—And I was suddenly very cold.

Diana and I were outside, in a great, moonlit field. The air was very still, and the snow glowed with a silver light that shivered and undulated like a mirage. The cold air cut through my pajamas and stung my nostrils, making it hurt to breathe. My skin tingled all over. Something tall loomed before us, a blinding tower of snowflakes. It looked almost like a snow devil, those little tornados that sometimes flickered across the plains.

But it’s wasn’t moving.

“Lie-Smith,” yelled Diana, her voice hard and cold. “I will kill you.”

I turned. Diana stood next to me, her arms outstretched. She held a pistol with both hands. I followed the barrel of her pistol to see where she was aiming.

Loki.

He stood before the snow devil in his black suit, his flaming hair streaking out behind him. No, he wasn’t exactly standing. He was staggering. His arms stretched in front of his body, with his palms facing the column of frozen, crystalline flakes. He looked very pale; a trickle of blood flowed out of the corner of his mouth.

He ignored us completely.

“Shit,” Diana muttered.

A shiver of fear traveled along my back as I turned from Loki to the tower of snow crystals. Each flake held perfectly still, as if an entire storm were trapped between sheets of glass. And there was something inside. Something dark twisted and writhed within the column of snow. The flakes sparkled cold and hard in the moonlight as the dark shape whirled inside them, but they did not move.

The clearing filled with a harsh, animal cry, and I turned to see Loki falling to his hands and knees. The snow tower collapsed with him, sending a gust of crystal flakes dancing across my boots. The strange silver light vanished from the snow, and the moonlight grew colder. Loki’s shoulders heaved as he spat blood onto the snow.

“Shit!” Diana yelled.

I looked up.

Vali stood in the middle of the field.

He was completely naked, with his arms crossed over his muscular chest and his bare feet planted in the snow. Loki’s rasping breath echoed across the snow as he climbed to his feet. The air felt thick and heavy, like a thunderstorm, as the two men faced each other.

“Father,” Vali said, his voice cold.

Loki smiled. Blood leaked from his mouth and dripped down his chin. “Come with me,” he said.

“To stand in judgement for my crimes?” Vali asked.

Loki shook his head, still smiling. “No. No judgement. Just come home.”

“You expect me to believe you?”

“I could force you,” Loki said.

“Could you?” Vali asked, tilting his head at Loki.

Loki raised his hands, his palms facing Vali. A booming, echoing explosion ripped through the still air, and Loki collapsed against the snow.

“GO!” Diana yelled. Her gun still pointed at Loki. A thin trail of smoke rose from its barrel.

“Holy fuck,” I whispered, staring at the crumpled mess of Loki’s body on the snow. A dark stain radiated from his shoulder and crept slowly across the moonlit snow.

Snow crunched behind me. Vali, I thought, my mind spinning. Vali’s naked. In the snow.

“Vali!” I yelled. He was almost to the trees, and he didn’t look back.

“Diana!” I turned to her, screaming. “Vali, he’s naked! He’s naked in the snow!”

Diana walked past me without saying anything. Loki struggled to his feet, one hand clenched around his shoulder. Blood oozed between his pale fingers. They glared at each other. She did not lower her gun.

“Hello!” I yelled. “Vali is naked! He’s naked! He’ll freeze to death!”

Loki and Diana both ignored me. Oh, fuck, I thought. Oh, fuck.

I turned and started to run.

****

IT WAS EASY TO FOLLOW Vali’s footsteps across the frozen field. I sprinted after his tracks, the frozen air burning as I pulled it into my lungs. His footsteps turned once I reached the trees, and I followed. The snow was spotty on the frozen ground beneath the dark lodgepoles. Vali’s tracks wove in and out of deep shadows.

“Vali?” I called, slowing to a trot.

My voice echoed strangely in the still, moonlit air, and the shivers in my arms and legs became violent tremors I struggled to control. Rubbing my hands over my thin cotton pajama top, I turned in a slow circle, searching for Vali’s footprints.

