Page 59 of Between Broomsticks and Beating Wings (Love X Magic #3)
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
A FEAST IN HER HONOR
Rune
á ma knocked on my door upon daybreak, telling me I needed to get my ass out of bed. Kari had a vision, and if I didn’t rush to Freyja’s main hall, I was going to miss the goddess’ reaction when Kari told her she found Odr.
I’d never gotten dressed faster in my life. Hel, I threw a dress over my nightgown just so I could leave the room faster.
When I entered Freyja’s chamber, Kari was already bowing before the goddess’ dais. I’d missed most of the pleasantries, but far be it for me to care about such matters of formality. I remained in the back, not needing Freyja to notice me in my disheveled state.
I’d once told Kari she looked too horrid to stand before a god.
All she’d wanted was to keep Tove by her side, and she’d promised to do whatever it took.
I’d thought she was ridiculous, bold, and far too human.
But here I stood, in a wrinkled dress, my brown hair tossed over one shoulder, far too vulnerable and human for the one I’d do anything to save.
I suddenly understood Kari more than ever before.
Kari stood before Freyja, exhausted and eyes too wide, as she prepared to tell the goddess she’d found her husband.
Her mouth parted, and the feeling of my breath exiting my lungs left me weak and shaking.
Our future together hinged on this moment, on Freyja’s reaction to Kari rising to her challenge.
“Speak, Kari Kettlesdotter. Why have I been summoned?” Freyja’s voice filled her throne room, and I caught a hint of something lingering in her tone that wasn’t all confidence and cool disposition.
Was even the goddess nervous in this moment, her hopes living within her throat, making it impossible to swallow?
“My Goddess Freyja,” Kari said with a slight bow of her head, her eyes trained on the bottom of Freyja’s gown. “I have requested your presence at this early hour because I come bearing news both good and…troublesome.”
Troublesome? I thought to myself as a tingle ran up my spine. áma hadn’t mentioned trouble.
“What is it? My husband, have you found him?” Freyja asked, her mouth tense.
Kari paused, her mouth ticked upward as she said, “I have indeed. He’s found himself in a rather messy situation on Alfheim. I don’t have all the details, but I will tell you all I have seen.”
“Of course,” Freyja said, showing the whites of her eyes.
She rose from her throne and pulled her sweeping gown to the side as she descended her dais.
“I no longer have visions of Alfheim. He should have known better than to leave without mentioning his whereabouts. Tell me, what is this mess you speak of?”
Kari shifted her stance. “It seems as though he’s underground in some sort of root system. It does not look like he wants to be there, but rather, he is trapped.”
Freyja blew out an exasperated breath that broke into an icy laugh. The sound had my skin pricking as my gaze shifted from her to Kari and back to the goddess again.
“I must leave to gather warriors to hunt my foolish husband down, but know this, Kari Kettlesdotter. You have given me my first shred of hope in over a decade. If he truly is where you say he is, you will have earned your spot on my council ten times over. Prepare yourself, for when I next call on you, your life will be forever altered—in one way or another. Let us hope, for both of our sakes, it is a change for good.”
Freyja strode out of her throne room, leaving Kari standing before her dais with one hand at the base of her throat, the other on her stomach. She looked as if she was going to be sick, though I couldn’t tell what emotion was bringing forth this sudden urge.
I ran up from behind her and pulled her frozen body into my arms. She tensed for only a moment before she released her bound muscles and fell into me.
“You did it,” I whispered across her temple, pressing a kiss to her hairline. “You fucking did it.”
A shocked laugh bubbled out of Kari, and she clung to me for support. Tears of relief pooled in her beautiful eyes, and her fingers tightened on me as she said, “I need an ale. Or five.”
One week later, I sat hand in hand with the mortal seeress upon the soft grass of Freyja’s rolling hills. The meadow smelled of hawthorn berries and thyme, and I could think of much worse places to spend my day with the woman I cared so deeply for.
Over the past several days, she’d told me all about the foul mixture áma had her drink, about the way she’d used the leftovers to paint Kari’s skin. She was convinced she still smelled of blood despite multiple baths and even a flight over Fólkvangr to air her out.
I’d simply laughed at her reaction to áma slapping her in the face, because I’d been there before a time or two myself. The old Asgardian woman was riddled with arthritis, but she still knew how to make a cheek sting.
