Page 52 of The Fanged One

Gudrun pulled her into another hug at the door and held her back at arm's length.

"Don't forget what I said, Lin," she said, squeezing her shoulders. Her normally cheerful eyes were more serious than Linnea had ever seen them. "Not everything your eyes see is the truth. Let your heart see for you when your eyes are lying, and your magic will show you the way."

25

Fenris heard Tor's car arrive and the door open on the far side of the house. The iron band that had been sitting around his ribs all afternoon loosened, his wolf's ears pricking up again after moping for hours.

She came back.

She said she would.

He stayed in the big chair on the deck overlooking the frozen lake and let her come to him. The sky over the ridge had gone deep blue with the first stars showing.

Inside, Ciara was arguing with Layla about how to load a pack, while Arne told them both they were wrong. Von was perched by the kitchen counter with a glass of wine and was talking animatedly with Alruna.

Linnea slipped out through the sliding door, shutting it behind her, and dropped into the chair beside his with a quiet groan. Her foot hooked casually around his ankle like it had been doing it for years.

"Hey," she said, staring out at the growing darkness.

"Hey." The word still sat strangely in his mouth, modern and small, but he liked that she smiled every time he used it.

"Have Alruna and Von been giving you a hard time?" she asked.

"Only about looking after you." Linnea laughed, and he turned his head to look at her. "Alruna had a long list. There were threats at the end of it that I take seriously, and I have stood against gods. I can see why she is Vili's mate."

"Don't forget she raised Arne, so she's had practice threatening immortals." Linnea tucked her chin into the collar of her jacket, still grinning. "Honestly, having a god along for the extra protection is the best travel insurance a völva could ask for. I should be paying you."

"You feed me, so that makes us even."

"Did Von get any information out of her about Vili?" Linnea asked with a sly grin.

"Apparently, they are 'taking things slow' and 'building trust again.'"

"Oh, they are totally fucking."

Fenris chuckled with her. "Without a doubt."

The kitchen noise swelled and faded as a door opened and closed somewhere. Fenris looked at her profile in the half dark, the smell of her own hearth still caught in her hair. She had a safe place to live in these forests, and he was going to risk that by walking her into the land of the dead.

"You went home today," he said.

Linnea's smile dimmed a little. "I did, but it will be looked after by Gudrun in my absence. Not that any wolf would be stupid enough to try and break in there."

"Has it changed your mind about coming with me?" Fenris kept his eyes on the lake so she could answer without his stare on her. "No one would fault you for staying. Not me. Not even Freya. You have been reminded of what you have here, and the road we take tomorrow is not a road for..."

"Fenris." Linnea reached over and took his big hand in both of hers, turning in her chair to face him. "I'm not changing my mind, and I'm not planning on leaving you. Get that through your thick skull now, because I don't want to have this conversation again in Niflheim." Her thumbs traced over his scarred knuckles. "Besides, if we don't find Loki and stop whatever this coming darkness is, there won't be a home to come back to. You are here too now. I'm protecting all of it by going with you."

His chest hurt with emotion in a way only she had ever managed to make him feel.

Choose her back, his wolf said. Out loud, idiot.

Fenris couldn't do that yet, so he lifted her hands and pressed his mouth to her cold fingers. Linnea leaned across the gap between the chairs, and he met her halfway. The kiss was soft and unhurried, her hand curling into the front of his sweater. She tasted of the winter air and something sweet she had clearly stolen from the kitchen on her way through.

"You taste like cake," he murmured against her mouth.

"I was making sure they weren't poisoned. Layla said there were three kinds, and..."

"Dinner!" Alruna's voice carried out of the house with the full authority of her crown behind it. "Everyone inside before it goes cold, and yes, Linnea, I know exactly what happened to the corner of the honey cake."