I didn’t see anything. My teeth began to chatter, and I crossed my arms over my chest. If I could just find my own footprints, I could backtrack until my trail met up with Vali’s.

I turned in another circle. The trees were thick here, and there was hardly any snow. I didn’t see anything that looked like a footprint. Or rather, everything looked like a footprint in the strange, stark moon-shadows.

“S-shit,” I whispered, my teeth clanking together as my muscles contracted violently in an attempt to generate heat.

I took a few deep breaths and tried to think rationally. I was wearing pajamas. I didn’t have a jacket. I didn’t have a compass, or matches, or a map. I didn’t even have a warm hat.

And I didn’t know where the fuck I was.

“D-d-don’t panic, K-Karen,” I said, wishing my voice didn’t echo so strangely across the frozen ground. “Just stay w-warm. Stay m-m-moving. You might get f-frostbite, but you can s-s-survive frostbite.”

My hands already felt numb as I curled them around my shivering arms and started to walk toward the most familiar looking clump of trees, scanning the ground for any hint of human tracks. Or not-so-human tracks.

After a lot of staggering, I cleared the lodgepole pines and headed in what I desperately hoped was the right direction. I scanned the forest floor, but a thin scrim of clouds drifted in front of the moon, and my shivering was so violent my vision jumped and trembled. Everything on the ground was a blur, a great gray and white blur.

“D-doesn’t m-m-matter,” I said. “Just k-keep m-moving.”

The ground tipped under my feet, and I found myself walking between sparse, snow-covered aspen. Moonlight gleamed off the fresh, trackless snow; it was beautiful and strangely peaceful. My shivering slowed and finally stopped, thank God. But then my body grew funny, and it was strangely hard to lift my legs.

“Dumb legs,” I muttered to myself.

My voice sounded ridiculous, slurred and low, almost like I was drunk. Drunk in the snow. Funny. I started to giggle, weaving stupidly in and out of the trees. My giggles turned into laughs, making it even harder to move my dumb legs. A moment later the ground rushed up to meet me, and I got snow in my face.

It was warm. Warm snow.

I stretched out, spreading my arms through the magically warm snow. It was as welcoming as a feather bed. God, I was tired. I tried to remember what I was doing out here in the first place and drew a blank. It wouldn’t hurt to close my eyes for a second, I decided. Just a second.

I into the snow, sighing in pleasure.

“Karen!”

Someone was calling my name. Some distant, male voice. I smiled. It was a nice voice. I should open my eyes for him, I thought, but it was too much effort.

****

SHIVERING WOKE ME. My entire body was shaking, jolting my head and forcing my eyes open. I blinked at the sudden rush of heat and light. I was staring at an enormous fire in a dark forest, with something soft and heavy over my legs and strong arms wrapped around my waist.

“Shhhhh, you’re fine. You’re safe.”

“W-What?” I said.

Soft lips traced the back of my neck, and Vali’s scent enveloped me. Warmth and sweetness.

“Karen,” Vali whispered. His breath felt hot against my neck. “I asked you to leave. To go somewhere safe.”

“I c-can’t leave,” I stammered. “I s-s-study the—“

“Wolves. I know.” His voice was hardy more than a whisper. “But the wolves are leaving.”

My body convulsed with shivers so violent my vision blurred. Vali’s arms tightened around my abdomen.

“That’s normal,” Vali said. “Your body’s warming up. You won’t shiver much longer.”

I nodded, not quite able to speak.  I was covered in a dark fur, leaning against Vali’s chest with his legs wrapped around mine. We were inches from a roaring fire. The flames danced hypnotically, and I found it impossible to tear my eyes away from them. I didn’t think I’d ever seen anything so beautiful.

He kissed the back of my neck again. “What in the Nine Realms were you doing out here?”

“You w-were n-n-naked,” I stammered.

