Page 12 of Thor

Thor glanced over at Elle again. Frigg’s description of Elle appeared to be correct for all intents and purposes. But Thor remembered what he had felt when he touched her. Power. Deep, raw, untapped, power.

“And be careful.”

“I am not going to hurt her,” Thor said.

“I didn’t mean her. I meant you. If you want Elle, you have to go through Val.” Frigg smiled. “May the gods be with you.”

He waited for Frigg to move on to her other guests before turning back to Heimdall. Heimdall studied him closely.

“You like her.”

“I don’t know her.”

Heimdall smiled. “What does it matter? You know better than anyone you cannot stop fate.”

Thor gritted his teeth. Heimdall had been trying to help Thor release his guilt over Ragnarök for centuries. Problem was, it was the first battle Thor had ever lost, and it ended with his home being destroyed and all its remaining people being displaced.

“Is that what she is? My fate? Both you and my mother can see what lies in the cards for me, so just tell me and save me some time. Is Elle my fate?” Part of him wished more than anything that the fiery haired beauty was his fate. Another part told him after everything he’d done, he didn’t deserve someone as innocent and gentle as Elle.

“I cannot tell you the future.”

“Why? You’ve done it tons of times before,” Thor countered.

“Yes, but that involved the fate of the nine realms, not the mere fate of your love life.”

Thor glared at Heimdall trying to let the weight of his gaze push Heimdall into speaking, but it was pointless. Heimdall didn’t bow to anyone but Odin. “So you won’t tell me?”

Heimdall shrugged. “Wouldn’t you rather be surprised by how it plays out than to ruin the ending?”

“Not this time.”

Heimdall chuckled. “Well, too bad old friend. This time even I don’t want to spoil how the story ends before it gets going. If it was a book, I’d rip out the last chapter so neither of us peeked at it.”

Thor growled and clenched his stein of beer. He hated not knowing what was going to happen. An idea popped into his head.

“Fine. If you won’t help, I’ll find someone who will.”

Heimdall shook his head. “But are you sure you can trust what he tells you?”

“Only one way to find out.” Thor pulled out his phone and pressed speed dial. The phone rang several times.

“Odin’s son, how interesting to hear from you twice in two days.”

“I need your help,” he said without pretense.

Silence filled the line for a moment.

“Well, well, well. I can’t remember the last time the Mighty Thor, son of Odin, needed my help. Oh wait, yes I can. It was when—”

Thor’s hand clenched tighter around the stein. “Are you going to help me or not?”

Loki paused. “Of course, cousin. What do you need?”

“Meet me at Frigg’s.”

“When?”

“Now.”

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