help and for the first time in her very long life, she had the guts to ask for it.No more looking for someone to help her justify her fears.She needed them laid to rest once and for all.In the past, that had always been her favorite cousin’s placer in her life, but with this–it just never felt right.

Throughout her life, there had been times she’d thought about talking to Ari, aka Arawn, the Welsh god of Death and the Celtic god of the Otherworld, the Underworld, Annwn, and pretty much anything where the souls of those who’d passed on went to rest or, in some cases, be tormented or whatever they were meant to experience for all eternity, but something had always stopped her.

Hel loved her cousin more than any of her relatives.He was the onlytruebrother she’d ever had, but that was the problem.At the moment he was breathed into existence, Ari had chosen to take on the attributes of a man, and well, having chosen to present herself as a female at her inception, Hel could just never bring herself to discuss her love life–or lack thereof–with him.She feared he would think of her as a fickle female if she explained her feelings where her Mate was concerned and asked for Ari’s advice.And that was something she just knew would have broken her heart.

Of course, it never stopped her from bringing up his love life, teasing him every chance she got at his endless procrastination, prodding him to claim the Omnipotent Being known as Fate as his forever and ever, and pretty much forcing him to take the final step that had led to the couple’s Mating and the untold happiness she’d witnessed in two of her favorite people in the universe.Whoever said that double standards didn’t exist in Immortal Beings simply hadn’t opened a book, heard a story, or had been sleepwalking through life.The gods, goddesses, and all the Immortal, Omnipotent, and Everlasting Beings were nothing if not hypocrites–and Hel could admit her part in solidifying that fact.

But all that aside, only one thing was certain, there was a burning desire, one she could no longer ignore that was forcing her to seek the advice of a true friend.She just felt it in her heart and soul.It was kind of like when everyone talked about Fate, the feeling simply could not be denied.There had never been and there never would be a better a time.

So, without further ado or overthinking it for the millionth time, Hel tried one more time to get her friend on her feet.“Get off your booty and get up here.”Doing everything in power not to burst out laughing all over again when Liv squashed her perfectly muscular, curvy six-foot frame as far into the back of the chair as she wildly shook her head, the goddess rolled her eyes, huffed in mock irritation, and slammed the hand of her live side onto her hip and pretended to grumble, “Oh, my Great Goddess, I’m not gonna hit you.I want to hug you.”

“You what?!”

The words rushed from the Valkyrie’s mouth with such force that Hel felt the breeze on her cheeks.From one second to the next, Liv went from sitting in an almost fetal position to up on her feet and hugging the goddess so hard it was difficult to breathe.

But Hel didn’t care.She returned her friend’s embrace with the same strength of emotion and of body.It was the most reassuring thing, and it was in that moment that the goddess realized she was doing absolutely the right thing and her entire outlook on the future got even brighter.

Loosening her arms at the same time as Liv, she stepped back and winked, “See?That wasn’t so bad.”

“Not even a little bit,” the Valkyrie chuckled.“Now, I’m gonna sit back down and you’re gonna tell me what the hell got into you and where I can find a truckload of that happiness to spread around, right?”

“Right.”

No sooner had Hel’s rearend touched the velvet cushion of the chair than did the floor-to-ceiling windows covering the far wall of her kitchen implode.Launching out of her chair, Hel landed right beside the Valkyrie who already had her shield at the ready and her sword drawn.

Throwing her hands in the air, Hel constructed a Magical wall just in time to stop the barrage of jagged shards of glass, massive pieces of brimstone, and even more deadly spikes of granite flying towards them.Appearing on her other side, Dare had taken the form of his Warrior Lupine.Standing on his hind legs at nearly twelve feet tall, he was snarling and snapping with his talons at the ready and furious Magic filling the air all around.

