Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Harvey sat on the outskirts of the maze and watched Dom practice with three Asgardian soldiers and Nina, who had gotten her hands on a fire hose and was using it as a prop to replicate the serpent who’d made an appearance in Asgard.
Marty and Wanda had turned it into a fun project with Carl, by painting it green and giving it big googly eyes.
Being a vampire, Nina was lightning fast and able to catch Dom by surprise as she whipped the long hose in random directions, following the pattern of the serpent Dom had fought so valiantly.
Fletcher sat on Harvey’s shoulder, his eyes following Dom’s every movement as she jabbed MC at the hose.
“Nice one!” Nina yelled, when Dom twisted midair and caught the hose in its face, smashing it to the ground.
As she chased after the hose, getting better with each strike she took, and the ladies sat on the sidelines like patrons of a football game, Harvey simultaneously brooded like a petulant child and admired Dom’s form.
Then he internally kicked himself for ogling her—even if it was from afar. But teaching her combat, being close to her in any capacity, left him in different stages of awe and lust.
Then he became angry with himself for focusing on anything but the coming battle. He was behaving like a moody brat.
And he knew he was being a moody brat, but what Dom had asked him the night of her battle with the serpent left him as confused as he’d ever been. They hadn’t talked about it since, she hadn’t said a word—but it was there between them.
Yes. He’d felt MC in his hands for the briefest of moments, felt the power of him surge through his veins, felt the exhilaration that came with wielding that kind of muscle—and it had scared the shit out of him.
But that wasn’t all of it. He hadn’t been able to keep hold of MC, and he didn’t understand why. Or why, in the hundreds of years he’d been incapable of latching onto MC’s handle, that one brief moment had left him so stunned and out of sorts.
And why now?
Also, why hadn’t he simply explained to Dom how he felt about that moment, told her of the insecurities it brought up, instead of brushing her question off and changing the subject?
Because you’re a chickenshit asshole who has no explanation and you could have said as much to Dom—you dick.
But MC knew the truth. He’d felt Harvey’s touch. There was no lying to MC—who’d essentially said the same thing he kept repeating over and over in his head. You’re a dick who doesn’t want to face this new challenge because it opens up a can of emotional worms.
What he’d reiterated, after several nights of long introspection? He didn’t want to be like his father. As if wielding MC would turn him into a skirt-chasing letch. Something else he’d discovered? He didn’t want to admit his father might be right about who should rule Asgard.
He was so busy running in the other direction, he’d never, in all these years, stopped to consider the reasoning behind why he was running.
Add in that he was angry with his father for leaving MC with him to begin with and abandoning them both to their own devices, and you had a wrecking ball of simmering emotions.
But there was still the why of it all.
Harvey had spent all his life trying to pick up MC. Why had it happened now? What did it mean?
Wanda dropped down beside him, handing him a steaming mug of cocoa, giving his shoulder a nudge. “Though you might need something to keep you warm. It’s gotten cold early this year.”
His smile of gratitude was vague. “Thanks, Wanda. Appreciate you and all the work you’ve put into helping Dom. Into helping us.”
Her laughter tinkled in the cold air, a puff of condensation escaping her lips. “Well, to be fair, the world is at stake. Hot cocoa’s hardly going to solve the pending apocalypse.”
He took a long sip of the rich cocoa Arch brewed and nodded. “But it’s a nice way to go, don’t you think?”
She winked, her cheeks pink, her nose red. “I do. Now, what’s got you so glum? You’ve been quiet since we came back from your beautiful Asgard. Why?”
“The idea of the end of the world doesn’t make you glum?”
Wanda inhaled deeply and shook her head, a frown marring her forehead.
“It invigorates me,” she replied, her tone fierce.
“It makes me want to fight that much harder to prevent it from happening. We’ve taken part in many battles, Harvey.
Maybe not involving the end of the world, but we’ve fought long and hard to get where we are today, and it makes me dang angry that someone wants to take something that’s mine—take something from my children, my friends.
The life I’ve built over all these years. Why doesn’t it do the same for you?”
Dom had begun to master the spin with MC, making a wide circle of her arm as she whipped him into a frenzy, releasing his power in a frenetic zap of color and motion.
