Page 32 of Thorulf
Chapter Twelve
“YOU’VE HEARD FROM mymother?” Thorulf looked around, eager to see her again after Maya and Dagr shared that she’d reached out to them from the afterlife. “Is she here now?”
“No.” Maya shook her head. “She’s in Helheim but was somehow able to get through to Dagr and me. We suspect because of her close connection to you.”
Spirit or no, he didn’t like the idea of his mother being anywhere near his mind when whatever that was earlier got into his head. He didn’t like Jade there either, for that matter. It was too dangerous. Too volatile.
“What did she say?” He looked between Maya and Dagr. “Why does she think Jade and I are meant to be together?”
“Because you told her,” Dagr revealed. “In fact, you always intended to create your lair where you did before she died.” He shook his head. “Your original reason for your lair’s location wasn’t to look over the village after your mother’s death but so that you could spend time with your closest friend. Someone you claimed would someday be your mate.” He glanced at Jade. “A green female dragon.”
“How is that possible?” Thorulf frowned, troubled. “I have no recollection of it. None whatsoever.”
“My guess?” Loki narrowed his eyes on the fire as though he looked into another dimension. Perhaps even the afterlife itself. As if he sought answers from things they couldn’t see. Perhaps his daughter, Hel. Impossible to know. “Like I speculated before, gods were involved.”
“More than one?” Maya asked.
“Yes,” Jade murmured, clearly sensing something in that. “Not just a Celtic enemy but a Norse god.” Her gaze drifted to the flames as well, where Thorulf swore he saw tiny bolts of lightning and heard distant thunder. “Thor,” she whispered before her eyes shot to Loki. “It was him, wasn’t it? That’s why he feels so familiar to me? Somehow Ihaveknown him for years. For as long as I can remember.”
“So it seems.” Loki’s curious gaze narrowed on the fire as though he continued conversing with someone. Not Hel this time, but Thor himself it appeared. “Yet my brother-in-arms will neither admit nor deny anything yet.” His gaze rose to Jade and Thorulf. “I’m afraid you must continue on the path he set you upon. You must still seek your answers in Thorulf’s lair.”
“How frustrating,” Jade muttered, but Thorulf sensed her happiness at knowing Thor for so long. That he might have watched out for her somehow.
“But necessary,” Dagr assured before his sympathetic gaze went to Thorulf. “Your mother sends her love, brother, and will help any way she can when she’s able to get through to Maya and me.”
He nodded, glad to hear it. “Did she give you more details about what I said in regards to Jade? Because it sounds like I wasn’t dreaming about her, but, like we just saw, she was actually here.”
“That was the impression you gave her,” Dagr confirmed. “Yet she never saw any proof of it. No one had given birth to a green female dragon and definitely hadn’t orphaned one. So she ended up concluding, no matter how often you spoke of the green dragon, that she had to have been an imaginary friend.” He offered Jade a gentle smile. “She’s glad to know you’re not.”
While he sensed Jade felt some sympathy for him because he couldn’t speak to his mother directly, all outward appearances showed her mood unchanged. She crossed her arms over her chest and offered no answer, just the stubborn set of her chin. Until, upon further consideration, she did say something.
“Did she happen to mention any other dragons Thorulf might've been hanging with at the time?” She frowned at him then looked at Dagr and Maya curiously. “Like a purple dragon he might’ve wanted to keep secret because he felt guilty? Maybe even knew she was no good but couldn't help himself?”
Maya shook her head. “Nope, there was only you, Jade.”
“At the beginning anyway,” Jade muttered under her breath.