Keeper of the Norns Read online

  “What?” I asked, already smiling in anticipation of a shared joke.

  He shook his head and started for door to Thane’s chamber. “Nothing, I’ll be right back. Gotta piss.”

  I chuckled and smiled. Someday he would have poor timing relieving himself off that balcony. I supposed that would be the day we found out just how good baby brother could dance. I glanced to the door, watching as it swung shut behind him. The quilt was beautiful. The crimson dried in such unique patterns when we’d gotten it just right, fitting perfectly with the other rows. I sat down and ran my hand over the still-drying strand. There was a piece in it that needed to be adjusted just a…

  My hand stopped midair, and I squinted at the dozen or so threads behind it while fighting back my growing amusement. Leave it to Thane to be put on his ass and then his knees, and somehow still possess the audacity to strut like a fucking peacock right through…

  The doors swished open, flooding the place with light. My brother walked side by side with Zhenni into the heart of the tavern. His eyes cut around the room before shooting up to me. I hadn’t realized I was grinning until my head tipped back and the lewd laughter threatened to crawl from me. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and pretended to be stressed. Which wasn’t hard to do.

  “You were watching us…” Thane accused.

  “Watching?” Zhenni parroted, her brows slid toward each other, only to pause and fly back up with embarrassment.

  “Get off of there, you’re going to mess up my rhythm,” Alexavier huffed, bumping me aside. If ever I was grateful for his ill timing, it was then. I cleared my throat and smiled before giving him an encouraging nod.

  “You okay?” he asked. I turned around to find him hovering over the seat with his eyes locked on the blushing Goddess.

  “Fine. Thanks,” she managed around the fierce brightening of her cheeks. Every word seemed to paint her a different shade.

  I thumped his shoulder and jerked my head back toward the quilt.

  He sat stiff, and after a few moments, he looked over his shoulder at Zhenni, then down to his bucket of thread.

  She wove her way past me and Thane and perched next to Alexavier. Her dainty hand rested on his shoulder. A warm honey gaze was afforded him, and her fingers curled. He sighed beneath the gesture and picked up a lengthy piece. His thick fingers drifted from one start to the next. He began to look concerned. I laughed and leaned forward, certain he was rattled and overlooking the proper placement.

  Try as we might, however, it simply could not be accommodated.

  “What does that mean?” Zhenni quietly asked.

  “What the fuck has happened now?” Thane groaned. He snapped his finger and gestured for a round of ale to be brought up. Beside me, Zhenni’s stomach began a chorus of grumbles.

  “Bring the bread too.” I shot Thane a look, but it was of little use; he would likely never understand that no one else, dead or alive, survived on liquor alone. I looked back at Zhenni and tried my best to act casual, but my pretend smile only upset her further.

  “That’s disgusting. It isn’t… they can’t!” Alexavier barked. The chair shot out from behind him before any of us could shoulder surf. He began to pace with his eyes closed.

  Thane all but leapt into the vacated seat and started to pleat away. Zhenni put one hand on the table and the other on his shoulder, unwilling to risk her curiosity being denied by a second brother.

  He, too, had difficulty finding a start. It was jagged and harsh, causing me to hiss at the aesthetics of it all. Each snare was an innocent. It didn’t matter what I told my brothers. I hated the ugliness, because I knew what each hiccup felt like for the person whose life was on the other end of the thread. The mortal whose life would be forever altered or forfeited to ensure those around them fell into their necessary paths.

  “Damn near ruins the whole thing,” I growled.

  “Shh,” Thane viciously demanded. I glued myself to his other shoulder and squinted to get a closer look.

  Zhenni gasped as children were forgotten, elderly starved, and the world filled with hate. Tears brimmed, but she held it back against the quiver of her lower lip. I stepped around my brother and drew her into a side hug. Warm tears trickled down my bicep and pooled in my elbow.

  “Hey… this isn’t set in stone,” I told her.

