Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
"Do you ever take a break?" Loki lounged on Val’s bed, watching her dress.
"A break for what?" She slid her pants over her hips. She was considerably late returning to her shift.
He shrugged. "Anything fun."
Fun? She hadn't had fun in forever. "I beat the crap out of Odin. And we killed those demons on the way back."
"That's what you consider fun?"
She shrugged. "It's all the fun I've known for... forever."
She looked over Loki's perfect body. Man, she wished she didn't have to leave all seven feet of him lying there, naked like that, looking sexy as hel with his diamond colored eyes and taut, bluish frame. But she had a job and a responsibility, and she needed to keep her word.
"So, are you coming with me on Friday?" he asked.
Val stopped as she pulled her tank top over her head. "Friday?"
Loki rolled his eyes. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Family dinner."
"How can you call all of them family after everything they've done to you and everything you've been through?"
Loki picked at her blanket for a minute. "Who else do I have? They are the only family I've known my whole life. They got me out of Valhalla. They helped me when I thought I would kill myself from boredom."
"That doesn't mean they are family. It means they are people who did you a favor. But can you really even call it a favor after all you've been through?" She pushed her feet into her boots.
Loki stood from the bed and wrapped her in his arms. "Please come with me."
She tried not to catch his eye. He didn't understand. Or maybe he did, she wasn't sure. She'd hated Odin and Thor for so long, she didn't know how to do or be anything else. She was sure that he'd never understand if she simply told him. He needed to see for himself.
She extricated herself from his grip and blew out a deep breath.
She hadn’t liked it when he’d done it the first time, and she damn sure she wouldn’t like it this time, but it was the only way.
For a moment, she wavered. She wasn’t altogether sure what he would see.
He could go anywhere he wanted… but she had told him she didn’t want to hide from him.
So… this was the biggest way to prove it. She held her hand out to him.
Loki looked at it. "You want to shake my hand? Wow. I don't think anyone has ever shaken my hand after a great round of sex."
She rolled her eyes. "No, dummy. I'm not trying to shake your hand. I'm offering you my hand."
His eyebrows smashed together. "You mean like marriage?"
She dropped her hand and shook her head. He could be so thick sometimes. She turned and headed to the door. "Never mind."
Loki caught her arm. "Wait."
She turned, and he watched her for a minute. "Oh. You mean, you're offering to let me do that thing that you said you'd kill me if I ever did again?"
Val swallowed hard. "Yes."
"But... why?"
"Because I need you to understand. Need you to see why I hate Odin and Thor so much. Words can’t accurately describe it. I need you to see it."
Loki snapped his fingers, and his pants appeared low on his hips. "Are you sure?"
No. She sure as hel wasn't sure.
She nodded.
He pulled her hand into his and turned it palm up. He stroked down her palm several times before sucking in a deep breath and looking into her eyes. For a moment, she felt nothing, and then it happened. Like a movie playing in her mind.
Ripped away from her mother’s embrace, she cried out, pleading for them to let her stay.
Her mother’s anguished sobs as she apologized over and over to her and promised to see her again.
The scene changed. Days were filled with grueling training, not even big enough to lift her sword yet.
Pushing her limits with every breath. Huddling together with her Valkyrie sisters, sobbing together, tending to each other’s wounds, promising to be together forever, no matter what it took.
Countless battles across myriad worlds, their skies painted an otherworldly palette of swirling colors while the air echoed with the clash of steel and roars of anguished creatures.
Thor doing Odin’s bidding and then leaving them to find their dead sisters and bury them while he and his family and friends cheered and went off to drink and celebrate.
Odin sent them in, battle after battle, using them like paper towels sopping up the masses until he could come in and claim victory.
And finally, the worst… Amidst Ragnarok's chaos, knowing the outcome, he refused to let them retreat.
Refused to spare them. Refused to back down.
Even Thor, in his arrogance, forced them to continue knowing it meant their deaths.
And each of her sisters fell like petals in a storm until only she remained to shield Elle's mother.
The scene morphed. The harsh clatter of chains restricted her movements as gritty dirt shifted beneath her.
The acrid stench of smoke mixed with fear during her relentless torture at Surtr’s hands- His gravelly voice scraping over her in whispered promises of further torment.
