Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
“Duuuck, Dom!” Greer roared, as a ball of blue and green electricity flew at her head.
Her eyes flew open wide, her heart crashed in her chest, but she did as instructed, ducking and yanking Nina along with her. They dove for cover behind a tall group of rocks, crashing into them with a heavy thunk.
Her breathing grew ragged even as her eyes went wider still. Dozens and dozens of enormous entities appeared, their eyes red, their anger palpable as they stormed out of every crevice, every corner of the surface.
“Holy Fuck!” Nina bellowed before she jumped up off the ground, hauling Dom up with her. “Get MC swinging—now!”
With a huge gulp, Dom prepared to wind her arm up. Before letting go, she shouted, “MC, are you ready?”
“Always! Let ’er rip!”
With that, she wound him up, swinging in a wide circle until her arm ached, pointing him at the first group of giants she set her sights on.
“Thooor!” she screamed, the name falling unbidden from her lips. A warrior’s cry for death and destruction.
MC shot bolts of electricity, making the ground quake beneath her feet. Lights flashed purple and blue, lightning sizzled across the sky with ear-piercing cracks and booms.
The strike sent a dozen or so giants falling like bowling pins, tumbling over one another, but it didn’t stop them. They regrouped, shell-shocked, scrambling to their feet and coming at her, swords and morning stars with evil spikes flailing the air.
Wanda and Marty were suddenly there, flanking them to protect them from the next wave of giants.
Dear God, they were easily twenty feet tall, with feet like battered boats and hands the size of uncut slabs of beef.
But one giant, bald, his face like granite and his eyes beady beams of light, managed to snake an arm between the women and grab Dom by the neck, lifting her high toward the sky. Compared to this monster’s size, she felt like nothing more than a wispy slip of paper, flapping in the arid air.
Caught off guard, she choked and spat as she fought to get away, her grip on MC’s handle tight. Below, she heard Nina slam into his legs, her battering-ram approach doing little to sway him.
“His eyes! Lift me high and bring me down right in front of his eyes!” MC cried over the roar of the battle going on around them.
Dom did as instructed, her arms shaking, but she used all her energy to lift MC high, aiming the hammer at the giant’s eyes.
More flashes, crackles, sizzles of sparks flew, only this time they exploded—an explosion so deafening, so bright, the giant dropped her to the ground.
But Harvey was there to break her fall, softening the blow. “Dom!” he bellowed into a rising wind.
The moment she hit the ground, taking Harvey with her, she scrambled to get back up again, as her grandfather’s pleas continued to echo throughout the vast expanse.
Dom kept searching the openings in each ragged structure of stone, sand stinging her eyes, the pounding of giant feet harsh in her ears.
The hope that she’d find Papa before they harmed him began to wane, her heart crashing in her chest at the very thought. With each blast of MC she sent, her panic rose.
The three women surrounded by giants caught her gaze through the stinging sand and dust. Four or five of the giants steamrolled toward them, heads down, grunts of anguish filling the air.
“C’mon, you motherfuckers!” Nina howled, launching her slender body at them, taking out two at once.
As one prepared to hit Marty from behind, Wanda bobbed and weaved, nimble in her pursuit, grabbing at the giant’s colossal feet, swiping them out from under him before grabbing him by his thick ankles and swinging him around, then hurling him toward the sky with a screech. “Leave my friend alone!”
The giant’s roar of anger pinged off the rocks, bouncing in her ears.
“Keep looking for Stavros! I’ll keep these fuckers busy!” Nina ordered over the whoosh of the wind.
Fighting her way to yet another opening, her legs aching from straining against the heavy wind, she heard more cries from behind her—familiar voices she’d heard while training.
Oh, thank God, the cavalry was here! A brief glance over her shoulder confirmed Bard and at least fifty other soldiers from Asgard had indeed joined the fight.
That left her feeling comfortable enough to keep looking. Greer, Harvey and Robbie were directly behind her, casting spells, creating roadblocks to keep her path clear by shooting big balls of fire, stirring up the sand to make whirling dervishes of dust.
“Keep going, Dom! We’ve got your back!” Robbie yelled.
Forcing her legs to move, Dom panted, sweat pooling between her breasts, slogging through the sand as if it were thick mud.
“Dominique?” someone called—but it wasn’t her papa. It was a deeper voice, male, unfamiliar. A husky rasp of a summons. “Dominique!”
She stopped dead, holding up her hand while giant bodies toppled and Asgardian soldiers’ swords clashed and clanged, metal on metal.
“In here!” she heard the voice call.
Harvey stopped all movement, cocking his head in the direction of the male voice.
When she whipped her head around to pinpoint the sound, her breath caught in her throat. In the deep confines of one of the caves, there was an enormous man sprawled across the wall, held in chains.
Her mouth fell open when she crept a bit deeper into the cave, tripping on the loose rocks. She had to blink.
Shut the front door.
Her voice trembled when she spoke, her knees knocked together. Despite the heat, her hands grew cold. “Are you…?”
“Thor,” he said weakly. As though he’d used all his energy calling for her. “I’m Thor.”
Holy Hannah.
It was the God of Thunder.