  “He sees the present. It is happening.” Bewildered, she set her honeyed gaze on me and challenged my honesty without a word.

  “I’m not denying that. I’m saying we can fix it. If we work together…”

  “There will be nothing to work with,” Alexavier grimly predicted. “Life is having fun. A new game. She has shorted their resources to see how spicy she can make this hate stew… The mortals have outlawed procreation.”

  We stood unanimously shocked beyond words. What civilization condemned itself to extinction?

  “It is only a matter of time,” Alexavier scoffed.

  I rolled my eyes, knowing from experience how close we wavered to another of his Ragnarök diatribes.

  “It isn’t a matter of time,” Zhenni quipped, “It is time.”

  Zhenni

  I hadn’t gotten much practice in, but I had learned the benefit of difficult clothing. The more hassle I found putting the garments on, the more time it would buy me if I went down and someone tried to remove them.

  I had little doubt how victories were celebrated in these parts. It had been fun to play consensually with someone I felt comfortable with, but I had no delusions about the horrors of the real deal.

  I stormed around the room kicking, squatting, and stretching. The last place I wanted to find out that my clothing was too restrictive was in the heat of battle. Once I was satisfied, I started for the bottom of the tavern where Thorne stood waiting. His piercing gaze missed nothing and spoke volumes. His axe rested over his shoulder and a sword hung from his hip.

  “After you.” He bent at the waist, offering a sarcastic little bow and waved toward the door. I started past him, and his hand snaked out. Air rushed into my lungs. Before I could snatch my arm back, he had flipped my wrist over and planted a whisper of a kiss over my pulse point.

  I wasn’t sure what to say or do. It had been centuries since a man did something like that to me. Rather than say anything graceful, I curled my fingers and toyed with his barely long enough to pinch beard. The instant my fingers made contact with the course hair, I fell prey to his soulful eyes and a dream rushed back to me.

  A beach. Wet sand. That same guilty smile and gentle blue pools. Familiarity. A gulf of bittersweet…

  Just that fast it was gone, and I was left with the hint of his breath, vaguely passing over that sensitive patch of flesh. I shivered inwardly, only to laugh softly on a breath. He must have taken it as a sign, or maybe he just liked to make me gasp. Whatever the reason, he rose while leaning into me. When he found his full height, he towered over and against me. I normally wouldn’t have tolerated such a thing, but it hadn’t felt condescending. I felt like I belonged there. His hands braced either side of my face in a way that felt familiar and so beautifully natural.

  I blinked, a sudden wave of sadness momentarily blurring my vision.

  “Goddess of War,” he whispered, as if it pained him. His eyes roamed over me while a proud smile slowly formed. “There was never any other role for you.”

  The soles of my feet tingled. I stood dazed, frozen in place, and watching on while he slipped outside with the others.

  The shock melted soon enough, but my smile lingered. We walked back in the direction we had originally arrived from, an entirely different group of people than we were a mere day or two ago. Nothing had changed around us, and yet I knew, nothing would ever be the same between the four of us. I wasn’t sure which I feared more… Losing to Life or the win that would cost me my Norns.

  I swallowed back the inner debate and hopped begrudgingly onto the flat scratchy stone we had arrived on during my first day.

  “Get down. What are you d
oing?” Thorne laughed.

  I awkwardly locked eyes with each of them, before peeling myself from the rock. “But, that’s how we…”

  “Sometimes the Gods have jokes.” Thane huffed. “We depart between the stones, where we come back…”

  The trio of brother shrugged simultaneously as if this were a perfectly acceptable form of travel.

  “We’ve definitely got to talk about other means of transportation, guys. I mean… waterfalls are gorgeous to look at. I love nothing more than the sound of the cleansing rush, but surely you have heard of fuel? Electricity?”

  Thane’s brows dropped, the amusement sucked out of him.

  “We do,” he said flatly before raising an intricately carved hammer high over his head. Something boomed, a white light blinded me, and the smell of singed hair engulfed us. When it cleared, I stooped over coughing manically.

