Page 49 of Between Broomsticks and Beating Wings (Love X Magic #3)

“A chance to take in Odin’s traitorous favorite, are you kidding me? The goddess can’t wait to swear you in,” Rayna said with a mischievous smirk. “You, of course, still have to take her test of loyalty and go through the whole attendant ritual again, but after that, we’ll both be hers.”

“Kari will be too,” I said, glancing out at the rainbow hues reflecting over the snow-covered hills.

When I next looked at the Bifrost, it hit me—Kari was now strong enough to travel through it.

No more dangerous treks through the path between worlds.

“Hel is trading her in return for something from Freyja.”

“What does she want from Freyja? Wait, no, what does Freyja want with Kari?” Rayna asked, and I met her gaze once more.

“I don’t have the answer to either of those questions,” I admitted, but hope surged in me for the first time since I saw my armor as molten gold upon the rocky floor of the Cave of Whispers. “What I do know is, Fólkvangr has another thing coming.”

After walking back to Hel’s Hall, Rayna and I split up. She went off to the House of Wings to warm up and make use of one of our sister’s baths, and I headed back to our room to see if I could find Kari.

When I entered the room, I heard splashing water, so I called out to her from behind the bathing chamber door. “Kari? It’s me.”

“Come in!” she called out.

Come in? I asked myself, because she was in the bath, wasn’t she?

I stood beyond the door, my hand hovering over the knob until I finally found the courage to twist it.

The heavy wooden door creaked, and I spotted a head of berry blonde hair poking out from a pile of sudsy foam.

I wasn’t quite sure if I was relieved or disappointed to see she was all covered by the bubbles that clung to her back like fragile armor.

She shifted in the tub until she was facing me, and I had to fight the hardest battle of my life to keep my eyes upon her face.

Her cheeks were flushed and rosy from the water’s warmth, and I wished I could strip out of my winter gear and crawl under the suds with her.

She rested her head back on the bath’s rim and looked up at me with a glint from the candlelight in her eyes.

“I had the strangest afternoon,” Kari began.

One of her feet poked out of the water, reminding me I still had my boots on.

As I nodded at her to continue, I stooped down to begin untying my laces.

“I was with Haddy, collecting my bounty, when I ran right into Norfrid Bosdotter, and let me tell you, that woman was nasty.”

“You just happened upon one of your ancestors?” I asked, pausing on my second bootlace to focus on her twisted features.

“I thought it was too convenient as well, so I began talking with her more, and it turns out, the little creep was sent by Hel to watch me. She went on a whole rant about being loyal to the Gods and how she loves being Hel’s vessel,” Kari said with distorted lips.

Her whole body shivered, as if the water had suddenly grown cold, but I knew better. The look on Kari’s face said it all.

“Nine realms,” I muttered. “We need to get out of the underworld.”

“Why don’t we? Why don’t we leave for Fólkvangr tomorrow?” Kari said, sitting up in the tub, sending a few bubbles rolling over the side as she did. “I’ve collected what I need for the journey, and I’m ready. Sure, I may not know what Freyja will want me to do, but?—”

“You don’t need to convince me, seeress,” I cut in.

“We’re not meant for this place, and the longer we both stay, the worse off we’ll be.

I worry you’re absorbing too much of Hel’s seidr too quickly, and we don’t know what will happen if you stay much longer.

And for me, well…I’m becoming more mortal by the day. ”

“How will that change when we leave?” Kari asked, her voice soft.

I stared at her for a while, my heart aching from her words, though I knew she meant me no harm. There was nothing I could do in the moment to make her words untrue. Even when we left Hel, there was no guarantee I could stop the slow spread of rich brown upon my head.

“Well, I suppose I had the strangest afternoon too,” I said.

I slipped out of my boots and left them by the door, then made my way to the tub.

Kari swallowed as I ran my fingers over the bubbles, a few of them popping under my touch.

I wanted so badly to stick my hands under the surface and trail them over her soft, warm skin, and as I met Kari’s gaze, she looked as if she wanted that too.

“Sit and tell me,” she said, and I didn’t hesitate to do what she asked of me.

I stripped out of my furs, placing them next to the tub to use as a cushion against the hard floor.

Once I was seated and my back was against the bath, she reached out of the water and placed her bath-warmed fingers over my temples.

My eyes closed as I melted under her touch.

“Lean your head back,” she said. I tilted my head, not caring that some of my hair fell into the water.

Kari began taking the intricate war braids out, as well as the golden pieces adorning them.

I wasn’t sure if she was simply trying to help me wash my hair, or if she was purposely taking out my braids so I didn’t have to suffer that fate.

Either way, I felt my heart swell as she began diligently working, taking care of me in a way I hadn’t realized I needed until this very moment.

“I hired a troll to kidnap Rayna, and she?—”

“Wait. Go back,” Kari said, her hands pausing in my hair. “You had Rayna kidnapped?”

“Well, yeah. How else was I going to speak with her in person?”

Kari chuckled in disbelief, and I imagined her shaking her head at me with a cute little grin. “Okay, go on. I imagine you had a lot to catch up on. How did she take the news?”

I told her all about my conversation with my sister and what transpired since, and she patiently listened.

“So, there’s a chance you could become a valkyrie again?” Kari whispered, like if she said it any louder, it may not come true.

“There is.” I swallowed a hard lump in my throat, and the two of us sat in relative silence.

When my hair was free, she had me tip my head back so she could wet my hair and lather it in soap.

She worked quietly, keeping water out of my ears as she went.

By the time my hair was free of soap, the water had already turned cold and my neck had grown stiff, but it was all worth it when she leaned over me and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.

Kari used her hands to squeeze the water free of my brown and white strands, then handed me the towel she’d brought out for herself.

She began wrapping my hair up in it so no chilly water could dribble down my neck.

When I was able to sit up and face her, I placed my hand over her cold cheek.

She cupped the back of my hand with her palm and leaned further into me.

“Let’s get you out of this water,” I whispered, because for some reason, anything else felt like it would be too loud, too abrasive after the tenderness I’d just experienced.

Kari simply nodded, so I walked over to a little wooden chest in the corner and grabbed another towel for her.

When I was back standing in front of the seeress, I moved my furs out of the way to make room for her.

I held up the towel, locking eyes with her as I did.

There was so much I needed to say to her, so many important things, yet when I looked at her, every word drifted away, and I was left with nothing but her stunning eyes on mine.

She rose from the tub, hidden behind the towel I held. Once she was standing before me, I wrapped her up and then lifted her from the bath. She gasped as I did, but it was now my turn to take care of her.

Kari felt so perfect in my arms, and though my muscles could feel the strain of her body more than they used to, I wouldn’t set her down because of it. She molded perfectly into me, as if she’d been a part of me all along, and I wouldn’t be so quick to give that all up.

My perfect mortal stared up at me, her lashes full, water clinging to them.

I carried her to the bed, not caring that water dripped off Kari and onto the floor as I did.

She didn’t seem to mind either, too engrossed in whatever she saw within my eyes.

She had her arms wrapped around my neck, and as I approached the side of the bed, she rested her head in the nape.

“What do you plan on doing with me, now that you have me?” she murmured into the sensitive spot above my shoulder.

“Do I? Have you, I mean?” I asked as I set her down upon the bed. Kari didn’t adjust herself as the towel rose up along her thigh and parted for me over her hip.

Kari was silent for a moment, her eyes boring into mine. I’d sworn my life had been coming apart, but when she finally answered me, everything felt right in the world once more.

“Rune Dragomir, you have me. In every way, you have me.”