Page 3 of Loki's Heart

He wasn’t sure how to take that. Had she said it with her more sultry tone, he might have been intrigued, but he didn’t much like the look in her eyes. Nor the strange sensation he suddenly got off that key. The unnatural allure.

“What did you do?” he growled, angling her head, so she had no choice but to keep looking at him. “Tell me everything.Now.”

“She kept you safe,” Cian said darkly. “So let her go.”

Loki ignored the sound of the wizard unsheathing his blade and stared deeper into Revna’s eyes, seeking the truth. He would pull it from her if he had to.

“Let me go, Loki.” She didn't put up her usual compelling defiance. “And I’ll tell you everything as we continue downward.”

“We need to keep moving,” Cian warned. “Surely you sense her weakening, god. That ‘tis not just her magic at risk.”

He did sense that and didn’t like it one bit. In fact, it alarmed him when he wasn’t the sort to be concerned by much of anything unless it had to do with him winning a battle or bedding a woman. So, despite it going against his nature not to take what he wanted, be it information or Revna herself, he released her. Worse yet, he let her go because of the strange, unexpected tightening in his chest. Whatwasthat?

“Tell me.” He frowned in confusion at his chest, then looked at her, convinced whatever was happening was related to the key. “What did you do to me?”

“The only thing I could.” She continued down a tunnel lit by magical floating torches. “The only option I had when my ally became my enemy and set her sights on you.” She sighed. “I suppose I should start at the beginning, though.”

“That would be advisable.”

“Using the residual power of Vanaheim Raven left in this mountain when she visited Tor over the years,” she began, “I made contact with a lesser-known demi-god seer from Vanaheim named Yrsa. Unlike most from that world, she was hungry for knowledge of Midgard, which I provided in exchange for more knowledge of her world. We wanted to learn new spells. Accomplish things other seers could not.”

“That surprises me,” he commented. “Didn't Raven take some of your power before you were born so that you might survive? So that your own immense power wouldn’t destroy you?”

“Power that would have only destroyed me as a child before I understood how to use it.” She shrugged and made her way into a narrower section of tunnel. “Nothing said I couldn’t regain such power once I got older and learned how to manipulate it.Not just that, but what Yrsa offered was ancient magic. Power I didn't yet possess.”

“Like allowing another inside you.” Cian sheathed his blade when it seemed Revna was out of danger. “For there is little more damaging magic to a seer than allowing possession once, let alone for years.”

“Yet you managed it because Yrsa taught you how.” Loki had wondered about that. Amazed he hadn’t sensed it. More shocked still that he was completely unaware of Yrsa and Revna connecting. Then again, Vanaheim tended to skew his abilities. Short-circuited them for lack of a better explanation. And it was damn annoying.

“Yes, Yrsa taught me about possession.” Revna snapped her fingers, and the torches turned to gentle flames licking the ceiling. “It was the only way I could help my friend. To help see through your Forge.”

Though Loki had kept his distance, it had been a long few years of watching Raven be with Tor via Revna. Seeing another man touch his seer. Hold and kiss her. Adore her as only he could.Should.

“Suffice it to say, and little did I know,” Revna went on, “Yrsa wasn’t the person I thought she was, and the toll that came with using her magic was steep.”

He frowned, not liking the sound of that. “I thought she taught you the magic?”

“She did.” She shook her head. “Unfortunately, the bargain I struck for her teachings was access to Midgard via me. A first-hand look at life here.”

Every godly part of him went on high alert. She had donewhat? Enough with talking to her back. He needed to see her face. Her eyes. See what her tone could not tell him. So he took her arm and spun her back. “What do you mean Yrsa had accessto you? Because it sounds much like what you allowed Raven to do.”

Only with someone far more dangerous and not nearly as honorable.

“She didn’t have the same access as Raven, but close.” Revna closed her eyes for a moment as if gathering herself before opening them. “That’s when she decided she wanted more from this world than I anticipated. Or should I say more from a certain Norse god?”

“Hell,” he growled. “You can’t mean me?”

“Who else would I mean?” She clenched her jaw. “Thor didn’t stalk me as you did. Thor didn’t wish to lie with me. You did that...and when you did, you caught her interest.”

“Because I caught your interest first, or are the two unrelated?” He wasn’t worried about a Vanaheim demi-god desiring him. Revna, however, was another story. He only trusted his gut so much when it came to her.

“Does it really matter?” Revna seemed baffled. “You heard what I just said,ja? That Yrsa has taken an interest in you?” Evidently catching a thought or two, she frowned. “Are you truly so arrogant that you don’t find that worrisome?”

“Undoubtedly,” Cian muttered.

“I’m not worried about an errant god or two.” Loki waved it off and searched her eyes. “Iamworried about how you feel. Whatyoudesire. What else you have to share.”

“And you should be.” She drew his attention to the key again. “Look closely at it, Loki. Tell me what you see. What you feel.”