  Thorne shook me hard. “Arm yourself!” he bellowed.

  “What the fuck!” I shrieked. I glared at Thane, finally comprehending what had occurred. “Really? Falling and now lightening? What, are you trying to kill us?”

  He stared at me, oblivious to the clashing steel and manic screaming around us.

  “Death is the quickest way to confront Life,” he stated, as if everyone knew such.

  His sword sang loudly before it was lunged at something behind me. I jerked about, forgetting the conversation and my complaint entirely. For every man I drew for, two fell around me. The thunder began to dissipate with each splatter that I was blessed with. I was glad I had braided my hair. It meant I could see the carnage my Norns created all the better.

  Adira, the Goddess of Life, stumbled backwards again.

  “Don’t you dare,” I roared, racing after her. It was just as Thorne had said, I never had to kill a mortal. Not one. They had been downed in my honor.

  “She’s trying to catch up to the hate storm she summonsed.” Thorne laughed. “They are as tired of you as we are, Adira.”

  She tried to look at the retreating troops he gestured toward but stumbled instead. She fell backwards with a startled yell. Hysterical and helpless, she tried to spider away. In the end, she drug her ass through a few yards of mud, with me casually following her with the axe. Thane planted his huge hammer in the mud and turned it sideways. She scampered until it caught her weight like the back to a chair. Her face paled. She inhaled wildly, creating an ugly sound that mingled with the startle of her vocal cords.

  “Don’t kill me!” She wept, convulsing around her panic induced sobs. “If you kill me the mortals are doomed! What can they do without Life?”

  “I haven’t harmed a hair on your head. I’m not a fan of graves, Adira,” I assured her. “In fact, there are worse fates than death… Far, far worse fates.”

  “She looks like she needs a drink,” Alexavier casually quipped.

  “Fuck, I know I do.” Thorne groaned.

  Thane looked down, shrugged, and scooped her up without warning.

  Chapter Eleven

  Don’t Let Go

  Alexavier

  It was over. Just that quickly. To be fair, it hadn’t really been quick… it just seemed like it when so many people were frenzied and armed around Zhenni. I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to see it again and yet, I couldn’t imagine not waking up to her every morning like I had in the cave.

  It was hard to sleep now that I knew how good she felt in my arms.

  She bumped against my upper arm, rolling over me and bringing her leg across until I was straddled. I held her lazily, tipping my head against the blades of grass that teased my cheek. My clothes were drenched and heavy. Water was a thing for Thane, possibly because he knew how much I feared drowning. I had gone to sleep the moment we sat down on the long boat, knowing good and well how he intended to get us back home.

  I glared in search of him, but he was already hauling Life off. Thorne tipped his head in farewell and started after him, leaving me and Zhenni to dry in the waning sun.

  “What will they do with her?” she asked staring down at me. I reached up and ran my thumb over a bit of mud that streaked her throat.

  “Show her the quilt. If she has any decency at all, she will help us.” It was what I hoped they were doing, anyway. Thane could be crude, but I had a feeling he wasn’t willing to risk upsetting Zhenni. They were still in the swooning stages,

  Her fingers traced my brow and slid down my jaw. “You are covered in other people’s blood.” My nose wrinkled as I recalled the warm spray a few had blessed me with. “I assume, I am in no shape to judge…”

  I curled her into my arms a bit more delicately than Thane had Life and started for the cave. She was fierce, wrapped in the leather of a warrior, and yet she molded against me like the softest of furs. I sighed contently and slowed my pace.

  When we reached the entrance, she began to wiggle her feet, forcing me to lower them.

  “It’s uneven. If you step wrong, you could break both our necks,” she insisted with a laugh. I hesitated. Her weight against each breath somehow comforted me as much as it appeared to sooth her. She was right, though—the natural stone floor was jagged in places and uneven in others.

  I raised my brows and stared at her until she began to blush.

  “I know. We have died twice together in just as many days, but there are some ways that I would really just… rather not.” She shivered.