The result? A whole lot of burnt-up maze hedges. Oh, shit.
“By the looks of her progress, it’s invigorated Dom and MC.”
Wanda tipped her head back and chuckled as the smoke from the fire Arch was dousing with a garden hose drifted toward them.
“That’s because Dom is one tough cookie and there’s nothing that will stop her from keeping Stavros safe.
So tell me why you don’t feel that same fire?
Your people, your home is at stake, too.
So what is it? Are you resentful of her connection with MC?
Mad that she was chosen by the gods for this insane task? What’s bugging you?”
Setting the mug down, he shook his head.
“It’s absolutely not resentment. I’m not egotistical enough to be angry that Dom is the only person in the universe who can use MC.
I think what’s bugging me is that my father, my flesh and blood, has abandoned us and left the responsibility up to someone who was blindsided by all that wielding MC entails.
It wasn’t enough that she was a mortal with zero knowledge we existed, but then to carry this burden, and there’s not a damn thing I can do to help ease it for her?
That bugs me. It bugs the hell out of me.
I’m angry that my father had the gall to leave this all up to an unsuspecting human. It was irresponsible.”
She gave him a questioning glance. “You know, I wondered about that. Can’t Heimdall see where he is? If he can see everything in the universe, why can’t he find your father?”
Harvey lifted his shoulders. “There could be a million reasons. Sorcery being one. Heimdall sees much, but there are things that slip by even him. But what makes me angriest of all is the threat the giants have made. My father must have known his absence would leave a hole in protecting Asgard. He left us open to all manner of war, knowing full well at the time that he was the only being who could pick up MC. How could he even consider leaving his people at risk?”
“That’s a question for your father, Harvey, wherever he is. Did he say anything when he left MC with you to babysit? Did he give you or MC a reason for why he’d be so irresponsible?”
“No. But I thought it was to pressure me into taking over Asgard’s rule.”
Wanda wrinkled her nose. “Does that make any sense to you at all? Your father knew you couldn’t pick up the hammer. What would be the point of leaving him with you? No amount of pressure can give you the power to wield MC.”
“Fair point. Regardless, look at what his leaving has done. Look at what’s it’s done to Dom, to her life.”
Wanda’s tone softened when she pointed out, “You’re falling for her, and you feel helpless that you have to stand by and watch this play out.”
He was definitely falling for her. “It’s not just because I’m falling for her, Wanda.
I’d be angry if the universe had chosen some accountant from Timbuktu.
It’s wrong to leave the fate of the world to someone virtually unequipped to take on the task.
If my father hadn’t taken off, at least we’d have someone with some battle experience under his belt to handle this.
And it’s bigger than simply being irresponsible. It’s bullshit,” he spat.
Wanda patted his thigh with a smile, the wind tugging at her chestnut hair.
“There’s the fire I was looking for!” she declared with excitement.
“So your father is the root of this discontent? Which I totally get. It was irresponsible of him to disappear and leave MC in your hands when even a remote hint of war was on the table. However, you said things had been quiet for some time now. So in all fairness, it seems he didn’t know there was a war brewing. ”
Harvey scoffed. “There’s always a war brewing, Wanda. Or the potential for one. And he must know the gods spoke to MC and sent him to Dom. If the giants knew MC was with Dom, Thor has to know. He’s the God of Thunder, for the love of Odin.”
And that left him irate. His father was many things, but flaking on MC? That had never happened before.
“But I feel like there’s more you’re not telling me,” Wanda coaxed, looking off into the distance, where Marty and Carl were helping Arch beat out the last of the flames with brooms.
He rasped a sigh, letting the cold air inflate his lungs.
“When Dom was fighting the serpent, and I was behind her on the table? I held MC. It lasted maybe a half second, but it happened. I’ve never been able to do that.
Never. Why now? And why didn’t I just admit it happened when Dom asked me?
Why did I tell her she must have imagined it? ”
Wanda cocked her head, her eyes soft and thoughtful.
“First, the universe is a strange and wonderful place, isn’t it?
Full of mysteries we may never solve. Maybe you’ve had some kind of breakthrough.
Maybe the worry that this end-of-the-world business has fallen on a novice’s shoulders gave you whatever you needed to wield MC.
