I watch them through the window, sitting beside the water. They've been that way for hours. I hear footsteps approaching behind me and glance over my shoulder. It's been dark for quite a while, and everyone in the house sleeps besides myself and the woman approaching me.

“I don't know how you heard me. I wasn't making a sound.” Aislin smiles before linking her arm in mine. She leans her head on my shoulder as her gaze joins mine on the couple by the water. “Are they still talking?”

I shrug. “He's smart; he moved well out of hearing range even for us. But I think the talking ended some time ago. Do you know what they were talking about?” I glanced down at her and catch not only the look of guilt but my cat also smells guilt. A growl rumbles low in my chest. “What aren't you telling us?” She laughs but it's a sad sound.

“So many things, Michael, so many things. But they aren't my secrets to tell.” She paces away and then turns and glares at me. I understand she isn’t angry at me, although I would let her take it out on me if it would make her feel better. No, she's angry at this whole fucking situation. She isn't the only one either. It's complete bollocks that we've been thrust into the middle of this absolute shit just now. She found her mate. Sean and I found Raven. Emma found Jason and Cora found her God. What fucked up kind of fate do we all have to have for destiny to have granted us a glimpse of love and eternal happiness when we’re most likely going to die in days?

Her voice is a harsh, screaming whisper, her hands fisted at her sides when she starts to speak again. “I don't want to know this. Not any of it. I didn't ask to.” She shakes her head. “All I did was go looking for my dad, try to connect with my mom and now…” She purses her lips as her eyes begin to glisten and she shakes her head from side to side.

Three long strides and I'm by her side, wrapping my arms around her. “Shh, lass, dinnae cry.” I try to soothe her, but she's right though. Emma, Cora, and her, none of them asked for any of this. She holds on to me, her quiet sobs turning into sniffles after a few minutes.

“I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean that. I mean, yes, it's true, that's how it started but I'd never change my life. I'd never give up Kai, or you, or any of the others. Just fucking frustrated. What do you do when you know something but even telling someone's not going to change what's going to happen?” Her eyes turn once more out to those by the lake, and she sighs. “I would do anything to save her from pain, you know that right?”

“We all would.” We move back toward the window once more. The sky is beginning to lighten, and we watch as they stand, turning our way. Aislin takes my hand, leading me out the door and onto the patio.

“I just have a minute.” She whispers so low that if not for the cat’s hearing, I would have missed it. “Just in case someone else should know.” I want to argue, to tell her to shut the fuck up, that nothing is going to happen to them. I won't let it. Instead, I keep quiet waiting. “I don't know what he's told her. I don't know what Raven’s told you. The Tree, she didn't have all the answers but she made it perfectly clear that to fight Odin, Loki must give in to the power inside him -- a power he has fought his entire life, the power that rules Odin that Loki has starved and chained. To win, he must let that power off the chain.”

Her words stop as they draw closer, and I'm left reeling. “What does that mean?” She turns to look at me and mouths ‘I don't know.’ My mind is whirling. Questions fire rapidly as I assess what this could mean not only to Cora but to all of us. I have more questions now than before she spoke to me.

I can't make any more inquiries because they are now just feet from us. My brave little pixie is putting on a happy face, and the man at her side is scowling slightly. If what I was just told means what I think it means, I would be scowling also. I promised to keep her safe but I can't protect her from this. An image of Raven crying at Fenrir’s grave slides into my mind, and I realize I can't protect her either.

I'm so lost in my thoughts I don't realize the women have left for a moment. A throat clearing drags my attention back to the man in front of me.

“How much did she tell you?” His voice is hard and angry. I suspect like Aislin, his is directed primarily at the situation.