Page 20 of Thorulf
“So even though you’ve been preparing for it your whole life,” Maya’s amusement didn’t fade in the least, “you won’t Forge in Fire to help save humanity.”
“I didn’t say that,” she shot back, caught between a rock and a hard place. “I said I won’t commit to just one.” She ignored Thorulf and raked what she hoped appeared a lustful gaze over Vicar again. Then, for good measure, she winked at the Múspellsheimr females simpering around him, waiting eagerly for his other half to surface again. Winked like she got it. “I will, however, Forge with one willing to loosen the reins a little on the whole fidelity thing. A dragon who gets my way of looking at the world and the wonderful variety of gorgeous dragons in it.”
Before Maya could respond with any more of her annoying amusement, Jade focused on the real matter at hand. What she needed to get out ahead of if she could. “Tell me more about the memories you saw in Thorulf’s lair.”
She couldn't help but note the warm reunion between Thor and Thorulf. Or, should she say their first meeting based on what she caught of Thorulf's thoughts. She'd heard Norse gods slept with mortals regularly, so offspring weren't that big a deal. Usually, they never even met their descendants, so it was no wonder Thorulf seemed pleased.
“There isn’t much to tell about the memories in Thorulf's cave other than they were clearly yours,” Maya replied, drawing her back to the conversation. She shared a few of the memories. “We weren’t there long, so I only saw a handful, but I got the impression there were a lot more. That his lair was literally haunted by them.”
“But it’s not,”Thorulf interjected where he wasn’t welcome. Within her mind.“I would know if my lair was haunted with memories.”
“Not if a Celtic goddess made sure you didn’t,” she replied, trying to keep her voice civil when her frustration with him only grew by the moment. More so, her jealousy of that damn purple dragon.“Now out of my head, please. I’m having a conversation with my sister.”
“I can’t get out of your head,”he replied bluntly, surprising her. He didn’t look her way, but she got the impression he wanted to. That he stared every opportunity he got.
“What do you mean you can’t get out of my head?”She was about to go on when it suddenly occurred to her what Maya had said. Or better put, what shehadn’tsaid. She looked at her sister. “Those memories weren’t just memories.”
Maya narrowed her eyes a little. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, the ones you just shared were specific to events,” she reminded. “Yes, memories, but also—”
“Times you filtered negative energy for us,” Maya exclaimed, cutting her off in her excitement. Her eyes narrowed a little further as she thought about it. “Yet they weren’t the negative parts of those memories per se. At least not the ones I saw.”
“Because a little of the good always filters with the bad,” Jade revealed. “Every time I helped you guys, some good latched on and went out the door with the bad.” She shrugged. “I guess it’s a Yin Yang thing. Can’t have one without the other.”
“Balance in all things, Trinity would say if she were here,” Maya murmured, looking at Jade with compassion now. The same way she always did when they talked about all the negativity Jade had channeled over the years. “You never told me you took away some of our good too. In its own way, that had to have been just as hard as taking the bad.”
It had been. Especially with Raven considering she had so little to begin with.
“I was fine.” In no mood to talk about this, she downed more ale. “Not so sure Thorulf’s lair was, though.”
“A lair that must house a tremendous amount of negativity by now,” Maya worried.
“Yet Thorulf is not a negative dragon, and one would think by now he would be,” Thor pointed out, eyeing Thorulf with approval as they joined them. Everyone except those at the heart of the matter had frozen. His wise gaze flickered from Thorulf to Jade. “Even with a devious purple dragon at the heart of it all, he nor his lair are particularly negative.” His brow swept up. “Might it not be time to find out why?”
Like she had in Maine, Jade got the sense Thor was waiting for her to remember something. Or, in this case, to seek out the memory.
“Why?” she murmured before she could stop herself. But she truly wanted to know. She frowned at Thor. “Why not just tell me what you know? Because I know you know things. You must.” She glanced from Maya to Thor, addressing what else she’d learned from her sister’s mind. “You were there when Maya and Dagr closed Carman’s gateway. They got the impression you were furious at Carman for creating it in that location. That youalmostseemed to be guarding my memories. Like it was personal.”
Though Dagr and Maya were clearly uncomfortable with Jade being so confrontational with such a god, she couldn’t help herself. More than that, she didn’t look at Thor the same way they did. To her, he seemed like a long-lost friend. Someone she could say anything to without repercussions. Which made his obvious secrecy all that much more hurtful.
“Go to Thorulf’s lair,” Thor counseled, clearly unwilling to share more. “Go, and I will find you again, troublemaker.”
Before she could reply, he was gone. Just like that, he vanished into thin air, taking his secrets with him. When everything returned to normal, many were dismayed to find Thor gone but glad he had been there in the first place. That the time to fight alongside him and Loki was nearly upon them.
“Why won’t he just tell me what he knows?” Jade grumbled. “What’s with all the evasiveness?”
“Regrettably, I imagine it’s necessary,” Destiny replied. “I saw MacLomain couples go through the same thing.” She flinched a little. “In fact, I had to do it to one of them. A good friend, actually.”
“What do you mean you had to do it to them?” Jade frowned. “Why?”
“Because it wasn’t my place to say anything at first.” She glanced from Thorulf to Jade. “They had to discover things on their own, or I might have messed things up.”
Jade shook her head, still not following. “Or you might have made life a hell of a lot easier.”
“It doesn’t work that way for gods,” Destiny said gently. Her gaze flickered between Jade and Thorulf again. “If we meddle too much, it can have adverse effects. Things need to happen as they should. People need to find their way back to each other in the right sequence at the right time.”
“Way to be cryptic,” she replied dryly, shaking her head. “And stop looking at Thorulf like he’s the one I need to find my way back to.”