Maybe your feelings for Dom, your fear for her safety, played a role.
In the heat of the moment, you never know what can happen. ”
He’d learned a lot about these women in the last couple of weeks. Wonderful, whacky things, but the one thing he’d learned for sure? There was nothing more important to them than love, loyalty and family.
“Is this a love-conquers-all metaphor?”
She winked at him. “Well, I know it’s early in the game.
and I definitely know you’re both thinking some of this attraction you have to one another is what my favorite vamp calls trauma bonding, but falling in love doesn’t always make sense, and there’s no time limit to how long it takes to happen.
It’s what you do with it when you figure it out.
” She paused momentarily, then asked, “So, is this love we’re talking about? ”
“It’s deep like.” That much he could admit. He really, really liked Dom, and the more time he spent with her, the more he wondered what was happening between them.
Had he met her at a social event somewhere, or in a bar or whatever, would he be this attracted? Would he have asked her out?
Definitely yes.
Would it have led to something more?
Maybe so.
But he wasn’t willing to risk getting too far into something before they’d had a chance to decompress outside the heavy weight of the stress over the potential end of the world.
So yes. Trauma bonding had occurred to him. But there were moments when he knew, deep in his gut, had he met her under any other circumstances, he’d be just as charmed.
“Well, deep like does funny things to people. Ask me, I know. As to why you didn’t admit your ability to handle MC to Dom?
Maybe you don’t want it to be true. Maybe you don’t want her to lose focus?
Or maybe the answer is as simple as, it only happened once and it was fleeting.
It’s not a sure bet and you don’t want to get your hopes up. ”
That didn’t feel right, but he muttered anyway, “Maybe…”
“You haven’t been able to do it since that day in the dining hall.
I don’t think your incapability to wield MC has anything to do with not wanting the power and responsibility, I think it’s about your fear of failure.
Failure to protect Dom. Failure to protect your people.
But when push came to shove, you held MC, Harvey.
Maybe it just took imminent danger to make it happen. ”
Again… “Maybe so.”
She smiled at him, her white teeth flashing in the onset of evening’s glow.
“Listen, I want to say something to you and then I’ll let it go.
I want you to hear me when I say this—something that’s very apparent to me.
You’re nothing like your father, Harvey.
You’re good. You’re solid. You’re kind. You do good things for people in need.
You’ve made a life out of helping others.
Your inability to take control of MC has nothing to do with some flaw in you, or whatever nonsense your knuckle-dragging brethren have fed you. Understand?”
He nodded, giving her a salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Now. About this magic we have to find. I might have a lead from a former client. I’m headed in to a Zoom call with her now. Keep your fingers crossed. Oh, and don’t miss dinner tonight before you go visit Stavros. Arch is making porchetta in your honor.”
His stomach rumbled in response. Arch’s cooking was the reason he was slow when he jousted alongside the Asgardian soldiers. “With that white wine and rosemary gravy?”
Wanda laughed out loud. “Duh. Would your bromance be complete without it?” she teased as she scurried off, swallowed up by the castle’s basement door.
He loved to cook, and Arch and Tottington had been willing teachers. Spending time with them had been a balm in the midst of this storm. And he’d learned how to make a killer roast chicken in the process.
Bard, one of the volunteers from Asgard who’d offered to help train Dom, approached him, a question in his youthful eyes. “Are you done with your break? Shall we spar another round, Harvey, or are you ready to call it a day?”
Wanda had ignited exactly what he needed to plow ahead—determination.
If he couldn’t ever lay hands on MC again, at the very least he could fight alongside Dom, and fight he would. No matter what it took, he’d do whatever he had to in order to keep her and everyone else involved safe. That meant brushing up on his sword skills.
Stretching has arms upward, he nodded before grabbing his sword. “One more time before dinner, my good man.”
Bard smiled with an amused gleam in his eye. “Then let’s hurry this along. If Archibald is cooking, you’ll never call me late for supper. Winner of the match gets first shot at the garlic mashed potatoes.” Then he took the usual dueling stance, his muscled arms flexing. “En garde!”
Well, when you put mashed potatoes in the mix, especially Arch’s, that meant a duel to the death.
“En garde!” Harvey shouted back.