13. EAT ME, MOTHERFUCKER

13

EAT ME, MOTHERFUCKER

I didn't know if I should thrash harder or run away or what the fuck to do…because the voice cutting through the cacophony of smells and sounds. Was…Han's.

I settled for jerking away. I yanked myself from his hands and lost a tuft of hair. Staring up at his face, he was covered in dirt, mud and blood—I wasn't sure I would have recognized him if he hadn't spoken. No, that's not true. His eyes and mouth gave him away.

He was in a cage that was about twelve by twelve, and made of thick steel of all sizes and shapes. "I'm rather indisposed as you can see. Want to help us out?"

Us?

The snarl of a wolf from the far side of the cage snapped my attention to the problem bigger than Han.

Havoc tensed, staring me down, his muscles bunched as if he were about to spring across and tear my throat out. His dark fur was covered in so much mud that instead of black he was brown...a brown wolf.

Bebe spluttered beside me. "What the fuck is this troll shit…? How are you two even here? Did you bring him to help him kill Cin? And why would we help you out? That's insane! We'd be better off to leave you here."

All the questions, and all the worries she had were mine too.

I just stared at Han, not even bothering to add to what she said. Because she was wrong. I couldn't leave Havoc.

Not after…not after I'd seen his memories.

Han sighed as if we had all the time in the world, leaning on the bars. "Look, I can…I can take you to the doorway of the Norns. If you get me out of here, I can show you where you need to go. That way you don't need a troll map. That's fair, isn't it?"

"We can find it on our own. Jor said that the trolls have maps," Bebe snapped. "Come on, Cin, let's leave them to get eaten and get us a map."

Havoc hadn't moved and I found myself just watching him. He was holding it together. Better than he had before anyway.

What the hell was I thinking?

"Odin's big ass, you like him too? What the fuck is wrong with you both?" Han crouched so we were eye to eye. "You know he wants to kill you, the way I did? Right?"

I huffed. "You wouldn't understand."

Han's eyebrows shot up. "I wouldn't?"

The roaring hiss of a trio of crocs reached my ears and we all turned as the trolls began to eat their appetizers of scaley-dillys.

Flesh and bone cracked, blood spewed, teeth snapped, the croc-a-gators hissed and tried to escape but there was nothing they could do to stop what was happening.

Han swallowed hard enough for it to be audible, but his eyes were locked on the gory scene. "I'm not 100% sure we will come back from death anymore, Cin. The rules have changed, for all I know Havoc and I could be torn apart and that will be it. We'll be dead."

Was he telling the truth or was he just saying it to make us help them? Could I live with Havoc dying? With Han dead, that would free me from the mate bond and whatever machinations he might have up his sleeve at a later date.

But leaving him here would mean leaving Havoc too. And there was no way I could do that.

Yes, I realized that rescuing the wolf who wanted me dead was a fool's errand.

But maybe, just maybe I was seeing his memories because I needed to know what he felt. Maybe it would be enough for him to fight off Sven's spell .

I looked at Bebe and gave a soft whine. She stared back and sighed. "Okay, we'll get them out. But how, wolf boy? Is there a key?"

He gave a quick nod. "Yes. It's a star shaped key." He tapped the other side of the cage, and I moved to see the lock. A five-pointed star, so the key would be round with points sticking out of it? The thing was, the key would be huge, looked to be about a foot across, and no doubt it was steel too. There was no way I could carry it as a golden, or even in my wolf form.

I'd have to shift to two legs, which would make me incredibly visible, buck naked, with lightly tanned skin.

"Where?" Bebe asked. "Where do we find it?"

"Fucked if I know." Han shrugged.

Another gong sounded, deeper in tone than the first and we all looked once more to the horde of trolls. The last bit of croc-a-gator was flipped into the air and disappeared down the gullet of the biggest of the trolls. He easily stood close to twenty feet tall and was doubly as thick as the youngster trolls we'd encountered earlier.

The camouflage on him was not as strong. He licked his lips and looked our way, pointing with a thick stumpy finger that dripped with blood. "Bring on the wolf and the man! We feasty deasty yeasty today!"

