Page 46 of The Fanged One

"Of course it is, and the treasure hidden in the heart of Niflheim is Loki." Von tossed his pen down and started to stretch out his shoulders. "Hel has him, and it sounds like she's thrown up some fierce challenges in order to protect him."

Linnea's wolf came up out of the quiet with a threatening growl. Our mate's blood is caged. We have to go. We open every door until he's free from his chains.

Linnea swallowed, her mouth too dry. She hadn't been the only one who had been enslaved by Varg. Her wolf might not have been so chatty back then, but it remembered the damn chains, and it really fucking hated it.

We will try. Don't worry, she tried to soothe it. The wolf wasn't interested in being placated, and there was nothing Linnea could do about it.

She had a mouthful of water and looked back down at the last lines she had written.

If ever you should meet a wolf with one eye like winter and a girl who can sing the dead to sleep, send them down the path I could not finish.

"This is us," she said to Fenris. He leaned closer to her to see what she was pointing at.

"Without a doubt, little volvä. Havi all but wrote our names, which means whatever part of the vision he saw, or that Loki shared, they saw us together," Fenris replied, his eyes pinning her. "Destiny has braided our wyrds together."

Linnea's heart pounded too hard, his words searing into her mind. They might not be mates in the wolf sense, but there was no denying they were bound in their own way. Inside her, her wolf stopped snarling, and its tail started wagging a little. Fenris was still looking at her, and she opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"Right. I guess it looks like we are going to go to Niflheim." Tor drained the rest of his beer. "Nobody is walking into the land of the dead at this hour on no sleep. We go down with our wits about us."

"Layla is going to need at least a day to pack because she hates camping," Ciara said, and pointed a finger at her cousin. "One pack, Lay Lay. That's all."

"Please, I'm not that bad. I was perfectly fine when we went to rescue Arne," Layla argued. Tor and Ciara both started laughing. "You can both shut up."

"Ignore them. You can take whatever you like," Arne said, kissing Layla's cheek. "If it gets too much, I'll carry it for you."

Layla started kissing his face all over. "You are the best mate in the entire world."

"Ewww," Linnea complained, tossing her pen at them. It hit Arne in the chest, and they both ignored it.

"To reach the World Tree, I would have to tear my own road to it, and that much of my magic would be a beacon," Fenris said, and everyone turned back to him. "We will need to be prepared for what that attracts."

"You don't have to tear anything," Arne assured him. "My mother can open a portal straight onto the dark paths of Yggdrasil. Quiet, clean, no god-sized hole ripped in the world to announce us. Layla and I will go ahead to Alfheimstod this morning. I need to talk to Alruna anyway because she will be pissed if we disappear on her again. You can meet us there once you've all had a sleep."

"Sleep is a good idea." Von gathered the little book up off the table where Fenris had left it and hugged it to his chest like an infant, informing it under his breath that it was worth every penny and hour of frustration it had given him. "I'm going to need to pack too. What is the weather going to be like?"

"Cold. Though Niflheim can be unpredictable," Fenris replied.

"Layers. Got it," Von said and patted him on the head. "You did very well."

"He's not a dog," Linnea growled in warning.

Von only patted her on the head too.

The family broke apart, taking empty cups and dishes into the kitchen and arguing about whether or not the trials would be the same as what they had read about.

Linnea stayed on the couch a moment longer, flicking through the pages of the wanderer's story. Fenris remained beside her, a silent and solid presence.

Ours, her wolf said, certain now. We were always going with them.

It would seem so, Linnea replied, her fingers brushing over the words about her and Fenris.

The wanderer in the story had been wise enough to turn back at the last door. They wouldn't get that luxury. Whatever he had refused to give up to find Loki, whatever was so horrible that he wouldn't tell the monk, was waiting at the bottom of the dark, and it would want payment.

23

Fenris watched the sun come up from the dark of Tor's lounge, fighting the urge to start pacing up and down the apartment.

He hadn't slept and didn't know if he was going to relax with the noise of the people waking up outside. There were the constant low sounds of the cars out on the streets and the hum of the big cold box in the kitchen.