Kari leaned back in the grass, a yellow flower poking up between two of her fingers. She tilted her head to the sky, her brow pulled together in a way that told me it wasn’t from the sun in her eyes.
“What is it?” I asked, popping a hazelnut into my mouth.
“I just hope this waking vision I had wasn’t a mere reflection of my desires.
As I laid my head upon his pillow, I desired nothing more than finding him, and part of me wonders if I fabricated the whole thing.
The more time that passes, the more the vision fades from my mind, I question if Freyja didn’t send a handful of her valkyries on a wild goose chase because of me. ”
“You didn’t,” I said, shaking my head. “I thought the reason áma slapped you was because you weren’t believing in yourself. Now, I wouldn’t dare touch your beautiful face in such a way, but if you need to shake off this self-doubt, I’m sure I could find áma arou?—”
Kari laughed and covered my mouth with her palm. “Don’t you dare!”
I nipped at her hand before she could pull it away, and she yelped in shock. She toppled me over as she lunged forward, but I didn’t mind being on my back for her. It wasn’t preferred, but I’d take it for my mortal, my radiant light.
When my mouth was free once more, I used that newfound freedom to claim her lips. They were soft and tender against mine, but I moved like it was our last day among the living. I wanted to take advantage of every moment of her warm skin on mine.
Kari hesitated, her lips hovering over me.
I was tempted to recapture her mouth, but one glance at her face had me practicing restraint.
Her eyes were rolled, head tilted, as if she were one of Odin’s ravens.
My hands itched to shake her out of the odd haze from where I held her hips.
Before I could act in haste, Kari blinked rapidly, coming back to me.
But she didn’t look at me—she looked over me.
I cranked my head to see what caught her attention.
Four valkyries, dressed in gold and green, ushered a ragged-looking man up the steps of Sessrúmnir. Kari had chosen this spot in the field in case anyone of interest arrived today, and it seemed as though her connection with Odr was stronger than I ever imagined.
“He’s here,” Kari whispered. Her eyes went wide, and only then did she look upon me. “He’s here!” She leaned in and pecked my face once, twice, before she rose off me and scrambled to her feet.
A laugh rose from my chest, though I had no doubt in her visions.
Still, it was surreal to see the lost god before us, haggard and half-stumbling up the steps.
I wasn’t sure why they hadn’t cleaned him up before his arrival, but maybe he was still in a state of frenzy, or maybe the valkyries were advised to bring him as he was—a punishment from Freyja for leaving her.
Whatever the reason, I was positive Freyja didn’t want us to be there for their reunion.
I rose to stand with Kari, placing a hand on her arm to ask her to stay. “Surely, Freyja will call for us when she’s ready.”
Kari blew out a breath of frustration, then leaned on her hip. She stared longingly at the doors to Freyja’s Hall, though her feet remained where they were. “Hopefully soon.”
“Gods have all the time in the world,” I said.
“I wouldn’t hold your breath. If she summons us within the week, I’d be surprised.
” I didn’t want to disappoint her, but I couldn’t let her stand here, holding out hope she would be summoned, only to have the sun slowly replaced by the moon, day after day.
When you lived forever, you suddenly knew how to take your time, and the gods often did.
“Within the week?” Kari barked.
“Is this such a bad place to wait?” I asked, motioning to the area behind me sprinkled in fall flowers.
The air was crisp this time of year, but that’s what the light furs were for.
Fólkvangr may have seemed like spring personified, but the air could still chill the bones of the living.
Even so, the beauty far outweighed any prickle of the skin.
“I suppose not,” Kari said with a small smile, her disappointment still visible.
“I’ve never met Odr. Are you sure it’s him?” I asked.
“I know it in my bones. I saw him arrive and felt it as if it were me staggering up those steps,” Kari said and then added in disbelief, “Another waking vision.”
“You’re growing stronger, carving paths within your mind and forging homes within your heart for your unique seidr,” I said, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. “And that only means one thing.”
“What?” Kari said, biting her lower lip in a way I ached to.
“We need to celebrate this success. A first of many.”
“It’s too soon,” Kari said with a laugh that told me everything I needed to know. She wanted this, needed the release that came from letting go with the people she trusted most, the ones who would stay by her side no matter what. And we had four of them here already.