Han swore under his breath. "Well, it was nice knowing you, Princess. "

Three trolls ran toward the cage, and I slunk backward, down in the mud as I watched them scoop up the cage and carry it toward the feasting place. Han clung to the edge, farthest from the door, Havoc next to him, scrambling along the bottom of the cage.

"What are we going to do?" Bebe whispered. "We aren't strong enough!"

No, we weren't. But I knew someone who was.

I shifted back to two legs, hoping what I was about to do would work. If not…I would have no choice but to leave Havoc and Han to their fates.

But I would try. Because Havoc was more than just a quick fuck, he was more than a guy that had tried to keep me alive. I think if I were a betting person, he'd been falling in love with me before Sven put the spell on him.

Lying in the mud naked, I pressed Loki's symbol on my neck, and pushed some of my alpha energy into it. There was no way he'd come if he knew I just needed help. But he was a lech so… "Loki. I need your ass here right now. I'm naked and covered in nothing but slippery, wet?—"

The air around us crackled and I rolled to see Loki standing over me, grinning. "I knew you'd come around to see me as a viable…wait, you look like shit."

"I need your help." I pushed to my hands and knees and from there to my feet .

The trolls were rattling the cage as they fought with the key.

Loki's eyes were wide, and his eyebrows climbed. "Why not ask your father?"

"I doubt he has the power you have." Not that I believed that, but the look of satisfaction on Loki's face said it all.

I had him. Ego won over reality yet again.

He smiled and preened, rolling his shoulders back ever so subtly. "Well, that's true. But why should I help you?"

"I'm trying to save the world, and you want that still? You want me to save your grandsons? Keep the tree of life from falling to toothpicks?" I asked, doing my best not to panic. We were short on time, and he wanted to have a fucking therapy session.

He grunted. "Damn it. Yes. What exactly do you need?"

I chose to ignore how easy it was to convince him.

My mind had already leapt forward three steps. The boys would get dropped out of the cage at some point, and that meant we'd be running.

"Clothes and boots for me. Supplies for a journey to the Norns. And a distraction. Keep the trolls busy while we head for the entrance to the Norns." I never took my eyes from his, no matter how much I wanted to look at what was happening behind me. The trolls were roaring with frustration .

The sound of metal on metal was there, but no satisfying click of the key working.

Loki laughed. "That's a tidy little list. Here." He rolled his wrist and tossed me a leather backpack that was surprisingly light. "Everything you want is in there, clothes included. You sure you want Havoc free?"

"Sven spelled him to hunt me," I said. "Can you lift that spell?"

A screech of metal spun me around. The trolls had gotten tired of trying their own damn key and were tearing the steel bars apart.

"Hurry up!" Han bellowed.

"I can't touch the Woodland King's spells. That's a big no-no. Besides, once you cross into the realm of the Norns, the spell will be subdued. So why should I do it when it will fade in about four or five miles?" Loki grunted.

His words…the spell would fade on the other side of the doorway…I had the backpack on and was running toward the trolls before I thought better of what I was doing. Crazy, this was crazy. But if Havoc followed me into the realm of the Norns, he would be the Havoc I knew.

The Havoc that I thought might love me…that was worth fighting for and even dying for.

"Listen up you dirty mother fuckers!" I skidded to a stop, the mud making the skid something amazing, leaving long marks behind me.

"Yeah, you wanna fight, you think you're so tough! I'm a tough bitch, I've carried the sun, you losers!" Bebe bounced beside me, puffed right up, as big as a six-pound cat covered in mud could puff.

Han clung to the inside of the cage, Havoc was at his feet, and they were both fighting not to slide out and into the mouth of the big troll, the one who'd demanded they were next on the menu.

All the trolls turned to look at us. My skin prickled with the urge to shift and make a run for it, but I held my ground. "Han, what direction?"

"Fuck, woman, you're going to get us all killed! North!" Han roared.

Havoc howled as a troll threw a net toward us, and then the net…it just fucking disappeared.

Loki appeared at my side. "Really. You are a great deal of trouble. I think that's why I chose you."

This was our chance.

"Run!" I yelled at Bebe as I dropped and shifted to four legs. The backpack clung to me as I bolted forward, a golden once more.

