Page 27 of Loki's Heart

Because now she felt how connected they were from the inside out.

“No,” Yrsa roared. She tried scrambling away from them beneath the lava, but it was no use.

She was done when faced with not one but two powerful gods.

Revna snapped her neck and extinguished her magic before Loki dragged her to the surface, showing the people of Vanaheim more compassion than expected when he plugged the volcano with the last of their enemy’s power and her inevitable death. It would always be active but not nearly as destructive over time as it might have been.

“Are you all right?” She scrambled to Cian, who sat with his head braced between his knees. “Cian, talk to me. Are you—”

“I’m fine.” Though his eyes were bloodshot, he raised his head and managed a weak nod. “All’s well, friend.” He swallowed as if he hadn’t had water in ages. “How are you?”

“Fine.” She embraced him, then held a magically manifested cup of water to his lips. “Better than fine.”

And she was.

Something she had no need to reassure him of because he saw it in her eyes. As did Svend, Truthsayer, and the five unnamed seers when she brought them to Mt. Galdhøpiggen’s peak later that day.

“It’s so good to see you well.” Svend beamed at her, then peered out over the fog-steeped mountains of Midgard. “We look forward to visiting again.” He smiled at her and Loki. “To learning Midgardian seer ways.”

“And godly if,” Truthsayer started to say, but Svend shook his head and looked most serious.

“No, just the ways of seers.” He nodded at Revna and Loki with respect. “Let’s leave godly ways to gods. And thank them for all they did to make our world a safer place.”

“Are you quite sure?” Truthsayer wondered as he, Svend, and the others made their way back down into the mountain. “Because we could learn so much. We could—”

“And will but only of seers,” Svend reiterated before they could no longer be heard.

Revna’s parents had already come and gone, pleased and very proud of her new status.

Prouder still, that true love got her there.

“I wish you well, my friend,” Cian said, having waited his turn to say goodbye. He nodded at Loki, then met her eyes, emotional in a way that none could see but her. “I’m happy for you, but I must go. Time is...”

“Slipping away.” Revna embraced him and held on tight. “I know. The woman from the future needs you. The one that called out to you for help before you set out to save me.” She held him at arm’s length, cocked her head, listened, and nodded. “I hear her too and can only be grateful you came to my aid before going to hers. Thank you, Cian. May she be worthy of you.”

“And may he be worthy of her.” Loki grinned, winked at Cian, flicked his wrist, and thrust the Irishman into the future whether he liked it or not. The wizard had gone above and beyond in the Great War and deserved his own chance at happiness at last.

“That was abrupt,” she murmured when Loki reeled her into his arms.

“I’m sure he understands.” Loki eyed her pulsing black aura and the mist wrapping up their legs. “After all, it’s obvious for anyone to see that you need me.”

“Obvious to your daughter most of all, it seems.”

She still couldn’t believe that Hel had been Yrsa’s magical mirror. That she had been steering Revna and Loki toward each other for so long. Could it have been done with a little less drama and risk-taking? Probably. But that wasn’t really Hel’s style. Nor was it Loki’s, so it seems she knew her father well.

Hel had made no appearance after Loki and Revna Forged, then defeated the enemy, but Revna knew she would eventually. After the two of them had settled into their new state of being. Most especially once her father settled.

“My daughter is unique in how she goes about things,” he granted, dropping to his knees so he could chase a flame down her belly to her pelvic bone. “But she always gets what she wants in the end.” His gaze rose to hers in promise before he inhaled the juncture between her legs. The smoky scent of her pleasure. “As do I.”

It wasn’t said with defiance but a heartwarming sort of relief before he came back up and closed his lips over hers. As hekissed her with a blazing passion they’d had no time to enjoy at the peak of the volcano.

A passion he showed her when his fiery tongue wrapped around hers and gave her an idea of what a god was capable of.Hewas capable of. But then, it seemed she did the same based on his groan of approval. One that shook the ground so much, he threw her onto her black silk-covered bed swamped in storm clouds and came over her.

He kissed her hard, hungrily, before he chanted away her clothes and feasted his eyes on her. Ate her alive visually before he chased the ever-increasing fire tendrils rolling over her skin. Lapped them up as though nothing had ever tasted so delicious and groaned with renewed approval before he suckled her flaming nipple.

The more he tasted and caressed her, the more afire she became.

“I always get what I want,” he echoed before he closed his hot mouth over her center, and she about burst into flames. “What do you need, most powerful seer on Midgard? What will fulfill you most right now?”