Page 18 of Loki's Enemy Mate

He crossed his arms, not somehow managing to look even more grumpy. “Yes.”

I didn’t respond. Instead, I went back to the water, dipped my lips below the surface, and drank. It was surprisingly cold but refreshing. In fact, it tasted just like the water we had back in the village, and I wondered if maybe we pulled from the same source. I drank it down greedily, filling my empty stomach in a matter of seconds before I finally forced myself up and took a breath.

“It tastes fine,” I said, wiping my mouth on the back of my forearm. “I think we should be okay.”

“Thank god,” Loki said, dropping to his knees.

He tucked his phone in his back pocket and practically plunged his face into the water. I could hear him gulping water down and for a moment, I thought he would make himself sick. But he came back up, gasping for air. He ran his hands over his face, slicking his wet hair back that had fallen into the water.

“Fuck that tastes good,” he muttered, sitting back on his heels. “All the water at the resort tastes just a little sulfuric from the hot springs. Usually, I only drink bottled water up there.”

“We just have a well in the village with a hand pump,” I said.

“Do you guys even have electricity?”

“Only at my father’s house.”

“Convenient.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He doesn’t allow any of you to participate in thehumanworld, but he can?” Loki crossed his arms, giving me a good long look. “What else does he do that nobody else is allowed to?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged, not really liking the implication in Loki’s tone. “He smokes I guess.”

“Store-bought cigarettes?”

“Yeah. He goes into town to get them.”

“Who is allowed in town besides him?”

“Nobody.”

“Huh.”

“Huh? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that your father, for all his preaching about hating humans and their world, doesn’t seem to have a problem ifheenjoys their world. But the rest of you aren’t allowed to even watch movies or have electricity or running water because of his stupid rules.”

“He’s doing it to keep us safe. So we’re not tainted by the humans!”

Loki leaned close, poking a finger into my chest. “He’s doing it to keep youstupidand complacent. That way none of you have the inclination to call him out on his hypocritical bullshit.” He gave me a good hard look before pulling back. “How can you not see that he’s lying to you all? This is classic cult leader stuff.”

“Whatever,” I scoffed, turning away from him.

We were both silent for a long while, the pair of us resting at the edge of the pool. It went unspoken that we needed thebreak after all the effort to save me from falling to my death. I was surprised Loki could keep on going after that at all. There was a lot more strength in that lithe body of his than I gave him credit for.

“So is one of these coins yours?” he asked after a minute or two of silence.

I glanced over at him, my brows furrowed. Following his gaze, I saw he was staring down at the coins flickering in the light at the bottom of the pool.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I never felt the need to wish for things. I knew I already had everything I needed.” I paused, a memory coming back to me. “But one of them belongs to my mother.”

“Did she get her wish?”

I sat there for a long moment, mulling it over.

“She got half of it.”

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