Page 50 of Thorulf
“I have a better idea.” The look Loki gave Jade chilled her blood if for no other reason than it was genuinely sympathetic. “While I can’t be entirely sure until I talk to Thor, I believe your Celtic godliness wasn’t just exploited but also found a way to protect you in the end.”
“Exploited?” she said softly, shivering a little when another chill went through her. One that seemed to settle in her very soul. “By who exactly?”
“By someone orsomethingthat would be drawn to your constant contact with negativity.” He glanced from Thorulf back to her. “And also be able to come between love. To drive a wedge between dragon souls who were so close they would have become fated mates if they could.”
Revna’s eyes flamed with fire. With recognition. “Only true evil could do that.”
“Ja,” Loki confirmed. “Which explains why you were the only one who had contact with Jade when she was here. Why you could form a connection with her.”
“Because both dark and light run through my veins,” Revna murmured, clearly having an affiliation, possibly even a fondness for her darker side. Her steady gaze went to Jade. “My demon blood kept your connection with me hidden from the enemy.”
“The enemy being...pure evil?” Jade managed.
“Of the Celtic variety, yes,” Loki confirmed. “From what I was able to get out of Carman’s son, Darkness, she sent her other son, Evil, to insert himself into your lives long ago. So while she’s certainly been in your mind, her son has been a bigger player.”
Maya narrowed her eyes, thinking about that before she figured it out, and her gaze went wide with disbelief. “Are you telling us the purple dragon is somehow Carman’s son? That it was never a female dragon but amaledragon?”
Not a far-fetched idea when it came to the gods. As it were, Loki had recently been a female bear.
“No wonder you didn’t want Jade’s little dragon going anywhere with the purple dragon, Thorulf,” Dagr said. “Your inner beast must have sensed it.”
“Yet off she went,” Thorulf said gruffly. His brows pinched. The corners of his mouth pulled down. “And then she vanished from my mind.”
“At least initially,” Jade said softly, wondering just how much Evil had manipulated them. “I obviously returned, though, because we grew older. Created more memories. Ones the purple dragon had to have been part of.”
“As a female,” Vicar remarked. His brows swept up as he looked between them. “Yet, was it not a male who ultimately came between you?” His curious gaze settled on Thorulf. “A male who made you turn from Jade in favor of the purple dragon in the first place?”
“You think they’re one and the same?” Thorulf surmised. “That Evil portrayed himself as a purple dragon at the start then a male dragon as time went on.”
“I would say that’s precisely what happened.” Once again, Loki looked at Vicar with approval. “He played them against each other. Caused a great divide.”
“Then, somewhere during all that, my Celtic magic kicked in,” Jade guessed. “And, what, gave me and Thorulf amnesia?”
“Ja,” came a deep rumble before Thor, at last, returned. His skin smoked as though he’d just been battling inside a fire. “The magic you soaked up at birth protected you both when it finally realized how threatened you were.”
“You speak of my magic like it’s got a mind of its own,” Jade said dryly.
“Because it does on occasion. Most especially on occasions like this.” Thunder cracked inside the cave like storm fronts coming together. Lightning flashed in Thor's turbulent eyes when he looked at Jade. “I’m sorry I didn’t sense the threat sooner, Jade. That I didn’t know Evil had wormed his way into your life so early on. He must have taken notice of you when you were born into Ireland and pursued you.”
“You are not to be blamed.” Loki clasped Thor on the shoulder. “For we did not know the enemy could find its way into our world at that point.”
“But we expected it would happen eventually.” Thor crouched in front of Jade and looked at her much like a father might his daughter. “So I had no choice but to protect you and Thorulf's people as much as I could from the onset.”
His words, as he likely knew they would, had more of an impact on her than expected.
“You kept me from going to the Fortress,” she managed, hurt. “You kept me from ever meeting Thorulf’s family.”
“I had to protect them every bit as much as I did you,” he confirmed. “You were never supposed to be here, Jade. Surely you see that.” Thunder rumbled softly from deep within the cave. Gentle and subliminal. His gaze flickered from Thorulf to her. “When Loki created the Forge, it wasn’t with the intention of one of his dragons remaining behind in Ireland. Of being born there.” He shook his head. “Then he certainly didn’t foresee your adventuresome spirit and draw to Thorulf.”
Though she knew she should wait until they were alone, she was too hurt to care. “Why didn’t you tell Loki about me?” She shook her head, certain she was right. “Because he didn’t know about Thorulf and me any more than we did when Leviathan and Destiny Forged and started all this.”
When he hesitated to answer, Loki filled in the blanks with a dry tone.
“Because my brother-in-arms trusts me no more than Thorulf’s brother does him.” Loki snorted and shrugged. “They have trouble believing we only ever have the best intentions.”
She agreed with Thor but wasn’t about to say it. Not when she was mad at him.
“You could andshouldhave been honest with me from the get-go.” She frowned and shook her head, damn honest with him. “Just going off the memories I have so far, do you haveanyidea how much I wanted to go to that Fortress?” She swallowed hard when images flickered through her mind of the numerous attempts she’d made to get there. Endless conversations with Thorulf about it. “Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the hurt I felt from not being able to go made me even more vulnerable to Evil.”