Page 60 of Loki's Enemy Mate

He lifted the key and slipped it into the lock. The bolt turned over easily, and he pulled the door open, gesturing for everyone to get inside.

“You first,” Tyr said, nodding toward the door. “So I know this isn’t a trap.”

“If it was, why would they attack me?”

Tyr turned his gaze on me. “Fine. Then you go.”

My heart sank and I knew I shouldn’t have been surprised by his flippant disregard for my life. It wasn’t like he thought of me as his son anymore anyway. That was easy enough to tell from the way he treated me. But there was no use getting upset about it. Nothing would make him love me again. Nothing except freeing him of this extremist cage he’d built for himself.

“I will,” I said, trying to sound more confident than I was. “Loki will go right behind me. All of you stay close so we don’t get lost. I don’t want to have to search for wolves when there’s a bomb ticking down.”

I gave Loki and nod and headed inside. Just as we planned, there was not a soul to be seen. The building was dark in that area, and everything was quiet thanks to the late hour. Even the laundry facility was quiet. That was a good sign that our plan was still on track.

Loki came in behind me, gesturing for the others to follow. He took his place at the front and as soon as the door was shut, led us through the maze of winding corridors toward the heart of the resort.

The place reminded me a bit of the cave we’d survived. It was cold, dark, and in some places, we couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of our faces. More than once, I had to reach out and take Loki’s hand so he could lead me through the darklike he had back in the cave. It made my heart beat faster to trust him like that, knowing my life was in his hands just like it had been back then. In fact, I felt a weird sort of nostalgia for that cave. There we’d been alone without a care in the world except our own survival. I supposed here was no different in that regard, but we were no longer alone. And there were those, mainly my father, that sought to move against us.

Things were much more complicated now.

Eventually we came to another metal door and a set of stairs leading downward. I stayed right behind Loki the whole way down and when we reached the landing, I found myself standing in the middle of a large concrete room covered in pipes and wires. I could see the electrical panels on the walls and all the gauges on the pipes denoting pressure or temperature. It really was the heart of the resort. Any damage there would bring its operations to a screeching halt.

“All right,” Loki sighed, pulling the backpack off his shoulder. He placed it gently on a bench and opened it up. “We only need to hit a couple main spots to bring everything down. You wire it up and I’ll place the explosives. Then we’ll set it on a timer and get the fuck out of here.”

I nodded, trying to communicate with my eyes how sorry I was that we had to do this to his home. He seemed to understand, nodding back. Then, with a sigh, he took the brick of C-4 out of the bag and went to work.

For the next ten minutes we darted about the room placing explosives, wiring it up, and bringing everything back to a central location. Thankfully Tyr had thought to get a timer for the detonator because the room was too far underground to do it remotely. Once we had everything put together and functioning with the help of the other wolves, we were all set to go.

“Ten minutes should be enough to get out of the resort and back up the mountain before it goes off,” Loki said, setting the timer. He glanced up at me. “Ready?”

I nodded. “Ready.”

Loki took a deep breath and pressed the button, the tiny high-pitched beep echoing through the room.

“Right. Now let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“I’ll lead the way,” Loki said, turning back to the others. “I know the hallways can be confusing…” His words trailed off as he stared at everyone else.

“What’s wrong?”

“He’s fucking gone.”

I didn’t have to ask who he meant because at that moment I heard an explosion above us, deeper into the resort. My father had run off while we weren’t looking, and it seemed he had other plans besides the one Loki and I had come up with. I should’ve known better. Tyr never would’ve agreed to breaking into the Hati stronghold if it meant not getting a chance to shed his enemy’s blood.

“Fuck…” I groaned, staring up at the ceiling.

“I can’t turn off the timer, Heimdall,” Loki said, holding the tiny contraption in his hand. “It’s gonna go off in ten minutes whether we’re here or not.”

“You five,” I said, turning to the others. “We’ll lead you to the exit. We promised no loss of life on this trip, and I intend to keep that promise.”

“What about the Alpha?” one of them asked. “Won’t he need our help?”

“If you want to see your wife again, Serk, then you need to get the hell out of here. All of you do.” I hesitated for a moment but decided to speak my mind. “Your Alpha can sacrifice his own life if he wishes, but I won’t let him sacrifice yours because he can’t contain his anger.”

They all looked rather uncomfortable with that statement. Probably because they knew it was the truth.

“Nine minutes,” Loki warned. “We need to go.”

“Make your decision,” I called, grabbing Loki by the hand and heading for the stairs. “There’s no time to waste!”

---