  Her fingers tangled with mine, and I led her into the cave without further argument. It wasn’t a big deal, I just liked the way she felt, I liked the way I felt when I was with her and the way things fell perfectly into place when we were all together.

  Her hand pumped mine. The temperature steadily dropped with every step we ventured inside. I wove our arms closer together, drawing her body toward me. A few more twists and crooked paths, and we arrived.

  It was an area that bid one to it with promising warm drafts. That first few moments in the spring made it all worth the muscle clenching cold that carried us to the secret of Nastrond.

  She rolled her shoulders, and slowly began to remove the little pieces of string and metal that held her hair captive. It fell in long trained curls that stopped just beneath her shoulders. The pants were left in a pool, and she strolled toward the spring oblivious to the way her blood-stained torso contrasted with the pale globes of her bare ass. I knew better than to gawk, but damned if I could help it. I followed along, stripping as I went.

  The water was a dream. The trickle of droplets and slick forearms around my neck were the only warning I was given before her breasts crushed against my chest and legs wrapped around my waist. I stepped back with the force of her impact, righting myself against the edge of the rocks.

  Her fingers found my hips, and nails bit gently against my flanks. She wiggled around my lap while claiming a better hold with her legs. Another trickle of water caused me to gasp, and her hand settled behind my neck. Her lips whispered over my neck while she cupped water, bringing it up to pour over my shoulders and down my arms.

  Her thighs flexed and gripped against me while she worked. When I had managed to tolerate the sweet torture, she rose up to focus on my hair. Her fingers trailed against my scalp while her breasts created another round of torment.

  When she finished, I placed a hand over the swell of her ass and bent just enough to help her reach the water. I could have been a gentleman and helped her. She had helped me after all, but I wasn’t about to interrupt the sight before me. Her arms were over her head, working at the long, red mane. The position presented her breasts like a fucking offering. I had never been a God, but I swore I felt like one with a woman like her on top of me.

  I was hard before she started, but I’m pretty sure once she realized it, the game was extended.

  Her fingers sifted down the length of her saturated hair, lifting and shifting her breasts around in the process. Her hips twitched, and I hissed on a groan. The single move sent a jolt straight through me.

  The water splashed, almost inaudibly as Tho
rne climbed in and began to wash himself. She was so caught up taunting me, that she hadn’t heard him approach. I would have warned her if every twist of her hip didn’t leave me shuddering and clinging.

  The water noisily protested her arms’ escape. They locked around my neck again, and she hauled herself back up. Her knees shimmied against my side until her slick breasts were sliding about my face. I forgot about Thorne and captured the first nipple that dared to venture close enough. It was an awkward balancing act… until it wasn’t.

  Zhenni

  I closed my eyes and focused on the soft lips that explored and teased their way up my torso. Alexavier’s tongue lapped across my nipple and nearly ripped my soul from me. He battered it, chasing the nub in a circle only to draw it tightly into his mouth. I clung to the back of his head and tried to counter my weight. His arms squeezed tighter around my thighs. I wiggled in protest, trying instead to bring myself down to him. Everything in me tingled with demand, driven by the urge to be filled with his cock.

  Before I could make it, another set of hands, dry hands, claimed either side of my waist and held me in place. I twisted about, slipping down, only to be presented with Thorne’s hard body behind me. It was scandalous, but it didn’t stop the pulsing in my cunt. It clenched too hard for me to form anything but an arc, with my hands around Thorne’s neck. He obliged, pulling me back toward him. His calloused hands skimmed the outside of my thighs, hooked behind my knee and spread my legs wide for his brother’s taking.

  Thorne’s muscular chest grazed against my shoulders. I rolled my head to the side, almost convinced it was a dream. His fingers tipped my chin up and he nipped my lips. Forcefully consuming my mouth and senses with the deepest of kisses. I clenched my thighs against Alexavier’s hips and stretched to chase Thorne’s mouth.