Until Elle’s mother finally agreed to marry him, but only if he released Val.
Watching as Elle’s mother consented to Surtr. Watching his abuse of her, but unable to do anything about it. Watching her grow sadder and weaker with every week of her pregnancy until the end, and the worst, most heartbreaking of all, when Elle’s mother died.
When she couldn't handle any more, she pulled her hand away.
She cradled it close to her chest as if the memories had wounded her, and she sucked in several deep breaths. The memories wracked her body as if she'd been there all over again. All of the death. The pain. The loss. She fought to keep it together when Loki's solid arms enveloped her.
"I'm so sorry, Signe. So very sorry." He kissed her head and held her tight against his torso.
She pushed from him gently and turned away, unable to handle his sympathy. She'd never shown anyone her pain before or talked about it with anyone, and she was conflicted about having done it.
"I have to head back to work." She brushed her hair behind her ear and walked to the door.
"Do you want to meet at Valhalla’s Throne for tonight, or should I come get you?" Loki asked.
She stopped with her hand on the knob and blew out a breath. "I’ll meet you there."
"Then I'll see you tonight." The sadness and pity in his voice were more than she could bear. She didn’t need pity. Didn’t need sympathy. She just needed him to understand. To understand and allow her her anger without trying to fix it.
She opened the door, but still couldn't gather up the courage to look back at him. "See you there."
She walked out the door and did exactly what she'd always told Elle to do. She held her head high, put back her shoulders, and refused to let anyone see her anguish.
Val strode down the stairs to the bar and found Frigg behind it. Crap. She’d been gone so long, Frigg had stepped in to bartend. That was not the kind of impression she wanted to make.
Val hurried to the bar and hopped over it. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be gone that long.”
Frigg smiled as she put two beers on a tray. “You’ve been working here for over a month and haven’t even taken a full day off. I’m pretty sure I can forgive a few extra minutes on a lunch break.”
Val gave her a tight smile. “Thank you.”
She grabbed a towel from below the bar and began wiping it down when Frigg’s hand landed on top of hers. Val stopped and looked into Frigg’s beautiful, ageless face.
“Are you all right?”
Was she? No. Truly, she wasn’t all right.
Between things with Loki and the memories and taking care of Elle and having to meet the demon that night and having fought Odin, it was all…
too much. Give her a sword and point her in a direction, and she could handle anything.
But the emotional side of everything was just-
“I understand,” said Frigg.
“You do?”
“I’m sorry for the pain the men in my family have caused you. And I know you are worried about Loki, but I can assure you he has nothing but good intentions toward you. I’ve never seen him care, truly care, for someone before.”
Val opened her mouth, ready to pour out her soul, when Frigg looked over her shoulder, and Val turned as Loki descended the staircase, watching them.
Val nodded to Frigg and continued to wipe the bar. “Thank you for your words of comfort, Lady Frigg.”
Without warning, Frigg stepped up to Val and pulled her into a tight hug. “Your mother, Hogatha, would be so proud of the beautiful and strong woman you have become. But she would also want you to now follow your heart and find happiness at last.”
Val froze. Frigg knew her mother? Knew her mother’s name? A thousand questions swirled through her mind, but Frigg let go, kissed her forehead, and walked away.
Val couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
“Val?”
Her head whipped up, and she peered at one of the waitresses.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Val nodded and swallowed hard. “Yeah. Uh… what do you need?”
The girl rattled off the order for her table, and without thinking, Val turned and began gathering the ingredients for the drinks.
Her mother… Her mother’s name was Hogatha.
"But where are you going?" Elle asked for the third time.
"I have some business to take care of." Val finished putting away the last of the glasses and checked the list on the wall behind the bar of things she needed to do before closing.
"What kind of business? You don't know anyone here besides me."
Val tried to keep her irritation in check. She had no interest in worrying Elle about Surtr, but she didn’t want Elle trying to follow her down to Helheim either.
"I know lots of people. I know, Frigg, Loki, Thor, Odin, Heimdall-"
"Marek?"
"Right. I know Marek, too." She looked at the clock over the bar. "I gotta go."
"Are you staying up here or are you going down to Helheim?"