He laughed softly. “Did you come to rescue me? You have that little faith in me?”

“N-No.” I shook my head, trying to pull my thoughts together. Between the dancing flames of the fire and the heat of Vali’s body, it was hard to focus. I grabbed at the soft furs around my body. “Where did t-this come f-from?”

“I’ve forgotten,” he said, his voice soft against my neck. “It’s been so long since I had a lover. Karen, any Æsir can pull a few items through the aether, weapons or clothes. Most of them can even travel that way.” He sighed. “Not me, of course.”

I didn’t understand, but I was far too tired to care. I closed my eyes, leaning against the solid warmth of Vali’s body. An image flashed through my mind, making me flinch. Loki, crumpled in the blood-stained snow.

“Oh! Vali, your dad! I think...I think Diana killed him.”

Vali laughed again. This time there was no warmth in it. “No. He’ll be fine, believe me. He’s seen far worse.”

Vali fell silent, and the flames in front of me caught my attention again. My mind drifted as I watched their scarlet and vermillion dance, heat and light coming together and falling apart, blending and fading and sending sparks to the heavens.

“There,” Vali whispered. “Your shivering stopped.”

I sighed and let my head fall back against his neck. Vali’s hands tightened around my waist, and I realized for the first time we were both naked under the thick, dark fur covering my body. I flushed with a different kind of heat. I moaned and shifted, arching my back to press closer to Vali’s chest. Vali flinched and scooted backward, but not before I felt the hard heat of his erection.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not trying to seduce you. You were so cold, I thought the warmth of my body—” His voice cut off as I rocked my hips against his.

My stomach tightened in a familiar way and heat rolled down my body, coating the inside of my thighs. His cock pulsed against the small of my back, and his hands trembled against my stomach.

“Karen. I didn’t mean to—I mean, we don’t have to—”

I wrapped my fingers around his and pulled his hands up to cup my breasts. My nipples tightened under his palms. His hands were so warm; they left trails of smoldering embers across my skin, like my entire body ignited under his touch.

Vali groaned as his hands brushed my nipples. “Oh, you have no idea how hard it is to resist you,” he said, his voice thick.

I pressed into his chest, my hips rubbing his cock. “Don’t,” I moaned. “Don’t resist me.”

His chest shuddered and he turned, lowering me to the furs. I spread my arms above my head, offering my entire body to him. Our lips met in a soft kiss as his hands followed the curve of my breasts and stomach, his touch setting me on fire. He was still kissing me when his hand spread my legs and pressed against my sex, his thumb circling my clit. I gasped into his mouth as my hips rocked against his hand.

Vali pulled back, smiling. “I really did only want to warm you,” he whispered.

“I’m warm,” I gasped.

“Are you?” His fingers pressed harder, and the waves of pleasure crashed through me, leaving me gasping for air.

“I’m warm!” I cried. “Oh, I’m warm!”

He grinned and lowered his body to mine, his chest hair rasping against my tight nipples as his hips pushed my legs apart. I moaned when his cock slid inside me, hard and hot, filling me almost to the point of pain. He sank his fingers into my hair and kissed me deeply, pressing me into the fur. I held still for as long as I could, feeling him pulse inside me, his heat and sweat covering me as our tongues intertwined and our bodies joined.

But it wasn’t enough; I wanted more. I tilted my hips, pushing him deeper.

“Oh, yes,” he groaned.

He caught my bottom lip in his teeth, then moved to my neck, nipping my skin and sending explosions of heat and pleasure skating through my body. I closed my eyes, surrendering to him, drowning in him. His hips matched my rhythm, first rocking slowly and then, as the heat between us built, moving faster and faster. The flames of the fire leapt and danced as our bodies came together, and oh God, he made me feel good, he made me feel so good—

I cried his name, sinking my fingers into his back as the orgasm burned through my body, blurring my vision and singeing every nerve ending. Vali stiffened above me, gasping as his cock shuddered deep inside me. A heavy, wet exhaustion rolled over me in waves as Vali shifted, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing his body against my back, enveloping me in his warmth.

