Page 15 of Loki's Heart
“Ja,” he agreed. “Using my strength.”
Then he showed her just how well they could work together.
Chapter Nine
As much as Revna hated to admit it, there was something to be said for battling while tossed over Loki’s strong shoulder. It kept her rage down, so her demon didn't surface too much yet gave her the strength she needed to fight. Fresh exhilaration rushed through her. A surge of energy that allowed her to continue whipping daggers at enemy seers while he banged two opponents' heads together and then side-swiped another.
Without using a shred of magic, they managed to fell ten more before the last one was taken down by Cian, and they retreated under the trees.
“This way!” Svend led them into another torch-lit tunnel. “It’s not that far to safety.”
Naturally, when Revna ordered Loki to put her down, he ignored her. Lucky for him, Svend was right, and soon enough, they entered another sizeable cave.
“Are you all right?” The moment Loki set her down, he cupped her shoulders and looked her over, halting any further frustrated words with his concern. “Were you harmed?”
Revna wasn’t used to this side of him, so she had trouble finding her tongue. He seemed to truly care. Actually fear for her.
“No,” she stammered, not sure what else to say. She had meant to chastise him for fighting with her over his shoulder,but the truth was, she’d been about to pass out from exhaustion. “I’m...all right.”
Other than her heart hammering, the more he looked at her like that. The more he showed her how vulnerable he was when it came to her. How oddly...mortal. As if he caught that thought, because he probably did, he stepped away and frowned, struggling, or so it appeared, to act as he should. As he always had.
She had spent half the day mulling over what Cian had said that morning. His theory that Loki might actually love her in return. It was hard to believe. Impossible, really. Until she just saw the genuine concern in his eyes. Worry he’d never shown so clearly until now.
Or had he?
As they followed Svend from one cave to the next, she thought back on the past several weeks fighting in the Great War. Had there been moments when she’d caught a worried expression on Loki's face out of the corner of her eyes but dismissed it because of who he was? Even while she swore there was no way, she realized shehadseen that look before.
And she had seen it more than once.
What if it had all been because she held a piece of his heart, though? What if it still was?
“You won’t know unless you talk to me,” he murmured from behind her. For the first time since they met weeks ago, he didn’t come so close she struggled for breath. Struggled to think straight. Instead, he kept enough distance between them that she felt his comforting strength rather than his overwhelming presence at her back. “You need to talk to me, then we need to get to that volcano.”
“It will take another day or so,” Truthsayer said. “And over difficult terrain. Perhaps too difficult for Revna.”
“I’ll be fine.” Had to be. Because Loki was right. That was the best place to take down Yrsa.
“If we head toward the volcano, it will be another few hours of hiking before we can rest for the night, Revna,” Svend said, concerned. “Are you sure you can make it that far?”
“Of course.” She ignored her weakening limbs and pushed on. “Like I said, I’ll be fine.”
“You will,” Loki agreed, not with a jesting tone but with a strong, supportive stance as the way grew narrower. “If you need help, I’m here.” And if those words of encouragement weren’t shocking enough. “As is Cian at your front.”
“Yes,” her friend agreed, more pleased sounding than surprised at Loki’s changed behavior. “We’re both here to help if you need us.”
Where a day ago, she would have claimed she didn’t need anyone, let alone two men, friends or not, she knew better than to say that now. Her powers were waning by the hour, and nothing was more terrifying. It made her feel alone in a way she couldn’t explain.
“Because you become less of everything you know,”Loki said into her mind, just compassionate enough to not offend her.“Yet remain the same whether you believe it or not.”
“How can I remain the same without my inner seer?”she wondered.“Without my demon?”
“Because you are still you,” he said softly. “Still the mortal behind the power. The woman who deserved to wield it in the first place.”
Then he confessed more than she saw coming.
“I know because I was there before your conception,” Loki admitted. “Before you nearly lost your life in your mother’s womb.”
“There before my conception,” she murmured, having nearly forgotten he was Goddess Hel’s father. A goddess who hadbecome just as powerful as her father in her own right. Which made her realize, oddly, that through his offspring he could have known Revna's spirit generation upon generation. Incarnation after incarnation.