Huge hands swept toward me, the feeling of rushing air the only warning I got. I rolled and ducked and dived. Havoc and Han were out of the cage and then the four of us were bolting north.

"Loki said he'd help!" Bebe screeched as a troll foot landed next to her, barely seen with their fucking camouflage.

Loki had said that there was everything I needed…in the backpack. "He put something in the bag, something to help distract the trolls!"

Han was at my side in a flash, as he all but lifted me off my feet, digging through the bag as we ran.

I blinked as he turned with a long tube in his hands. "What the hell is that?" Bebe yelped.

"Fireworks." Han lit the fuse and held it over his head.

The pop, pop, pop of the roman candle was a soft noise compared to the crashing of bushes and tearing free of mangrove trees.

And then there was nothing but the silence of our feet and the harshness of our breathing. The splash of water, and then the call of birds as we fled deeper into the swamp.

"Stop, stop," Han said and we all slid to a standstill, struggling to hear anything over the rush of blood in our ears.

Havoc stood on the far side of Han, panting. It was only then I saw the bloody wound in his side. He was injured, and badly.

Han turned and shook his head. "They aren't following us. They are chasing where the fireworks went down."

"It was that easy?" Bebe heaved. "Seriously? "

"They aren't bright," Han huffed. "But they will pick up our scent once they give up on the shiny stars that fell." He tossed the used roman candle away.

As he spoke, Havoc shifted to two legs, his hands clutching at his belly.

I stared at him, the man who'd shared my bed more than once, the man who I'd begun to trust. And even knowing that he wanted to kill me, I wanted to lean into him, to breathe him in and tell myself he would be okay.

That we'd find a way through this. We. Us. Together.

Because his memories told me the truth of how he felt.

"This way," Han grumbled. "Don't shift to two legs like this idiot. You'll be better on four legs through this mess."

Havoc snapped his fingers and pants appeared on his body, along with a wrap of white linen around his middle that pulled tight until he grimaced. I took a step, and his eyes shot to me, darkening until I was sure he was going to lunge at me. But he held himself still.

I held my ground and bared my teeth, despite the urge to cower at his feet. Han held up his hand between us. "I don't know why you aren't trying to kill her, but?—"

"Injury." Havoc turned away so I was no longer in his line of sight. "It's enough pain to keep my mind elsewhere. As you said, brother, perhaps we are not above dying now."

I wanted to tell him what I'd seen. I wanted to tell him I didn't hold what he was trying to do against him. The fact that he was able to fight the urge at all was a testament to his desire to not hurt me.

"Hop up, Bebe." I motioned to my back, and she gave a sigh and leapt to sit on the backpack.

"Havoc, you at the front," Han said. "You know where the entrance is as well as me."

Havoc shot his brother a look. "Trying to keep me away from your mate ?" His words were laced with a veritable green venom.

Han laughed. "I think not, brother, bad enough I had to fuck her mother. I don't do mother-daughter duos."

I grimaced at the image. "Just go. I'll take the back."

They both looked at me and I shrugged. "I'm the alpha, now move. " I shoved energy into the last word with as much ‘oomph' as I could, and it seemed to work.

That or they were just humoring me.

I let them get ahead of me; Havoc was moving slow, holding his side. Han walked with his hands tucked in his pockets like he was out for a nature walk in some highbrow botanical gardens, and not slopping through the Florida Everglades .

"Was this on your bingo card?" Bebe asked. "I mean…in all the possibilities, in all the shit we've seen, was this….ever on your radar?"

I snorted and shook my head. "Even with the journal…How could it be? Last month I was just trying not to be stuck as a golden retriever."

She sighed heavily. "That's fair. I just keep wondering what's going to come next, you know? Sea monsters? Dark demons? Death and fire?"

Han and Havoc stopped and looked back at us. I turned my head to look at Bebe too. "Why do you keep doing that? Why would you even put that out there? Gods only know who might be listening."

A deep rumble shook the ground and seeing as we were all turned around except for Bebe, three of us saw the trees move.

Apparently, we hadn't thrown off the trolls just yet.