Closing my eyes, I let sleep take me.

****

I WOKE TO BIRDSONG, although it took my brain a moment to place the familiar sharp de-de-de.

Chickadee. It was a mountain chickadee.

I opened my eyes to the soft, gray light of early morning. A chickadee hopped from a low branch on the nearest lodgepole to the snow-covered ground, tilting its head at me. What are you doing here? It seemed to say.

I rolled over and pressed my palms to my eyes, trying to remember what I was doing in the woods.

“Something wrong?”

I turned. Val was lying next to me. My heart surged, and for a moment I thought I might actually cry. He was so damn handsome in the pale morning light, with his eyes soft and his hair messy from sleep.

“You’re still here,” I whispered.

He grinned. “Of course I’m still here. You didn’t think I’d leave you, did you?”

I swallowed, not wanting to admit that was exactly what I’d expected. “But you’re still...I mean, you’re not a wolf.”

The shadow of a frown passed across his face. “No. I’ll not be a wolf again, I think.”

“You can’t change?”

He shook his head. “I’ve never been very good with magic. And that spell was...Well, it took three of them to cast it, and you saw what it took my father to break it.”

I shivered as I remembered Loki falling to his hands and knees in the meadow with blood trickling from between his lips. And that was before Diana shot him.

“Your father,” I said. “Is he going to find you, now?”

Vali shrugged. “Diana slowed him down. I’ll have time to prepare. Don’t worry about me.”

An insane idea blossomed in my consciousness. “Come with me!” I cried. “Vali, if you’re not going to be a wolf again, then come home with me! I’ve got plenty of room, I’d love to have you—”

He shook his head. Disappointment cut through my gut like a knife.

“It’s not that simple.”

“But you could hide in Bozeman,” I said, knowing full well I had no idea what I was talking about. “I mean, there has to be a way to protect you from Loki. We could figure it out!”

“It’s not just that. It’s here, it’s this place. Can’t you feel it?”

His golden eyes met mine, and he looked almost pleading. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and listened. I could hear my heartbeat and Vali’s deep, even breathing. The cold air smelled of snow and pine. And maybe something else, some flicker at the edge of my consciousness. Like a hint of smoke in the air.

“See,” Vali said, lowering his voice until I could hardly make out his words. “There’s a monster here.”

I opened my eyes, and whatever I’d felt vanished in the sparkle of early morning sunlight on the snow.

“Isn’t that a very good reason to leave?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light.

He smiled. “Perhaps. In another lifetime. But not now. Not when I have something to protect.”

I reached for his hand and wove my fingers through his. Our lips met for a soft, lingering kiss. When he pulled away, his eyes glittered strangely in the growing light.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’m no kind of lover for you, beautiful Karen. I can’t even offer you a proper meal.”

My stomach cramped uncomfortably at the word meal. I tried to ignore it. “You saved my life last night.”

He shook his head. “All I could give you was a moldering bear fur and a fire on the snow. Any proper Æsir could have done better. Shit, my brother would have brought a four-poster bed.”

His voice cut off, and he sat up, turning away from me. Cold air rushed into the furs, filling the space between us, and I shivered.

“I wouldn’t say the fur is moldering,” I said, feeling stupid. “And the fire was nice, too.”

Vali’s dark curls swirled across his back as his head shook. “Diana,” he called. “Diana!”

“I’m here.”

Diana appeared at the foot of the bear fur. The train of her dress brushed the ashes of the fire. I jumped, pulling the furs up to my chin.

“Will you?” Vali asked in a low voice.

“Of course,” Diana said.

Vali turned to me. His eyes shimmered in the pale light. “Karen,” he whispered, “go somewhere safe.”

“Wait, what? No! Vali, I don’t want to lose you again—”

Diana knelt before me and touched my arm under the furs. The forest disappeared.