I look at him, disgusted. One fucking job--keep the seer from seeing, but nope, she’s out there loose. I can taste Loki’s magic in the air. I can smell Yggdrasil’s cat and dog. The body, or what was a body, strewn across the room was torn apart by beasts. He thought he was untouchable, unfindable, but I guess he was wrong. Someone else was here but they are not familiar.

Loki has made his declaration. First with Aphrodite and now this, he has chosen the wrong side. I don’t know what he thinks he can do, as his power is nothing compared to mine. He refused it long ago, that coward.

I can remember the day clearly. The magic calls to us before we are even born, offering so much power and whispering of what we will become. It cannot manifest fully until we mature at what humans call twenty-five years then we can call it forth. We transform into our true self, what we were meant to be, and it has been so since the beginning, since the first of our clan was chosen to be given the gift by those that came before.

I had freed my magic a few years before Loki’s maturity. I told him how it felt, the power it brought, the things we could do. Together we could have ruled everything. He watched as I claimed Danu, ruled her with words of love. He could have done the same with any of them. The day arrived only weeks before we had planned to come here.

The others believed it was to get away from the wars on our planet, but me, I was coming to rule, to enslave those weaker than me. I stood at his side in the cave of our ancestors as the rest of our clan waited, but instead of embracing his future, he denied it. He was terrified and weak.

If he had not been my brother, I would have killed him in that moment but then I loved him. But that was then; it has been a very long time since that day, and a very long time since I have felt love or anything else for him or anyone else.

He turned his back on the magic and what it offers, so he is no match for me. I growl as I think of him plotting with the others, working against me at every turn, keeping me from my domination over every living thing on this planet.

The rage and hunger that is me takes over, leveling the pyramid around me along with several hundred acres of forest. If they want a war, then I will give it to them. “Yggdrasil! You better gather your warriors, although it will do you no good. No one can beat me. I was happy to do this the easy way, slowly taking over and leading the sheep to slaughter without them even realizing it. But I see now there would be no fun in that. These humans have forgotten who is their God, who they should be worshipping. I will show them a God.” My words thunder across the land in challenge, and I call those that serve me. I declare war.

‘You have never been a God, Odin. You are no longer even Odin. You are that which lives like a parasite within you. You chose to give yourself over to it. You were weak. Too weak to fight it.’

A roar climbs up my throat at her words and her chiding tone. How dare she?! “I AM NOT WEAK,” I scream. She has no idea of my strength but she will soon enough. I sift to Valhalla, calling Hephaestus to me.

He appears, dropping to one knee. “What do you need, my Lord?” I smile at his reverence.

“I need you to make a weapon. An axe that can cut anything.” He looks up at me. “And I need it before All Hallows’ Eve.” He nods and without a word returns to his forge to begin making it. Four weeks to get everything ready. Four weeks until I begin my rule. I call to those closest to me so we can plan.

I hear Yggdrasil as she speaks to my brother. I try not to stiffen, not wanting to alarm Cora. Instead I hold her as she floats in the water, eyes closed, the memories pushed away for the moment. It will happen soon. My time grows short. My only fear is what I will become and how they will stop me. My only regret is how little time I will have with her. Fuck destiny. Fuck fate. I hate them all. I hate that they chose her for me and kept her away until now. A cruel joke. Torture to show me what could have been, what I could have had.

She sighs in contentment, and I swallow my anger and heartache. I will love her for the time we have. I will go to my fate knowing her love. Turning her in my arms, I smile as her drowsy eyes blink up at me. I see her feelings there, shining like diamonds as I pull her up the length of my body. She wraps her legs around my waist, and I slide into her heat. Her lips feather over my jaw as we move slowly together.

We take our time. This is something beyond sex, beyond making love -- it is a joining of our souls. Our magic rubs against each other, swirling and twisting, the colors blending. “Oh.” Her voice is filled with wonder, and I realize she can see them too. Mine is dark like a storm cloud. Hers is a vibrant teal, almost matching one of the streaks in her hair. “So beautiful.” I nod at her words. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

We continue our slow rocking. I push in and grind before pulling almost completely out. She licks at my neck before biting right over my pulse. Her breath begins to quicken, and she pulls at me with her legs. I straighten from where I lean against the stones and turn her, laying her back over a flat rock at the side of the pool. I stare at her wet skin in the moonlight before leaning over to lick the drops gliding down the slope of her breast. Still I rock slowly, now not going deep just moving back and forth as I focus on the rest of her body, but she is impatient, grabbing at my waist with her hands.

Taking her hands in mine, I stretch her arms over her head, making her back arch, and then I slam home. She bites her lip as her eyes fall closed, and I begin a punishing pace, driving us both to the edge quicker than I had planned.

I yell her name as lightning tears through my body, and she clamps down on me crying out. Her muscles continue to convulse, drawing jet after jet of my release from me. I lean over her, unsure if my legs will hold me. I smile against her breast. No one has ever brought me to my knees but this tiny sprite. Her fingers thread through my hair, and she traces patterns on my scalp as we lay locked together.

“We could stay here forever.” I don’t mean to say it. She nods.

“We could,” she sighs.

“I suppose we can’t though. It won’t be long before Odin acts.” She pulls me closer. I wonder if she feels like I do, cheated.

She draws a breath and I wait for her to speak, but she doesn’t. Pushing up, I study her face. There is a smile on it, but she is unaware it doesn’t reach her eyes.