Focusing the All Seeing Eye of Metis at the epicenter of the explosion, she directed the glowing green beam of the Mysticism of the Greek goddess of Wisdom through the thick haze of dust and the still-falling rubble searching for who or what had broken into her home.Scanning to the left and the right, on her second pass all the air was stolen from her lungs and her knees almost buckled.Reaching for Liv, the tips of the fingers of her dead side had just touched the leather of the Valkyrie’s armor when angry red, blazing letters appeared above a Mystical picture of the water and her favorite flower garden on the island she’d visited with her father so very many years ago.

Here lies Hope.Dead and soon forgotten.

Falling to her knees, Hel couldn’t breathe.She couldn’t think.She couldn’t…

Then her brain kicked into gear.Springing upright, she ignored the shards of glass tearing away at the soles of her feet as she turned around and stalked toward the hall.Snapping her fingers, she instantly dressed in the Death Armor given to her by the All Father himself.

Half black and half ice blue, it accentuated her true visage, assuring all who dared to draw her into battle that she was and would always be Hel, the one true Queen of the Dead and goddess of Helheim.Made of Black Iron, intricately etched with the protective runes of the Northmen she considered her countrymen and women, it magnified her Powers and Magic, while giving her immunity to others’ Powers, except those greater than she.

Trailing behind her was the long, crimson cloak, given to her by the Norse goddess of war, Freyja.Flowing behind her, the deep crimson hue was to remind her enemies that their blood would be shed, and their fight would be to the death.Atop her head at headdress made of Black Iron and fashioned with Stags’ horns all around and a band adorned with the same protective ruins as her armor.

Another snap of her fingers, and her feet were covered in black leather boots stretching to the middle of her thighs.Covering her shins were Black Iron greaves also engraved with the Norse ruins of protection.

Crossing the threshold into the hall, she snapped her fingers a final time and held her hand open wide.Smiling when the grip of her Nightsword touched her palm, she closed her fingers tight.Glancing to the side, she took in the serrated blade, each tip containing Eitr, a poison born from the primordial ooze, the deadliest substance ever known that would bring a lingering, agonizing death or give life depending on the user’s intentions.Squeezing the handle made of bone, carved by the hand of Ymir, the ancestor of all Giants, she reveled in the power streaming from the core of the wood of Yggdrasil, the Norse Tree of Life.Instantly, she felt the strength and mental acuity that Yggdrasil’s roots could draw from all of the Nine Realms.

She didn’t have to look back to know that Liv and Dare were right behind her.Their unconditional and unending support was a living, breathing entity flowing freely to her.

Free hand in the doorknob, she roared, “Vér erum Víkingar!”

To which Liv and Dade bellowed, “We are the Warriors!”in response.

ChapterSixteen

“Oops,” Einn manically giggled with such gusto that her rounded shoulders, protruding stomach, and mismatched boobs jiggled and bounced.“That ‘may’ have been just a teensy weensy strong.I ‘might’ have miscalculated just a little bit on purpose.Wouldn’t have wanted the great and wonderful goddess Hel to miss the message.”Inhaling through her rather large nostrils, trying to calm a serious case of the giggles, an errant thought popped to life in the front of her mind.

Like an evil little worm, it burrowed its way into her good time, planted a seed of discontent and forced the blasted thing to grow into a beanstalk Jack, the Giant and the golden goose could’ve climbed up and down for a couple hundred years.It was black, and it was slimy, and it was malicious and malcontented, and it was the culmination of a lifetime of feeling rejected, dejected, and just plain forgotten.

Instantly frowning, the giggles a long-lost memory, she scowled, “It’s no more than that blasted bitch deserves.We may share blood, but I will watch hers stain the sand of that stupid island.”

Pacing back and forth, the rage, the frustration, the pain at being dumped in a rift in Time and Space in the middle of only the Goddess knew where that Einn usually kept locked away in an impenetrable metaphysical box in the back of her mind, was brought to life by a runaway spark of her animosity and outrage.With each slap of her flat feet on the stone floor, the flames grew fed by all the dark, malevolent emotions she’d kept at bay for centuries.With every pass her voice got louder, her steps came quicker, and she moved closer to her sister’s cage.